Author: NOVA Corp

The Pentagon said Friday it has opened a formal command investigation into the Feb. 28 strike in Minab, Iran, where Iranian regime officials claim dozens of children were killed in a strike at a school beside a military compound. 

Questions continue to mount about possible U.S. involvement in the strike, the intelligence used before it and whether Iran placed military assets near civilians to shield them or weaponize potential casualties.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said at a Pentagon briefing that U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has appointed a senior officer from outside the command to lead the review. 

“CENTCOM has designated an investigating officer to complete a command investigation,” Hegseth said, noting that the investigator is a general officer. “The command investigation will take as long as necessary to address all the matters surrounding this incident.” 

CENTCOM ISSUES SAFETY WARNING TO IRANIAN CIVILIANS AS REGIME USES ‘HEAVILY POPULATED’ AREAS FOR LAUNCHES

“There’s only one entity in this conflict, between us and Iran, that never targets civilians, literally never target civilians,” he said, defending U.S. targeting procedures while the investigation unfolds. “We will investigate. We’ll get to the truth and we’ll share it when we have it.”

The strike has drawn scrutiny as the investigation continues without answers. 

If U.S. forces carried out the attack, it would raise questions about how American military planners assess civilian risk in densely populated areas and whether safeguards designed to prevent unintended casualties functioned as intended in the opening phase of a high-intensity conflict.

CENTCOM, the military department tasked with overseeing the U.S. operation in Iran and all Middle East operations, has declined to confirm whether American forces launched the missile, saying only that “it would be inappropriate to comment given the incident is under investigation.”

Iranian-American journalist Banafsheh Zand, who has been following the reporting in Iran, pointed to the school that has been there for more than a decade, reported affiliation with Iran’s military. 

“The school itself was for the children of the (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) Navy, and it speaks volumes to where the place was and how they use civilian shields,” she said. 

The use of human shields is against international humanitarian law.  

While the regime claims between 168 fatalities and 180 fatalities, mostly girls between the ages of 7 and 12, along with teachers and parents from the school, Zand told Fox News Digital that there has been no independent confirmation of the reported casualty figures. 

“There is no confirmation on the number of people, from anyone other than regime sources,” she said. “Some people in the area said it was 65 boys. Sixty-five boys? What are 65 boys doing in a girls’ school at 10:30 on a Saturday morning?”

Addressing satellite images that appear to show newly dug graves, Zand added: “The number of graves are not in keeping with the number of people that they claim is dead. It doesn’t match up.” 

The U.S. government has not confirmed the death toll. 

Preliminary findings from U.S. officials suggest the strike was likely carried out by American forces, The New York Times reported Wednesday, though the investigation remains ongoing.

In response to the Times’ reporting, Central Command reiterated to Fox News Digital that the investigation is ongoing. 

IRAN UNREST ESCALATES AS GUNFIRE, TEAR GAS HIT UNIVERSITIES AMID LOOMING US STRIKE

Retired Vice Adm. Kevin Donegan, who previously commanded U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and the U.S. 5th Fleet, cautioned against getting ahead of the full review and said U.S. targeting doctrine is designed to prevent civilian tragedies, including legal review and collateral damage assessments before a strike is approved.

“We actually have judge advocates that sit there and help us through the process of targeting,” Donegan told Fox News Digital. 

But even precision-guided weapons do not eliminate uncertainty.

“War isn’t precise,” Donegan said. “Mistakes can be made, and they can happen anywhere in the chain of events.”

Raytheon, the manufacturer of the Tomahawk missile, could not be reached for comment.

Wes Bryant, the Pentagon’s former chief of civilian harm assessments, said his office, the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence, was tasked with advising commanders on targeting and ways to mitigate civilian harm but had been severely curtailed over the past year. 

Bryant said that taken together, the available evidence strongly suggests U.S. involvement.

“All evidence, at this point, points to a U.S. strike,” Bryant told Fox News Digital. 

If U.S. forces conducted the strike, Bryant said the more plausible explanation would involve a failure in target identification or civilian risk assessment.

“These munitions have a very small circular probable,” Bryant said. “If it missed, it would have been within a few meters.” 

Satellite imagery and reporting from Iranian officials indicate the Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school sat roughly 600 meters from the adjacent Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval facility in Minab, Iran, underscoring how closely civilian and military infrastructure were positioned.

“I’m leaning more toward that this is complete misidentification,” from the U.S., he said, arguing that the likely issue would be a failure to properly vet or update targeting information rather than a random malfunction.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital, “This investigation is ongoing. As we have said, unlike the terrorist Iranian regime, the United States does not target civilians.”  

IRAN LOCKS NATION INTO ‘DARKER’ DIGITAL BLACKOUT, VIEWING INTERNET AS AN ‘EXISTENTIAL THREAT’

Open-source video analysis and reported missile remnants have fueled speculation that the munition resembled a U.S. Tomahawk cruise missile — a weapon Iran does not operate. 

The Tomahawk is fielded by the U.S. and a limited number of close allies, including the United Kingdom and Australia, neither of which has been firing missiles in the conflict.

The Tomahawk is a long-range, precision-guided cruise missile capable of striking targets hundreds of miles away and typically carrying a high-explosive warhead.

Independent open-source investigators, including Bellingcat, a Netherlands-based investigative journalism group specializing in open-source analysis, have examined video and satellite imagery from the area and reported that multiple strikes hit the compound within a short time window. 

However, commentators on social media have their own theories. 

“The wing-to-body ratio of the munition in question matches an Iranian Kh-55–derived Land Attack Cruise Missile,” said podcast host and veteran Matt Tardio on X. “So what could have caused this? Simply put, GPS jamming of an Iranian KH-55. The USA and Israel were, and continue to actively jam the Iranian airspace.”

IRAN WAR, 11 DAYS IN: US CONTROLS SKIES, OIL SURGES AND THE REGION BRACES FOR WHAT’S NEXT

Former National Security Council official Javed Ali, now a professor at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, told Fox News Digital the central question is the quality of intelligence that informed the strike decision.

“How solid was the intelligence picture on that facility?” Ali said. “How good was the intelligence that went into what’s called a target package?”

OPERATION EPIC FURY DESTROYS IRAN’S NAVY AND CUTS MISSILE ATTACKS BY 90% IN ONGOING CAMPAIGN

Ali, who previously worked on targeting analysis at the Defense Intelligence Agency, said military strikes are typically built from multiple streams of intelligence — human, technical, geospatial and open source — designed to provide high confidence that a structure is a legitimate military objective.

“Clearly something went wrong,” Ali said.

Bryant said the Pentagon’s Civilian Protection Center of Excellence and broader civilian harm mitigation enterprise were scaled back in 2025, reducing the number of personnel available to conduct investigations into civilian harm.

The center was established by Congress to help the military minimize harm to civilians in conflict, but reporting shows its dedicated staff were folded into broader bureaucratic units or removed as part of a departmental reorganization. 

Its teams were designed to work with commanders on target planning to make sure targets were active military sites and advise on the potential for civilian harm, according to Bryant. 

The Pentagon has not publicly detailed the current status or staffing of the office, nor confirmed whether the office is involved in the ongoing Minab, Iran, school investigation.

IRAN OPERATING SECRET ‘BLACK BOX’ SITES HOLDING THOUSANDS IN DETENTION: REPORTS

An open source intelligence expert and former intel official, who requested anonymity, told Fox News Digital the structure resembles the other military buildings that were targeted in the strike, which could help explain how an intelligence misreading might occur and lead analysts to believe the site was another military facility within the compound.

Analysts say when civilian casualties occur during precision strikes, the explanations generally fall into three categories: intelligence failure, technical malfunction or human error.

Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israeli military intelligence, told Fox News Digital incorrect or outdated intelligence could lead to misidentification, while a GPS-guided munition could malfunction or be disrupted. Human error — such as incorrect coordinate entry — is another possibility. 

If an investigation ultimately finds negligence or a breakdown in targeting procedures, the U.S. military has a precedent for imposing consequences.

Bryant pointed to the 2015 U.S. strike on a hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, that killed dozens of patients and medical staff at a facility operated by Doctors Without Borders, the international humanitarian medical charity.

A U.S. military investigation later concluded that airstrike was “a tragic and avoidable accident” caused primarily by human error and procedural failures, with the medical facility mistakenly identified as a combat target.

“In that case, a couple of different commanders were removed,” Bryant said, noting that accountability can range from administrative measures to the revocation of certifications, depending on findings.

A federal judge blocked the Justice Department’s efforts to issue a pair of grand jury subpoenas to the Federal Reserve Board, concluding that the effort was merely a “pretext” to pressure Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell into lowering interest rates or resigning.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said in the newly unsealed ruling that the Justice Department offered “no evidence whatsoever” that Powell committed any crime “other than displeasing” President Donald Trump.

“Did prosecutors issue those subpoenas for a proper purpose? The Court finds that they did not,” he said, adding: “There is abundant evidence that the subpoenas’ dominant (if not sole) purpose is to harass and pressure Powell either to yield to the President or to resign and make way for a Fed Chair who will.”

The ruling comes after U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro opened a criminal inquiry into Powell’s June 2025 testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, centered on the Fed’s years-long renovation of its headquarters in Washington, D.C. Powell revealed the investigation publicly in January, which he described as an attack on the Fed’s independence. 

Pirro said Friday that the Justice Department would appeal the ruling to a higher court.

“This process has been arbitrarily undermined by an activist judge,” she said at a press conference Friday, arguing that Boasberg “put himself at the entrance door to the grand jury, slamming that door shut — irrespective of the legal process — and thus preventing the grand jury from doing the work that it does.”

Any appeal could prolong Trump’s efforts to remove Powell from the Fed and replace him with his pick — former Fed Gov Kevin Warsh — as Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. remarked on social media Friday.

The ruling “confirms just how weak and frivolous the criminal investigation of Chairman Powell is and it is nothing more than a failed attack on Fed independence,” Tillis said.

EX-JUDGES BLAST TOP TRUMP DOJ OFFICIAL FOR DECLARING ‘WAR’ ON COURTS

“We all know how this is going to end and the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office should save itself further embarrassment and move on,” he said. “Appealing the ruling will only delay the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed Chair.”

Boasberg used the ruling to tick through many of Trump’s social media posts blasting Powell and unsuccessfully pressuring him to lower interest rates, before suggesting that someone else should replace him to head up the Fed.

“Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell has done it again!!! He is TOO LATE, and actually, TOO ANGRY, TOO STUPID, & TOO POLITICAL, to have the job of Fed Chair,” Boasberg said in one citation — noting that it was among “at least 100 statements that the President or his deputies have made attacking the Chair of the Federal Reserve and pressuring him to lower interest rates.”

“Being perceived as the President’s adversary has become risky in recent years,” Boasberg said.

“In his second term, Trump has urged the Department of Justice to prosecute such people, and the Department’s prosecutors have listened.”

This is a breaking news story. Check back shortly for updates.

Senate Republicans are gearing up for a floor battle over Trump-backed voter ID legislation, but another GOP senator plans to oppose it.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., won’t support the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, a decision that could throw a wrench into the GOP’s plan to force Senate Democrats into tough vote after tough vote next week.

“I’m a no,” Tillis said. “I’m going to do everything I can to prevent it from even moving forward.”

SENATE GOP EYES BLAME GAME AS TRUMP-BACKED SAVE ACT HEADS FOR DEFEAT

He did offer an alternative, arguing that if Republicans were “serious” about voter ID, they’d consider legislation that incentivized states to use the practice in exchange for federal funding. If not, the money would go toward ensuring “election integrity” oversight.

“Who could be against that? You know, and then rock on, California, if you want to enable ballot harvesting,” Tillis said. “Make sure you do it on your nickels, because we’re going to spend the money to oversee the elections to make sure you did it legally.”

His resistance to the bill comes after President Donald Trump demanded that Republicans ram the bill through Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Democrats’ blockade with a talking filibuster.

TRUMP, THUNE CLASH ON VOTER ID ULTIMATUM AS GOP REMAINS DIVIDED ON PATH FORWARD

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Republicans landed on a plan to put the bill on the floor that doesn’t take the route of a talking filibuster, given that there isn’t enough unity among Republicans to block Democrats’ amendments that could drastically change the bill.

However, that process is in the spirit of the talking filibuster and will allow Republicans to load up amendments on the floor for a marathon debate session. Still, it won’t lower the threshold to pass the bill with just a simple majority — something the talking filibuster would have done.

Republicans know it’s destined to fail and are trying to shift blame to Schumer and Democrats with their floor strategy.

THUNE GUARANTEES VOTER ID BILL TO HIT THE SENATE DESPITE SCHUMER, DEM OPPOSITION: ‘WE WILL HAVE A VOTE’

But Tillis, who was a co-sponsor of the bill’s predecessor called the SAVE Act, disagreed with the changes Trump proposed to the legislation, which included banning mail-in ballots with limited exceptions, halting men in women’s sports, and stopping transgender surgeries for minors.

“You know, taking the language from the White House without understanding the state-by-state implications, politically and procedurally, just doesn’t sound like we’re letting the people at the tip of the spear — that’s these people running for re-election — define what we should be voting on next week,” Tillis said.

Tillis joins Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, in opposing the bill. Their defection, coupled with Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., announcing on CBS’ “The Takeout with Major Garrett” that he wouldn’t support the legislation in its “current state” over Trump’s criticism of mail-in balloting, gives the GOP a razor-thin margin of error in trying to even open debate on the bill.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has announced a task force to evaluate senior service colleges to ensure they are not tainted by woke ideology and offer quality education.

“Professional Military Education should produce warfighters and leaders—not wokesters,” he asserted in a post on X.

“That’s why we are establishing a Task Force to evaluate our Senior Service Colleges and ensure the focus is where it belongs. No distractions. Just warfighting,” the post adds.

HEGSETH SCOLDS CNN’S ‘UNSERIOUS’ REPORT ON IRAN CONFLICT, SUGGESTS PARAMOUNT OWNER SHOULD OVERHAUL NETWORK

Hegseth’s post includes a video message in which he said, “I’m directing the undersecretary of war for personnel and readiness to establish a task force effective immediately.”

“The mission of that task force is to evaluate our senior service colleges, where we educate our own: Think places like the Army War College, or National Defense University, the Naval War College, Marine Corps University or the Air War College, where our senior officers go to continue their education,” he explained.

TRUMP SAYS US ‘TOTALLY DESTROYING’ IRAN AND TO ‘WATCH WHAT HAPPENS’ FRIDAY

He indicated that the War Department will “make sure that what we’ve seen in our civilian institutions never surface in our military education institutions. Trust me. I’ve heard the stories. I know some of our own senior service colleges … have similar courses and similar ideologies. We need to rip ‘em out. And we’re going to. This task force will have 90 days to assess whether our Senior Service Colleges … are actually effective.”

“And if we’re pulling officers out of civilian universities because they’re too woke, then we better make sure our own universities are prepared to do the task properly,” he said.

NEW IRANIAN SUPREME LEADER ‘LIKELY DISFIGURED,’ HEGSETH SAYS

Hegseth’s message came as the U.S. continues waging war against the Islamic Republic of Iran in conjunction with Israel.

The suspect authorities say killed an ROTC instructor at Old Dominion University had previously been convicted of providing material support to ISIS but received a shorter prison sentence than federal prosecutors sought before his release in 2024, according to court records.

Mohamed Jalloh, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Sierra Leone, entered a classroom Thursday at the Norfolk school and opened fire after confirming it was an ROTC class, killing Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, authorities said. The FBI’s Norfolk Field Office said ROTC cadets physically subdued Jalloh and stopped the attack, adding that their actions “rendered [him] no longer alive.”

“The horrific tragedy that occurred today on ODU’s campus never should have happened,” Rep. Jennifer Kiggans, R-Va., said following the attack.

Court records show Jalloh was arrested in 2016 for providing material support to ISIS.

MAMDANI AVOIDS ‘RADICAL ISLAMIC TERROR’ PHRASE AFTER ISIS-INSPIRED NYC ATTACK, ECHOING OBAMA-ERA DEBATE

Federal prosecutors sought a 20-year prison sentence, but Senior U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady ultimately sentenced him to 132 months — roughly 11 years.

According to prosecutors, a now-deceased ISIS member overseas arranged contact between Jalloh and an individual he believed to be a fellow supporter but who was actually an FBI confidential human source. Investigators said Jalloh also traveled to Nigeria in connection with the plot.

The overseas terrorist wanted an attack carried out, while Jalloh told the FBI source he decided not to renew his enlistment with the Virginia Army National Guard after listening to lectures from Al Qaeda terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki — a New Mexico native against whom President Barack Obama ordered a fatal drone strike in 2011.

“The defendant was fully aware of what he was doing, and the consequences of those actions. His only misgivings seemed to be a fear that he would waver at the critical moment,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum obtained by the Associated Press.

FBI DISRUPTS ALLEGED ISIS-INSPIRED NEW YEAR’S EVE ATTACK PLOT TARGETING NC GROCERY STORE

O’Grady later handed down an 11-year sentence that included mental health treatment and substance abuse testing, according to the wire service, and Jalloh was ultimately released in 2024.

Jalloh’s release also required no contact with any terrorist organizations and computer monitoring during probation.

“Jalloh was sentenced in 2017 to 132 months in prison for providing material support to ISIS. The [government] had asked for a sentence of 240 months, the statutory maximum,” former federal prosecutor William Shipley wrote on X.

“The Judge who imposed the reduced sentence was Senior Judge Liam O’Grady, in the Eastern District of Virginia, a GWB appointee. Judge O’Grady announced he was taking Senior Status in June 2020 — right in the heart of the start of COVID, meaning there was no chance that Pres[ident] Trump would be able to get his replacement confirmed.”

“Joe Biden ended up nominating his replacement — Judge Patricia Giles.” Giles, he said, controversially ruled in 2024 that Virginia had illegally purged noncitizens from the voter rolls too close to that year’s election and ordered their restoration.

AMERICAN EXTREMIST ADMITS BANKROLLING ISIS TERRORISTS, PLOTTING US VIOLENCE WITH HOMEMADE BOMB: FEDS

Asked whether the spate of recent attacks shows a resurgence of ISIS threats to the homeland or if previously lax immigration policies have played a role, a spokesperson for National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent pointed to recent comments he made after the Iran mission began:

“As the Iran conflict continues to unfold, ODNI’s National Counterterrorism Center is engaged and operating at full capacity, 24/7. We are tracking developments in real time, assessing any potential risks to the homeland, identifying emerging threats, and providing timely, actionable intelligence to the White House, law enforcement, and interagency partners to detect and prevent attacks against the American people,” Kent said.

Kent said counterterrorism officials are “acutely aware” and focused on eliminating “persistent” threats posed by thousands of people with terror ties who “poured into our nation unchecked during four years of open borders under Biden.”

“Constant vigilance is a must. Stay aware of your surroundings, and if you see something suspicious, report it immediately to local law enforcement. Every one of us has a role to play in keeping this nation secure,” Kent said.

A DOJ spokesperson told Fox News Digital there are “no known or credible threats to the homeland” at this time and that federal agents are “maintaining a constant state of vigilance to keep Americans safe.”

Fox News Digital reached out to ODNI, the FBI and O’Grady for comment.

Rep. Josh Riley, D-N.Y., has put criticism of soaring utility costs at the center of his re-election bid in one of the most competitive House districts in the country, but state Sen. Peter Oberacker, R-N.Y., Riley’s likely general election challenger, argues the incumbent Democrat is quietly profiting from the industry.

In response to proposed rate hikes from New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG), Riley has accused the company of “robbery” and seeking to “line the pockets” of its Spanish owner, Iberdrola. 

Recent reporting from Mid-Hudson News found that Riley owns up to $250,000 in mutual funds that hold shares of Iberdrola. The outlet also reported that Riley’s campaign received a total of $1,500 from a lobbyist who directly represented Avangrid, Iberdrola’s primary U.S. subsidiary, at the time the donations were made.

The NYSEG-tied contributions and investment listed on Riley’s financial disclosure report were reviewed and verified by Fox News Digital. 

BIDEN’S GREEN ENERGY FIASCO, NOT TRUMP’S REFORMS, IS JACKING UP YOUR ELECTRIC BILL

“I think we could sum it up in one word: hypocrite,” Oberacker told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. “I don’t know any other word that fully encompasses what’s going on.”

Riley’s campaign fired back in a statement to Fox News Digital, calling Oberacker’s attack a “pathetic attempt to distract from the fact that he takes NYSEG’s corporate PAC checks.”

“The fact is, Josh doesn’t own stocks, doesn’t take corporate PAC money, and is the only person in this race who’s actually taking on the utility monopolies to lower our bills,” the spokesperson said.

Avangrid New York PAC has donated $350 to Oberacker since he began serving in the state Senate. However, an Oberacker campaign spokesman said those donations were returned prior to his entering the congressional race.

Riley, a first-term Democrat, narrowly won a purple swing district in 2024 that President Donald Trump lost by two points. The president handed Oberacker his “complete and total” endorsement in February.

Though Democrats nationwide are seeking to capitalize on voter discontent with rising costs ahead of November’s midterm elections, Oberacker said his campaign is rolling out proposals that are laser-focused on affordability issues.

The three-term state senator unveiled a “ratepayer bill of rights” in late 2025 that would require itemized billing and in-person hearings in communities subject to a rate hike, among other provisions.

If the legislation is signed into law, “The average person who’s looking at these increases in bills could actually say, ‘Where’s this going? What is this charge?” Oberacker said.

AS TRUMP TOUTS TARIFF WINDFALL, BATTLEGROUND STATES SHOULDER BILLIONS IN COSTS

Oberacker also contends that “radical environmental policies” enacted by Albany Democrats are responsible for making New Yorkers pay some of the highest energy bills in the country. The Empire State’s residential electricity rates were more than 50% higher than the national average in December 2025, according to data compiled by the Energy Information Administration.

“The folks in upstate New York are being squeezed at every turn,” he said. “I’m running to bring a reality check to the congressional district.”

National Republicans have sought to tie Riley to New York’s 2019 climate law, whose implementation is widely believed to be contributing to higher electric bills. Several left-wing groups that have previously endorsed Riley — such as the New York affiliates of the Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters and the Working Families Party — also advocated for the climate legislation.

A Feb. 26 memo from the New York State Energy and Research Development Authority projected that households would pay $4,000 in additional energy costs per year if the state enacts a carbon tax as called for by the law. Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., warned of “cataclysmic” costs for businesses last week, despite previously supporting the idea. 

The sprawling upstate New York district could be pivotal in keeping House Republicans’ slim majority in November. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the contest as “Lean Democrat.”

“There is no doubt that the House majority runs through the congressional New York 19th district,” Oberacker said.

Florida lawmakers are sending Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis a strict elections bill modeled after the federal SAVE America Act strongly championed by President Donald Trump that mandates voters verify their citizenship when registering.

Lawmakers in Tallahassee, Florida, in the GOP-dominated state House approved the measure in a 77–28 vote Thursday, hours after the bill passed the Republican-controlled state Senate 27–12. The votes in both houses of the Florida legislature were nearly entirely along party lines.

DeSantis, a supporter of what he calls “the Florida version of the SAVE Act,” is expected to sign the measure when it reaches his desk. 

“Although Florida has already enacted much of what the federal legislation contemplates, this will further fortify our state as the leader in election integrity,” the governor highlighted in a social media post.

SENATE GOP EYES BLAME GAME AS TRUMP-BACKED SAVE ACT HEADED FOR DEFEAT

The developments in Florida come as the federal bill faces an uncertain future in Congress.

The SAVE Act, which stands for Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, narrowly passed the GOP-controlled House in February mostly along party lines. But it’s stalled in the Senate, where Republicans hold a 53–47 majority in the chamber, far short of the 60 vote threshold needed to pass the bill.

The federal bill would require strict voter ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements across the country. Republicans say the bill is necessary to secure election integrity.

While polls indicate the vast majority of Americans — regardless of the political affiliation — support voter IDs at the polls and preventing noncitizens from voting in federal elections, Democrats argue the bill is not needed, since citizenship already is a requirement to vote and instances of noncitizen voting are rare.

THUNE GUARANTEES VOTER ID BILL TO HIT THE SENATE DESPITE SCHUMER, DEM OPPOSITION: ‘WE WILL HAVE A VOTE’

Democrats and voting rights groups also claim that the federal bill would create unnecessary barriers, making it harder for voters to cast a ballot.

Trump, who is intent on holding the Republican congressional majorities in the 2026 midterm elections, said earlier recently that the federal bill should be the top priority in Congress and that if passed, it “will guarantee the midterms” for Republicans.

But the Florida bill’s proof of citizenship requirement wouldn’t take effect until January, after the November 2024 midterm elections. And the bill also doesn’t limit the Sunshine State’s allowance for excuse-free mail-in-voting. 

Trump has long railed against mail-in-balloting.

SCHUMER DOUBLES DOWN ON GOP VOTING BILL ‘JIM CROW 2.0’ DESPITE DEMOCRATIC VOTER SUPPORT

The Florida measure also would prevent college students from using their student IDs when voting in person, but that provision wouldn’t take effect until 2027.

“This bill creates real barriers for everyday Floridians, especially those with the fewest resources,” Democratic state Sen. LaVon Bracy Davis of Orlando argued in a social media post. “It will disproportionately impact working families, seniors, and college students who want to exercise their voice and right to vote.” 

The bill would make Florida the most populous state in the nation to mandate proof-of-citizenship to register to vote.

Arizona and Kansas enacted similar requirements in the past two decades, and Louisiana passed a law two years ago.

Proof-of-citizenship bills passed recently in the South Dakota and Utah legislatures, and are awaiting the governors’ signatures.

And in 2024, New Hampshire mandated that all first-time voters show proof of citizenship when registering.

War Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a Friday morning press briefing that the U.S. “is decimating the radical Iranian regime’s military” and that the Islamic Republic’s new supreme leader was injured and “likely disfigured.”

“Desperate and hiding, they’ve gone underground, cowering,” Hegseth said of Iranian leadership. 

“That’s what rats do. We know the new so-called not-so-Supreme leader is wounded and likely disfigured,” he said.

Iran’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed during the beginning of the war, issued a written statement on Thursday that Hegseth described as “weak.” 

“It was a written statement,” Hegseth said. “Iran has plenty of cameras and plenty of voice recorders. Why a written statement? I think you know why. His father dead. He’s scared, he’s injured, he’s on the run and he lacks legitimacy. It’s a mess for them. Who’s in charge? Iran may not even know.”

This is a breaking news story and will be updated

Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama declared “the enemy is inside the gates” when sharing a post on X that juxtaposed a photo of the September 11, 2001, terror attack on the Twin Towers with an image of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

The post Tuberville shared was from an account called “End Wokeness,” which included a message that read, “Less than 25 years apart.” 

The image appears to show Mamdani hosting a Ramadan Iftar event at city hall, based on an Instagram post from an account called “muslimnews” that includes video footage which matches up with the image of Mamdani that End Wokeness shared on X.

ZOHRAN MAMDANI WILL BE FIRST MAYOR TO BE SWORN IN ON QURAN DURING NEW YORK CITY INAUGURATION

Mamdani, who is both a Muslim and a democratic socialist, directly responded to Tuberville’s remark.

“Let there be as much outrage from politicians in Washington when kids go hungry as there is when I break bread with New Yorkers,” Mamdani wrote in a post on X when sharing Tuberville’s tweet.

Democrats blasted Tuberville in response to the remark.

MAMDANI SPARKS VIRAL OUTRAGE OVER DINNER PHOTO WITH MAHMOUD KHALIL INSIDE GRACIE MANSION: ‘DISGRACEFUL’

“Racist. Islamophobic. Disgusting. Republicans just want to Make America White Again,” Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts declared in a post on X. 

“This is mindless hate,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer asserted in a post on X. “Muslim Americans are cops, doctors, nurses, teachers, bankers, bricklayers, mothers, fathers, neighbors, mayors, and more. Islamophobic hate like this is fundamentally un-American and we must confront and overcome it whenever it rears its ugly head.”

Tuberville shared Schumer’s post and declared, “Calling Radical Islam out for being a CULT doesn’t make you an ‘Islamophobe.’ Radical Islamists chant ‘death to America’ and would love to see every Christian and Jew murdered. Under Sharia Law, if you are not a Muslim, you are the ENEMY. Under Sharia Law, minorities are PERSECUTED. Under Sharia Law, women are SOLD, RAPED, and TRAFFICKED. Don’t believe me?? Read it for yourself! Radical Islam is NOT compatible with the Constitution and has NO PLACE IN AMERICA. I won’t be silenced about this.”

MAMDANI TOUTS LANDMARK COURT VICTORY AGAINST REPEAT OFFENDER LANDLORD IN HOUSING ENFORCEMENT PUSH

Tuberville also posted “the enemy is inside the gates” on Dec. 31 when sharing a screenshot of a New York Times headline about Mamdani being slated to be the first Big Apple mayor to use a Quran for his swearing in.

President Donald Trump said on Friday that the U.S. was “totally destroying” and “killing” Iran, warning to watch “what happens to these deranged scumbags today.”

“We are totally destroying the terrorist regime of Iran, militarily, economically, and otherwise,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in the early morning hours on Friday.

“Iran’s Navy is gone, their Air Force is no longer, missiles, drones and everything else are being decimated, and their leaders have been wiped from the face of the earth,” he continued. “We have unparalleled firepower, unlimited ammunition, and plenty of time.”

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Trump also appeared to signal significant developments later on Friday, writing, “Watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today.”

“They’ve been killing innocent people all over the world for 47 years, and now I, as the 47th President of the United States of America, am killing them. What a great honor it is to do so!” the president said.

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The president’s post comes nearly two weeks since he launched the U.S. war against Iran in conjunction with close U.S. ally Israel on February 28.

The effort has proven controversial, and Americans have been facing surging gas prices domestically during the conflict.

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“The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money. BUT, of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is stoping an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the World. I won’t ever let that happen!” Trump declared in a Truth Social post on Thursday.