NationalWatch

Democrats are split on whether to spare the Coast Guard, the Secret Service and other agencies from the possibility of a government shutdown as lawmakers remain gridlocked over Democrats’ demands for funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

“The lawless, reckless people who are marauding bands wild on our street — to hell with that,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., told Fox News Digital, referring to the agents carrying out President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

“But let’s take care of those agencies that are doing the right thing.”

Other Democrats, however, believe now is the time to play hardball over the changes they want to see and aren’t inclined to cut deals that don’t directly address their demands.

DEMS’ DHS SHUTDOWN THREAT WOULD HIT FEMA, TSA WHILE IMMIGRATION FUNDING REMAINS INTACT

“I don’t think there should be any deals so long as Kristi Noem heads that department,” said Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla. 

“Fire her — then (they) can have my vote.”

In the wake of two deadly confrontations between border enforcement and civilians in Minnesota earlier in 2026, Democrats are demanding stronger warrant requirements, a ban on masks, a ban against racial profiling, an end to paramilitary police and more before funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which operates under DHS.

Republicans have balked at those demands, arguing they would handcuff the agency’s operations.

But even amid those tensions, DeLauro believes Democrats — and Republicans — can find common ground to shield unrelated agencies from suffering the fallout if lawmakers can’t come to an agreement by Friday.

Until then, DHS is running off a two-week spending extension lawmakers agreed to when this same issue threatened a larger, $1.2 trillion spending package earlier this in February. 

When the impasse over ICE looked poised to tank the bill, lawmakers split off non-DHS funding to shrink the scope of the disagreement. DeLauro believes Congress should do that again now.

“We are strongly supportive of TSA, of the Coast Guard, of FEMA, of cybersecurity, of the Secret Service, and we applaud what they do,” DeLauro said, listing more services that could be affected.

“We are not for what ICE and CBP are doing. We are going to be supportive of the other agencies.”

Other Democrats, especially moderates, agreed with DeLauro.

“Sounds reasonable,” Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., said of her idea. “I don’t think anybody likes shutdowns — certainly not the Coast Guard, certainly not TSA.”

THUNE BLASTS JEFFRIES, SCHUMER AS ‘AFRAID OF THEIR SHADOWS’ AS DHS FUNDING FIGHT HEATS UP

“I agree with that,” Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, said of DeLauro’s proposal.

“Even if we do a shutdown, ICE has $75 billion dollars from the big ugly bill. So even if you shut down, the other ones get affected except the one you’re trying to target.”

As Cuellar pointed out, Republicans allocated large sums to ICE through Trump’s signature tax reform and border security package, which passed in July 2025. The package came with enough funding to keep ICE afloat for years. ICE’s budget in 2025 was just shy of $30 billion, meaning that ICE could remain operational for at least two years even without additional funding for 2026.

Still, other Democrats remained undecided about what approach the caucus should take.

“I think there are a lot of things that have to go into the mix,” said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla. “The most important thing right now is the proposal that we put on the table. ICE must be reined in from the practices that they have been engaging in.”

FETTERMAN EXPECTS DHS SHUTDOWN AMID PARTISAN FUNDING FEUD, BREAKS WITH DEMOCRATS ON VOTER ID

Rep. Wesley Bell, D-Mo., echoed Wasserman Schultz’s hesitation.

“I have a lot of respect for my colleague — a lot of respect for her. I’ll probably talk to her about that. But as it stands with this administration, I don’t see any way I could do anything but vote no,” Bell said.

“We’re supposed to be here to protect Americans. How the administration is deploying ICE is deplorable,” Bell added.

On Monday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., didn’t speak to whether he would support DeLauro’s proposal.

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“We don’t look at the moment that we’re in as exercising leverage over the other side. We want to fund the government in a manner that actually promotes the health, the safety and the economic well-being of the American people,” Jeffries said at a press conference.

“The ball is in the Republicans’ court right now. We sent over a proposal,” Jeffries said, referring to the 10 demands Democrats had made. “We’ve given them legislative language as it relates to the types of dramatic reforms of DHS that the American people are demanding, and we’ve heard nothing but crickets from the other side.”

New York Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado announced Tuesday he is ending his campaign for governor of New York, saying he “concluded that there simply is no viable path forward.” 

The withdrawal comes just days after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani endorsed Delgado’s boss, Gov. Kathy Hochul, as she runs for re-election. Delgado would have challenged Hochul in the Democratic primary this year. 

“I’ve decided to end my campaign for Governor of New York. After much consideration, I’ve concluded that there simply is no viable path forward,” Delgado said in a statement on Tuesday. 

“And though my campaign has come to an end, I fully intend to do all I can in our effort to build a more humane, affordable, and equitable state that serves all New Yorkers. I will also support Democrats in our effort to hold the line against Trump and take back our democracy,” he added. 

MAMDANI BACKS HOCHUL IN MOVE THAT COULD RESHAPE NEW YORK GOVERNOR RACE

“I do not make this decision lightly, particularly given that so many have poured their belief into our campaign and are desperate to be given a voice,” Delgado also said, adding, “Ultimately, this decision for me comes down to my belief that to walk with purpose, is to walk with love.” 

Following Delgado’s announcement, Hochul campaign communications director Sarafina Chitika told Fox News Digital, “Governor Hochul has spent all year uniting her big-tent party around a vision for affordability and safety for every New York family.”

“Thanks to her leadership, our campaign and our party are strong and ready to defeat Donald Trump and his enablers up and down the ballot, take back the House, and hand Bruce Blakeman yet another loss this November,” Chitika added. “Donald Trump and Bruce Blakeman are united in their efforts to raise costs on working families, send masked ICE agents into our streets to terrorize innocent communities, and wage war on New York kids. Our party is now just as united to stop them.”

HOCHUL RUNNING MATE VOTED TO ALLOW NONCITIZEN VOTING IN NYC ELECTIONS

Last week, Delgado named former Buffalo mayoral candidate India Walton, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, as his running mate in an effort to beef up his support among progressives.  

Delgado launched his bid for governor in June, a rare instance of a lieutenant governor taking on a sitting governor.

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Hochul had backed Mamdani last September as the Democratic Party’s mayoral nominee battled former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa in the general election mayoral showdown. 

A federal judge on Tuesday rejected a lawsuit from the Trump administration seeking to acquire Michigan’s voter registration rolls.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Hala Jarbou, a Trump appointee, is the latest in a string of legal losses over the acquisition of sensitive voter information. 

The Trump administration has sued multiple states over voter information in an effort to force them to clean up their voter lists. 

DOJ TARGETS NONCITIZENS ON VOTER ROLLS AS PART OF TRUMP ELECTION INTEGRITY PUSH

Attorney General Pam Bondi argued that the Civil Rights Act of 1960 gave her the power to compel states to turn over their lists. In a 23-page brief, Jarbou disagreed, saying the law applied to voter applications.

“If the distinction between voter registration applications and voter registration lists is overly pedantic, it is a pedantic distinction made by Congress, and it is Congress’s prerogative to make distinctions that may seem unnecessary to a person reading the statute over six decades after its passage, the judge wrote. “

“Needless to say, the existence of a statewide computerized voter list was not foreseeable to the Congress of 1960, and it is possible that legislators would have included such a list in the CRA’s disclosure provisions had they imagined the possibility,” Jarbou added. 

TRUMP APPOINTEE VOWS TO FOCUS DOJ’S LARGEST DIVISION ON DEI, DENATURALIZATION

The judge noted that the court is not a “telepathic time-traveler,” and thus it “cannot rewrite Congressional legislation to cover a situation that Congress may not have foreseen.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House and Michigan officials for comment.

Since May 2025, the Trump administration has demanded nearly every state and Washington, D.C., hand over election-related records and data, such as full copies of statewide voter registration lists and ballots from previous elections, as well as access to voting equipment, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. 

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The federal government maintains that it needs the records to make sure that states ensure accurate voter records and the removal of eligible voters to prevent fraud. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he plans to discuss Iran and Gaza with U.S. President Donald Trump during their upcoming visit.

The foreign figure, who is traveling to the U.S. to meet with Trump, indicated that the two nations share a close bond, and that he and Trump are close as well.

“I am now leaving for the United States for my seventh trip to meet with President Trump since he was elected for a second term. This, of course, does not include his unforgettable visit to Israel and his speech in the Knesset,” Netanyahu noted, according to the Israeli government.

IRAN’S TOP DIPLOMAT SAYS NATION’S POWER LIES IN DEFYING PRESSURE: ‘NO TO THE GREAT POWERS’

“I think these reflect the unique closeness of the extraordinary relationship that we have with the United States, that I personally have with the President, that the State of Israel has with the United States — unprecedented in our history,” he said.

“On this trip we will discuss a range of issues: Gaza, the region, but of course, first and foremost, the negotiations with Iran. I will present to the President our outlook regarding the principles of these negotiations — the essential principles which, in my opinion, are important not only to Israel, but to everyone around the world who wants peace and security in the Middle East,” Netanyahu said.

IRAN’S PRESIDENT ACCUSES TRUMP, NETANYAHU, EUROPE OF PROVOKING UNREST: ‘THEY BROUGHT THEM INTO THE STREETS’

In a statement to Fox News Digital, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly declared, “President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu have a great relationship and Israel has had no better friend in its history than President Trump. We continue to work closely with our ally Israel to implement President Trump’s historic Gaza peace agreement and to strengthen regional security in the Middle East.” 

Trump issued a Truth Social post last month warning that the U.S. will attack Iran if the Islamic Republic does not negotiate a nuclear deal.

“Iran will quickly ‘Come to the Table’ and negotiate a fair and equitable deal – NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS – one that is good for all parties,” Trump noted in the post. 

IRAN DRAWS MISSILE RED LINE AS ANALYSTS WARN TEHRAN IS STALLING US TALKS

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‘As I told Iran once before, MAKE A DEAL! They didn’t, and there was ’Operation Midnight Hammer,’ a major destruction of Iran. The next attack will be far worse! Don’t make that happen again,” he warned.

FIRST ON FOX: Conservative lawfare group America First Legal (AFL) has been filing records requests after 15 Democrat-led states and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, D, sued to block President Trump’s executive order banning sex changes for minors, in an attempt to find out whether the harm being alleged in their lawsuit is actually happening. 

Fox News Digital reported last month on how AFL’s more than a dozen records requests to state departments of health were either ignored, or did not include any responsive records documenting the harms the Democratic states’ lawsuit warns stem from the president’s executive order.

One of the states that AFL said ignored its records requests, Connecticut, did subsequently return to them with responsive records. However, according to AFL, the documents provided by Connecticut’s health department continue to lend evidence that the harm being cited in Democrats’ multi-state lawsuit is nonexistent.

“I don’t see any impact to HSS funding or federal grants related to this executive order,” said an email that was among what appeared to be three records that the Connecticut Department of Public Health provided to AFL, plus an additional final page that was entirely redacted.

CALIFORNIA AG SUES HOSPITAL THAT ENDED GENDER TRANSITION TREATMENT FOR MINORS TO COMPLY WITH TRUMP POLICIES

The email came from Elizabeth Frugale, a Section Chief for Health Statistics and Surveillance at the Connecticut public health department, in response to a question from a grants management and budget supervisor, Aaron Knight, inquiring whether President Trump’s executive order on transgender surgeries “adversely impacts any of your Federal grants.” 

Frugale’s response stands in contrast to claims in the lawsuit against the president’s executive order on sex changes, which argued the directive had “immediately” jeopardized federal funding and disrupted public health systems. 

“If Connecticut was not financially impacted by the Executive Order, it should have declined to join a lawsuit,” said Dan Epstein, Vice President of America First Legal. “To challenge, without cause, Executive Order 14187’s assurance that taxpayer dollars are not used for chemical and surgical mutilation of children, forces the courts to adjudicate political grievances, not actual disputes. AFL will continue to expose unfounded attempts to clog the federal courts as part of state lawfare against the Administration.”

MAJOR CONNECTICUT HOSPITALS BEGIN ‘WINDING DOWN’ YOUTH GENDER PROGRAMS CITING ‘EVOLVING LANDSCAPE’

The third record given in response to AFL’s records request was just an employee notice asking folks to review a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) halting Trump’s executive directive on trans surgeries for minors. 

A nationwide preliminary injunction halting Trump’s executive order on transgender surgeries was issued just a few months after it came down.

When asked how plaintiff’s could show proof of harm for a policy measure that has been halted by the courts, Epstein said the plaintiffs in the case still must show “standing” for a court to provide a remedy. He noted that just because the plaintiffs filed their suit early does not mean this responsibility disappears. 

“Because standing is necessary for any federal court to provide a remedy, plaintiffs must plead concrete evidence of harm in their complaint,” Epstein asserted. “Here, plaintiffs’ complaint failed to show an actual, traceable loss tied to the federal action, beyond merely speculative claims of harm or generalized concerns. Filing suit early does not eliminate this requirement to establish standing.”

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AFL’s records requests to all the health departments belonging to states listed in the lawsuit, which was filed on Aug. 1, sought an array of records. Among them were documents showing the states had actually experienced the harms they claimed in their lawsuit, such as evidence of prosecutions or penalties for providers, clinic closures, reduced services and increased medical or mental-health crises for transgender adolescents. 

The group also asked for records showing higher costs for services like counseling, crisis intervention or hospitalizations, worsened mental and physical health outcomes or the states’ inability to meet legal obligations to provide medical care for minors in state custody. AFL asked for any internal communications specifically referencing the executive order and its alleged effects as well.

Only four states — Massachusetts, Illinois, Nevada and Connecticut — have provided any sort of response thus far. Furthermore, the responses that did arrive indicated there were no responsive records relating to AFL’s requests, even though they asked for documents pertaining to precisely what the multi-state lawsuit against Trump’s executive order alleges.  

Trump’s Executive Order 14187 is also being challenged for alleged discrimination in a lawsuit against the Health and Human Services Department led by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Fox News Digital reached out with questions to the Connecticut Attorney General’s Office and the state’s public health department in response to AFL’s allegations, but did not receive a response in time for publication.

Phone records of sitting members of Congress were secretly obtained in a way that blocked lawmakers from invoking constitutional protections, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, alleged Tuesday during a hearing.

Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., who is leading the hearing, signaled that their panel planned to grill hearing witnesses, who included executives from Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile, about the disclosure of the phone data.

Grassley noted in his opening remarks that the three companies received a total of 10 subpoenas for 20 current or former Republican Congress members related to Arctic Frost, the FBI probe that led to Smith bringing charges against President Donald Trump over the 2020 election.

JACK SMITH DENIES POLITICS PLAYED ANY ROLE IN TRUMP PROSECUTIONS AT HOUSE HEARING

Blackburn, in her opening remarks, called the disclosures an “invasion of privacy and violation of our constitutional rights.” Blackburn pointed to the speech or debate clause, which gives Congress members an added layer of protection from prosecution.

“It’s critical that each of these carriers go on the record about the decisions they made and why — or why not — they enabled with Jack Smith’s weaponization of government,” Blackburn said.

The hearing will offer the first public opportunity for Republican committee members, several of whom had a narrow set of their phone data turned over to Smith’s team, to seek answers from each of the phone carriers on how they handled the subpoenas upon receiving them.

Grassley noted that a federal statute said phone carriers cannot be barred from giving notice to a Senate office about a subpoena unless the member is the target of an investigation. He also said Verizon, in particular, was under a contract that required it to notify the Senate Sergeant at Arms about subpoenas related to senators.

The subpoenas were accompanied by court-authorized gag orders, which ordered the phone companies not to alert the senators to the records request. Blackburn, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, are among those on the committee who had their records subpoenaed as part of Arctic Frost.

JACK SMITH TO TESTIFY NEXT WEEK AT A PUBLIC HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE HEARING

While the phone companies come under scrutiny, Grassley also blamed Smith. Smith received the greenlight from DOJ’s Public Integrity Section to seek the senators’ records as part of his investigation, according to emails, but an official from the section also floated that the subpoenas could expose the DOJ to constitutional challenges.

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“Smith and his team irresponsibly steam0rolled ahead while intentionally hiding their activity from Members of Congress. … Smith’s deceitful conduct was a substantial intrusion into the core constitutional activity of constitutional officers,” Grassley said.

Smith, meanwhile, has repeatedly defended the subpoenas, pointing out that they aligned with DOJ policies at the time.

President Donald Trump vowed to impose “very severe consequences” on Russia in 2025 if it didn’t commit to a deal to end its war on Ukraine.

As the war nears its four-year anniversary in late February, national security experts tell Fox News Digital that Russia is facing tangible consequences for the war. Those are through its network of proxy countries that have directly endured the might of the U.S. military and subsequently left Russia with fewer streams of revenue and resources, they say. 

“The president’s moves as it pertains to Russia are really strategic,” Morgan Murphy, who previously served as the senior public diplomacy advisor to the president’s special envoy to Ukraine in 2025, told Fox News Digital. “So if you look at what he’s done with Iran and with Venezuela, these are two Russian proxies, right? Iran is a close ally of Russia.”

“They sell a lot of drones to Russia,” Murphy, who is running as a GOP Senate candidate to represent Alabama, continued. “Venezuela was again a proxy of Russia here in our hemisphere, and Trump is in the process of taking Iran off the table. He’s certainly taken Venezuela off the chessboard, and that that has to change Putin’s calculus, because he sees in President Trump a president who follows what he says he’s going to do.” 

ZELENSKYY ANNOUNCES NEXT ROUND OF TALKS WITH US, RUSSIA AS UKRAINE AIMS FOR ‘REAL AND DIGNIFIED END TO THE WAR

Russia’s war on Ukraine has persisted since Feb. 24, 2022, about a year after Trump’s first administration ended and during President Joe Biden’s presidency. Trump campaigned on ending the war upon his second inauguration in 2025, but ending the war has proven more difficult than anticipated as the U.S. continues negotiations. 

A White House official who spoke to Fox Digital said Trump is driven by humanitarian concerns and wants the conflict ended to stop the needless loss of life. The official added that in recent months his team has made major headway toward a settlement, pointing to Trump’s own remarks that “very good things” are developing between Ukraine and Russia.

According to the official, recent negotiations in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, were substantive and constructive, with U.S., Ukrainian and Russian delegations agreeing to a 314-person prisoner exchange — the first in five months. While more work is ahead, the official argued that breakthroughs like this show sustained diplomacy is producing real, measurable progress toward ending the war.

Trump launched a series of strikes on Iran in June 2025 that hobbled the country’s covert nuclear program. Massive protests swept Iran in December 2025 as citizens spoke out against the government and its cratering economy. 

Iran violently cracked down on the nationwide protests, with thousands of citizens reportedly killed and the Trump administration warning Iran that it would face U.S. military action if the executions and killings continued. 

The U.S. and Iran held discussions in Oman Friday as Tehran, Iran, continues to obscure its nuclear ambitions, with military intervention on the table as the U.S. seeks to prevent Iran from having nuclear weapons capabilities. 

Iran and Russia have grown into a tighter wartime partnership in recent years, with U.S. and allied officials citing Iran’s supply of armed drones and other defense cooperation that has helped power Russia’s attacks in Ukraine — drawing the two heavily sanctioned regimes closer economically and militarily.

Ret. Air Force Gen. Bruce Carlson pointed to the Trump administration’s actions on Iran and Venezuela as evidence of how Trump is strategically pressuring Russia via its proxies to end the war in Ukraine. 

“In any campaign, you don’t just target command centers — you cut supply lines and logistics,” Carlson said. “Pressuring Russian proxies does exactly that. Venezuela, Iran, and the shadow fleet are key arteries feeding Russia’s war in Ukraine. Additionally, by pressing Europe to increase NATO spending and move off Russian oil and gas, we are directly altering Moscow’s decision-making.”

WITKOFF SAYS TALKS WITH RUSSIAN ENVOY WERE ‘PRODUCTIVE AND CONSTRUCTIVE’ AMID TRUMP ADMIN’S PEACE PUSH

Carlson argued that, strategically, the trend lines are moving against Moscow as the U.S. ramps up pressure on Russia’s partners — leaving Putin with fewer backers, tighter resources and less flexibility, and undermining any assumption that dragging out the war comes without a cost. 

The retired Air Force general added that Putin and his proxies operate as a single ecosystem: Russia’s campaign relies on outside suppliers and sanctions-busting networks, so hitting any link in that chain can weaken Russia’s revenue and its ability to sustain attacks on Ukrainian civilians.

“But ensuring a lasting and fair peace is not solely about pressuring Russia. As the cold winter continues in Ukraine, there are increasing concerns on Ukraine’s energy needs and air defense systems. U.S. and European support remain vital,” he added. 

UKRAINE RACES TO BOLSTER AIR DEFENSES AS PUTIN’S STRIKE PAUSE NEARS END

As tensions with Iran heighten, the Trump administration successfully captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro on sweeping narco-trafficking charges in January. 

Venezuela is another Russian ally, publicly backing Moscow and maintaining high-level diplomatic ties, while giving Russia a Western Hemisphere foothold through military-technical cooperation and deep dependence on Russian arms — a relationship that has triggered U.S. sanctions actions tied to Venezuela’s oil sector and Russian-linked firms.

“The removal of Maduro stripped Moscow of a key client in our hemisphere, and the increased pressure on Iran threatens the weapons and drone supply chain that Russia uses against Ukrainian civilians,” Carrie Filipetti, executive director of foreign policy group the Vandenberg Coalition, told Fox News Digital. “This is how we have to change Putin’s long-term calculus.”

TRUMP SAYS PUTIN AGREED TO HALT KYIV STRIKES FOR ONE WEEK AMID BRUTAL COLD

“For the first time, the United States has used the power of American diplomacy to bring Ukraine and Russia into trilateral diplomatic talks,” Filipetti added. “Combined with the threat of additional sanctions reliance and increased pressure on the countries that buy Russian energy, these steps are critical to shaking Russia’s assumption that time is on its side.” 

Ret. Air Force Lt. Gen. Richard Newton told Fox News Digital that when Trump warned Russia of severe consequences in 2025 if Moscow did not end the war, the threat was followed by tangible consequences that reverberated through the Kremlin. 

“Deterrence and leverage requires our adversaries (to) believe we will act,” Newton said. “President Trump is doing just that by disrupting the systems that fund and sustain Putin’s war. The capture of Maduro and the just announced trade deal with India’s Prime Minister Modi — that forces India off of Russian oil — is a major blow to Russia’s war machine.”

The White House said in February that it struck with India to increase U.S. energy imports and stop buying Russian oil. The U.S. tops the world in daily oil production, with Saudi Arabia and Russia following behind. 

Filipetti argued that peace in Ukraine is only obtained by forcing Russia to face “real consequences.”

“Vladimir Putin is responsible for a war of aggression marked by atrocities against Ukrainian civilians, and any lasting peace must impose real consequences on Russia itself. And weakening Russia’s proxies and isolating Putin is one of the most effective ways to reduce his ability to wage war,” Filipetti said.

“When it comes to China, North Korea, and Iran — without question these authoritarians are facing a very different calculus than just a few months ago,” she said. 

RUSSIA, UKRAINE TO DISCUSS TERRITORY AS TRUMP SAYS BOTH SIDES ‘WANT TO MAKE A DEAL’

While Newton pointed to a shadow-fleet sanctions package and another sanctions package that are moving through Congress, along with higher NATO spending and a tougher allied military posture, as key pressure points he says could help drive a peace deal.

Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham is promoting a sweeping Russia sanctions bill that would tighten the screws on Moscow by punishing countries and companies that keep buying Russian energy with secondary sanctions and tariffs, while a separate bipartisan “shadow fleet” package would target the tankers, insurers and shell networks Russia uses to move oil and evade sanctions.

Murphy argued that Trump already has sketched what he sees as a realistic off-ramp for Moscow — one he says even some Democrats would recognize as the best deal Putin is likely to get — including restoring Russia’s seat at the top diplomatic table, reopening some Western commercial access, and acknowledging Russia’s current occupation of Ukrainian territory without formally recognizing sovereignty. 

ZELENSKYY HOLDING UP RUSSIA-UKRAINE PEACE PROCESS, TRUMP SAYS

Murphy likened that offer to a “golden bridge” for Putin to exit the war, but said the Kremlin has so far declined it, making the next move ultimately Russia’s choice — and raising the question of how many more casualties Moscow is willing to absorb with no clear endpoint in sight.

The war underscores a Russian worldview U.S. negotiators often misread through a Western lens, Murphy said, explaining Russia is shaped by catastrophic losses in World War I and World War II and a deep-seated suspicion that invasion is a recurring threat. He said that unpredictability is why the U.S. military has long used the “Crazy Ivan” moniker for Russian behavior. 

Trump is meanwhile putting himself in the Russians’ shoes, Murphy argued, and meeting the moment with a clearer-eyed read of Moscow’s mindset and history. 

“It is a decision that the Russians are going to have to make. How many more lives do they want to feed into this meat grinder? How many more deaths are they willing to endure?” Murphy said. 

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters in February that the U.S. set a June deadline for Moscow and Kyiv to strike an agreement to end the war, teeing up heightened tensions ahead of the U.S. midterms in November. 

President Donald Trump‘s administration is poised to walk back an Obama-era greenhouse gas finding that serves as a lynchpin for justifying climate regulations across the country on Wednesday.

The 2009 “endangerment finding” identifies six greenhouse gases that the Obama administration said pose “a threat to public health and welfare.” That harm finding was then used to justify sweeping climate regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), such as raising fuel economy standards and limiting power plant emissions, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin hailed the move as cutting through government red tape in an interview with the Journal.

“This amounts to the largest act of deregulation in the history of the United States,” Zeldin said.

DEMS ACCUSE EPA OF TRYING TO KILL GREENHOUSE GAS REPORTING PROGRAM THAT AIDS CAP-AND-TRADE

The Journal reports that the final rule will be made public later this week and is set to eliminate requirements to measure, report, certify and comply with federal greenhouse-gas emission standards for motor vehicles. The rollback does not yet affect power plants or oil and gas facilities.

“More energy drives human flourishing,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told the outlet. “Energy abundance is the thing that we have to focus on, not regulating certain forms of energy out.”

Trump is reportedly expected to hold an event at the White House on Wednesday with Zeldin and Energy Secretary Chris Wright. There they will announce a new initiative for the Department of War to purchase electricity from coal-powered plants.

SNOWSTORM COULD’VE SPARKED GRID CATASTROPHE IF BIDEN CLIMATE POLICIES WEREN’T REVERSED: ENERGY DEPT

The Washington Coal Club is also set to name Trump the “Undisputed Champion of Coal” during the event, according to the Journal.

Trump has been consistently critical of global warming claims and climate regulation throughout both of his terms in office, famously withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement when he first took office in 2017.

Trump more recently used the wall of winter storms across the U.S. as a talking point against “climate insurrectionists.”

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“Record Cold Wave expected to hit 40 States. Rarely seen anything like it before,” Trump wrote on social media last month. “Could the Environmental Insurrectionists please explain — WHATEVER HAPPENED TO GLOBAL WARMING???”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his country would not negotiate on its ballistic missile program, rejecting a core U.S. demand and further dimming prospects for a breakthrough deal.

He again warned in an interview with Al Jazeera that Tehran, Iran, would target U.S. bases in the Middle East if provoked, calling Iran’s missile program “never negotiable.”

The warnings came as U.S. and Iranian negotiators met in early February in Oman, even as Washington continued to build up military forces across the region — a posture U.S. officials say is meant to deter further escalation but which analysts argue also underscores how far apart the two sides remain.

Despite the imbalance in military power, analysts say Iran believes it can withstand U.S. pressure by signaling greater resolve — and by betting that Washington’s appetite for war is limited.

TRUMP SAYS IRAN ALREADY HAS US TERMS AS MILITARY STRIKE CLOCK TICKS

While the U.S. possesses overwhelming military capabilities, Defense Priorities analyst Rosemary Kelanic said Iran is relying on the logic of asymmetric conflict.

“One country is much stronger, but the weaker country cares more,” Kelanic said. “And historically, the country that cares more often wins by outlasting the stronger one.”

“Iran is trying to signal resolve as strongly as it can, but it likely doubts U.S. resolve — because from Tehran’s perspective, the stakes for Iran are existential, while the stakes for the United States are not,” she added.

IRAN’S PRESIDENT STRIKES SOFTER TONE ON NUCLEAR TALKS AFTER TRUMP’S WARNING THAT ‘BAD THINGS WOULD HAPPEN’

Behnam Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said Tehran’s primary leverage is its ability to threaten wider regional instability, even if it cannot win a prolonged conflict.

“The Islamic Republic’s leverage is the threat of a region-wide war,” Taleblu said, noting that while U.S. and Israeli defenses could intercept most attacks, “something will get hit.”

Iran buying time

Analysts across the spectrum agree that Iran is using negotiations less as a path to compromise than as a way to delay decisive action.

Oren Kessler, analyst at global consulting firm Wikistrat, said Iran is using talks to stabilize its position internally while avoiding concessions on core security issues.

“Both sides want a deal, but their red lines are very hard for the other side to overcome,” Kesler said. “The talks are going well in the sense that they’re happening, but they’re not really going anywhere.”

Taleblu echoed that assessment, arguing that Tehran is treating diplomacy as a shield rather than a solution.

“The regime is treating negotiations as a lifeline rather than a way to resolve the core problem,” he said.

Taleblu added that Iran’s leadership sees talks as a way to deter a strike in the short term, weaken domestic opposition in the medium term, and eventually secure sanctions relief to stabilize its economy.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has insisted that limits on Iran’s ballistic missiles must be part of any agreement to avoid military action.

“At the end of the day, the United States is prepared to engage, and has always been prepared to engage with Iran,” Rubio said in early February. “In order for talks to actually lead to something meaningful, they will have to include certain things, and that includes the range of their ballistic missiles. That includes their sponsorship of terrorist organizations across the region. That includes the nuclear program. And that includes the treatment of their own people.”

Anti-government protests beginning at the start of 2026 led to a brutal crackdown in Iran. The regime has admitted to 3,117 deaths linked to the demonstrations, though human rights groups and Iranian resistance organizations peg the death toll as much higher. 

The U.S. also has demanded that Iran give up all enriched uranium stockpiles, which can be used for civilian energy at low levels but for nuclear weapons at higher concentrations.

Araghchi told Al Jazeera that Iran is willing to negotiate on nuclear issues but insisted enrichment is an “inalienable right” that “must continue.”

“We are ready to reach a reassuring agreement on enrichment,” he said. “The Iranian nuclear case will only be resolved through negotiations.”

Iran’s atomic chief said Monday that Tehran would consider diluting its 60% enriched uranium — a level close to weapons-grade — but only in exchange for the lifting of all sanctions.

As negotiations unfolded, the U.S. continued to expand its military footprint in the Middle East.

In late January, the U.S. dispatched a carrier strike group centered on the USS Abraham Lincoln to the North Arabian Sea, accompanied by multiple destroyers and other naval assets. Additional F-15E strike aircraft and air defense systems have also been repositioned at bases across the region, alongside thousands of U.S. troops.

Taleblu said the administration may be using diplomacy to buy time of its own.

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“The charitable interpretation is that the president is buying time — moving assets, strengthening missile defense, and preparing military options,” he said. “The less charitable interpretation is that the United States is taking Iran’s threats as highly credible and still chasing the optics of a deal.”

In 2025, five rounds of talks similarly stalled over U.S. demands that Iran abandon enrichment entirely — talks that ultimately collapsed into Operation Midnight Hammer, a U.S.-led bombing campaign against Iranian nuclear facilities.

The Senate is scrambling to avoid a third government shutdown under President Donald Trump, and after negotiations seemingly appeared to hit a brick wall, lawmakers are cautiously optimistic that a deal could be made. 

Senate Republicans received Senate Democrats’ “partisan wishlist” of demands over the weekend, sources familiar with negotiations told Fox News Digital. The White House sent over its own counter-proposal, but several lawmakers weren’t clear what was in package as of Monday night. 

Some, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., wouldn’t say, but noted that congressional Democrats and the White House were “trading papers,” and signaled that the back and forth activity was a good sign of negotiations moving forward. 

But lawmakers aren’t out of the woods yet, a reality that Thune warned of since Senate Democrats demanded a two-week funding extension for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Congress has until Friday to avert a shutdown and little time to actually move a short-term patch from one side of the building to the other. 

REPUBLICANS WARN DEMOCRATS’ ICE REFORM PUSH IS COVER TO DEFUND BORDER ENFORCEMENT

Republicans are mulling another short-term extension, known as a continuing resolution (CR), to avert a partial shutdown. Thune said whether Democrats would sign off depended on how well background negotiations were going, but hinted that so far, things were moving toward a solution. 

“I think, based on what I’m familiar with about the discussion so far, I think there is, but we’ll know more when the proposal comes back,” Thune said. “Let’s have a chance to evaluate it.” 

Thune later said that he planned to tee up another CR on Tuesday, but noted that the length would “have to be negotiated. But let’s see what the next day brings and we’ll go from there.”

Democrats’ prime objective is reining in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), following the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good. 

The proposal they submitted included items that are a bridge too far for Republicans, including requiring ICE agents to get judicial warrants, de-mask and have identification ready — some in the GOP warn doing so would lead to more agents being doxxed, or when a person’s private information is made public, like their address. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., warned that the “clock is ticking” for Republicans to respond. 

SHUTDOWN AVERTED FOR NOW, BUT SENATE WARNS DHS FIGHT COULD TRIGGER ANOTHER IN DAYS

“We have sent you our proposals, and they are exceedingly reasonable,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “I hope our colleagues on the other side, many of whom, at least here in the Senate, recognize that things need to change, show they’re ready to act in a meaningful way.”

Prior to Democrats finally handing over the legislative version of their demands on Saturday, Republicans publicly questioned if they actually wanted to have serious negotiations. That changed over the weekend. 

A White House official told Fox News that “President Trump has been consistent, he wants the government open and the Administration has been working with both parties to ensure the American people don’t have to endure another drawn-out, senseless, and hurtful shutdown.”

Meanwhile, the scope and scale of a possible third closure would be limited to just the DHS, but would really only have an effect on FEMA, TSA, the Coast Guard and other priorities under the agency’s umbrella. That’s because ICE and immigration operations are flush with billions from Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.” 

“To say that the security of Americans is not paramount, I think, would be a huge mistake for the Democrats, and I certainly hope that they’ll continue to operate in good faith,” Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., and the chair of the Homeland Security spending panel, said.

“Because you do realize, ICE and [Customs and Border Patrol] would continue to be funded,” she continued. 

SCHUMER, JEFFRIES MEND RIFT, PRESENT UNITED FRONT ON DHS REFORMS AS DEADLINE NEARS

Things are also about to get complicated quickly in the upper chamber. Lawmakers are set to leave Washington, D.C., for a weeklong recess this Thursday, and many are headed overseas to the Munich Security Conference. 

That starts on the day of the deadline and lasts through the weekend. Thune warned that it was possible he would cancel the upcoming recess, especially if there was little progress toward avoiding a DHS shutdown. 

Still, Senate Democrats believe that the ball is in the GOP’s court and are waiting for their counterparts to act. 

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“I mean, I think they’re pretty reasonable,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and the top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations panel, said.

“I mean, we did not ask for the moon,” he continued. “We asked for targeted but impactful changes in the way that ICE is terrorizing American cities. So obviously we’re willing to negotiate.”

FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Labor’s top lawyer ordered staff on Monday to stop engaging with the American Bar Association in their official capacities, saying the organization partakes in liberal activism and that any federal participation would only boost its influence.

Trump-appointed Solicitor Jonathan Berry wrote in an email that the hundreds of attorneys at the Department of Labor are not to use taxpayer funds to participate in any ABA events or use their government job titles at them, according to a copy of the email reviewed by Fox News Digital.

“The ABA is strategically equivocal about its ideological stance,” Berry wrote. “Equivocal in that the ABA holds itself out as non-ideological at certain times, but takes decidedly radical ideological positions at others.”

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TELLS AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION IT WILL NO LONGER COMPLY WITH RATINGS FOR JUDICIAL NOMINEES

His email marks the latest step in the Trump administration’s effort to weaken the ABA, the nation’s largest association of lawyers and other legal personnel. 

The Department of Justice implemented a similar policy last year and terminated more than $3 million in federal grants to ABA programs before a judge found that ending the funds was unconstitutional. The Federal Trade Commission likewise severed its ties with the ABA’s antitrust arm, saying it “promotes the business interests of Big Tech.”

Republicans have long argued the ABA promotes Democrat-aligned viewpoints and that its institutional presence in the legal world is a disadvantage to conservatives. The ABA’s website touts that it is the “national voice of the legal profession” and showcases work that includes support for “LGBTQ+” initiatives, abortion access, stricter gun control measures, and diversity, equity and inclusion.

The ABA has also taken a stance against President Donald Trump, condemning what its president described as the administration’s “wide-scale affronts to the rule of law.”

The ABA wields enormous power, weighing in on nominations of federal judges, engaging in litigation and involving itself in the hiring processes across the legal industry. One arm of the ABA also handles law school accreditation.

In a reversal of a decades-long practice, Attorney General Pam Bondi told the ABA last year that the DOJ would not give the association a heads up on judicial nominees before they are announced, stripping the ABA of the ability to rate the nominees in advance.

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Berry wrote in his email to staff that the Labor Department lawyers’ participation in the ABA would only serve to endorse what he viewed as an institutional problem.

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“There is genuine benefit to our attorneys engaging with the employer bar in ABA programs, but the benefit genuinely feeds the problem too: Our participation in ‘neutral’ ABA events contributes to institutional stature the ABA leverages to advance radical goals as if they were ‘neutral,’” Berry wrote. “No more.”

The ABA declined to comment.

English is now the only language in which people can take driver’s license tests in the Sunshine State.

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles announced last month that the change to English as the only language for the tests would start Feb. 6.

“Previously, knowledge exams for most non-commercial driver license classifications were offered in multiple languages, while Commercial Learner’s Permit (CLP) and Commercial Driver License (CDL) knowledge exams were only available in English and Spanish,” the department explained in a Jan. 30 press release. “Under the updated policy, all driver license knowledge and skills testing will be conducted in English.”

OVER 5,000 COLD-STUNNED IGUANAS REMOVED IN TWO DAYS DURING STATE’S RECORD FREEZE

“To implement this change, FLHSMV has updated its driver license testing system statewide. Language translation services will no longer be permitted for knowledge or skills examinations, and any printed exams in languages other than English will be removed for use,” the department explained.

Gov. Ron DeSantis hailed the move.

DESANTIS CELEBRATES END OF ‘WITCH HUNT’ AFTER TRUMP DOJ REPORTEDLY DROPS HOPE FLORIDA FOUNDATION COMPLAINT

“Good reform by @FLHSMV to require driver exams be conducted only in English. Need to be able to read the road signs!” the governor declared in a Jan. 31 post on X.

Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, a Republican who launched a gubernatorial bid last month, also expressed support for the move.

CONSERVATIVE FIREBRAND VOWS TO PURGE ‘RINOS’ IN BATTLE TO REPLACE RETIRING VERN BUCHANAN IN OPEN FLORIDA SEAT

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“Thank you to FLHSMV for taking a commonsense step to strengthen highway safety. Ensuring drivers can understand road signs, instructions, and safety commands in English helps keep everyone on our roads safer,” Collins wrote in a Jan. 30 post on X.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Sen. Amy Klobuchar introduced a bipartisan measure to crack down on money laundering by increasing penalties and ensuring laws apply to systems used by drug traffickers and terrorists.

Grassley, R-Iowa, and Klobuchar, D-Minn., introduced the “Combating Money Laundering, Terrorist Finance and Counterfeiting Act” Friday to enhance criminal money laundering statutes.

ALLEGED SINALOA CARTEL FENTANYL PRODUCER CHARGED IN NEWLY UNSEALED US FEDERAL INDICTMENT

The bill would update counterfeiting laws to prohibit state-of-the-art counterfeiting methods and increase penalties for bulk cash smuggling.

The bill would also ensure money laundering laws apply to informal value transfer systems that are often used by drug traffickers and terrorists.

The introduction of the bill comes as Trump administration officials warn that hostile actors, like cartels and terrorists, are funding operations through complex financial channels across the U.S. border. 

Grassley and Klobuchar also said the bill would prohibit the cross-border shipment of blank checks for the purpose of evading reporting requirements.

“Criminal enterprises and terrorist organizations depend on ill-begotten cash to carry out their dark deeds. As money laundering methods have evolved over time, so must the government’s efforts to exact justice,” Grassley said, adding that their bill would ensure law enforcement “has the tools they need to track down dirty money, hold criminals accountable and prevent further crimes.”

Klobuchar added that as criminals and terrorist organizations “develop new methods to launder money, we must provide our law enforcement with the tools they need to keep American communities safe.”

FBI BUSTS ALLEGED MADURO-LINKED MONEY LAUNDERING NETWORK SPANNING MULTIPLE NATIONS

“This bipartisan legislation makes necessary updates to anti-money laundering statutes and counterfeiting laws, ensuring the law enforcement community can stay one step ahead of those working to undermine our nation’s safety and security,” she said.

The bill also would establish a new money laundering violation that would prohibit the transfer of funds into or out of the United States — funds specifically being transferred with the intent to violate U.S. income tax laws.

The bill would also prohibit conspiracies to create illegal money services businesses; grant wiretapping authority to investigate currency reporting, bulk cash smuggling, illegal money services businesses and counterfeiting offenses; and grant the U.S. Secret Service the explicit authority to investigate ransomware crimes and other uses of unlicensed money transmitting; and would ensure compliance with financial institutions. 

The measure has wide support in the law enforcement community and has been endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police, the National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys, the National Association of Police Organizations and the National District Attorneys Association.

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“By clarifying the law in response to recent court decisions, strengthening penalties and expanding investigative authorities, this legislation will restore critical law enforcement tools and help disrupt transnational criminal organizations,” Patrick Yoes, president of the Fraternal Order of Police said, adding that the organization “strongly supports this bill, which would prevent criminals and terrorists from profiting from their crimes and protect public safety and national security.”

The National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys also endorsed the bill saying the “targeted reforms will strengthen investigations, improve prosecutorial clarity and better reflect how modern money-laundering schemes actually operate.”

The U.S. urged China to reverse what Secretary of State Marco Rubio called an “unjust and tragic” sentence against Hong Kong publisher and democracy activist Jimmy Lai, after Beijing-backed courts handed the 78-year-old a 20-year prison term under the national security law. 

“The conviction shows the world that Beijing will go to extraordinary lengths to silence those who advocate fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong,” Rubio said in a statement. “The United States urges the authorities to grant Mr. Lai humanitarian parole.”

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) used Hong Kong’s courts to sentence Lai on Monday, cementing one of the most consequential national security cases since Beijing imposed a sweeping new law in the wake of months-long anti-CCP protests.

Lai, a billionaire media entrepreneur, founded the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper in 1995, once Hong Kong’s most outspoken pro-democracy publication. He is among the highest-profile figures arrested under the 2020 National Security Law Beijing imposed following the unrest.

The protests, sparked by fears Beijing was eroding Hong Kong’s promised autonomy, were followed by a sweeping security crackdown that criminalized dissent and reshaped the city’s legal system.

MARCO RUBIO VOICES CONCERN THAT AMERICANS MAY SOMEDAY BE ARRESTED FOR SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS WHEN VISITING EUROPE

The sentence also puts renewed pressure on President Donald Trump, who has previously spoken out about Lai’s detention and is expected to travel to Beijing in April amid broader negotiations with China. 

Human rights advocates and some lawmakers have urged Trump to raise Lai’s case directly with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, warning that silence would be read in Beijing as acquiescence.

Trump said in December 2025 that he had personally urged Xi to release Lai. 

“I spoke to President Xi about it, and I asked to consider his release,” Trump said. “He’s not well, he’s an older man, and he’s not well, so I did put that request out. We’ll see what happens.”

Hong Kong authorities convicted Lai of two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, a national security offense under the Beijing-imposed law. Prosecutors argued that Lai and his co-defendants used his media platform and international network to lobby for sanctions, blockades or other hostile actions by foreign governments against China and Hong Kong — actions the court said threatened national security. 

Judges labeled Lai the “mastermind” of the alleged plots.

RUBIO SAYS COMMITMENT TO TAIWAN WON’T CHANGE AMID TRADE TALKS WITH CHINA

Lai also was convicted of conspiracy to publish seditious materials under a separate provision of Hong Kong’s colonial-era Crimes Ordinance, applied in conjunction with the national security regime. Prosecutors cited hundreds of Apple Daily articles they said were designed to “incite public hatred or contempt” against authorities. 

Lai and his defense team rejected that characterization as criminalizing expression.

Sebastian Lai, the publisher’s son, said the sentence effectively amounts to a life term given his father’s age and deteriorating health.

“Twenty years, he’s 78 years old now. This is essentially a life sentence — or more like a death sentence, given the conditions he’s being kept in,” Sebastian Lai told Fox Monday. 

He said his father has lost significant weight in detention and now suffers from heart issues and diabetes, adding, “We’re incredibly worried about his life.”

Sebastian Lai said his father, a Catholic, remains “a man of deep faith” despite years in detention, believing “no matter how hard the conditions he was under, that he still did the right thing.”

He also recalled that his father declined multiple opportunities to leave Hong Kong before his arrest, choosing instead to stay rather than abandon his principles or colleagues.

The younger Lai said his father’s case should serve as a warning for Taiwan, arguing that Beijing’s promise of autonomy under a “one country, two systems” model in Hong Kong has revealed how tightly mainland China ultimately controls the territory.

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Lai already has spent more than five years in prison, serving a separate sentence for a fraud conviction and for organizing unauthorized assemblies during the protests.

His defense has argued the case criminalized political speech and journalism rather than genuine national security threats. They say Lai’s calls for international pressure on Beijing amounted to lawful advocacy and that meetings with U.S. officials and media appearances were routine for a prominent publisher and democracy advocate, not evidence of conspiracy.

The House of Representatives passed a bill aimed at making it easier for everyday Americans to purchase a home, an issue that’s become a cornerstone of the affordability crisis plaguing much of the United States.

The legislation, which passed with a 390-9 vote, is a rare show of bipartisanship in an increasingly polarized Congress, having gotten a significant amount of support from both Republicans and Democrats.

Housing affordability is also an issue that President Donald Trump has promised to tackle during his second term in office. 

Last month, he signed an executive order making it harder for large investment firms to buy single-family homes that could otherwise be purchased by American families, and his One Big Beautiful Bill Act also included tax incentives aimed at development in economically distressed communities.

TRUMP SIGNS NEW LAW HELPING VETERANS AVOID FORECLOSURE WITH PARTIAL CLAIMS PAYMENT PROGRAM

The legislation that passed on Monday is a wide-ranging bill with various measures aimed at growing the supply of affordable housing in the U.S., including incentivizing the construction of multifamily homes, taller buildings on smaller lots, and less restrictive permitting processes in state and local jurisdictions.

The streamlining would include establishing a new pilot program under the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to award grants for creating “pattern books” of pre-approved housing designs that are already compliant with local building codes.

Parts of the bill are chiefly aimed at expanding “missing middle” housing, which is the range between single-family homes and larger apartment buildings.

I TRIED FOR YEARS TO BUY A HOME. WALL STREET ALWAYS BEAT ME — TRUMP MADE THE RIGHT CALL

The measures are primarily aiding first-time home buyers as well as lower-income Americans, and housing developers focused on small and mid-sized housing rather than larger luxury construction.

Multiple public surveys released in recent months have found that Americans have a strong desire for more affordable housing. One poll shared by the site Affordable Housing Finance found that more than 60% of people surveyed supported increasing missing middle housing.

The bill was also pushed by lawmakers across the political spectrum. Its two main leaders in the House were House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill, R-Ark., a longtime Republican congressman, and progressive stalwart Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the committee.

Another proponent of the bill, Main Street Caucus Chairman Brian Flood, R-Neb., hailed it as “landmark legislation.”

PRO-TRUMP GROUP UNLEASHES BLUEPRINT FOR CRUCIAL HOUSING INITIATIVE FEATURING TOP MAGA INFLUENCER

“It doesn’t matter if you’re in a blue city or a red city, whether you’re a Habitat for Humanity in Omaha or, you know, a housing developer in Birmingham, Alabama, these issues aren’t partisan,” Flood told reporters on Monday. “In order to solve the housing crisis, we have to be able to remove a lot of the barriers.”

Hill told reporters that the legislation did not get in the way of areas that had an oversupply of housing, either.

“If there’s not a demand for housing, this doesn’t get in the way of that. I mean, this requires a bank to be willing to lend a community development program to say that we should spend these dollars to build housing. And if there is a surplus of housing and pricing is affordable, then there wouldn’t be that market signal that says we need new housing,” Hill said.

It comes as affordability appears to be an increasingly important topic in the coming November midterm elections.

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Other supporters of the legislation include Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., and Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., the latter of which championed a bill whose core tenets got folded into the final piece.

“If House Republicans and Democrats can agree on this package to increase housing supply and lower prices across the nation, the Senate should be able to swiftly send it to the president’s desk,” Stutzman told Fox News Digital. “Our constituents need the relief this bill offers.”

Stutzman introduced a bill in September of last year aimed at streamlining the environmental review process for new rural housing projects.

The bill now heads to the Senate, where it must pass with bipartisan support before getting to Trump’s desk for his signature.

President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to prevent the opening of a bridge that will connect Michigan and Canada unless Ottawa negotiates with Washington on tariffs and the exclusion of American products. 

In a lengthy post on Truth Social, Trump accused Canada of taking advantage of the United States with unfair trade practices and cozying up to China. 

In an effort to bring Canada to the negotiating table, Trump said he would not allow the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, which is named after the legendary Canadian ice hockey player who played for the Detroit Red Wings. The bridge, which is currently under construction, will connect Detroit and Windsor, Ontario. 

“I will not allow this bridge to open until the United States is fully compensated for everything we have given them, and also, importantly, Canada treats the United States with the Fairness and Respect that we deserve,” Trump wrote. 

CANADIAN PM CARNEY FIRES BACK AT TRUMP OVER CLAIM THAT ‘CANADA LIVES BECAUSE OF THE UNITED STATES’

“We will start negotiations, IMMEDIATELY. With all that we have given them, we should own, perhaps, at least one half of this asset,” he added. 

He cited the removal of U.S. alcohol products from Canadian liquor store shelves in Ontario.

Trump has previously accused Canada of taking advantage of U.S. trade policies. In his post, Trump said Canada has moved forward with building the bridge with “virtually no U.S. content.” 

TRUMP CHALLENGES CARNEY AT DAVOS, ASSERTS CANADA SHOULD BE ‘GRATEFUL’ FOR GOLDEN DOME MISSILE DEFENSE

He blamed former President Barack Obama for “stupidly” giving Canada a waiver so they could get around the Buy American Act, which mandates federal agencies purchase materials that are manufactured in the U.S. and made mostly from U.S.-produced components.

Trump accused Canada of not using American products, including steel. 

“Now, the Canadian Government expects me, as President of the United States, to PERMIT them to just ‘take advantage of America!’ What does the United States of America get — Absolutely NOTHING!” he wrote. “Ontario won’t even put U.S. spirits, beverages, and other alcoholic products, on their shelves, they are absolutely prohibited from doing so and now, on top of everything else, Prime Minister Carney wants to make a deal with China — which will eat Canada alive. We’ll just get the leftovers! I don’t think so.”

By cozying up to China, Canada would be risking its national sport: ice hockey, Trump said. 

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“The first thing China will do is terminate ALL Ice Hockey being played in Canada, and permanently eliminate The Stanley Cup,” he said. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C. 

The House of Representatives’ top Democrat claimed Republicans’ election security bill was tantamount to “voter suppression” on Monday.

House Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., criticized the House GOP-led SAVE America Act during his weekly press conference ahead of an expected vote on the bill coming as early as Wednesday.

“Republicans have adopted voter suppression as an electoral strategy. That’s what the so-called SAVE Act is all about,” Jeffries said.

He said the bill getting a vote this week is “worse than” a previous iteration simply called the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which passed the House in April 2025 with support from all Republicans and four Democrats.

SCHUMER NUKES GOP PUSH FOR ‘JIM CROW-ERA’ VOTER ID LAWS IN TRUMP-BACKED SHUTDOWN PACKAGE

The main thrust of the SAVE Act was implementing a new proof of citizenship requirement in the voter registration process in all 50 states.

The new bill, led by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, would also create a federal voter ID standard at the polls, requiring people to show a form of identification when casting a ballot in national elections.

Jeffries also pointed to a provision that would require information-sharing between state election officials and federal authorities in verifying citizenship on current voter rolls, accusing Republicans of trying to give Americans’ data to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

SCHUMER FACES BACKLASH AFTER CALLING SAVE ACT ‘JIM CROW’ DESPITE PREVIOUS ALLEGATION FALLING FLAT

“This version, as I understand it, will actually give [the Department of Homeland Security] the power to get voting records from states across the country. Why would these extremists think that’s a good idea?” Jeffries said.

“Who’d want DHS and ICE, who have been brutally, viciously and violently targeting everyday Americans, to have more data about the American people? It’s outrageous. Something is really wrong with these folks. I think they’re trying to lose elections at this point.”

There is no validated evidence to date that non-citizen voting has swayed the results of any federal election.

But Republicans have argued that the influx of illegal immigrants under the Biden administration has made the problem a real possibility in coming elections.

Nevertheless, voter ID provisions have proven popular in multiple public surveys.

A Pew Research Center poll released in August 2025 showed a whopping 83% of people supported government-issued photo ID requirements for showing up to vote, compared to just 16% of people who disapproved of it.

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Jeffries also said the bill would die in the Senate, where at least some Democrats are needed under current rules to overcome a filibuster and advance the legislation.

“It’s not going to pass. If it squeaks by the House, it’s dead on arrival in the Senate. They’re wasting time,” he said.

The real possibility of the bill failing in the Senate is why a group of House conservatives are pushing for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., to upend the chamber’s rules on the filibuster to get rid of the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome one. Thune has not committed to any route.

FIRST ON FOX: A spokesperson for the Trump Department of Homeland Security told Fox News Digital that despite ICE being “demonized” at the Super Bowl, agents continued to carry out operations, arresting pedophiles, murderers and rapists over the weekend.

President Donald Trump and many conservatives took issue with the Super Bowl, especially the halftime show, which featured Latin trap artist Bad Bunny. The performer, whose real name is Benito Ocasio, has been highly critical of ICE and even cursed at agents in a video posted to social media.

DHS said that “while ICE law enforcement officers were demonized at the Super Bowl, our officers were risking their lives to arrest public safety threats from American neighborhoods.”

Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital that “despite smears from Hollywood, ICE is making our country safer every single day.”

BAD BUNNY’S SUPER BOWL HALFTIME SHOW IGNITES TRUMP’S FURY, DIVIDES VIEWERS

“While ICE law enforcement was being demonized at the Super Bowl, the heroic men and women of ICE continued risking their lives to arrest criminal illegal alien murderers, pedophiles and rapists from our communities,” said McLaughlin.

According to DHS, among those arrested over Super Bowl weekend was Mario Rosales-Figueroa, an illegal alien from Mexico, who was arrested a few hours from the stadium in Visalia, California. The agency said Rosales-Figueroa was convicted of sex with a minor.

A few hours further away, DHS said that agents arrested Salvadoran illegal Luis Edenilson Ortiz-Lopez in Las Vegas. According to the agency, he was convicted of gross or open lewdness. Also in Nevada, ICE arrested Guillermo Arturo Ramirez-Londono, a Colombian illegal who is convicted of two counts of sexual assault on a minor under 14 years old in Lyon County.

In New York, ICE arrested Rudy Roa-Fuentes, an illegal from the Dominican Republic who was convicted of murder, and Anderson Mejia-Bonilla, from El Salvador, who was convicted of rape.

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Not far from New York, ICE arrested Guatemalan national Eduardo Ramos-Domingo, who was convicted of aggravated assault, attempts to cause or cause bodily injury with a deadly weapon in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.  

In Wake County, North Carolina, ICE arrested Darwin Sorto-Pineda, from El Salvador, who was convicted of driving while impaired and assault on a government official.

In the Midwest, ICE arrested Wilson Perez-Guzman, from Guatemala, who was convicted for statutory sodomy/attempted statutory sodomy in Bridgeton, Missouri, and Tung Huy Nguyen, from Vietnam, who was convicted for gross sexual imposition in Steubenville, Ohio.

In the South, ICE arrested Mexican illegal Gustavo Alvarado-Sanchez, who is convicted for kidnapping and assault in Hidalgo, Texas, and Cuban illegal Carlos Manuel Legra-Ramirez, who is convicted for aggravated alien smuggling in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.

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While accepting an award for Best Música Urbana Album at the recent Grammys, Bad Bunny remarked “ICE out,” adding,”We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens — we are humans, and we are Americans.” 

The Independent reported last June that Bad Bunny blasted ICE in a clip posted to Instagram in which he called agents “motherf—ers” and “sons of b—-es.”

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According to McLaughlin, 70 percent of ICE arrests are of illegal aliens charged or convicted of a crime in the U.S. She said this statistic “doesn’t even include foreign fugitives, terrorists, and gang members who lack a rap sheet in the U.S.”

She added that “this heated rhetoric about ICE law enforcement is leading to our officers facing a more than 1,300% increase in assaults against them.”

EXCLUSIVE: Turning Point Action, the political arm of the late Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA, has endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in his bid to unseat longtime incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, in a race that could determine whether the GOP maintains its Senate majority.

Turning Point’s endorsement of Paxton is the fourth such endorsement of a Senate candidate in this cycle and emphasizes the importance of the race on the national stage. This comes as Democrats see an opening to possibly flip a Texas Senate seat blue, which would deal a devastating loss to the GOP’s chances of retaining its majority.

In response to the endorsement, Paxton told Fox News Digital, “I’m honored to be endorsed by Turning Point Action as we fight to defend our conservative values and preserve the freedom of the next generation.”

“The movement and the organization that Charlie Kirk built has inspired millions of people across the world, and the work that Turning Point Action continues to do is critical for safeguarding our nation’s future,” Paxton went on. “I am proud to be standing alongside Turning Point Action in that mission and carrying on in the fight to save this country for our young people.”

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“Together, we will protect our freedom and secure our nation’s future,” he said.

Paxton and Cornyn are locked in a bitter primary contest that also includes Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas. Whoever emerges victorious will face off against prominent Democrat Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, or rising star state Rep. James Talarico.

The attorney general is a hard-line conservative and longtime vocal supporter of President Donald Trump. He has served as the attorney general of Texas since 2015. Since launching his Senate bid in April, he has touted himself as an “America First Warrior” and framed his candidacy as an anti-establishment effort to push back against “RINO [Republican-In-Name-Only] Republicans.”

Though Trump has so far opted out of getting involved in the race, his presence looms large, with both candidates emphasizing their cooperation with the president.  

If elected, Paxton has promised to “champion President Trump’s legislative priorities.”

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Meanwhile, Cornyn, a high-ranking member of the Republican Party who has held the seat since 2002, has also touted conservative bona fides and his working relationship with Trump, emphasizing he “votes with President Trump 99% of the time.”

Turning Point’s endorsement pits the group against the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the GOP’s Senate campaign arm, which has endorsed and supports Cornyn.

Though silent thus far, Trump recently hinted he may issue an endorsement in the Texas Senate race soon. The Hill reported the president announcing, “I’m giving it a very serious look.”

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“You know, my problem is I’m friendly with all of them. I like all of them, all three,” Trump said.

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“But you’ll be seeing soon,” he went on. “They say whoever I endorse wins. That’s probably right.” 

Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., filed a formal complaint against Verizon on Monday after the carrier handed over his phone data to the Biden-era Department of Justice during its probe of President Donald Trump and the 2020 election – a move Republicans say violated the Constitution.

Lawyers for Hagerty wrote in the complaint to the Federal Communications Commission, reviewed by Fox News Digital, that Verizon should publicly admit wrongdoing and discipline employees who were involved in complying with a subpoena for his phone data. Otherwise, the FCC should declare that Verizon violated federal law and assign an independent monitor to watch over the company, Hagerty’s lawyers wrote.

“Such discipline by the FCC would send a clear message that companies cannot collude with politically motivated prosecutors to violate customers’ rights,” Hagerty’s lawyers wrote. “Verizon is not above the law.”

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The Tennessee Republican’s complaint detailed how Verizon complied with former special counsel Jack Smith’s team by giving the prosecutors a narrow set of Hagerty’s and several other GOP senators’ phone data as part of Smith’s investigation into President Donald Trump and the 2020 election.

Verizon justified its actions in a letter to the Senate in the fall, saying the subpoenas appeared “facially valid” and only contained phone numbers. They did not identify the subscribers or include information about Smith’s investigation, Verizon said.

The phone company said it did not notify the senators about the subpoenas because they were accompanied by court-authorized gag orders.

Fox News Digital reached out to a Verizon spokesperson for comment on the FCC complaint.

Republicans have widely condemned the subpoenas, saying they violated the Constitution’s speech or debate clause, which gives Congress members an added layer of protection when it comes to prosecutorial matters.

Smith has repeatedly stood by them, saying he handled them according to DOJ policy at the time. The policy in question has since been changed to require prosecutors to notify the courts if requested gag orders pertain to Congress members. Previously, it did not include that requirement, leading the courts to authorize gag orders against the senators and deprive them of the ability to try to quash the subpoenas.

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Hagerty’s FCC complaint is the latest instance of a senator seeking recourse for the subpoenas. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who was also targeted in Smith’s probe, supported a controversial provision in the government spending bill last year that gave senators the ability to bring $500,000 civil lawsuits against the DOJ.

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The provision caused significant infighting because of the perception that it would allow senators to enrich themselves, and the House later voted 426-0 to repeal it.

Hagerty’s complaint comes one day before Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., another of Smith’s targets, holds a Senate hearing called “Arctic Frost Accountability.” Witnesses set to testify include executives of Verizon and AT&T.