Author: NOVA Corp

North Carolina’s discovery of 34,000 dead people on its voter rolls has sparked renewed calls for voter roll cleanup measures, including increased pressure on Congress to pass the SAVE America Act.

After a state election official said the number of dead people found on North Carolina’s voter rolls was “higher than we anticipated,” Republican Rep. Mark Harris of North Carolina called for immediate action to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, commonly known as the SAVE America Act.

“North Carolina confirms 34,000 deceased individuals on our voter rolls,” he wrote in an X post. “This isn’t a mistake—it’s a failure. Election integrity is non-negotiable. Fix it now. Pass the SAVE America Act!”

This discovery has also prompted questions about how many other states have deceased voters still on their rolls. Jason Snead, executive director of Honest Elections Project Action, said he is especially concerned about blue states he believes have been refusing “commonsense” measures to clean up voter rolls.

REPUBLICANS FAIL TO ATTACH SAVE AMERICA ACT TO PARTY-LINE FUNDING PACKAGE

Earlier this month, the North Carolina State Board of Elections submitted over 7.3 million voter records to the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database as part of an initiative to strengthen the accuracy and integrity of the state’s voter registration list. Following a comprehensive data comparison with the federal database, the elections board identified approximately 34,000 dead people on the state’s voter rolls.

Sam Hayes, executive director of the State Board of Elections, said in a press release after the discovery, “While we expected to find some cases, this is higher than we anticipated.”

“The benefit of entering into cross-state and federal database checks is that it allows us to uncover issues like this. Our goal is to use every available and legal tool at our disposal to achieve the most accurate voter rolls possible,” he continued. “Now, we must roll up our sleeves and begin the hard work to act of verifying that every person registered to vote in North Carolina is eligible. Our team, along with our state and federal [partners] will do what’s necessary to meet this responsibility.”

The state board said it will work with county boards of elections to remove the deceased individuals from the voter rolls in accordance with state and federal law. 

WATCH: CHAOS ERUPTS AS FLORIDA DEM IN PINK JUMPSUIT GRABS BULLHORN MID-VOTE: ‘IT’S ILLEGAL!’

While North Carolina is collaborating with the federal government and taking steps to clean up its rolls, Snead expressed concern that Democratic-run states are not doing the same.

“Voter list maintenance takes effort from state officials,” he told Fox News Digital.

He called North Carolina “another example of a state doing the work to root out bad registrations using federal records like the SAVE system.”

“But too many Democrat-controlled states are refusing to do the commonsense work of cleaning up bloated voter rolls or stopping ineligible people from registering in the first place,” he said.

“That’s why it’s so important for Congressional Democrats to end their obstruction of the SAVE America Act, a commonsense, popular piece of legislation that keeps it easy to vote and makes it harder to cheat,” he added.

The SAVE America Act would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. It mandates states to verify voter rolls using citizenship data, remove ineligible registrants and impose civil and criminal penalties on officials who register voters without required proof.

The legislation is currently stuck in limbo in the Senate. Last week, a cohort of Senate Republicans joined Democrats to sink a late-night attempt to attach a version of the voter ID and citizenship verification legislation to the GOP’s bill funding federal immigration enforcement.

Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C.; Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska; Susan Collins, R-Maine; and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., all voted against a modified version of the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act.

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President Donald Trump has repeatedly pushed for passage of the SAVE America Act. Last month, he vowed not to sign any other bills until it gets through, and said he wouldn’t approve of a “watered down version.”

Last month, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif.; and Rep. Joe Morelle, D-N.Y., released a statement explaining their opposition to the legislation. The statement posited that the legislation would “disenfranchise up to 21 million citizens who can’t readily access their passports and birth certificates.”

If enacted, the three asserted the SAVE America Act would be “sowing chaos in state election administration and fueling attacks against hardworking election officials by exposing them to new criminal liability.”

Schumer charged “MAGA Republicans” with “trying to make it harder for Americans to vote.” He asserted that “they know their agenda is failing, so they’re changing the rules.”

Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel and Alex Miller contributed to this report.

The Department of Justice’s investigations and prosecutions of Christians during the Biden administration signal that the government discriminated against people based on their faith, according to a sweeping 200-page report released Thursday by the Trump DOJ. 

“The Biden Administration generally tolerated religious beliefs that were privately held but zealously pursued actions to limit Christians’ ability to act in accordance with their faith,” the report found.

The document, released by a DOJ task force, serves as an internal deep dive into concerns critics have already publicly raised surrounding prosecutions of pro-life protesters, investigations into Catholics, the administration’s posture toward religious concerns with COVID-19 vaccines and more. The report contended that the Biden administration showed a pattern of making enforcement choices that de-prioritized religious liberty protections at the expense of Christians.

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“No American should live in fear that the federal government will punish them for their faith,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who chaired the task force, said in a statement. “As our report lays out, the Biden Administration’s actions devastated the lives of many Christian Americans. That devastation ended with President Trump. The Department of Justice will continue to expose bad actors who targeted Christians and work tirelessly to restore religious liberty for all Americans of faith.”

One little known detail revealed in the report was that federal government employees were systemically denied religious accommodation requests or subject to tedious processes when seeking exceptions to COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

“The Task Force found that during the COVID-19 period, federal agencies frequently subjected employees seeking religious accommodations to invasive scrutiny of their beliefs,” the report stated, saying the practice was at odds with court precedent requiring employers to “presume sincerity” of beliefs. 

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Former Attorney General Merrick Garland’s emphasis on reproductive healthcare was a top focus of the report. In the wake of the landmark Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the Garland DOJ sought to prioritize access to abortion and to protect abortion clinics, while making weak attempts to engage with and protect faith-based pregnancy counseling centers that discourage abortion, the report found.

The task force summarized how the Biden DOJ aggressively pursued Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances violations at abortion clinics, especially surrounding heightened polarization on abortion while the Supreme Court was weighing the Dobbs decision. The department frequently brought federal charges against nonviolent pro-life protesters, including several elderly protesters, many of whom were found guilty of blocking doors to abortion clinics. Those prosecutions far outpaced charges brought against abortion advocates who targeted pregnancy counseling centers or churches, the report noted.

Internally, DOJ Civil Rights Division attorneys “questioned whether to provide pregnancy resource centers with the same resources as abortion clinics, questioning whether these facilities fall under the FACE Act’s scope,” the report stated.

The report, drafted in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order called Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias, laid out corrective measures the DOJ has taken, including engaging with faith groups, holding hearings featuring alleged victims, shifting law enforcement priorities and revising legal interpretations of court precedents.

Fox News Digital reached out to a Biden representative for comment.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills dropped out of the race for U.S. Senate in her home state on Thursday.

Mills announced the move in a statement posted on X, saying she failed to raise enough funds to support her campaign.  Mills was vying with other Democrats for a chance to challenge Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.

“While I have the drive and passion, commitment and experience, and above all else – the fight – to continue on, I very simply do not have the one thing that political campaigns unfortunately require today: the financial resources,” Mills wrote.

Mills’ departure leaves political newcomer Graham Platner the front runner in the Democratic primary. Platner has run a deeply controversial campaign, in addition to being the subject of various scandals, including his having a “Totenkopf” Nazi SS tattoo.

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The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) declared Mills’ withdrawal as essentially a coronation for Platner in the Democratic primary.

DEMOCRATIC MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE GRAHAM PLATNER CONFRONTED BY MS NOW HOST ABOUT TATTOO CONTROVERSY

“Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats just coronated a phony who is too extreme for Maine. Susan Collins has always put in the work for her constituents and delivered. Washington Democrats always fall short in Maine and will again, because they just nominated a dishonest radical,” NRSC Chairman Tim Scott said in a statement on Thursday.

Mills had the full backing of the Democratic machine when she entered the Senate race last year, receiving endorsements from Sen. Chuck Schumer, R-N.Y., and prominent Democratic groups.

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Platner, meanwhile, has received backing from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., as well as Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz.,  and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M.

This is a developing story. Check back soon for updates.

Florida Democratic Rep. Angie Nixon went viral for taking a bullhorn to a legislative fight, storming down the aisle and causing confusion on the House floor during final passage of a Gov. Ron DeSantis-backed redistricting bill.

Dressed in a pink jumpsuit and wielding a pink megaphone, Nixon approached the House speaker’s dais and shouted to fellow Florida representatives as the final vote was called. She shouted, “This is a violation of the Constitution! It is!”

Nixon continued shouting into the bullhorn for the entirety of the vote. She insisted, “What y’all are doing is illegal!” and “I will not allow you to destroy our democracy!” As she shouted, several colleagues could be seen filming her on their phones.

However, her protest was ultimately unsuccessful. While she continued shouting, “You are out of order!” and “This is a violation of the Constitution,” the Florida House granted final approval of the redistricting bill in an 83-28 vote. The Florida Senate also passed the measure this week, sending it to DeSantis’ desk for signature.

DESANTIS’ REDISTRICTING FIGHT GETS MAJOR BOOST FROM HIS POTENTIAL GOP SUCCESSOR: ‘DOING THE RIGHT THING’

The new districts are expected to favor Republicans and could net the party an additional four seats.

Republicans and Democrats are engaged in a nationwide redistricting battle as they vie for control of the House of Representatives ahead of the upcoming midterm elections. Texas, California and Virginia are among the states that have approved redistricting measures.

Amid the controversy, DeSantis has defended the Florida redistricting push, telling Fox News Digital earlier this week that “Florida got shortchanged in the 2020 Census, and we’ve been fighting for fair representation ever since.”

“Our population has since grown dramatically, and we have moved from a Democrat majority to a 1.5 million Republican advantage,” he said.

DEMOCRATS WIN VIRGINIA REDISTRICTING FIGHT, THREATING REPUBLICAN HOUSE MAJORITY

He asserted that the current Florida district map is “based on race,” which he called unconstitutional and said, “Should be prohibited.”

“Our new map for 2026 makes good on my promise to conduct mid-decade redistricting, and it more fairly represents the makeup of Florida today,” said DeSantis.

Currently, the Florida delegation to Congress is represented by 20 Republicans and seven Democrats, with an eighth Democratic seat vacant following the resignation of former Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick.

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The redistricting proposal comes after Virginia recently approved a constitutional amendment allowing the state to redraw its congressional districts and flip four GOP seats to the Democratic side. The proposed map was praised by Democrats, including Gov. Abigail Spanberger and former President Barack Obama.

Fox News Digital reached out to Nixon for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Kiera McDonald and Preston Mizell contributed to this report.

News that a local steel manufacturing company would soon pour $43.4 million into expanding its Michigan-based operations prompted praise from the White House — but not for the state’s Democratic governor.

“Democrats like Gretchen Whitmer spent decades talking about fixing broken trade deals and creating manufacturing jobs here in America for American workers,” Kush Desai, a White House spokesperson, told Fox News Digital, referring to the Michigan governor who is often floated as a potential Democratic candidate for president in 2028.

“President Trump is actually delivering — and he’s delivering with the same agenda of tariffs, deregulation.”

The investment underscores President Donald Trump’s recent restructuring on tariffs for steel, aluminum and copper — even as both parties claimed victory over Michigan’s expanding steel production.

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“Michigan is on the move and open for business, competing for and winning big projects in industries like steel manufacturing,” Whitmer said in a statement.

The investment, made by the Adrian Steel Company, would create at least 40 new jobs as the company expands its existing facilities in the southeast part of the state through a new 112,000-square-foot addition, according to the governor’s office.

The venture is Adrian Steel’s largest expansion since 1953, Whitmer’s office claimed..

“The expansion will enhance Adrian Steel’s manufacturing capabilities with additional space dedicated to raw material storage, cutting, forming, welding, painting, assembly, office functions and shipping operations,” Whitmer’s office said in a press release.

Whitmer’s office said the state had attracted the expansion, in part, through state-level incentives and added that the state will bolster Adrian Steel’s venture through a State Essential Services Assessment (SESA), a kind of tax break for manufacturers that could be worth up to $228,750.

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In the past, Whitmer has criticized Trump’s tariffs, claiming that their overall effect has hindered industry development in Michigan.

“The pain of these increased costs from tariffs has not been offset by any of the promised economic gain,” Whitmer said in a press release earlier this month. “Michigan’s industries have been hit hard, with a recent analysis finding that the tariffs cost U.S. automakers $35 billion last year. Tariffs are estimated to have cost working families $1,000 per year.”

Under Trump’s re-worked tariff framework announced earlier this month, products made almost entirely of aluminum, steel or copper would pay a flat 50% tariff on their full value, while derivatives made only mostly of one of those elements would only pay 25%.

The new parameters also create lower rates for foreign products sourced from American materials and drop the tariffs entirely for products comprised of less than 15% steel, aluminum or copper.

TRUMP SAYS THOSE AGAINST TARIFFS ‘SERVING HOSTILE FOREIGN INTERESTS,’ ‘FULL BENEFIT’ YET TO BE SEEN

“This buildout — and the continued health of these vital American industries — is only possible through the continued implementation and strengthening of the President’s Section 232 tariff programs,” the White House said.

Whitmer’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A federal appeals court declined to take up President Donald Trump’s request to rehear his appeal of the $83 million judgment in the defamation case brought by writer E. Jean Carroll on Wednesday.

Trump had sought a hearing by the full 12-judge Second Circuit Court of Appeals, but a majority of the judges denied Trump’s motion. The development now allows Trump to appeal the case directly to the Supreme Court.

Lawyers for Trump argue he has presidential immunity from Carroll’s accusations.

Trump’s quest for appeals began after a federal jury found that Trump defamed Carroll when he called her a liar for accusing him of sexually abusing her in the 1990s.

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If Trump appeals the $83 million case, it would be the second of his contests with E. Jean Carroll to appear before the justices. He also appealed a separate $5 million ruling against him to the court in November 2025.

Carroll, a journalist and advice columnist, sued Trump twice after she released a book in 2019 in which she claimed that he raped her in 1996 in the dressing room of New York City’s Bergdorf Goodman department store across the street from Trump Tower. Trump has repeatedly denied Carroll’s claims and said the case was “a complete con job.” He also said that Carroll was “not my type.”

“I don’t know this woman, have no idea who she is, other than it seems she got a picture of me many years ago, with her husband, shaking my hand on a reception line at a celebrity charity event,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in October 2022.

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Trump’s repeated criticisms of Carroll and denial of her claims led to the journalist’s defamation allegations.

In May 2023, a jury found Trump was not liable for rape but was liable for sexual abuse and defamation. Carroll was awarded a total of $5 million in damages.

The Supreme Court is currently weighing whether to take up that case.

Fox News’ Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.

The leader of a parental rights group that the Southern Poverty Law Center labeled an “extremist” organization is calling for the group to be “shut down” as it faces federal charges.

The Justice Department indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit concealment and money laundering, stemming from allegations that the civil rights organization funneled $3 million in donations to people linked to various violent extremist groups, including Unite the Right, the Ku Klux Klan and the Aryan Nations. These same extremist groups have been targeted by the Southern Poverty Law Center through its litigation and advocacy efforts for years.

Moms for America founder Kimberly Fletcher accused the Southern Poverty Law Center of being a “hate group against America, families, freedom, and God.”

“They’re not going to stop what they’re doing,” Fletcher said. “They’re going to continue funneling money into organizations that are extremist hate groups, and they’re going to continue to target organizations like ours, moms who just want to make sure that our kids are protected, our freedoms are defended, and we restore the republic.”

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In its “Year in Hate and Extremism 2022” report, the Southern Poverty Law Center identified Moms for America as an “anti-government extremist” group, alleging that it is an “anti-student inclusion” group and that its measures have “contributed to a volatile climate” for teachers, faculty and school board members.

“I find it ironic that the Southern Poverty Law Center turns out to be the extremist group, which we’ve always known, but now that they’re finally being exposed because the DOJ has investigated them and found them to be funneling money into all the extremist organizations that they’re supposed to be protecting us against,” Moms for America President and founder Kimberly Fletcher said in an interview with Fox News Digital.

“Putting moms in the same category as the Ku Klux Klan or these violent protesters, rioters, it absolutely is not compatible.”

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Moms for America, which consists of roughly 500,000 mothers across the country, advocates for restoring “truth, family, freedom and the Constitution” in schools and American culture, and opposes critical race theory and LGBT ideology in public school curricula.

Fletcher said that the SPLC’s “extremist” label has disrupted the group’s operations, claiming that tech companies cut off services and that the organization faced threats and harassment, prompting dozens of the organization’s leadership to step down.

“We have been continuously targeted in threats of violence,” Fletcher told Fox News Digital. “I’ve had emails sent to me saying, ‘I know where your kids live, I know who your grandkids are. And mostly it’s just trying to scare us, but there have been times where I’ve gone face to face with the belly of the beast and people have been right in my face and physically pushing on me.”

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Despite threats and alleged shadowbanning by social media companies, Fletcher said the extremist label from the SPLC is “almost like a badge of honor.”

“You’re standing up for the right principles and values and so they’re gonna label you as an extremist,” and so we’ll just keep doing what we’re doing.”

To celebrate America’s 250th birthday, Fletcher said Moms for America is hosting a traveling festival in all 50 states geared toward families and children.

Fletcher said the key to countering the Southern Poverty Law Center and other leftist organizations’ attacks is to reach young people and unite families.

“We are shining a light on all that’s good in America so that the darkness will be exposed for what it is because people gravitate to the lake,” Fletcher said.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Southern Poverty Law Center for comment.

Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas has endorsed former Rep. Colin Allred ahead of the candidate’s May Democratic primary runoff against Democratic U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson in the Lone Star State’s 33rd Congressional District.

“Colin has the record, the grit, and the heart to stand up for working families and communities under attack by this administration. He will fight to abolish ICE and go toe to toe with Donald Trump to stop his extreme agenda,” Crockett declared in a statement.

“I’ve seen Colin’s fight firsthand. We worked together to bring hundreds of millions in federal investments to North Texas for affordable housing, health care, and transportation. Colin doesn’t just talk about fighting for the community that raised him. He wins. That’s why I’m proud to stand with him,” Crockett noted.

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Sharing Crockett’s statement of support in a post on X, Allred wrote, “Proud to receive the endorsement of my friend @JasmineForUS. Jasmine has never been afraid to speak truth to power, fight for our communities, and stand up for Texans who deserve better. I’m grateful to have her support in this fight to lower costs, protect our rights, and deliver real leadership for Texas.”

Crockett has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since early 2023.

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Last month she lost a Democratic Texas U.S. Senate primary to state Rep. James Talarico.

Allred, who had been running in the Texas Democratic U.S. Senate primary, dropped out of the contest the same day in December that Crockett jumped in.

Allred had endorsed Crockett before she lost that primary race.

DEMOCRAT ADMITS ‘OF COURSE’ JASMINE CROCKETT IS A FACTOR IN HIM DROPPING OUT OF TEXAS SENATE RACE

“She’s tough. She speaks truth to power. She’s fearless in the face of vitriolic attacks from Donald Trump and the far right. She works day in and day out to protect our fundamental rights and strengthen our democracy. She’s a colleague, and she’s a friend. Her name is Jasmine Crockett. And I’m incredibly proud to be endorsing her in Texas’ U.S. Senate race,” he noted on Substack.

FIRST ON FOX: The Superior Court of California is ordering Kevin Morris, an attorney notoriously dubbed as Hunter Biden’s “sugar brother,” to pay $50,000 to former Trump aide Garrett Ziegler and Marco Polo, the conservative nonprofit research group he founded, to cover legal expenses.

The ruling ends a protracted dispute over whether Ziegler impersonated a Democratic strategist to pry sensitive information out of Morris about the Hunter Biden laptop during a conversation over the phone in 2022.

To Jennifer Holliday, Ziegler’s attorney, the judgment doesn’t even begin to make up for three years of legal battles.

“It’s not really how I envisioned it would play out, and I don’t think that’s how the Constitution envisions that something like this would play out — which is why we filed a petition with the Supreme Court of the United States to review,” Holliday told Fox News Digital.

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“I certainly hope that they will take a really hard look at what happened here because this is not a situation that should have ever happened,” she added.

Holliday is asking the Supreme Court to evaluate California’s anti-SLAPP law, arguing the state’s protections for free speech actually only worsened the case by prolonging what she believes were weak accusations.

A person familiar with Morris’ case called the conclusion a formality and downplayed the Supreme Court filing as unlikely to receive a review, noting that Ziegler’s representation had requested as much as $300,000 to conclude the case.

Morris’s legal battle with Ziegler began when Morris picked up the phone and spoke with someone whom he thought was a Democratic operative about the laptop back in 2022. But when, after the call, he received an image depicting a squid, the phrase “NOTHING IS BEYOND OUR REACH,” and the words “Marco Polo,” Morris realized his mistake.

Morris, who reportedly loaned Hunter Biden approximately $6.5 million to bankroll his lavish lifestyle, concluded the caller must have been Ziegler, a Republican strategist who had worked on combing through the contents of the laptop and who had gone on to found Marco Polo.

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Morris accused Ziegler of harassment, criminal harassment, criminal impersonation, false light and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The case soon soured for Morris when he failed to establish a connection between his phone call and Ziegler.

With the suit in the rearview mirror, Holliday marveled that Morris had kept up his case for three years without ever offering evidence that the call had been linked to Ziegler.

“There was no phone number that was ever presented to the court, to the Court of Appeal, to me, in discovery, anywhere,” Holliday said.

Asked about whom the caller might have been, Holliday said she was not at liberty to discuss the issue.

Asked about the case, Ziegler said Morris was an enabler of Hunter Biden who had knowingly brought a weak case against him.

“Morris is the one responsible for all the bull—- that Hunter pulled over the last couple years,” Ziegler said, referring to funding Morris reportedly gave the younger Biden for his legal services, including paying his rent, buying his art and lending him a private jet, among other payments.

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Ziegler’s representation has secured a debtor’s exam request for Morris if he hasn’t paid the $50,000 sum ordered by the court within 30 days.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth will give his first public testimony in the Senate since the start of the Iran war in a hearing that will expose the divide across the aisle in the upper chamber.

The hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday morning is meant to discuss the Pentagon’s staggering $1.5 trillion budget request for the upcoming fiscal year. Instead, it is expected to become a public back-and-forth on the war and the administration’s objectives.

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who chairs the committee, and Republicans on the panel are expected to push Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan “Raizin” Caine on turning that colossal budget request inward to rebuild military manufacturing stateside.

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“Like the generations that came before us, we are now revitalizing manufacturing right here at home to rebuild the American arsenal,” Wicker said in a statement. “By reindustrializing and investing in new technology, we are creating jobs across our homeland. This is critical work that supports our military and civilian workforce.”

But much of the hearing will likely be dominated by Operation Epic Fury, which will have entered its 59th day on Thursday. The war, along with its cost and timelines, was a focal point at the House’s hearing the day before.

Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., told Fox News Digital that the hearing would be a good opportunity to get a public update on how the conflict is progressing, and how the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz “is being realized, not just inside Iran, but global oil markets, and how they’ve interacted.”

When asked if he expected his Democratic colleagues to maintain composure during the hearing, Sheehy said, “I hope so, but hope don’t float.”

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Hegseth’s appearance before the panel comes as the 60-day deadline under the War Powers Resolution Act will arrive on Friday, and as Senate Democrats have forced weekly votes on resolutions to terminate hostilities in Iran. Time and again, Republicans have sided with the president, but that hasn’t stopped Democrats from exerting pressure.

Senate Democrats on the panel hope their Republican colleagues will ask hard questions of Hegseth, particularly on Iran and the $400 million in congressionally-approved funding for Ukraine that so far hasn’t been distributed.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told Fox News Digital that he believes Republicans share the same concern about the cost of the Iran war.

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“They’ve been disappointed, I believe, in the administration’s failure to be more forthcoming,” Blumenthal said. “I’ve asked these questions in classified settings as well in open hearings, and, you know, they said they share my concern. Now, I don’t know whether that will come out here.”

The cost of the conflict in the Middle East so far was revealed during Hegseth and Caine’s appearance before the House Armed Services Committee’s own budget hearing on Wednesday.

The Pentagon’s acting comptroller, Jules Hurst, told Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., that to date, Operation Epic Fury had cost taxpayers $25 billion, and that “most of that is in munitions.”

“We will formulate a supplemental through the White House that will come to Congress,” Hurst said. “Once we have a full assessment of the cost of the conflict.”

But some aren’t buying that figure as the real cost of the war.

“Sounds low to me, but I need to get briefed on the whole hearing as I decide what I’m going to ask tomorrow,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told Fox News Digital.