Category: USA Politics

NATO’s chief signaled Thursday that European allies may move to help secure the Strait of Hormuz following talks with President Donald Trump — even as the White House declared the alliance had already “failed” and was not being asked to assist.

Secretary-General Mark Rutte, speaking at The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute in Washington a day after meeting Trump at the White House, pointed to a potential coalition effort among allied nations to keep the critical waterway open.

“If NATO can help, obviously, then there is no reason not to be helpful,” Rutte said.

But a White House official pushed back sharply on the notion that the alliance would play any role.

TRUMP SEEKS WARSHIPS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES TO HELP SECURE STRAIT OF HORMUZ

“As President Trump said yesterday, NATO was tested, and they failed,” the official told Fox News Digital Thursday. “He has zero expectations for NATO at this point and did not ask them for anything, even though it’s a fact that they benefit from the Strait of Hormuz far more than the United States.”

The split messaging underscores a growing rift between Washington and its European allies over how — or whether — NATO should be involved in the escalating Iran conflict.

Rutte framed the tension as part of a deeper structural imbalance, warning Europe’s reliance on U.S. military power had created what he called an “unhealthy codependence.”

MORE KEY US ALLIES BLOCK MILITARY FLIGHTS AS IRAN WAR RIFT WIDENS WITH TRUMP

A European diplomat confirmed to Fox News Digital that Rutte conveyed Trump expects a plan from allies within days, underscoring the urgency behind U.S. demands — even as the White House publicly denies seeking NATO’s involvement.

NATO also signaled the U.S. is pressing for concrete commitments.

“The secretary-general is in contact with allies about his discussions in Washington,” NATO spokesperson Allison Hart told Fox News Digital. “It’s clear that the United States expects concrete commitments and action to ensure the freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.”

Rutte suggested the disagreement reflects a broader divide among allies rather than a failure of NATO as an institution.

“It’s not so much NATO, it is the allies,” he said, pointing to what he described as obligations by individual countries to support U.S. operations when prior agreements are in place.

The dispute highlights a deeper clash over NATO’s role, with the Trump administration pressing allies to back U.S.-led military action against Iran while several European governments have resisted, arguing the conflict falls outside the alliance’s core collective defense mission.

NATO HEAVYWEIGHTS BALK AT HORMUZ MISSION AS TRUMP WARNS ALLIANCE AT RISK

That friction had already surfaced during the early stages of the conflict. 

Spain denied Washington access to key military bases at Rota and Morón and blocked U.S. aircraft involved in strikes against Iran from using its airspace, complicating American operations. France also restricted some airspace access tied to military logistics during the conflict, including denying Israeli aircraft permission to transport U.S. weapons, drawing pushback from U.S. and Israeli officials. 

French officials said overflight requests are handled case by case.

Several European countries also have said the Iran conflict is “not our war,” declining to deploy naval forces to reopen the Strait of Hormuz during active fighting and instead signaling support for maritime security efforts only after hostilities ease.

Trump repeatedly has criticized NATO allies for what he sees as insufficient support, warning the alliance risks becoming a “one-way street.”

“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore,” Trump said in a Truth Social post in March. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has similarly warned that Washington may “reexamine the value of NATO” following the conflict, citing frustration over European restrictions on U.S. basing and operational access.

Despite the tensions, Rutte emphasized that many European allies have provided support — including access to bases, logistics and overflights.

“He is clearly disappointed with many NATO allies, and I can see his point,” Rutte said. “But… the large majority of European nations has been helpful with basing, with logistics, with overflights, with making sure that they lived up to the commitments.”

Rutte also pointed to an emerging coalition model outside NATO’s formal structure, with countries coordinating directly to maintain security in the Strait of Hormuz.

“When it comes to the Strait of Hormuz, what you see now is countries coming together to make sure that the strait stays open,” he said. “If countries work together with the United States, that is a shared commitment that we cannot accept the strait being closed.”

He said the United Kingdom has taken a leading role in organizing that effort.

“This is about practical support,” Rutte added. “Each country is now looking at what they can do to contribute — whether that is minehunters, frigates, or surveillance and technology.”

Rutte returned to that broader critique of Europe’s defense posture, arguing the alliance had grown too dependent on Washington.

“Western European forces shrank, and defense budgets shriveled… in favor of what I would call an unhealthy codependence,” he said.

Still, he argued that the alliance is beginning to shift.

“This is a move from codependence to a transatlantic alliance grounded in true partnership,” Rutte said. “There will be no going back.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Wednesday rejected Anthropic’s request to block the Department of War from blacklisting use of the AI company’s technology, a move that conflicts with an order a different federal court issued last month in a separate lawsuit regarding the same issues.

“In our view, the equitable balance here cuts in favor of the government. On one side is a relatively contained risk of financial harm to a single private company. On the other side is judicial management of how, and through whom, the Department of War secures vital AI technology during an active military conflict. For that reason, we deny Anthropic’s motion for a stay pending review on the merits,” the April 8 order states. “Nonetheless, because Anthropic raises substantial challenges to the determination and will likely suffer some irreparable harm during the pendency of this litigation, we agree with Anthropic that substantial expedition is warranted.”

In a statement provided to Fox News Digital on Thursday, an Anthropic spokesperson noted, “We’re grateful the court recognized these issues need to be resolved quickly and remain confident the courts will ultimately agree that these supply chain designations were unlawful. While this case was necessary to protect Anthropic, our customers, and our partners, our focus remains on working productively with the government to ensure all Americans benefit from safe, reliable AI.”

ANTHROPIC’S DEMOCRATIC TIES UNDER FIRE AS TRUMP ADMIN SEVERS PENTAGON CONTRACTS

The War Department referred Fox News Digital to a Wednesday social media post from Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche.

“Today’s D.C. Circuit stay allowing the government to designate Anthropic as a supply chain risk is a resounding victory for military readiness. Our position has been clear from the start — our military needs full access to Anthropic’s models if its technology is integrated into our sensitive systems. Military authority and operational control belong to the Commander-in-Chief and Department of War, not a tech company,” Blanche noted in the post on X.

The War Department in January requested “unrestricted use” of Anthropic for “all lawful purposes,” but the AI company drew two red lines, saying it would not be used for domestic surveillance or lethal autonomous weapons.

The administration framed the refusal as corporate insubordination, and Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in February that the War Department “has no interest in using AI to conduct mass surveillance of Americans (which is illegal) nor do we want to use AI to develop autonomous weapons that operate without human involvement.”

President Donald Trump said in February that the U.S. would never allow “the radical left, woke company to dictate how our great military fights and wins wars.”

In a February 27 Truth Social post, Trump said he was “directing EVERY Federal Agency in the United States Government to IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of Anthropic’s technology.”

“There will be a Six Month phase out period for Agencies like the Department of War who are using Anthropic’s products, at various levels,” Trump indicated in the post.

DC COURT RULINGS STALL TRUMP AGENDA ACROSS IMMIGRATION, POLICING, FED — RAISING STAKES ON EXECUTIVE POWER

War Secretary Pete Hegseth slammed Anthropic in a post on X the same day, declaring that he was “directing the Department of War to designate Anthropic a Supply-Chain Risk to National Security.”

A letter in March notified Anthropic that the War Department had determined that use of the company’s products posed a “supply chain risk,” according to a copy of the letter attached to a court filing.

But then in a case in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, a judge issued a preliminary injunction order last month blocking the government from implementing those moves against Anthropic.

TECH COMPANY REFUSES PENTAGON DEMANDS ON UNRESTRICTED USE OF ITS AI

“This Order restores the status quo. It does not bar any Defendant from taking any lawful action that would have been available to it on February 27, 2026, prior to the issuances of the Presidential Directive and the Hegseth Directive and entry of the Supply Chain Designation. For example, this Order does not require the Department of War to use Anthropic’s products or services and does not prevent the Department of War from transitioning to other artificial intelligence providers, so long as those actions are consistent with applicable regulations, statutes, and constitutional provisions,” the March order from U.S. District Judge Rita Lin stated.

Former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares is taking aim at Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger as he helps steer Republican efforts to defeat a Democrat-backed congressional redistricting referendum that would create up to four additional left-leaning U.S. House seats ahead of the midterm elections.

“She told voters in August of 2025 that she had no plans, no intention to do redistricting. And then the very first bill that she signed into law was the enabling legislation for this monstrosity of gerrymandering to go forward,” Miyares told Fox News Digital on Thursday, as he pointed to Spanberger.

Miyares’ comments come as early voting is underway in Virginia ahead of an April 21 election on the ballot initiative, which, if passed, would give the Democrat-controlled legislature — rather than the current nonpartisan commission — redistricting power through the 2030 election. It could result in a 10-1 advantage for Democrats in the state’s congressional delegation, up from their current 6-5 edge.

Republicans call the Democrats’ redistricting effort an “unconstitutional power grab.” Democrats counter that it’s a necessary step to balance out partisan gerrymandering already implemented by Republicans in other states under the urging of President Donald Trump.

SPANBERGER ONCE BLASTED GERRYMANDERING AND NOW BACKS AMENDMENT CRITICS SAY COULD ERASE VIRGINIA GOP

Spanberger, a former CIA officer who served three terms in Congress, won election last year by a larger-than-expected 15-point margin in a state that is usually competitive between Democrats and Republicans.

But a poll last week from The Washington Post indicated that the new governor’s approval rating was barely above water, with the highest unfavorable rating for a new Virginia governor in two decades.

Miyares, speaking with Fox News Digital, argued that Spanberger “is the most unpopular governor in modern Virginia political history.”

OBAMA ENDORSES VIRGINIA REDISTRICTING CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT THAT COULD HELP DEMS GAIN 4 SEATS

“She’s an unpopular governor with an unpopular agenda and she lied to the voters,” he charged as he pointed to her comments on the gubernatorial campaign trail last year regarding redistricting.

And in a social media post on Wednesday, Miyares took aim at Spanberger, writing, “Governor ‘Bait and Switch’ is what people hate about self serving politicians.”

Miyares is co-chair for Virginians for Fair Maps, a GOP-aligned group that is working to defeat the redistricting referendum.

The group is currently running an ad statewide on TV and online that uses a 2019 quote from Spanberger, in which she wrote, “gerrymandering is detrimental to our democracy.”

“Trust me, we will be putting your face on a bunch of mailers reminding voters how you lied & previously stated you wouldn’t gerrymander Virginia into oblivion and then promptly did the opposite,” Miyares wrote in his social media post.

SOROS-BACKED GROUP AMONG LIBERAL ORGS PUMPING EYE-POPPING CASH INTO VIRGINIA GERRYMANDERING EFFORT

Along with former President Barack Obama, Spanberger has become one of the most visible faces in support of the amendment.

“I’m voting yes on Virginia’s redistricting amendment,” the governor says in an ad by Democratic-aligned Virginians for Fair Elections, the top political group backing the ballot initiative. The group is spending seven figures to run the ad statewide.

In the spot, Spanberger says she’s supporting the referendum because “it’s directly in response to what other states decide to do and a president who says he’s quote entitled to more Republican seats before this year’s midterms. Our approach is different. It’s temporary. It preserves Virginia’s fair redistricting process into the future.”

Virginia is the latest battleground in the high-stakes fight between Trump and the GOP versus Democrats over congressional redistricting.

BATTLE FOR THE HOUSE RUNS THROUGH VIRGINIA AS COURT OKS HIGH-STAKES REDISTRICTING VOTE

Aiming to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House when Democrats reclaimed the House majority in the 2018 midterms, Trump last spring first floated the idea of rare, but not unheard of, mid-decade congressional redistricting.

The mission was simple: redraw congressional district maps in red states to pad the GOP’s razor-thin House majority to keep control of the chamber in the midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats.

Trump’s first target was Texas.

When asked by reporters last summer about his plan to add Republican-leaning House seats across the country, the president said, “Texas will be the biggest one. And that’ll be five.”

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas called a special session of the GOP-dominated state legislature to pass the new map.

But Democratic state lawmakers, who broke quorum for two weeks as they fled Texas in a bid to delay the passage of the redistricting bill, energized Democrats across the country.

SPANBERGER DENIES ‘DEAL’ WITH SWING-DISTRICT DEMOCRAT AS GERRYMANDERING CLAIMS ABOUND STATEWIDE

Among those leading the fight against Trump’s redistricting was Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California.

California voters in November overwhelmingly passed Proposition 50, a ballot initiative that temporarily sidetracked the left-leaning state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission and returned the power to draw the congressional maps to the Democratic-dominated legislature.

That is expected to result in five more Democratic-leaning congressional districts in California, which aimed to counter the move by Texas to redraw their maps.

The fight quickly spread beyond Texas and California.

Republican-controlled Missouri and Ohio, and swing state North Carolina, where the GOP dominates the legislature, have drawn new maps as part of the president’s push.

In blows to Republicans, a Utah district judge late last year rejected a congressional district map drawn up by the state’s GOP-dominated legislature and instead approved an alternate that will create a Democratic-leaning district ahead of the midterms.

Meanwhile, Republicans in Indiana’s Senate in December defied Trump, shooting down a redistricting bill that had passed the state House. The showdown in the Indiana statehouse grabbed plenty of national attention.

Florida’s next up.

Two-term Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and state lawmakers in the GOP-dominated legislature are hoping to pick up an additional three to five right-leaning seats through a redistricting push during a special legislative session that kicks off on April 20.

Hovering over the redistricting wars is the Supreme Court, which is expected to rule in Louisiana v. Callais, a crucial case that may lead to the overturning of a key provision in the Voting Rights Act.

If the ruling goes the way of the conservatives on the high court, it could lead to the redrawing of a slew of majority-minority districts across the county, which would greatly favor Republicans.

But it is very much up in the air — when the court will rule, and what it will actually do.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) is leading a lawsuit against Virginia, accusing the state of violating state law by allegedly accepting ballots from people who have never resided in the state.

Under federal law, military service members stationed overseas and their spouses are allowed to cast absentee ballots based upon the state of their last residence, but a Virginia statute allows for voters who have never lived in the state to cast a ballot based on Virginia being their parent’s last eligible voting location.

The lawsuit comes just months away from a contentious midterm election cycle as the Republican Party fights to keep control of both chambers of Congress.

HOUSE OVERSIGHT PROBE PUTS MINNESOTA ELECTIONS UNDER SCRUTINY OVER NONCITIZEN VOTING CONCERNS

This lawsuit is the fourth filed by the RNC contesting loopholes in state laws that allow both children of military service members and children of former Virginia residents living abroad to vote in elections, even if they have never lived in the state. In addition to Virginia, 27 other states permit “nonresidents” to vote in both state and federal elections based on their parents’ last place of residence.

“The Virginia Constitution clearly states you must show proof of residency in order to vote in Virginia elections, so what we’re trying to do here at the RNC is make sure that Virginia elections are truly for Virginians and close that loophole where people who have never even lived in the state or sometimes even the country so they cannot register to vote in Virginia,” RNC Election Integrity Communications Director Ally Triolo told Fox News Digital.

Roughly 2.8 American citizens over the age of 18 live abroad, according to the Federal Voting Assistance Program. It is uncertain how many of them voted who have never lived in the United States, but the RNC said it is actively looking state voter rolls.

The RNC, RITE PAC and conservative grassroots organizer Matthew Hurtt filed for injunctive relief in the Circuit Court for the city of Richmond, Virginia, against the Virginia State Board of Elections and the Virginia Department of Elections Monday.

“People who have never lived in Virginia — or even in the United States — should not be voting in Virginia’s elections,” Republican Party Chairman Gruters said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Virginia officials are ignoring the Virginia Constitution and allowing ineligible voters to cast ballots. The RNC and RITE PAC are taking this action to enforce the law and ensure non-residents are not diluting the votes of Virginians.”

Hurtt, who also serves as the Chairman of the Arlington GOP, referred Fox News Digital to an email he sent to the Arlington GOP committee members, explaining why he joined the lawsuit.

“Through this lawsuit, we are asking the court to declare the relevant statutes unconstitutional and to require election officials to limit voting to individuals who meet Virginia’s residency requirements,” Hurtt wrote. “This effort is about ensuring that Virginia elections are conducted in accordance with the Constitution and that the rules governing voter eligibility are applied consistently and lawfully.”

VOTER-ROLL SCRUTINY ESCALATES IN MINNESOTA AS BIGGEST COUNTIES FACE SWEEPING RECORDS DEMANDS

The lawsuit named seven elected officials as defendants as well, including Fairfax County, Virginia, Electoral Board General Registrar Eric Spicer. Fairfax, Virginia, GOP chairman Steve Knotts previously praised Spicer for his efforts to strengthen election integrity in the county.

“Defendant Spicer has registered voters who stated on their registration forms: ‘I am a U.S. citizen living outside the country, I have never lived in the United States.’ This practice violates the Virginia Constitution,” the lawsuit stated.

The RNC did not provide an estimate when Fox News Digital asked how many people may have voted this way in Virginia.

Similar lawsuits have been filed by the RNC against Michigan, Arizona and North Carolina over election officials counting ballots from “never residents.” 

During litigation state officials in North Carolina pointed to both the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), a federal law, and a state law Uniform Military and Overseas Voters Act (UMOVA) in support of allowing nonresidents to vote. The UMOVA granted a provision allowing for individual born overseas to former North Carolina residents to vote in the state.

But, in April 2025, an appeals court in North Carolina ruled in favor of the RNC, determining that the state’s election board was violating state Constitution by allowing voters who never resided in the state. State officials appealed the decision to North Carolina’s Supreme Court, but the case was dismissed.

“We fought this in North Carolina,” Triolo said. “We had a successful win, and we have two more active cases fighting the same fight in Arizona and Michigan. We are committed at the RNC to stopping any abuse of our elections. We know that voters deserve free, fair, and secure elections. So the RNC is confident with its win that we already had on this issue. We’ll continue to see more wins moving forward.”

Triolo shared with Fox News Digital that the RNC has more than 120 active lawsuits across the country in its fight to close loopholes and strengthen election integrity.

“The RNC is fighting tooth and nail to protect the ballot box. This is one of our key priorities here, which is ensuring that our elections are fair, they’re free, they’re transparent, they are secure,” Triolo said.

The Virginia Department of Elections declined to comment.

FIRST ON FOX: Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico is pushing back on the idea that he supports defunding the police, calling it a “flat-out lie.”

Republicans are confronting Talarico with resurfaced comments from a 2019 episode of the Trey Blocker Show, in which he suggests that a heavy police presence in schools without sufficient mental health professionals contributes to a “culture of violence.”

Democrats believe they have a shot at flipping the critical Senate seat blue for the first time in decades. But the GOP hopes to defend its Senate majority by highlighting Talarico’s more controversial stances to undermine his moderate appeal.

The latest to be unearthed is from the 2019 interview, in which Talarico decried plans to increase police officer presence in schools without also placing more emphasis on mental health.

FLASHBACK: DEM SENATE NOMINEE CALLED ILLEGAL ALIENS ‘CONSTITUENTS,’ GAVE ADVICE ON EVADING ICE

“We’re all concerned about school safety and recent school shootings, and that concern, in some ways, has been channeled unproductively toward militarizing schools and toward kind of leaning into a culture of violence and adding more law enforcement officials into campuses,” he posited.

As a solution, Talarico, a former middle school teacher, touted the first bill he introduced as a member of the Texas House of Representatives, which would have mandated a set ratio of mental health workers for every police officer placed in a school. He stressed that “if a crime has been committed, a law has been broken or there’s an immediate danger to students, of course, we want our law enforcement officials to address it,” but emphasized that “law enforcement officials shouldn’t be conducting behavior interventions.”

Republican National Committee spokesman Zach Kraft called the bill “a scary combination of two of James Talarico’s favorite things,” which he said are “defunding the police and pushing his woke agenda on kids.”

Kraft told Fox News Digital that “Texans will have the same answer for Talarico at the ballot box that he had for police: ‘We don’t want you here.’”

TALARICO CONFRONTED ON PAST TWEETS ACCUSING WHITE PEOPLE OF SPREADING ‘VIRUS’ OF RACISM

However, JT Ennis, a spokesperson for Talarico’s campaign, characterized the GOP criticisms as a falsehood. 

“James opposes defunding the police and has a proven track record voting to send billions of dollars to support law enforcement,” Ennis told Fox News Digital.

Explaining his bill on the Trey Blocker Show, Talarico said it “directly addresses the school-to-prison pipeline” and “hopefully will create a balance between security and hardening, which has been proposed in some of the proposed school safety plans, and what has been proven to be effective, which is creating a safe and healthy school climate.”

“Everybody from the Department of Education to Secret Service has said that’s the best way to prevent school shootings, is to have relationships with your students on campus, not to create a moat around your campus,” he said.

He stressed that police “shouldn’t be counseling students.”

“They’re not trained to do that, nor should they. They have a tough enough job on their own, and we shouldn’t be adding to their plate,” he went on, noting, “Just like, as a certified educator, they wouldn’t want me roaming the streets in a cruiser, you don’t want that, and I don’t want you in my school doing discipline.”

JAMES TALARICO’S PAST ANTI-MEAT STANCE GOES VIRAL, DRAWS REPUBLICAN FIRE FROM ACROSS TEXAS POLITICAL LANDSCAPE

Despite some bipartisan support, Talarico’s bill stalled in committee. If passed and signed into law, the measure would have required school districts to hire four mental health professionals for every law enforcement official in districts or schools with an enrollment of 5,000 or more students. Districts and schools with between 5,000 and 500 students would have been required to have three mental health workers per police officer. Those with fewer than 500 students would need two mental health workers per law enforcement officer.

Ennis said the bill “supports the police by adding desperately needed mental health officials to help prevent tragic events like the mass shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas.”

Talarico was recently propelled to the national scene after years in state politics, culminating in a stunning upset victory for the Democratic Senate nomination over an established name, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas. With the nomination secured, he is set to face either incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, or state Attorney General Ken Paxton, depending on which candidate wins the May GOP primary runoff.

Though Democrats are hopeful he can flip the seat blue, Talarico’s campaign has been marked by intense controversy over his history of progressive statements, including claiming “God is nonbinary.” Despite this, he is running a competitive race for a Senate seat critical to both parties’ hopes of securing a majority in the upper chamber.

Ennis said that “while John Cornyn, Ken Paxton and the billionaires who prop them up play politics with school shootings by presenting a false choice between funding law enforcement and funding mental health resources for kids, James will continue standing up against both political parties to fix this broken, corrupt political system.”

In response, Matt Mackowiak, Cornyn’s campaign senior advisor, doubled down, telling Fox News Digital that “James Talarico is a ‘defund the police’ radical who wants to make our schools and our streets less safe.”

Meanwhile, Mackowiak said Cornyn “has always backed the blue and has been endorsed by the largest statewide law enforcement organizations in Texas.”

Fox News Digital also reached out to Paxton’s campaign for comment.

Senate Republicans are meeting with President Donald Trump Friday to crystallize a plan to fund immigration operations that would cut out Democrats altogether.

Congressional Republicans are turning to the party-line budget reconciliation process to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for years to come in a move that can’t be blocked by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Republicans have a short timetable to get the job done given that Trump has set a deadline for the bill to be on his desk by June 1.

‘WE DIDN’T CAVE’: THUNE HIGHLIGHTS SCHUMER, DEMS’ LOSSES IN DHS FUNDING DEAL

Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said he and Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., are meeting with Trump on Friday to prepare the framework of the package.

“We’re going to have to go it alone because Democrats aren’t interested in funding national security at a time of increased concerns around the world,” Barrasso said.

Republicans will first have to produce a budget resolution to provide guardrails for the forthcoming package. Barrasso said Senate Republicans plan to do it in a “targeted way, focused and get it done fast.”

A key hurdle in the process, however, is getting both House and Senate Republicans aligned on a plan. Senate Republicans want to keep a reconciliation package as narrow as possible, while some in the House are eyeing funding the entire Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in one massive bill.

GOP RAILS AGAINST ‘S— SANDWICH’ DEAL AS ALL EYES TURN TO HOUSE TO END DHS SHUTDOWN

Graham said recently that he envisions two reconciliation bills in 2026, one targeting ICE and CBP and another serving as a vehicle for several GOP priorities, including portions of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act and provisions to tackle fraud.

“Reconciliation has limits, but we’re going to make a down payment on the SAVE Act in reconciliation in the fall,” Graham said Monday on a South Carolina radio show, “Straight Talk with Bill Frady.”

But a key House GOP voice won’t be there.

A source told Fox News Digital House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, Graham’s counterpart in the process, will not attend the White House meeting Friday.

Barrasso said there would likely be discussions on a “number of topics” for reconciliation, but the end goal for Senate Republicans remains funding ICE and CBP.

GOP RACES TO PASS ICE, BORDER PATROL FUNDING BILL AS PRIORITIES PILE UP, DIVISIONS EMERGE

“What I’m telling you today is we’re moving ahead in spite of incredible obstruction by the Democrats,” Barrasso said. “We’re focusing immigration and funding, immigration custom enforcement and border patrol, with Republican votes alone using reconciliation.”

Senate Democrats aren’t backing down from their shutdown position. Their demand for reforms to immigration operations, like requiring judicial warrants to search people’s homes and unmasking DHS agents in exchange for funding ICE and CBP has led the ongoing shutdown to stretch beyond 50 days.

Despite being cut out of the funding process altogether under Republicans’ reconciliation plan, Democrats still view their position as a winning strategy.

Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., argued that, as with the creation of the 2025 “big, beautiful bill,” Republicans will likely look for areas to cut spending to fund ICE and CBP, a move that could come back to bite them in the midterm elections.

Kim told Fox News Digital Republicans bypassing Democrats to fund immigration operations does not make their shutdown posture “moot.”  

“We’re trying to make sure we’re standing up for the voice of the American people. If Republicans want to go around the American people, then they will answer to voters in November,” Kim said.

“And the Democrats, we will find our way back into gavels and power, and we will do what we can at that point to do what the American people wanted from the start, which is to focus on their concerns and not have this, you know, army of masked ICE agents without identification, without judicial warrants, terrorizing our neighborhoods.”

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing backlash online after admitting that his campaign pledge to make city buses free is hitting funding roadblocks.

Conservatives were quick to react to a Politico interview where the mayor acknowledged that one of his most hotly discussed campaign promises wouldn’t be fulfilled this year as his administration works to gain support from lawmakers in Albany.

“It won’t ever happen. It was a high-profile promise that won’t ever happen. It wasn’t really meant to,” wrote conservative media host Jason Rantz on X.

“Turns out socialist slogans don’t survive contact with reality,” National Republican Congressional Committee Press Secretary Mike Marinella posted on X.

FROM FREE BUSES TO CITY-OWNED GROCERY STORES, HERE ARE MAMDANI’S KEY ECONOMIC PROMISES

“Hahahahahahahahahaha. You got played, NYC,” wrote Amy Curtis, a conservative writer, on X.

“Mamdani lied about free buses — and basically everything else in his campaign,” wrote Tim Young, a media fellow at The Heritage Foundation, on X. “And the idiots of New York fell for it,” he added.

“Socialism is like a toxic ex: big promises upfront, disappointment later,” conservative media outlet Prager U posted on X. “Just ask New York about those free buses.”

Others, however, defended the effort, pointing to the complexities of funding major transit changes and praising the administration for continuing negotiations.

SOCIALIST NYC MAYOR MAMDANI CLASHES WITH HOCHUL OVER TAX HIKES AS SOME CRITICS WARN OF CATASTROPHE

Mamdani’s office said in a statement to Fox News Digital that the mayor remains committed to the plan, adding that his administration is working with state officials to make fare-free buses a reality before the end of his term.

“Mayor Mamdani is committed to delivering fast and free buses by the time he leaves office, full stop,” a spokesperson said, noting ongoing discussions with N.Y. Governor Kathy Hochul’s office.

“In the meantime, the Mamdani administration will continue to work with our partners at the state and local level to make commutes faster and our transit system more affordable for all New Yorkers.”

Mamdani never explicitly pledged to fulfill the campaign platform in the first year but said he intended to accomplish the goal by the end of his first four-year term.

“Making buses fast and free, the fast thing we’re already getting started on,” Mamdani said in January. “And what I’ve said is that by the time I’m finished being mayor, they’re going to be free. What we have to deliver, however, in this very year, required by law, but also required just by being a good mayor, a balanced budget for this fiscal year [and for] the next fiscal year.”

As an assembly member, Mamdani launched a free bus pilot program in Queens that he has touted as highly successful citing increased ridership by more than 30% and showing a nearly 40% drop in assaults on bus operators.

Still, Mamdani’s critics argue that the cost of free busses is fiscally risky and logistically flawed for the behemoth New York City system and warn it would likely to degrade the very service it aims to improve.

The debate comes as Mamdani advances a broader affordability agenda built on campaign promises such as city-owned grocery stores and rent freezes, proposals that have rattled Wall Street and drawn sharp criticism.

The clash underscores a widening divide between progressive ambitions for the city and the financial sector that has long powered its economy.

An ordained Christian minister running for U.S. Congress in Iowa penned an opinion piece sharing how the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks — carried out by radical Islamic terrorists — made her more “aware” of the “rising anti-Muslim bigotry and its harm.”

Sarah Trone Garriott is one of three Democratic candidates vying for the battleground seat held by Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa.

Garriott, an Iowa state legislator and Lutheran minister, wrote the opinion piece for the Iowa Capital Dispatch in response to the “hateful messages” she received after she shared a prayer with Arabic words written by a Muslim woman on the statehouse floor in February 2021.

“They said horrible stereotypical things about my Muslim neighbors — Sharia law, hating freedom, violent religion,” Garriott wrote. “There were others who made comments about the United States being a Judeo-Christian country and therefore Muslim prayers were not welcome. There were some attacks against me, as a Christian leader I was leading people astray, that I didn’t know what I was doing.”

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She said the pushback “convinced” her there is a greater need for “religious diversity.”

Garriott revealed that she began her master’s degree in theological studies at Harvard University a day after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“On that religiously diverse campus, I was more aware of the rising anti-Muslim bigotry and its harm,” Garriott wrote. “I am kind a biblical literalist, and when Jesus said blessed are the peacemakers, I took that to heart. I worked with my Muslim classmates to organize a meal to bring the community together during Ramadan.”

Meanwhile, Nunn had “a different response” to the 9/11 terrorist attacks by joining the Air Force, according to Nunn’s spokesperson, Mark Matava. During his service, he “flew more than a hundred combat missions to defend America.”

“Sarah Trone Garriott has called Christianity ‘threatening,’ mocked parents for protecting their daughters, and accused Christian schools of being ‘white enclaves,’” Matava said. “Now we learn that her response to the deadliest attack on American soil was to lecture Americans about bigotry without so much as mentioning the nearly 3,000 people who were killed on 9/11. Her contempt for Iowa and America is on full display.”

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Iowa GOP spokesperson Jade Cichy also criticized Garriott for not mentioning the thousands of American victims killed on 9/11.

“Radical woke warrior Sarah Trone Garriott’s main concern after the September 11th terror attacks was ‘anti-Muslim bigotry,’ and she made no mention of the thousands of innocent Americans who lost their lives that day,” Cichy said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “This stunning display of tone-deaf political pandering is just the latest example showing Trone Garriott is out of touch with Iowa values.”

Republican National Committee spokesman Zach Kraft said she is “insulting Iowa values” by pandering to “coastal elite Democrat Party bosses.”

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“Sarah Trone Garriott should be ashamed for wagging her finger at America for not being woke enough about 9/11 and completely ignoring the more than 2,000 patriots tragically killed that day,” Kraft said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Iowa GOP spokesperson Jade Cichy called Garriott’s “tone-deaf political pandering.”

Fox News Digital reported last month on a 2023 speech given by Garriott in which she criticized Christian displays at political rallies, calling it one of several “pretty uncomfortable ways that faith and political power have collided.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Garriott for comment.

First lady Melania Trump delivered a brief statement Thursday afternoon at the White House, coming out swinging at those who have linked her to Jeffrey Epstein, calling them “devoid of ethical standards.”

The remarks lasted roughly three minutes and did not include questions from the press.

“The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today,” she said. “I do not object to their ignorance, but rather I reject their mean-spirited attempts to defame my reputation.”

A White House official told Fox News ahead of the event that the appearance would be a “statement” rather than a formal announcement.

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Trump clarified the history between herself, her husband, President Donald Trump, and Epstein, during her remarks.

“I [have] never been friends with Epstein. Donald and I were invited to the same parties as Epstein from time to time. Since overlapping in social circles is common in New York City and Palm Beach,” she said.

The first lady called on Congress to act on Epstein’s circle, saying ‘each and every woman’ should have her moment to share testimony.

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“I call on Congress to provide the women who have been victimized by Epstein with a public hearing specifically centered around the survivors,” she said. “Give these victims their opportunity to testify under oath in front of Congress with the power of sworn testimony. Each and every woman should have her day to tell her story in public if she wishes, and then her testimony should be permanently entered into the Congressional Record.”

This is a developing story, check back later for updates.

Democrats are united in their opposition to President Donald Trump and his unprecedented second-term agenda. But as the Democratic National Committee (DNC) huddles in New Orleans for their spring meeting, the party is once again coping with deep internal divisions over Israel’s military actions and a powerful pro-Israel lobbying group’s recent meddling in Democratic Party primaries.

The DNC’s Resolutions Committee debated and held test votes on Thursday on resolutions recognizing a Palestinian state, putting limits on military aid to Israel, and taking aim at what one resolution calls the “growing influence” of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which is best known by its acronym AIPAC, and other so-called dark money groups.

Two resolutions on placing conditions on military aid to Israel and recognizing a Palestinian state were referred to the DNC’s Middle East Working Group. The resolution calling out AIPAC was defeated after the Resolutions Committee passed a broader resolution targeting all dark money groups. The nonbinding resolutions were among more than 100 on a range of issues that are being considered.

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The resolutions were the latest face-off between DNC leaders who support Israel and a growing base of progressives who give Israel a thumbs down. One DNC committee member, speaking anonymously, called the resolutions “problematic” for the party.

The potential for divisive dialogue and verbal explosions over these issues comes eight months after similar showdowns at the DNC’s 2025 summer meeting in Minneapolis.

This year’s spring meeting also comes as a Pew Research national survey released this week showed that 80% of Democrats and independents who lean towards the party hold unfavorable views of Israel, up nearly 30 points since 2022. An NBC News poll conducted earlier this year indicated that 57% of Democrats held a negative view of Israel, up from 35% after Hamas killed roughly 1,200 people in a sneak attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

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But negative opinions have surged since Israel’s ensuing military campaign in Gaza over the past two and a half years has resulted in more than 72,000 people being killed, according to health officials in the Palestinian territory. And Israel joined the U.S. in attacking Iran in a nearly month-and-a-half long war which polls suggest is unpopular with most Americans.

“Israel’s behavior has turned Americans against it,” longtime DNC member James Zogby — the president of the Arab American Institute and a critic of Israel, said in a social media post this week. “It seems that Americans don’t like folks using our money & weapons to commit genocide & steal Palestinian land.”

The resolution criticizing AIPAC and other corporate-aligned spending in Democratic primaries was authored by Allison Minnerly, a DNC member from Florida who at last year’s summer meeting grabbed a spotlight as she unsuccessfully pushed for a resolution urging an arms embargo on Israel.

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After Minnerly’s resolution was defeated, DNC Chair Ken Martin pulled his own resolution, which called for “unrestricted” aid to Gaza and a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. Martin then the Middle East Working Group, which will meet for a fourth time at the spring meeting.

Some Democrats blame the party’s support for Israel for their 2024 election setbacks, when they lost control of the White House and Senate and fell short in winning back the House majority.

Fox News reached out to the DNC and AIPAC for comment.