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President Donald Trump argued that whether he carried out strikes against Iran wouldn’t have mattered to congressional Democrats. 

They would have criticized him either way.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus immediately ramped up criticism of Trump’s Operation Epic Fury when the Senate returned Monday, and the administration has not yet signaled a clear exit strategy.

Speaking from the Oval Office Tuesday, Trump said Democrats would have criticized any decision he made.

“If I didn’t do this, guys like Schumer who — losers, the Democrats, losers — guys like Schumer would say, ‘Well, you should have done this,’” Trump said. “In other words, if I did it, it’s no good. If I didn’t do it, they would have said the opposite, that you should have done this.”

Democrats are furious that Trump did not seek approval from Congress to carry out the strikes and are pushing a war powers resolution vote this week to handcuff further use of the military in Iran.

“Donald Trump has just launched America into a full-scale conflict against one of our most fervent adversaries,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “Without a plan, without an endgame and without authorization from Congress — or even a debate in full view of the American people.”

TRUMP SAYS US MISSION IN IRAN IS ‘AHEAD OF SCHEDULE,’ VOWS TO ‘EASILY PREVAIL’ OVER REGIME

The administration argued after a closed-door classified briefing with congressional leaders and high-ranking lawmakers that the strikes were carried out as a preemptive measure.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters after the briefing, “We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action.

“We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces,” Rubio said. “And we knew that if we didn’t preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties.”

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But Democrats largely aren’t buying the administration’s argument. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, contended there wasn’t an imminent threat to the U.S. from Iran.

“It was a threat to Israel,” Warner said.

Senate Democrats plan to plow ahead with a war powers vote, likely Wednesday, led by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and backed by Schumer. Whether they can splinter off enough Republican support, as Kaine did earlier this year with his Venezuela war powers resolution, remains to be seen.

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Senators will receive a briefing from the administration on the strikes Tuesday, which could determine the fate of the push to rein in Trump’s war authorities. 

Trump argued that because Iran was “a purveyor of terror all over the world,” Operation Epic Fury was inevitable.

“It’s something that had to be done,” Trump said.

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EXCLUSIVE: The Department of Homeland Security fired back at the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee following a dispute over the proportion of DACA recipients being picked up by the agency amid President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda.

Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin, who is the longtime sponsor of the related DREAM Act in successive Congresses, lambasted Secretary Kristi Noem earlier Tuesday, demanding to know why so many beneficiaries of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program were being deported.

DHS also responded to an exchange Noem had with Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., over his concern that ICE or CBP agents would be dispatched to polling places in November. She responded by asking him whether Democrats have plans to facilitate illegal immigrant voting.

“Contrary to what Senators Dick Durbin and Alex Padilla said in Secretary Noem’s Senate hearing today, nearly 70% of illegal aliens arrested by ICE have criminal records,” Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital.

“Just yesterday, ICE arrested MS-13 gang members, child predators, and drug traffickers,” she said.

“These are the public safety threats we are removing from American communities every single day.”

During Noem’s exchange with Durbin, the retiring Democrat demanded to know why ICE arrested 261 DACA recipients in the past year and deported 86 of them.

He also criticized her for allowing her agency to deport a Mexican man living in Northridge, Illinois, whose daughter was dying of cancer.

“Finally, he [was] returned for a court hearing. His daughter lived to see that hearing where the court said he was treated unfairly by your agency. And she died three days later. I was at a memorial service. Is that really necessary? Was he a violent criminal?” Durbin asked.

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Noem replied that DHS enforces the laws as passed by Congress and that if an individual has a final order of removal, that is the proper procedure.

“If you don’t like the law, I would suggest you change the law,” she said.

Durbin also claimed 85% of the 400,000 illegal immigrants arrested by ICE had no violent criminal record beyond immigration offenses. Noem pointed out that reports citing that number earlier this year did not factor in several classifications of similarly serious crimes, such as drug trafficking, embezzlement and assault.

She said that when all were factored together, the true percentage was closer to 70%.

DHS followed up by providing Fox News Digital with an exclusive list of dangerous illegal immigrants arrested in the past day, implying that Democrats are not concerned with their rap sheets or victims.

In one case, Gasper Florentino, an illegal immigrant from Mexico and an MS-13 gang member, was convicted in Fairfax, Virginia, of aggravated sexual battery of a victim who was 13 to 14 years old and rape by force, threat or intimidation.

In Durbin’s Illinois, ICE arrested Juan Leonardo Alvarado-Gonzalez of Guatemala, who was convicted in Cook County of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child.

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Yancarlos Marte-Morel of the Dominican Republic was convicted of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl by a federal court in Massachusetts.

Back in Virginia, a Vietnamese national named Minh Tai Son Tran was arrested following convictions on three counts of burglary — forced entry to a residence.

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Trump administration Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick will testify before the House Oversight Committee for its probe into Jeffrey Epstein.

Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., confirmed Lutnick’s appearance in a statement sent to Fox News Digital and other outlets on Tuesday.

“Secretary Lutnick has proactively agreed to appear voluntarily before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,” Comer said. “I commend his demonstrated commitment to transparency and appreciate his willingness to engage with the Committee. I look forward to his testimony.”

This story is breaking and will be updated.

The Supreme Court expressed skepticism Monday about the federal government’s law banning people with a “habitual use” of marijuana from legally possessing a firearm, a Second Amendment case that could test the limits of creating exceptions to gun ownership.

But in two hours of spirited oral arguments over “guns and ganja,” several justices — while seeing marijuana smokers as potentially less serious — expressed concern about allowing drug addicts and other illegal substance users who might pose a danger to society to have those weapons.

A narrow ruling appears likely and might apply only to the person at the center of the dispute and other regular marijuana users who would not pose a danger to society by having a weapon in their home.

At issue is whether the widespread use of cannabis in recent decades — where it is legal in some form in 40 states — makes criminalizing “mere possession” contingent on gun ownership.

The same law was applied to former President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, who was convicted under Section 922(g)(3), which bars any “unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance” from possessing a firearm.

The current case involves a Texas man charged with a felony after FBI agents raided his home and found a handgun. The suspect admitted smoking marijuana every other day.

Several on the high court worried about the implications of giving federal prosecutors overly broad discretion to charge someone for being a “drug user.”  

“We don’t even know the quantity of how much he uses every other day. What if he took one [THC-laced] gummy bear with a medical prescription,” asked Justice Neil Gorsuch. “He had one to help him sleep every other day. Disarm him for life?”

“It’s the lawfulness,” said Justice Amy Coney Barrett. “With the marijuana, I just don’t see anything in the scheme that actually reflects Congress’s judgment that this makes someone more dangerous.”

But Chief Justice John Roberts said it was Congress that decided marijuana should be classified as a “controlled substance,” despite what other jurisdictions decide.

“There’s a broad range of determinations like that where we leave the question of its addictive difficulties and the consequences of that to a determination by the legislature with the Schedule 1, Schedule 3 [illegal drug classifications] and all that, and in each case, you don’t get to reweigh the legislative determination.”

The Supreme Court in 2022 expanded gun rights, requiring that modern laws have a strong basis in the country’s history and tradition. That precedent will be closely considered in the current appeal.

Among other things, it has been used to allow people to bring licensed, loaded handguns in public under so-called “concealed carry” laws.

But the conservative court has also upheld federal restrictions allowing those under domestic violence restraining orders to be disarmed.

Cannabis is illegal at the federal level, but President Trump signed an executive order to speed up the process of reclassifying it as a less dangerous substance.

The current administration has supported expanded gun rights, but in this case, it says mixing firearms and controlled substances justifies the current restrictions.

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“The Second Amendment does not prohibit the government from temporarily disarming habitual marijuana users while they persist in frequent use,” Justice Department attorney Sarah Harris told the court. “That tailored restriction easily fits within the historical tradition of disarming categories of people who present a special danger of misuse.”

The Facts

The case began in August 2022, when federal agents executed a search warrant at the Lewiston, Texas, home of Ali Danial Hemani as part of a broader criminal investigation.

He admitted keeping a Glock 9 mm pistol, which he purchased legally and kept securely in the home. Agents also found approximately 60 grams of marijuana and 4.7 grams of cocaine.

Based on these findings, federal prosecutors indicted Hemani — a dual U.S.-Pakistan citizen — for violating federal law that criminalizes firearm possession by those with “persistent” use of a controlled substance, although he was never accused of using the drugs while armed. The case centered on his habitual use of marijuana alone.

Hemani faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted. A federal appeals court eventually dismissed the indictment, prompting a Justice Department petition to the high court.

His lawyers said Hemani was being unfairly targeted over gun possession because of unproven terrorist ties and a marijuana habit for which he was never prosecuted.

A major part of the courtroom public session dealt with how “drug user” should be properly defined and how it could be applied to both gun ownership and possession.

Several hypotheticals were raised about whether the federal gun restrictions could include the use of sleeping tablets, anabolic steroids and Adderall — an amphetamine used to treat ADHD and narcolepsy — and whether they could apply to drug users who are homeless or own cars.

The Arguments

Gorsuch suggested that linking historical laws passed at the country’s founding restricting gun use for habitual drunkards to today’s marijuana users was not applicable.

He used so-called “Founding Fathers” John Adams, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson as examples of heavy alcohol users.

“Thomas Jefferson said he wasn’t much a user of alcohol, he only had three or four glasses of wine a night, okay? Are they all habitual drunkards who would be properly disarmed for life under your theory?” Gorsuch asked the government lawyer.

“The government has not been able to define what a user is,” he added. “I mean, it has said at various points that it’s someone who’s used any illegal drug in the past year, right?”

Justice Samuel Alito pushed back, speaking for more than 15 minutes about the difficulty of using a case-by-case approach to prosecute a “drug addict” under this law.

“I struggle to figure out how these individualized determinations can be made in the context of a criminal prosecution,” said Alito. “The way in which criminal prosecutions are conducted makes this extremely difficult.”

“Suppose someone regularly takes a drug, and during the period when that person is taking the drug, that person is super dangerous,” Alito continued. “The Second Amendment would not permit Congress to say that’s too risky?”

The Hemani case has created unusual legal and political alliances. The National Rifle Association and Gun Owners of America, along with the ACLU and Drug Policy Alliance, are separately supporting the defendant.

Backing the federal government is a coalition of 19 mostly Democratic-run states led by Illinois, along with the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

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The Supreme Court earlier this term heard a challenge to a Hawaii law that prohibits carrying firearms on private property open to the public without the owner’s express permission.

The 6-3 conservative majority there appeared ready to strike down that and similar laws.

The current case is U.S. v. Hemani (24-1234). A ruling is due by early summer.

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Sir Isaac Newton postulated that for every action, there is always an equal and opposite reaction. It’s Newton’s Third Law of Motion and one of the most important rules in all of science.

And Newtonian physics can tell you a great deal about reactions in politics.

We don’t yet know the dimension or the impact of the war in Iran. But there will be a political reaction of great importance as we head toward the midterms. It’s just too early to understand how the war will go, what unexpected twists it may take and how its consequences might reverberate through the midterms.

How things unfold is unclear. But an event of this breadth and proportion always poses some political impact. And the war may chart the course for the midterms.

Let’s start with President Trump’s campaign promises that he was “America First” and would keep the U.S. out of foreign conflicts. Well, that’s out the window. And there’s already some friction with the MAGA base. They may bolt if they believe the President reneged on one of his key campaign promises.

But so far, most congressional Republicans are standing beside the president. A handful of congressional Republicans — including Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Warren Davidson, R-Ohio — agree with Democrats and assert that Trump must come to Congress before sending troops into harm’s way.

Not to downplay this, but it’s almost a “technical” argument. Yes, there are important questions about the Constitution, war powers and who has the right to “declare war.” But the war powers debate probably doesn’t resonate with a lot of voters. However, the decision to go to war when the president promised otherwise could pose potential problems for the president and congressional Republicans this fall. Voters who feel betrayed by the president could just stay home. Especially since it appears to fly in the face of the president’s campaign promise against starting wars.

Then there’s the body bag factor.

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Trump has been forthright, suggesting that there are possibilities of casualties. And there have already been some. He also doesn’t feel inhibited about a protracted war or even putting boots on the ground.

Remember what happened during the first Gulf War as the U.S. and allies went after Iraq after it invaded Kuwait in 1991. Then-President George H.W. Bush studiously courted other nations during a multi-month buildup in the region and secured the blessing from Congress. That’s not to say there was support across the board. But Bush and those aligned with him on Capitol Hill made the case to voters. Granted, Bush lost re-election in 1992. But some months earlier, the public embraced the campaign. There was flag waving. There were patriotic marches. There was the legendary performance of the National Anthem by Whitney Houston at the Super Bowl.

The president’s approval rating spiked to a staggering 89% in the early days of the war. But it cratered to around 30% 17 months later because of the economy.

So let’s say the war goes well and casualties are limited. Congressional Republicans could ride the coattails of Trump. Republicans may even be able to put a few districts into their camp if a wave of patriotism sweeps over the country.

But watch out if this is a drawn-out campaign and casualties are high. Or, if Americans don’t understand why the U.S. is involved. So far, Trump has given a litany of reasons why the U.S. attacked Iran. Congressional Democrats don’t like the answers they are hearing.

Regime change is certainly good if you toss out dictators. But that means little to a day laborer who voted in Wisconsin and is struggling to make ends meet.

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Also, watch the price of gasoline. The Strait of Hormuz is the only shipping lane from the Persian Gulf to the open sea and a notorious choke point. The transport of oil through the Strait is already declining rapidly. Another commodity moved through the Strait is liquefied natural gas (LNG). It wasn’t that long ago that Democrats and voters were convinced that the 2026 midterms were going to be about affordability. Voters will balk if inflation sets in with fuel — to say nothing of the cost of goods and services because it’s more expensive to transport things.

There’s a risk that the war is a tipping point for the region and the Middle East devolves into chaos. Again, mayhem in the Middle East won’t matter much to a swing voter in northern Maine. But instability of that magnitude has the potential to shock markets, drive up prices and impact the availability of products on store shelves. And the risks are geometrically more complicated if China or Russia somehow get involved.

Then there is the biggest wild card: terrorism.

It’s possible that a heinous terrorist attack — especially on U.S. soil — could spur voters to rally ‘round the flag and actually help the GOP. Look at how President George W. Bush gained support after 9/11. And consider the fact that Republicans went against the historic norm and actually gained seats in the 2002 midterms. The party of the president usually loses an average of 27 House seats in the first midterm. 2002 was one of only three instances that the president’s party picked up seats in a modern midterm election.

That said, some voters may argue that the consequences and carnage of a terrorist attack wasn’t worth bombing Iran. So that has the potential to backfire on the president and congressional Republicans.

However, Democrats have some exposure to the terrorism issue. Democrats have refused to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for nearly three weeks as they demand changes to ICE. Fighting against ICE resonates with the Democratic base. But Democrats could be in trouble if there’s a major terrorist attack. That’s why House Republicans are forcing a vote this week to get Democrats on the record on a bill to fund DHS.

Yes, Republicans believe DHS should be fully operational. Especially now. But Republicans want voters to understand who blocked funding DHS as the U.S. enters a tumultuous period on the world stage and the war in Iran deepens. Continuing to oppose money for DHS could come back to haunt Democrats if, God forbid, there’s a major terrorist attack during the funding lapse. The ads for the midterms practically write themselves.

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, said Newton in his Third Law of Motion. We can’t yet calculate the equal pushback that’s likely coming as a consequence of the war in Iran in the fall midterms. But there will be something.

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But perhaps Newton’s First Law of Motion has even broader application to understanding the impact in the midterms. Newton wrote that an object at rest stays at rest. And an object in motion stays in motion.

Things were “at rest” with Iran until Trump started the war. And now the Iran issue is “in motion.” That makes it more challenging to stop it.

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EXCLUSIVE: House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., is warning Democrats not to play politics with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) funding, particularly as the country is on high alert for any fallout from the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.

“Put the safety and security of the American people first and stop playing political games to appease the far-left base, especially at a time like this,” Scalise said in an interview with Fox News Digital.

The ongoing partial government shutdown centered on DHS, now in its 18th day, has taken on new significance in the wake of President Donald Trump’s military action in Iran.

Bipartisan deals have funded 97% of the federal government through the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, but divisions between Democrats and Republicans over Trump’s immigration crackdown have prevented any such compromise on DHS.

House GOP leaders announced over the weekend that the chamber would vote this Thursday on a bipartisan DHS funding bill that passed in January in a bid to pressure Democrats to end the shutdown. 

That bill failed to advance in the Senate multiple times, with Democrats demanding new guardrails on immigration enforcement that Republicans have deemed nonstarters.

“We are on a higher level of alert, and this is not the time for Democrats to be playing games and shutting down the department that is focused on keeping Americans safe here at home,” Scalise said. “So we’re bringing this bill back up again to try to get them to come to their senses and open the Department of Homeland Security.”

The bill passed in a 220-207 vote in late January, with just seven Democrats crossing the aisle in support. All but one House Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., voted in favor.

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However, Scalise said “any responsible member of Congress” should vote for the legislation this time.

“The country is watching and expects members of Congress to take the safety of the American people at heart. And so I hope we get a much larger vote this time,” he said.

DHS is a wide-ranging department that was created in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.

While it’s most recently grabbed headlines for actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), DHS is also responsible for a variety of national security-focused offices like the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the U.S. Secret Service.

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Scalise pointed out that it’s also critical to keeping the U.S. safe during global events being hosted within its borders.

“We had a hearing last week on the World Cup, the people in charge of security for the World Cup were saying that they may have to start canceling some events,” he said. “And that was before Iran.”

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The findings of two new national polls conducted in the hours after President Donald Trump launched strikes on Iran are clear — only a minority of Americans approve of the operation and Democrats and Republicans don’t see eye to eye over the attacks.

Twenty-seven percent of those questioned in a Reuters/Ipsos national survey conducted Saturday and Sunday after the start of “Operation Epic Fury” by American and Israeli forces on Iran that resulted in the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said they approved of the strikes. 

A plurality, 43%, said they disapproved, with nearly three in 10 not sure.

There were similar findings in a CNN poll conducted by SSRS that was also in the field this past weekend.

Fifty-nine percent of Americans surveyed in the poll said they disapproved of the initial decision to strike Iran, with 41% giving a thumbs up.

As expected, there’s a wide divide between Democrats and Republicans.

Republicans questioned in the Reuters/Ipsos poll, by a 55%-32% margin, were supportive of the military action. The vast majority of Democrats, 73%, disapproved of the strikes, with only 7% saying they approved. A plurality of independents, 44%, disapproved of the military attack, with 19% supportive and nearly four in 10 unsure.

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The partisan gap was even wider in the CNN poll.

More than three quarters of Republican respondents, 77%, approved, compared to 32% of independents and 18% of Democrats.

According to the CNN poll, 83% of Republicans said Trump has a clear plan for handling the attacks on Iran, while 70% of independents and 88% of Democrats disagreed.

Overall, six in ten said they don’t think the president has a clear plan for dealing with the situation, and 62% said Trump should get congressional approval before any further military action.

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Both polls were conducted before the U.S. military announced on Sunday the first U.S. casualties in the operation — six service members killed.

The joint U.S.-Israeli assault on Iran is now in its fourth day as of Tuesday, with Trump saying the plan is ahead of schedule thanks to the early elimination of Iran’s top leaders.

Trump has said Iran is seeking talks with the U.S. as the military operations continue, but the president indicated he believes the opportunity for negotiations has passed.

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The U.S. has urged Americans to leave 14 countries across the Middle East as Iran’s counterattacks intensify. The U.S. State Department has also closed embassies in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, the Gulf Cooperation Council warned Iran it will take “all necessary measures,” including possible military action, in response to Tehran’s missile and drone attacks.

President Donald Trump on Monday accused former President Joe Biden of failing to replenish U.S. weapons stockpiles, though insisted that the U.S. is still “stocked” to win as Operation Epic Fury continues to devastate Iran.

U.S. munitions at the medium and upper medium grades have “never been higher or better,” Trump said on Monday in a post on his Truth Social platform. He added that “we have a virtually unlimited supply of these weapons.”

“Wars can be fought ‘forever,’ and very successfully, using just these supplies (which are better than other countries (sic) finest arms!),” the president’s post read.

But Trump noted that while the U.S. has a “good” supply of the highest munitions grade, it is “not where we want to be.”

“Much additional high grade weaponry is stored for us in outlying countries,” the post read. “Sleepy Joe Biden spent all of his time, and our Country’s money, GIVING everything to P.T. Barnum (Zelenskyy!) of Ukraine – Hundreds of Billions of Dollars worth – And, while he gave so much of the super high end away (FREE!), he didn’t bother to replace it.”

The U.S. delivered billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, with Biden approving an additional $500 million of military aid in a security package rushed out the door just days before Trump’s second term began.

“Fortunately, I rebuilt the military in my first term, and continue to do so,” Trump added. “The United States is stocked, and ready to WIN, BIG!!!”

“Their air defense, Air Force, Navy, and Leadership is gone,” he wrote later. “They want to talk. I said ‘Too Late!'”

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The U.S. and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury on Saturday morning, a joint military campaign that officials say targeted Iranian leadership and key military installations.

Earlier Monday, Trump declared that the operation in Iran is “ahead of schedule,” stating that many of the regime’s military leaders were eliminated in about an hour.

“We have the strongest and most powerful, by far, military in the world, and we will easily prevail,” the president said. “We’re already substantially ahead of our time projections, but whatever the time is, it’s okay. Whatever it takes.”

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Trump said that the operation is projected to last four to five weeks, noting that “we have capability to go far longer than that.”

“We also projected four weeks to terminate the military leadership,” Trump added. “And as you know, that was done in about an hour. So we’re ahead of schedule there by a lot.”

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New satellite images offer a stark look at the devastation inside Iran after U.S.-Israeli strikes, while also revealing the damage left behind by Tehran’s retaliatory attacks across the region.

According to U.S. Central Command, which oversees American military operations across the Middle East, U.S. forces struck more than 1,250 targets during the first two days of Operation Epic Fury.

Planet Labs satellite imagery captured burning ships and damaged facilities at the Konarak base in southern Iran, as well as significant destruction at Iran’s naval headquarters in Bandar Abbas on the Persian Gulf, reflecting the scale of the strikes on military infrastructure.

Imagery from Vantor shows the Choqa Balk drone facility in western Iran was hit, along with damage to other key military and strategic sites targeted in the U.S.–Israeli strike campaign. 

Radar systems at the Zahedan air base in eastern Iran — near the country’s borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan — were also struck.

The two facilities are about 800 to 900 miles apart, underscoring the broad reach of the coordinated strikes.

Additionally, satellite imagery from Planet Labs shows thick smoke plumes rising above Tehran, signaling explosions and fires inside the Iranian capital.

The smoke underscores how the conflict has moved beyond isolated military sites and into the heart of Iran’s political center.

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Iran responded with missile and drone strikes of its own, expanding the conflict across the region. Satellite images reveal damage to the port city of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. The city of Sharjah is the third most populous after Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

The Jebel Ali Port, the region’s largest maritime hub, was also targeted, underscoring how the retaliation extended beyond military sites to key infrastructure.

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The U.S. has warned that further retaliation could follow, as both sides signal they are prepared for additional rounds of strikes. Pentagon officials said U.S. forces in the region remain on high alert and have publicly cautioned that any new attacks on U.S. citizens would prompt a forceful response.

With damage now visible from western Iran to the Persian Gulf, the coming days could determine whether the confrontation stabilizes — or spirals into a wider regional war.

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The State Department on Monday urged Americans to depart immediately from more than a dozen countries across the Middle East, warning of “serious safety risks” as the Iran war intensifies.

Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Mora Namdar said U.S. citizens should leave from Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

The department said Americans who need help arranging departure via commercial means can contact the State Department 24/7 at +1-202-501-4444 from abroad or +1-888-407-4747 from the U.S. and Canada.

The travel push was amplified by the State Department’s official travel account, which urged Americans abroad to enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, or STEP, at step.state.gov to receive the latest security updates from their nearest U.S. embassy or consulate.

Officials have warned that conditions in the region remain volatile, and that security situations can change quickly as fighting tied to the Iran conflict continues.

The warnings come days after the United States launched Operation Epic Fury, striking command-and-control centers, Iranian air defense capabilities, missile and drone launch sites.

In a Feb. 28 Worldwide Caution security alert, the State Department said Americans worldwide, and especially those in the Middle East, should exercise increased caution, monitor local security alerts and expect potential travel disruptions, including periodic airspace closures.

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The evacuation push follows a cascade of security alerts issued by U.S. embassies across the region since Saturday, many ordering or recommending Americans to shelter in place.

At least nine U.S. missions, including Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar and Israel, have issued repeated shelter-in-place directives or advisories over the past several days.

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In multiple cases, embassy personnel and their families were ordered to remain at home, with Americans urged to stay in secure structures away from windows and be prepared for incoming missiles or drones.

In Saudi Arabia, the embassy in Riyadh closed Tuesday after two Iranian drones struck the building, prompting expanded shelter-in-place orders for Jeddah, Riyadh and Dhahran. No injuries were reported.

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A clip of former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has resurfaced online where she flatly defended the then-Obama administration’s decision to strike Libya — without the congressional authorization she believes President Donald Trump should have secured before conducting his own strikes over the weekend.

“You’re saying that the president did not need authorization initially and still does not need any authorization from Congress on Libya?” a reporter asked Pelosi at a press event back in 2011.

“Yes,” Pelosi answered plainly.

The unambiguous answer contrasts sharply with Pelosi’s view of Trump’s strikes against Iran on Saturday.

In a joint effort targeting Iranian military leadership, the U.S. and Israel killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday, citing an imperative to halt Iran’s pursuit of developing a nuclear weapon.

Pelosi swiftly condemned the operation.

“President Trump’s decision to initiate military hostilities into Iran starts another unnecessary war which endangers our servicemembers and destabilizes an already fragile region,” Pelosi said in a post to X.

“The Constitution is clear: decisions that lead our nation into war must be authorized by Congress.”

Pelosi, alongside other Democrats, is pursuing a war powers resolution that would limit Trump from taking further military action against Iran without express congressional approval.

Trump’s strikes bear similarity to President Barack Obama’s decision to strike Libya in 2011 under Operation Odyssey Dawn.

In that operation, Obama ordered a series of strikes against Libya in March 2011, looking to deter Muammar Gaddafi from attacking civilian protesters.

FETTERMAN PRAISES TRUMP’S IRAN OPERATION AS ‘HISTORIC’ MOMENT FOR AMERICA AMID PARTY DIVISIONS

Gaddafi, known as the “Mad Dog of the Middle East,” was the ruler of Libya from 1969 to 2011. He had a long and complicated relationship with the U.S. — at times aligning with national objectives and, at others, governing in a manner the U.S. couldn’t ignore.

The final straw came in the Libyan revolt of 2011, when demonstrations broke out in Benghazi and other cities. Like recent uprisings in Iran, Gaddafi met the threat to his rule with crushing force, marching his forces toward several Libyan cities that had resisted his power.

In what he described as attempts to uphold international law, Obama said the U.S., in partnership with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), had taken the strikes to protect Libya’s civilians to protect Libya’s civilians.

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“We struck regime forces approaching Benghazi to save that city and the people within it,” Obama said in remarks after the attacks.

The strikes did not kill Gaddafi.

Gaddafi was killed later that year at the hands of revolutionaries in October.

While Obama said he had consulted a bipartisan group of congressional lawmakers, he did not pursue a declaration of war before carrying out his strikes.

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“So, for those who doubted our capacity to carry out this operation, I want to be clear: The United States of America has done what we said we would do,” Obama said.

Pelosi’s office did not respond to a request for comment on whether she saw any key differences between the attacks carried out by Obama and those now ordered by Trump.

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A GOP candidate running for Congress in Texas believes the state’s open primaries may have allowed a Democrat to enter a Republican primary.

Alexander Hale can’t help but have questions about the political positions of his fellow Republican challenger, Alexander Kalai, as they face off to represent Texas’ 7th Congressional District.

Kalai’s background first caught Hale’s attention in December.

“I was simply looking up my opponent’s information. And I saw on Transparency USA that his father had given [thousands] to Beto” and other top Democrats, Hale said, referring to a former Democratic representative of Texas, Beto O’Rourke, the failed Senate and gubernatorial candidate. 

“And I thought, ‘well, that is super strange.’”

Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings show that his family has a track record of donating to Democrats, leading Hale to believe that the open primary system in Texas may invite Republican-looking candidates to detract attention from candidates with platforms that align more closely with the GOP base. Hale believes that’s a weakness shared by many states that use open primaries.

“I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say, well, ‘shouldn’t we only have Republicans electing Republicans and Democrats only electing Democrats?’” Hale said of the primary elections.

Texas is one of 14 states that use an open primary system, allowing unregistered candidates to announce their consideration for a party’s primary race.

In Kalai’s case, his website states that he supports traditional Republican positions like school choice, protecting women’s sports and an emphasis on deregulation to promote economic activity.

Kalai did not respond to a request for comment on his positions.

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Kalai’s campaign has received $182,000. Of those, $134,000 has come from his own pocket. Kalai lists his source for those donations as “self-employed.”

His campaign has also received two donations from his parents, Bashar and Grigitte Kalai, both for $3,500 — the most one donor can give a candidate for the primary, according to federal law.

Bashar Kalai’s donation to his son, a Republican, goes against the grain of his past political contributions.

As the president and CEO of Amerapex, a technology, engineering and industrial services company based in Houston, Bashar has a long track record of political donations — to Democrats.

In addition to his contributions to Beto O’Rourke, he has donated to the campaigns of Hillary Clinton, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., the House Majority PAC, which is controlled by Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives, and other Democratic candidates.

Hale believes his proximity to his son should raise questions about Alexander Kalai’s affiliations.

“I’d love to hear an explanation as to why someone comes out of the blue with all this blue money and says, ‘Hey, I’m a Republican. You’ve never heard of me. I’ve never voted in a primary, but I’m the Republican you need.’”

“It doesn’t make sense,” Hale said.

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Hale said he fears that candidates with sufficient financial backing, like Kalai, could present a convincing picture to voters in a primary process where fundraising is often used to establish legitimacy.

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“Money buys attention. In open primaries, we end up in a situation where whoever has the most money — it feels like whoever has the most money wins,” Hale said.

Hale and Kalai will face off at the ballot box on Tuesday evening alongside three other Republican candidates. Whoever wins that primary will face off against incumbent Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, D-Texas, in November.

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The 2026 primary season kicks off on Tuesday with showdowns in Texas, North Carolina, and Arkansas, with contests that could ultimately decide whether Republicans can hold their House and Senate majorities in the midterm elections.

Taking center stage this week: the combustible Democratic and Republican Senate primaries in right-leaning Texas.

Progressive firebrand Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a nationally known politician and vocal critic of President Donald Trump, is facing off against rising star Democratic state lawmaker James Talarico in the battle for the Democratic Senate nomination.

Either Crockett or Talarico will try to become the first Democrat in nearly four decades to win a Senate election in Texas, as the primary winner will face off against whoever comes out on top of a bruising three-way Republican primary among longtime incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Rep. Wesley Hunt.

The Cornyn campaign and aligned super PACs have spent nearly $100 million to run ads attacking Paxton and Hunt, with the senator charging in the closing weeks of the primary campaign that Democrats will flip the seat in the general election if Paxton’s the GOP’s nominee.

Cornyn, his allies, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the campaign arm of the Senate GOP, have repeatedly pointed to the slew of scandals and legal problems that have battered Paxton over the past decade, as well as his ongoing messy divorce.

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“If I’m the nominee, I’ll help President Trump by making sure that we carry the five new congressional seats as well as maintain this Senate seat and will help him continue his agenda through the last two years of his term of office,” Cornyn touted in a Fox News Digital interview.

And, he argued, “If the Democrats win, because we nominate a flawed candidate with incredible baggage like the attorney general, then that last two years of [Trump’s] agenda is jeopardized, as well as everybody down ballot that we need to continue to elect as Republicans.”

Paxton, a MAGA firebrand who grabbed significant national attention by filing lawsuits against the Obama and Biden administrations, pushed back, telling Fox News Digital on the eve of the primary that “I’m 3-0. I’ve won three statewide races.”

Pointing to public opinion polls suggesting he has the edge over Cornyn, Paxton argued, “it’s really easy for him to say that when he’s losing a primary, because he’s not delivered for the people of Texas, and he’s going to find out tomorrow what that means. He’s going to end up losing.”

“This idea that I can’t win a race is not true… there’s no evidence of what he’s saying is being true. As a matter of fact, the evidence is just the opposite,” Paxton added.

The GOP nomination battle was a two-person race until Hunt, a West Point graduate and military veteran who flew helicopters during his service and who represents a solidly red district in suburban Houston, announced his candidacy last autumn.

The final public opinion polls suggested Paxton with the edge over Cornyn, with Hunt in third place. If no candidate tops 50% of the vote in Tuesday’s primary, the top two finishers will face off in a late May runoff.

“I think there’s going to be a runoff, no matter what happens,” Cornyn said.

Paxton, speaking to supporters on primary eve, touted that “if we go to a runoff, the odds get better for me.”

Hunt, in a Fox News Digital interview on the eve of the primary, argued that he’s “the best candidate to win the primary and win the general, and I’m already outperforming both candidates, both Ken and John, in the general election against James Talarico or Jasmine Crockett. These are facts.”

And pointing to the negative ads from Cornyn and his allies that have targeted him the past couple of weeks, Hunt said “they have spent tens of millions of dollars against me in the state of Texas, which means that I must be doing the right thing, and I must be a threat. DC will not decide who will be the next senator from Texas. Texans will and that’s why I got in this race.”

Trump, whose clout over the GOP remains immense, has stayed neutral to date in the Republican primary. All three candidates, who have sought the president’s endorsement, were in attendance Friday as Trump held an event in Corpus Christi, Texas.

“They’re in a little race together,” Trump said of Cornyn and Paxton. “You know that, right? A little bit of a race. It’s going to be an interesting one, right? They’re both great people, too.”

Trump also complimented Hunt, and said that all three contenders were engaged in an “interesting election.”

QUITE GOP ‘ASTROTURF’ CAMPAIGN CONVINCED CROCKETT TO JUMP INTO SENATE RACE

In the final weeks leading up to the Democratic primary, race became a key issue in the showdown between the 44-year-old Crockett, a civil rights attorney first elected to Congress in 2022, and the 36-year-old Talarico, a former middle school teacher and Presbyterian seminarian who is considered a rising star among Democrats.

Crockett, who is Black, claimed a couple of weeks ago that a Talarico-aligned super PAC had darkened her skin tone in an ad and said it was “straight up racist.”

And Crockett argued late last month that criticisms claiming that she wasn’t electable statewide was a “dog whistle” that was “tearing down a Black woman,” and that she was the “most qualified” candidate.

Talarico, who was first elected to the Texas House in 2018 by flipping a red district in northeast Austin and surrounding suburbs, has highlighted his ability to win over Republican voters. And he questioned whether Crockett could run a competitive general election campaign.

And Talarico, who is White, was also accused a month ago by an influencer of calling former Rep. Colin Allred, a one-time rival for the 2026 Senate nomination, a “mediocre Black man.” 

Allred, the 2024 Democratic Senate nominee, was making a second straight run after losing two years ago to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, a conservative firebrand, by eight points.

But Allred ended his Senate campaign late last year, just before Crockett announced her candidacy. Allred, a former college football star who played professionally in the NFL and later became a civil rights attorney, is now running for his old House seat.

Morgan Thompson, the influencer who goes by the username @morga_tt on TikTok, in a social media post accused Talarico of saying in a private conversation with her that he had “signed up to run against a mediocre Black man, not a formidable, intelligent, Black woman.”

Pushing back against Thompson’s characterization of their conversation, Talarico said in a statement, “In my praise of Congresswoman Crockett, I described Congressman Allred’s method of campaigning as mediocre — but his life and service are not. I would never attack him on the basis of race.”

Allred, responding in a social media video, said: “James, if you want to compliment Black women, just do it. Just do it. Don’t do it while also tearing down a Black man.”

Crockett, who days later was endorsed by Allred, said in a statement that the former congressman “drew a line in the sand.”

“He made it clear that he did not take allegations of an attack on him as simply another day in the neighborhood, but more importantly, his post wasn’t about himself,” she said. “It was a moment that he decided to stand for all people who have been targeted and talked about in a demeaning way as our country continues to be divided.”

While dramatically outraised and outspent by Talarico, Crockett is the better-known candidate, thanks in part to her high-profile position on the House Oversight Committee.

The two-term lawmaker, who represents primarily Black and Hispanic majority neighborhoods in Dallas and surrounding inner suburbs south of the city, has grabbed plenty of attention for her clashes with Republicans on the panel, including one with then-Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia in 2024 that went viral.

She also made headlines last year for calling longtime Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas “Governor Hot Wheels.”

While Abbott has long used a wheelchair due to a 1984 accident, Crockett argued that her comment referred to his policies, not his physical condition.

Crockett, who made her opposition to Trump central to her campaign, has argued that Democrats need to prioritize turning out low propensity voters rather than winning over Republicans, in order to become the first Democrat since 1988 to win a Senate election in the Lone Star State.

“I don‘t know that we’ll necessarily convert all of Trump‘s supporters. That’s not our goal,” Crockett said in a December interview on CNN after declaring her candidacy.

Talarico, who speaks openly about his faith and how it shapes his progressive policy agenda, last year started garnering national attention through a slew of social media appearances that went viral. Also boosting his profile were his TikTok videos, which have grabbed millions of views, and his appearance last July on Joe Rogan’s top-rated podcast.

Rogan suggested during the interview that Talarico should run for president.

A month later, Talarico was a regular on the cable news networks, conducting dozens of national media interviews, as he and dozens of his fellow Democrats in the Texas House fled the state for weeks, to delay the eventual Trump-led redistricting push in Texas to create up to five more right-leaning congressional seats

Talarico launched his Senate campaign a month later, in September.

Last month, Talarico grabbed even more national attention when his appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” was bumped off broadcast TV and instead appeared on YouTube. Colbert accused his network, CBS, of blocking the interview by citing guidelines from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The controversy appeared to boost Talarico, with his campaign saying they hauled in $2.5 million in fundraising in the 24 hours “following his censored” interview.

But in the closing days of the primary campaign, Crockett landed the help of former Vice President Kamala Harris. The Democrats’ 2024 presidential nominee recorded a robocall to turnout voters on behalf of Crockett.

“Texas has the chance to send a fighter like Jasmine Crockett to the United States Senate,” Harris said in the call. “Jasmine has the experience and record to hold Donald Trump and his billionaire cronies accountable.”

She also landed an endorsement from rapper Cardi B, who said on Instagram, “If you want somebody that’s going to go up there and represent you and represent your issues, please vote for my sister, Jasmine Crockett.”

Democrats have long tried and failed to win statewide in Texas, but are confident they have a shot this year, due to the rough political climate facing Republicans.

Three House primaries in Texas are also grabbing attention.

Embattled Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales is facing a tough primary challenge amid political fallout after allegations of an affair with a former staffer who died by suicide.

Conservative Rep. Dan Crenshaw, the only Republican House member running in a primary Tuesday who isn’t backed by Trump, is facing a strong challenge from state Rep. Steve Toth, who has the endorsement of Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.

And Democratic Rep. Christian Menefee, who was elected in a late January special election, is running against longtime Democratic Rep. Al Green, an outspoken Trump critic, in a newly redrawn district.

In battleground North Carolina, former Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley is the clear frontrunner for the GOP Senate nomination in the race to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis.

Former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is expected to cruise to his party’s nomination, setting up a competitive and very expensive general election battle.

In House races, Democratic Rep. Valerie Foushee faces a tough primary rematch from the left against Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam, who has Sen. Bernie Sanders’ endorsement.

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In Arkansas, Republican Sen. Tom Cotton faces two primary opponents as he bids for a third six-year term.

And GOP Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is running unopposed in the primary as she seeks a second term.

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First lady Melania Trump presided over the United Nations Security Council meeting Monday, declaring that the United States “stands with all of the children throughout the world,” in a historic speech calling for “peace through education,” amid the U.S. military involvement in Iran.

The speech marked the first time a first lady from any country — and the first time a sitting U.S. first lady — presided over the Security Council as its members consider education, technology, peace and security.

The United States assumed the United Nations Security Council presidency Monday, just days after the U.S. and Israel launched a massive joint military operation against Iran over the weekend known as “Operation Epic Fury.”

The attacks left major leaders dead, including Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The joint military operation is expected to carry on for days, as the U.S. military continues to target military and ballistic missile sites that pose an “imminent threat.”

President Donald Trump warned over the weekend against Iranian retaliation, saying that if Iran were to “hit very hard,” they would be met with “a force that has never been seen before.”

But the first lady’s appearance at the United Nations was scheduled before Operation Epic Fury began.

“The U.S. stands with all of the children throughout the world,” the first lady said Monday. “I hope soon — peace will be yours.”

The U.N. Security Council consists of 15 member states, with five permanent members: the United States, China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and 10 nonpermanent members elected for two-year terms, including Bahrain, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Greece, Latvia, Liberia, Pakistan, Panama and Somalia.

“Collectively, your mission to maintain security while upholding the responsibility of preventing conflict during times of both war and peace is significant, must be applied evenly, and should never be carried out lightly,” she said. “Peace does not need to be fragile.”

The first lady’s speech focused on education, saying that it “shapes the core of their country’s belief system.”

“A nation that makes learning sacred protects its books, its language, its science, and its mathematics — it protects its future,” she said. “This leads to something powerful — to greater understanding, moral reasoning, and tolerance of others. Peace.”

The first lady stressed that children raised in cultures rooted in intelligence “develop confidence, innovate, build, compete, and maintain a deep value system.”

“Their knowledge fosters empathy for others, transcending geography, religion, race, gender, and even local norms,” she said. “They become caring people.”

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On the contrary, the first lady said that children raised in a culture “rooted in ignorance are surrounded by disorder, and sometimes even conflict.”

“These societies are filled with rigid thinkers who embrace prejudice and shun human dignity,” she said. “When a nation restricts thought, it restricts its own future.”

The first lady said education is a “fundamental human right,” but added that “so many children and young adults are banned from attending secondary schools and universities.”

“The cost is not abstract,” she said. “A society that excludes vast segments of its population can realize only a fraction of its potential. Societies rules by knowledge and wisdom are, therefore, more peaceful.”

The first lady declared that “knowledge is power,” and said, “We must capture this positive energy and ignite it across continents to transform our world — throughout our digitally connected human race.”

“Intellect blossoms humanity’s fundamental needs: shelter, food security, clean water and healthcare.”

“The global community must facilitate complete access to technology so that every individual can reach their full potential through education,” she said. “We must strive to achieve connectivity in the most remote locations and the furthest distances from our cities.”

The first lady said the objective “is entirely feasible and is already on the way.”

“Today, roughly 6 billion individuals, about 70% of people on planet Earth, have a mobile device and use the internet,” she said. “If our nations band together, we can close the technological divide, empowering all to reach their full potential.”

“From a solitary farmer on a remote Greek island to a quiet genius in Somalia or a dreamer in uptown Manhattan, anyone can read the vast treasury of human knowledge, created over centuries, which is now codified and accessible through artificial intelligence,” she continued.

The first lady went on to question whether a “single digital nation-state” could be inevitable.

“Perhaps this idea isn’t so farfetched, since digital currency and payment systems via blockchain, plus AI’s massive factual database is already revolutionizing media and financial markets,” she said. “We are in the age of imagination — a period when technology can be free and unrestricted by land borders.”

She added: “Now is the time for our generation to elevate our children above ideology through access to wisdom.”

The first lady said artificial intelligence is “democratizing knowledge” and creating a “new reality for our children by disrupting the traditional academic path to information.”

“Let’s connect everyone to knowledge through AI, including those in the most remote geographic regions of our world,” she said. “AI can provide us with an understanding of each other’s needs and the needs for your children.”

The first lady said artificial intelligence is “redefining who gets to participate in the global economy of ideas.”

“I believe our shared intellectual future will prove to be a more secure, harmonious, advanced civilization,” she said. “The path to peace depends on us taking responsibility to empower our children through education and technology.”

The first lady stressed that “conflict arises from ignorance, but knowledge creates understanding, replacing fear with peace and unity.”

“Security Council members, I encourage you to pledge to safeguard learning in our communities and promote access to heightened education for all,” she said. “I implore you to build a future generation of leaders who embrace peace through education.”

The speech comes as the first lady continues her push as a champion of online protection of children and youth through her “Be Best” initiative launched during the first Trump administration.

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In 2025, the first lady garnered support on Capitol Hill for the passage of the Take it Down Act, which was signed into law by the president in May 2025. The law punishes internet abuse involving nonconsensual, explicit imagery.

The first lady also launched a nationwide Presidential Artificial Intelligence Challenge, which invited every student and educator across the nation to “unleash their imagination and showcase the spirit of American innovation” by visiting AI.gov to sign up.

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Another House Republican has announced he is retiring from Congress at the end of this year, adding to the mass exodus of lawmakers heading for the exit halfway through President Donald Trump’s second term.

Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., who won his seat in Montana’s 1st congressional district in November 2022, served as Secretary of the Interior during Trump’s first White House stint.

He served as Montana’s only member of the House from 2015 to 2017 before redistricting added a second seat to its delegation.

Zinke is the 35th House Republican elected in 2024 not running for another term in the 2026 midterms. Another House GOP lawmaker re-elected in 2024, the late Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., died in office earlier this year.

On the Democratic side, 23 House lawmakers are not running for re-election.

Many of those members are running for another office. But some, including those who left before the end of their terms, like former Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Mark Green, R-Tenn., have not made any further public plans in politics.

Zinke had a decades-long career in the U.S. Navy before coming to Congress, achieving the rank of commander before retiring in 2008.

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He cited medical reasons for his decision not to run again in November, according to a letter shared on X.

“While my belief in term limits for elected office is a consideration, I have quietly undergone multiple surgeries since I returned to Congress and unfortunately face several more immediately after leaving office,” Zinke said in his statement.

“The injuries sustained from a career in Special Operations are not immediately life-threatening, but the repair cannot be deferred any longer and recovery will require considerable time with my wife Lola and my family. My judgment and experience tell me it is better for Montana and America to have full-time representation in Congress than run the risk of uncertain absence and missed votes.”

He said serving Montana in his various military and political roles has been the “highest honor.”

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Rep. Troy Downing, R-Mont., also confirmed Zinke’s retirement in his own statement shared with media.

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“For over 30 years, Commander Zinke has served his country with integrity, responsibility, and honor,” Downing said. “It has been the privilege of a lifetime to serve alongside Ryan while fighting for Montanans in Washington—from protecting our public lands to supporting our farmers and ranchers.”

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates Zinke’s seat R+5, meaning it’s likely to stay in Republican hands but within striking distance for Democrats hoping to flip the district this year.

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WACO, TX – In the aftermath of a shooting rampage in Texas by a gunman who was a naturalized citizen from Africa, state Attorney General Ken Paxton says that authorities “have to do a better job vetting people when they come here.”

Paxton, who’s challenging longtime Sen. John Cornyn for the Republican Senate nomination in Tuesday’s primary, was commenting about this weekend’s shooting in Austin, Texas, that left three people, including the gunman, dead, and more than a dozen injured.

The suspect, identified as Ndiaga Diagne, was a 53-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Senegal and lived in Pflugerville, Texas, multiple federal law enforcement sources told Fox News.

Diagne was wearing a sweatshirt that read “Property of Allah” and an undershirt featuring an Iranian flag when he carried out the attack, according to law enforcement sources. And authorities also said they found an Iranian flag and photos of regime leaders in Diagne’s apartment.

“There’s no system that’s perfect. If we have immigration, there’s going to be no system that’s perfect.  We do need to do a better job of vetting people, and Congress is going to have to figure out how to do that,” Paxton emphasized.

With the shooting taking place during heated campaign trail showdowns in Texas just a couple of days ahead of the primary, reactions quickly turned political, with Republicans criticizing former President Joe Biden’s handling of the country’s naturalization process and Democrats calling for stricter gun reform laws.

Asked about the shooting, Cornyn said in a Fox News Digital interview in San Antonio on Sunday, “What it does emphasize to me is the importance of vetting people before they come across the border.”

“Part of the problem is that the Biden administration, for four years, had open border policies and let who knows what into the country,” Cornyn charged. “This isn’t about people continuing to come into the country, because we know President Trump has secured the border. This is about what happens with people already here.”

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He said the shooting was an example of “what happens when people become radicalized.”

The Department of Homeland Security said that Diagne entered the United States on a tourist visa in 2000, and in 2006 became a lawful permanent resident after marrying a U.S. citizen in 2006. He was naturalized seven years later.

“I think that the burden on the system has been all the illegal immigration, which makes it harder for law enforcement to keep track of everyone,” Paxton said. “We’ve got so many people here that are from other countries. It’s very difficult for law enforcement, with the resources that we have to keep track of everybody.”

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The third major candidate in the GOP Senate primary, Rep. Wesley Hunt, took to social media after the shooting to emphasize that “Radical Islam has NO place in Texas.”

Hunt, a West Point graduate and veteran who flew Apache helicopters during his military service, added that he “engaged it in combat.”

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President Donald Trump bestowed the Medal of Honor to three U.S. Army soldiers Monday in a White House ceremony honoring their “unsurpassed courage.” 

The president touted the “three really incredible American heroes — one living and two no longer with us.”

The president posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor to Master Sgt. Roderick (Roddie) W. Edmonds; posthumously awarded the medal to Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis and awarded the medal to Command Sergeant Major Terry P. Richardson.

The president, Monday, first introduced the award for Edmonds.

“In 1941, Roddie Edmonds of Knoxville, Tennessee, enlisted in the US Army and soon rose to one of the youngest master sergeants in the military,” the president said. “In 1944, he sailed to Europe vim and vigor, Roddie soon found himself on the front lines of the Battle of the Bulge. That was a big one, massively outnumbered by enemy forces, his 1,200 soldier unit fought valiantly until they were completely overrun. The force was massive on the other side. … After a four-day death march, one that was covered very well by the history books, through bitter cold, they were put into a German POW camp.”

The president said Edmonds “was the top ranking infantryman and the camp he was number one, meaning he was responsible for the lives of his fellow service members.”

“On July 26th, 1945, a Nazi SS officer issued an order over the camp loudspeaker, loud and strong, he said that only American Jews were to show up to roll call. Following this morning, he added ‘all who disobey this order will be shot immediately,’” the president explained. “There were more than 200 Jewish American soldiers in the camp, and Roddie knew their separation from the group would mean certain death. So that night he summoned his team and devised a plan. The next morning, all 1,200 American men fell in line together, shoulder to shoulder. 

“Enraged, the Nazi commandant rushed forward, drew his Luger pistol, and pressed the barrel between Sgt. Edmond’s eyes. He barked at Roddie, ‘They cannot all be Jews!’ He screamed loud and again and again. And, staring straight back into the raging face of evil, Sgt. Edmonds replied fearlessly, ‘We are all Jews here.’ The Nazi officer lowered his weapon and the soldiers erupted in cheers.”

The president said that “with total disregard for his own life, Roddie had saved over 200 of his fellow service members.”

“Their camp was liberated two months later,” the president said.

The award was accepted by Edmonds’ son, Chris.

Next, the president honored Richardson.

“On Sept. 12, 1968, 102 brave men of Terry’s Alpha Company were tasked with securing Hill 222 deep behind the enemy’s line in Vietnam,” Trump said. 

“They didn’t know it at the time, had no idea, but the area was totally infested with nearly 300 enemy bunkers and many, many enemy soldiers, far outnumbering them by at least 4- or 5-, even 6-to-1,” the president said. “As Terry led Lima Platoon up Hill 222, the enemy launched an ambitious and violent attack, unleashing a withering fire of machine guns and rocket propelled grenades. Just didn’t stop. They just kept coming, pinned down and hell on Earth.”

The president said, “Terry summoned unimaginable courage. Three times. He exposed himself to enemy fire to rescue severely wounded comrades, and three times he dragged them back to the group.”

“Terry soon realized that the 82 remaining men had one chance of survival. That was air support. Acting without regard of his own life, he grabbed the radio and charged up hill 222 alone. He needed to be there. It was the only place you’d get reception,” the president explained. “He withstood a storm of enemy bullets, eventually reaching the top where he spent the next eight hours calling in tactical strikes, completely exposed. … An enemy sniper shot rang out and the bullet tore through his right leg violently. He was in bad shape, but Terry disregarded that and pushed through. And after seven more hours of calling in American fire from above, the enemy retreated.”

“Later that day, his team found him with both eardrums totally ruptured and a mangled right leg and foot, but still barely living but living nevertheless,” the president said. “Due to Terry’s actions above and beyond the call of duty, 82 men, Alpha Company survived this battle, including two in this room.”

The president invited Norm Meyer and Dave Hemmer to stand up.

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The president congratulated Richardson, and told him that “today you entered the ranks of the bravest warriors ever to strike the face of the earth.”

Finally, the president posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor to Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis for gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty, while serving in Afghanistan.

“On Aug. 28, 2013, terrorists detonated a 400-pound car bomb on the east wall of the Forward operating base Kinzie, ripping open a 60 foot-wide breach into a compound that housed NATO coalition forces,” the president explained. “A lot of them, ten Taliban fighters wearing suicide vests swarm through from across the compound.”

“Michael saw the pillar of white smoke rising and ran to join the fight, rushing without his gear, wearing almost no gear, no Kevlar helmet, no body armor. Just one magazine in his rifle,” the president continued. “Along the way, he encountered a Polish soldier, and together they advanced under heavy fire. Very, very heavy fire. At one point, shrapnel ripped through the Polish soldier’s legs, rendering him unable to walk very, very severely hurt. In that chaos of gunfire, explosions and charred human remains, a terrorist insurgent appeared rounding a corner with his suicide vest, fully armed. And you could see it. It was going to happen.”

The president said the terrorist “charged the wounded Polish soldier without hesitation.”

“Michael raised his gun and forced himself between the insurgent and the man he just met, shielding him with his own body. He knew what was going to happen,” the president said. “He shielded him with his own body.”

“You know, bravery is amazing. You never really know who’s brave, who’s not until they’re really tested,” the president said. “We think some people are brave, and they’re not. We think others aren’t. And they are. You never know.”

But Trump said Ollis “was tested.”

“That’s called the ultimate test, right? And it perhaps his final heartbeat,” the president said. “Michael fired his weapon, and the terrorist detonated his vest. Simultaneously, staff Sergeant Ollis was killed just weeks before his 25th birthday. And nobody was any more brave than that.”

The president added: “And his final act on earth, Michael, absorbed the blast, sparing the life of that Polish warrior who we are grateful to have in the room with us today.”

The president invited Polish 2nd Lt. Carol Sarah Piqua to come to the podium.

The Medal of Honor is awarded to members of the Armed Forces who, according to the White House, “distinguish themselves conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of their own lives above and beyond the call of duty.”

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The White House said the honorees are individuals who “engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States; engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.”

The White House said the conduct “must involve great personal bravery or self-sacrifice so conspicuous as to clearly distinguish the individual above his or her comrades and must have involved risk of life.”

“There must be incontestable proof of the performance of the meritorious conduct, and each recommendation for the award must be considered on the standard of extraordinary merit,” the White House said.

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Former President Bill Clinton told lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee last week that he couldn’t recall President Donald Trump saying anything that would link him to Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes.

As Democrats pressed Clinton on his relationship with Trump and the pair’s numerous mentions in the Epstein files, Clinton paused to clarify his stance.

“I hate this because I don’t think I should inject anything, but I do not want to leave the impression… He, the president, never — this is 20-something years ago — never said anything to me to make me think he was involved with anything improper with regard to Epstein,” Clinton told investigators last week.

At another point in the deposition, Clinton again clarified his stance on Trump’s relationship with Epstein.

“As I said earlier, the only conversation I had with President Trump about this was in the early 2000s and I have no information that he did anything wrong,” Clinton said. 

Lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee deposed the former president as a part of the group’s ongoing probe into Epstein and his crimes.

Epstein, a former financier with a robust social circle that included Clinton, Trump, Bill Gates, the United Kingdom’s Prince Andrew and other famous figures, died while incarcerated in 2019 on charges of sex trafficking minors.

CLINTONS AGREE TO TESTIFY AFTER HOUSE THREATENS CONTEMPT IN JEFFREY EPSTEIN PROBE

Lawmakers are investigating whether Epstein used his expansive social connections to facilitate illegal sexual encounters for his contacts.

Democrats, in particular, have sifted through the files with an eye for any connections to Trump.

Clinton, who was repeatedly asked by Democrats about Trump throughout his deposition, continued to affirm that he had only limited knowledge of Trump’s relationship with Epstein and that his primary concern was about government transparency on the matter.

“I just want it all out there. I want everybody to get it all out there and let everybody see where we are,” Clinton said.

Notably, Clinton is pictured in several materials released by the Department of Justice. One places him in a pool with Ghislaine Maxwell, an accomplice of Epstein, and a third person whose identity has been redacted. 

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Asked again about his communications with the president, Clinton said he had not spoken to Trump in the years since the “early 2000s” about Epstein.

“It’s the truth,” Clinton added.

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The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for California schools to notify parents if their children want to change their gender identity without approval from the student amid a challenge against the Golden State’s ban on so-called forced outing of transgender students.

The court granted an emergency appeal from a conservative legal group, the Thomas More Society, blocking, at least for now, a state law that prohibited automatic parental notification requirements if students change their gender expression or pronouns at school.

The Thomas More Society praised the decision as “the most significant parental rights ruling in a generation.” Two sets of Catholic parents represented by the legal group argued that the state law, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2024, caused schools to mislead them and secretly facilitate the students’ gender transitions.

But California contended that students have the right to privacy about their gender expression, particularly if they fear rejection from their families who may not support their decision to adopt a new gender identity. The state also said school policies and state law sought to balance student privacy with parental rights.

Last year, state education officials told school districts that the state’s policy “does not mandate nondisclosure.” Newsom’s office also previously said that “parents continue to have full, guaranteed access to their student’s education records as required by federal law.”

The Supreme Court sided with the parents on Monday and reinstated a lower-court order blocking the law and school policies while the case continues.

“The parents who assert a free exercise claim have sincere religious beliefs about sex and gender, and they feel a religious obligation to raise their children in accordance with those beliefs. California’s policies violate those beliefs,” the majority wrote in an unsigned order, adding that state policies also burden the free exercise of religion.

Conservative Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas also said they would have gone a step further and granted the teachers’ appeal to lift restrictions for them. The three liberal justices dissented, saying the case is still working its way through lower courts and there was no need to take action now.

“If nothing else, this Court owes it to a sovereign State to avoid throwing over its policies in a slapdash way, if the Court can provide normal procedures. And throwing over a State’s policy is what the Court does today,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote.

A federal judge ruled in December 2025 that schools cannot prevent teachers from sharing information about a student’s gender identity with their parents, but an appeals court blocked that ruling last month, leading the plaintiffs to ask the nation’s highest court to step in.

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The high court has been weighing whether to hear arguments in cases out of other states such as Massachusetts and Florida filed by parents who say schools facilitated gender transitions without notifying them.

The U.S. Department of Education also announced last month that the California law violates federal law. The findings of the federal investigation could put at risk the nearly $8 billion in education funding the federal government gives the state each year if state officials do not work with the Trump administration to resolve the violations.

The Trump administration is also pursuing legal action against California and threatening to withhold funding over a policy allowing biological males to compete in girls’ sports.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., described the recent U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran as a defensive measure, saying, “Israel was determined to act with or without us” following a classified briefing on Monday evening.

Johnson told reporters after the briefing that Israel viewed Iran’s capabilities as an existential threat and was prepared to conduct operations regardless of U.S. participation. He said Israel’s assessment shaped American deliberations, and it was “determined to act in their own defense here, with or without American support.”

The speaker said administration officials had to weigh risks to U.S. forces, regional assets and interests before supporting the operation. 

“They had to evaluate the threats to the U.S., to our troops, to our installations, to our assets in the region and beyond. And they determined, because of the intelligence that we had, that a coordinated response was necessary,” Johnson said.

Johnson said he guarantees that if the U.S. had not acted, the Trump administration would have been hauled in by Congress and asked why they waited if they had “existential intelligence, knowing that that would happen.”

“I am convinced that they did the right thing,” he said.

Rubio confirmed that Israel was prepared to act against Iran and said the president “made a very wise decision.”  

“We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action. We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces,” he told reporters. “And we knew that if we didn’t preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties.”

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Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., a top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, emerged from the briefing and said he did not believe there was an “imminent threat” prior to Saturday’s strikes. 

“There was no imminent threat to the United States of America by the Iranians. It was a threat to Israel,” he said. “We equate a threat to Israel is the equivalent of an imminent threat to the United States. Then we are in uncharted territory.” 

“We have seen the goals for this operation change now, I believe 4 or 5 times,” he went on.

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Rubio insisted the operation was not about Iranian regime change but about taking out its capabilities as a threat to the region – focused on ballistic missiles and naval capacity. 

He did not say whether strikes would extend to nuclear facilities.

“I do believe there is more than adequate justification for our American and Israeli actions,” Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., told reporters he believes there is “more than adequate justification for our American and Israeli actions,” without saying more.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital in an interview afterward that he felt administration officials did a good job of illustrating the threat level faced by the U.S. in the days leading up to the strikes.

“I think that’s largely been very open source. The president laid that out, you know, very clearly. It does go beyond that to what I can’t get into, but it goes beyond that. I’m sure it’ll come out in the administration’s good time, but it’s not for me to say,” Mast said.

“But the more immediate nature of threats — I’m going through the negotiations with [Special Envoy Steve Witkoff], [Jared Kushner], Rubio, others that were a part of having those conversations and throughout that 10-day window of, you know, let’s call it countdown to make a deal, the threats that were going on in that window is probably the high-side information that you have.”

He also said there was a lot of daylight between what Democrats and Republicans in the briefing considered an “imminent threat.”

“It’s like, for me as a soldier, right, if I see an enemy machine gun nest, that to me, given that it’s an enemy machine gun nest, is an imminent threat,” Mast said. “To Democrats, unless that machine gun is burning up its barrels firing at you, it’s not yet an imminent threat. And those are the two separate ways that we’re looking at it.”.

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On February 26th, the U.S. launched Operation Epic Fury against Iran in coordination with Israel. The offensive campaign has resulted in the death of 49 top Iranian leaders, including the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Six U.S. service members have lost their lives in Iranian counterattacks. 

The opening phase of the conflict struck more than 1,000 targets in the first 24 hours, according to Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. American B-2 bombers flew 37-hour round-trip missions from the continental United States to hit underground facilities with penetrating munitions, he added.

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