Category: USA Politics

FIRST ON FOX: The top Senate Republican argued that while Senate Democrats may be the ones voting against reopening the government, they’re not the ones calling the shots.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital in an interview that as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown continues, it’s Democrats’ voters who are pushing them to continue blocking funding for the agency.

“The Democrats up here on the Hill are so afraid of their far-left base,” Thune said. “And I think the far-left base, their demand right now, is defund ICE, defund law enforcement, which is not, by any stretch, a reasonable position.”

The agency has been shut down for 35 days, putting the latest closure into record-breaking territory. Senate Democrats have, so far, blocked four attempts to reopen the agency over demands for stringent reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and how agents operate in the field.

THUNE ACCUSES CRITICS OF ‘CREATING FALSE EXPECTATIONS’ AMID BACKLASH OVER STALLED SAVE AMERICA ACT

Negotiations had ground to a halt for several weeks, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus staying quiet on the latest offer from the White House.

That communication breakdown began to thaw this week when Democrats responded with an offer the White House dubbed unserious. And signs of a deal further improved on Thursday when a handful of Democratic negotiators sat down for the first time with Senate Republicans and border czar Tom Homan.

It also comes as lines at airports stretch for several blocks as workers go unpaid, and concerns of terrorist attacks are at a fever pitch in the wake of the Iran war. Thune will again put a bill to reopen the agency on the floor on Friday, and Democrats are again expected to block it.

REPUBLICANS SIGNAL NO RETREAT ON SAVE ACT AS MARATHON SENATE DEBATE KICKS OFF

Still, Thune said that the meeting “suggested even more movement” toward breaking the funding logjam but remained wary of Democrats actually wanting to make a deal to end the shutdown.

He also noted that until Thursday, Democrats had consistently rejected Republicans’ offers to get into a room and hash it out, and he contended that it was the White House making their offers to Democrats public that likely spurred the latest confab.

“My impression is, at least up until now, that the edict has gone out from the paternalistic Democrat fathers that none of their children should be talking to Republicans about how to solve this problem in a way that gets them actual reforms in place,” Thune said, “and funds an important department that has a number of agencies that are really critical, not only to national security, but to emergency management and other things.”

DEMS UNMOVED AS WHITE HOUSE REVEALS DHS CONCESSIONS IN SHUTDOWN BATTLE

“So it seems to me, at least they are — these guys — they are running scared,” he continued. “They, I think, believe they benefit politically from this.”

Several Democrats left the meeting with Homan and Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Katie Britt, R-Ala., declining to comment on the discussion. When asked if lawmakers were any closer to a deal, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said, “No.”

Still, Republicans were hopeful that there would soon be a breakthrough to the impasse.

“Unfortunately, the Democrats’ list of demands keeps growing and growing, and that makes it difficult,” Collins said. “But the group that was in there is operating in good faith, and I hope we’ll get together again very soon.”

Two former FBI agents who helped investigate efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election sued Thursday to challenge their abrupt firings from the bureau, arguing that their terminations were “solely” due to their involvement in the probe.

The two agents, identified only as John Doe 1 and John Doe 2, accused FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi of politically retaliating against them for their work in the 2020 election case, known internally as “Arctic Frost,” despite having played brief and largely administrative roles in the investigation.

The lawsuit argues that the firings were a violation of FBI policy as well as the agents’ rights under the First and Fifth Amendments of the Constitution. Both former agents are seeking reinstatement to the bureau, and a declaration from the court that their terminations were unlawful. 

FBI AGENTS GROUP TELLS CONGRESS TO TAKE URGENT ACTION TO PROTECT AGAINST POLITICIZATION 

“Political support for President Trump is not a legal or appropriate requirement for the effective performance of plaintiffs’ respective roles within the F.B.I.,” the lawsuit states. “Accordingly, perceived lack of political support for President Trump is an impermissible basis for termination of plaintiffs’ F.B.I. employment.”

According to the lawsuit, the two agents were fired last fall, within a five-day period, and shortly after, unredacted internal documents related to the Arctic Frost probe were shared with members of Congress. 

FBI Director Kash Patel proceeded to “summarily” fire both agents in late October and early November, the lawsuit says, “without evidence,” and without “internal investigation, notice, or hearing” to precede their terminations. 

Neither the FBI nor the Justice Department responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on their removals, or the new lawsuit. During House testimony Thursday, however, FBI Director Kash Patel dismissed criticism raised by Democrats about terminations within the bureau. 

“There’s 36,000 people employed at this FBI,” Patel told lawmakers. 

“And I reject the notion wholeheartedly that the termination of those that were weaponizing law enforcement are the only ones that can do the mission,” he added.

FBI AGENTS SUTE TRUMP DOJ TO BLOCK ANY PUBLIC IDENTIFICATION OF EMPLOYEES WHO WORKED ON JAN.6 INVESTIGATIONS

The lawsuit argues that the terminations run afoul of FBI policy, which states that non-probationary special agents may be removed only for cause, such as misconduct, national security concerns, or an inability to perform the essential duties or responsibilities of their roles. Both had been lauded for their work at the bureau, it notes, and had received “exemplary” performance reviews and other outside recognition.  

“In Arctic Frost, as in all other investigations to which they were assigned, Plaintiffs fully adhered to DOJ policies and procedures, including applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, and executed their law enforcement duties without bias or political motives,” they said in the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C. 

BONDI SWORN IN AS ATTORNEY GENERAL WITH MISSION TO END ‘WEAPONIZATION’ OF JUSTICE DEPARTMENT

Lawyers for the agents also argued the removals break with Patel’s remarks last year during his Senate confirmation hearing, in which he vowed that agents would not be fired based on case assignments, and stressed that personnel decisions “should be based on performance and adherence to the law.”

The lawsuit adds to a growing list of unlawful termination lawsuits filed by ex-FBI agents in recent months, including former agents who have argued they were removed solely for their perceived political views, or for their involvement in certain politically sensitive investigations.

Former Department of Justice officials have cited concerns that the probe or any retaliatory measures carried out as a result could have a chilling effect on the work of the FBI, including its more than 52 separate field offices.

The FBI Agents’ Association, or FBIAA, a voluntary agents’ group that represents more than 14,000 active and former special agents, sharply criticized the removals of the two special agents, saying in a statement released at the time that Patel “has disregarded the law and launched a campaign of erratic and arbitrary retribution.”

“An Agent simply being assigned to an investigation and conducting it appropriately within the law should never be grounds for termination,” the group said.

“FBI Agents deal in facts, and we urge Director Patel to do the same.”

FIRST ON FOX: Legacy Democrats and a slew of Michigan Democratic Party lawmakers dismissed concerns over their connections to a radical Imam who eulogized the death of Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei by “the most wretched hands on Earth” and works at a mosque known for being a purveyor of Iranian propaganda. 

Dearborn Heights, Michigan Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi’s social media pages were a who’s who of Michigan Democratic Party politicos, and also included a slew of photos of him with legacy Democrats and Democratic Party officials from other states, before they were deleted. The photos, many of which come from various political and religious-oriented events, were removed from the Imam’s social media after Fox News Digital reached out to him and his Michigan-based Islamic House of Wisdom (IHW). 

However, screenshots retained by Fox News Digital and other photos that remain publicly available on the Imam’s social media sites show him posing alongside legacy Democrats like former President Bill Clinton, former Vice President Kamala Harris and former Secretary of State John Kerry.

Other Democrats the Imam was pictured with on his social media pages included current candidates for office in Michigan and some of the state’s highest-ranking leaders, such as Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, whose 2023 inauguration included a Muslim prayer tribute from Ali Elahi, Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, and Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich. One post on his socials included a flyer highlighting an event the IHW helped sponsor that was headlined by Dr. Anthony Fauci, while others included photos of the Imam interacting with out-of-state Democrats, such as Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga.

CRITICAL SWING STATE CANDIDATES REVEAL WHERE THEY STAND ON DHS FUNDING AFTER SUSPECTED TERROR ATTACKS   

In addition to the public photos of Ali Elahi, with a slew of various Democrats, he has also donated to several of these same lawmakers as well, including candidates running for office this year in his state of Michigan, according to Michigan’s campaign finance database. Current Michigan U.S. Senate candidate, Abdul El-Sayed, featured in at least one of the Imam’s photos, received over $800 from him in 2017. Gilchrest, pictured numerous times with the Imam on his social media pages, received over $1,000. 

Meanwhile, Mike Duggan, the former Mayor of Detroit now running an Independent bid for governor who is seen eating dinner with the Imam, received $500, according to state records. Ali Elahi has also, for years, made many small-dollar donations through Act Blue to various Democrats and Democrat institutions.

“The unwillingness of public officials to distance themselves from someone so controversial would be troubling enough under normal circumstances, but doubly so during a time of conflict when Americans lives hang in the balance and voters expect their leaders to rally around the flag,” said GOP strategist Colin Reed. “For nearly 40 years, the leaders of the Iranian regime have pushed ‘death to America’ and exported terror around the world. It shouldn’t be a close call to want to put daylight between someone so sympathetic to their cause.”

When asked, following Ali Elahi and IHW’s Khamenei tribute, if any of the Democratic Party figures regretted attending events alongside the Iranian-born Imam living in Michigan, or whether they planned to reconsider interactions with him going forward, those Democrats seen with him in photos at various events either did not respond or downplayed their ties to the Imam. A staffer for Michigan gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson initially got in touch after Fox News Digital reached out, but then ignored Fox News Digital’s inquiries after they were told the story was not only about Benson.    

Khamenei, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike last month, has repeatedly attacked the United States and Israel on social media, including saying, “Death to America.”

“Yes, it will happen. Death to America will happen,” Khamenei declared in 2022, the Middle East Media Research Institute reported at the time. “Some people say: By chanting ‘Death to America,’ you bring America’s animosity upon yourself. I say that this is not true. When America began its hostility towards Iran, nobody had been chanting ‘Death to America.’”

“Senator Peters routinely attends events with his constituents across Michigan. Peters has long said that Iran and its leaders, like Ayatollah Khamenei, are bad actors, and he strongly believes that we must ensure Iran never has nuclear weapons,” a spokesperson for the Michigan senator said.

TRUMP WARNS OF IRANIAN ‘SLEEPER CELLS’ AS CANADA ACCUSED OF HARBORING REGIME OPERATIVES

“Georgians are concerned about an illegal war that’s costing taxpayers $1 billion a day and spiking gas prices,” a Warnock spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “The Senator believes Ayatollah Khamenei was a brutal dictator, and this President should be focused on problems at home instead of entangling our country and service members in another endless war.”

“It was 60 seconds of social niceties at a funeral. Shaking someone’s hand isn’t a connection or an endorsement,” said a Clinton spokesperson. “They don’t know each other.”

“The press corps often sprints after Republicans in office to ask them about why someone took a picture with them and how quickly will they distance themselves from that individual, but that same level of scrutiny is not remotely applied to Democrats,” lamented Republican strategist Mark Bednar. “For the good of the country, elected Democrats and candidates must explain to their constituents and to the media where exactly do they stand regarding cheerleaders of the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism.”

Duggan, who initially told local Michigan news outlet, The Michigan Enjoyer, that he “had no recollection” of photos they shared of him with the Imam, told Fox News Digital that the candidate for governor did not know Ali Elahi personally when asked if he planned to reconsider interacting with him in the future. Fox News Digital uncovered multiple photos of Duggan attending events alongside Ali Elahi that were on the Imam’s Facebook page, including one where the two are seen embracing each other. 

“In his 12-year tenure, Mayor Duggan constantly reached out to congregations of all faiths, visiting 40-50 churches, mosques, and synagogues each year,” a spokesperson for Duggan’s gubernatorial campaign said. “He attended close to 1,000 political events in that time and greeted and took photos with people at each of them. The Mayor does not know Imam Elahi any more than the many others across the political spectrum he encountered over the years.”

As recently as September, Ali Elahi was seen pictured with Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian at the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. 

The gathering was also attended by the co-founder of the left-wing activist group CODEPINK, which has been accused of having close ties to China, and former U.S. intelligence official and UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter, whose house was raided by the FBI for what Ritter himself described as violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

The Imam similarly met with Pezeshkian at the UN assembly in 2024, a photo on the Imam’s Facebook and Instagram shows, which also includes a caption praising the regime leader and slamming Israel and the media. Ali Elahi has photos of himself meeting with anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan, who infamously compared Jews to termites in one of his sermons.

“The numerous photographs of Elahi with high-level Iranian politicians and religious leaders that he regularly publishes on his social media networks speak to his ties to the Islamic Republic,” a report from George Washington University’s Program on Extremism states. The same report points out that Ali Elahi served as the head of the Iranian Navy’s “political ideological office” in 1982, an allegation the Imam addressed but did not deny in a 2023 speech.     

Meanwhile, U.S. lawmakers have accused Ali Elahi’s mosque of being “a significant purveyor of extremist propaganda, in line with the Iranian regime’s views,” in a 2023 letter to then-U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, calling on him to investigate various Iranian regime-backed mosques in the United States. As recently as 2023, Ali Elahi traveled to Iran, sharing photos and video of his trip in 2023 on social media. 

EXCLUSIVE: The White House on Friday unveiled its first national policy framework for artificial intelligence — a legislative outline to establish a “consistent” national standard for AI development across the nation that prevents censorship and protects free speech and children, Fox News Digital has learned.

Fox News Digital exclusively obtained the legislative framework that the White House will share with congressional leadership Friday as the White House pushes Congress to advance and codify its “commonsense” proposals into law “this year.”

“This year. As fast as we can,” White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview Thursday evening. “Congress has a lot of priorities they’re trying to make happen, but we believe this can receive bipartisan support.”

TRUMP BRINGS BIG TECH EXECUTIVES TO WHITE HOUSE TO CURB POWER COSTS FOR AMERICAN HOUSEHOLDS AMID AI BOOM

White House sources told Fox News Digital that the framework was designed to reduce regulatory uncertainty, sustain U.S. dominance in the AI space, prevent censorship and protect free speech.

“We need one national policy — not a 50-state patchwork of laws,” Kratsios told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview Thursday evening. “This legislative proposal delivers on that.” 

“In December, President Trump signed an Executive Order tasking us with the development of a national framework for AI, what he called ‘One Rulebook,’” White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks told Fox News Digital. “This was in response to a growing patchwork of 50 different state regulatory regimes that threaten to stifle innovation and jeopardize America’s lead in the AI race.”

The White House is urging Congress to “preempt state AI laws that impose undue burdens to ensure a minimally burdensome national standard consistent with these recommendations, not fifty discordant ones,” according to the official framework obtained by Fox News Digital.

“This national standard should respect key principles of federalism and not preempt the traditional police powers retained by the states to enforce laws of general applicability against AI developers and users, including particular laws to protect children, prevent fraud, and protect consumers,” the framework states, adding it should also not preempt “state zoning laws, including state authorities, to determine the placement of AI infrastructure.”

The framework said that “preemption must ensure that state laws do not govern areas better suited to the Federal Government or act contrary to the United States’ national strategy to achieve global AI dominance.” 

The White House stresses that states “should not be permitted to regulate AI development, because it is an inherently interstate phenomenon with key foreign policy and national security implications.”

“States should not unduly burden Americans’ use of AI for activity that would be lawful if performed without AI,” the framework says. “States should not be permitted to penalize AI developers for a third party’s unlawful conduct involving their models.”

Beyond the regulatory structure, the framework also focuses on protections for children.

The White House is urging Congress to build on and codify actions taken throughout the Trump administration to protect children from AI harms and empower parents with robust tools to manage their children’s privacy settings, screen time, content exposure and account controls.

Sacks told Fox News Digital that the framework helps parents to “safeguard their children from online harm, shield communities from higher electric bills, protect our First Amendment rights from AI censorship, and ensure that all Americans benefit from this transformative technology.”

The legislative proposal includes establishing commercially reasonable, privacy protective, age-assurance requirements — like parental attestation — for AI platforms and services likely to be accessed by minors.

TRUMP’S SCIENCE AND TECH MAN LAYS OUT WHITE HOUSE’S GLOBAL AI STRATEGY

In addition, the White House is calling for legislation requiring AI platforms to implement features that reduce the risk of sexual exploitation and self-harm to minors.

“We are calling on Congress to ensure parents are empowered to shape and protect their children’s digital upbringing,” Kratsios told Fox News Digital.

Kratsios pointed to first lady Melania Trump’s efforts surrounding the passage and signing of the “Take it Down Act” last year. That legislation punishes internet abuse involving nonconsensual, explicit imagery and garnered strong bipartisan support.

The framework also addresses energy costs tied to AI infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the White House is pushing Congress to codify its Ratepayer Protection Pledge into law. The pledge ensures that tech giants protect Americans from higher electricity bills tied to data center power demand. It also requires companies to “build, bring, or buy new generation resources and cover the cost of all power delivery infrastructure upgrades required for data centers.”

The pledge came amid concern that the creation of new data centers will cause mounting energy prices for everyday Americans.

The pledge works to protect Americans against spiking electricity bills. It also has companies vowing against passing expenses to American households and commits companies to hiring and training talent from within communities where they build and operate data centers — a move that could create thousands of jobs.

“We’re calling on Congress to codify this Ratepayer Protection Pledge,” Kratsios said.

Meanwhile, the White House is also calling on Congress to augment existing law enforcement efforts to combat AI-enabled impersonation scams and fraud that target vulnerable populations, such as seniors.

The framework also addresses national security concerns tied to advanced AI systems.

As for national security, the White House is urging Congress to ensure the appropriate federal agencies have sufficient technical capacity to understand frontier AI model capabilities and any associated national security considerations. The White House is also calling on Congress to establish plans to mitigate potential national security concerns.

Another key area is intellectual property and creator protections.

Another section of the White House’s legislative framework urges Congress to draft language to protect American creators, publishers and innovators from AI-generated outputs that infringe their protected content. This recommendation specifically asks Congress to respect those intellectual property rights, without undermining lawful innovation and free expression.

“Although the Administration believes that training of AI models on copyrighted material does not violate copyright laws, it acknowledges arguments to the contrary exist and therefore supports allowing the Courts to resolve this issue,” the White House framework states. “Similarly, Congress should not take any actions that would impact the judiciary’s resolution of whether training on copyrighted material constitutes fair use.”

CHINA’S AI INNOVATION IS ‘ACCELERATING’ BUT US REMAINS DOMINANT, WHITE HOUSE SAYS

As for imitation, the framework urges Congress to consider a “federal framework protecting individuals from the unauthorized distribution or commercial use of AI-generated digital replicas of their voice, likeness, or other identifiable attributes, while providing clear exceptions for parody, satire, news reporting, and other expressive works protected by the First Amendment.”

“Congress should prevent persons from abusing such a framework to stifle free speech online,” the proposal states, while urging Congress to continue to “carefully monitor” the development of copyright precedents and enforcement.

The White House is also urging Congress to defend free speech and First Amendment protections, while preventing AI systems from being used to “silence or censor lawful political expression or dissent.”

“Congress should prevent the United States government from coercing technology providers, including AI providers, to ban, compel, or alter content based on partisan or ideological agendas,” the framework states, adding that Congress should provide an effective means for Americans to “seek redress from the Federal Government for agency efforts to censor expression on AI platforms or dictate the information provided by an AI platform.”

Kratsios told Fox News Digital that the United States is “still ahead” in the global AI race and is “doing everything we possibly can to maintain and grow that lead.”

The White House is also calling on Congress to provide AI resources to small businesses, such as grants, tax incentives and technical assistance programs to support wider deployment of AI tools across American industry.

Fox News Digital sat for an exclusive interview with Kratsios last year as director of the White House Office of Science & Technology. He reflected on his first year on the job during the interview Thursday.

TRUMP SIGNS ‘TAKE IT DOWN ACT,’ HAILS COOPERATIVE EFFORT: ‘BIPARTISANSHIP IS STILL POSSIBLE’

“The first pillar of our work was around AI innovation, and part of that was to make sure we have a regulatory framework in the United States that provides certainty to our innovators,” Kratsios said. “This legislative framework is a big deliverable and if Congress is able to pass this into law this year it would be a big step forward for the country.”

Sacks told Fox News Digital that the White House team plans to work with Congress to “turn the principles we are announcing today into legislation.”

Kratsios and Sacks have been working with lawmakers over the past few weeks on the effort, including meetings with House and Senate leadership.

“We spoke with the House Majority and Senate Majority leadership, and we think they’ll be excited,” Kratsios said.

In December, President Trump issued an executive order to ensure the National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence.

The new framework, according to White House officials, “delivers on the executive order while also expanding workforce and education opportunities to ensure American workers benefit from AI-driven growth.” 

Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas., turned away questions on Wednesday about why her office had hired a security guard with a criminal history after news broke that he had been shot and killed in an armed standoff with law enforcement in Dallas, Texas.

“I’m going to refer you to my page,” Crockett told Fox News Digital.

“I made a statement and I said there would be no additional statements. You need someone to read it for you? I can find someone to do that.”

The criminal history of Crockett’s bodyguard, Diamon-Mazairre Robinson, 39, who went by the alias “Mike King,” drew national attention last week when details emerged that he had a track record of run-ins with the law for theft, violating probation and impersonating law enforcement.

JASMINE CROCKETT FACES CRITICISM FROM BLACK DEMOCRATS AFTER LOSING TEXAS SENATE PRIMARY RACE

Robinson was killed in a standoff with SWAT last week after he barricaded himself inside the garage of a children’s hospital as local police were looking to detain him while investigating an active warrant.

Local authorities said they had recovered 11 firearms during their investigation.

Crockett, who said she had known Robinson under the name, Mike King, said he had been employed by her office “for years” and that during that time he had not given her reason to suspect him of wrongdoing.

JASMINE CROCKETT CAMPAIGN REPORTEDLY KICKED ATLANTIC WRITER OUT OF RALLY FOR BEING A ‘TOP-NOTCH HATER’

Crockett said her team had vetted Robinson according to standards laid out for lawmaker security, according to a statement put out by her office.

“We are saddened and shocked by some of the concerning revelations. Our team followed all protocols outlined by the House to contract additional security. We were approved to use this vendor who also provided security services for additional entities in the local community and worked closely with law enforcement agencies, including Capitol Police,” Crockett said in a statement.

JASMINE CROCKETT UNDER FIRE AFTER REPORTEDLY HAVING ARMED GUARDS REMOVE ‘WHITE GIRL’ REPORTER FROM RALLY

She noted that she was surprised that her office hadn’t discovered his background until the time of his death.

“The fact that an individual was able to somehow circumvent the vetting processes for something as sensitive as security for members of Congress highlights the loopholes and shortcomings in many of our systems,” her office’s statement read.

There’s growing unrest in Cuba as the communist government struggles to deal with island-wide blackouts and a collapsing economy. As President Donald Trump alludes to change on the island, the Cuban community in Miami is left wondering what is next.

The island has experienced 67 years of authoritarian rule where the Communist Party of Cuba is the only legal party. Last week, protesters attacked a Communist Party headquarters on the island overnight, ransacking the building and attempting to set it on fire, according to local reports.

“The protesters are more brave today than before,” said Jose Collazo, a Cuban migrant who left the island in the 1960’s. “But if you remember four years ago when they came out, they were brutally repressed.”

TRUMP SAYS HE BELIEVES HE HAS ‘HONOR’ OF ‘TAKING CUBA,’ CALLS CARIBBEAN ISLAND A ‘VERY WEAKENED NATION’

Collazo often spends time at Domino Park in the heart of Little Havana, a neighborhood in Miami with a large population of Cuban immigrants. He and other Cuban Americans meet up for friendly — but highly competitive — games of dominoes and to discuss current affairs.

Lately, there’s been a lot of chatter about the situation in Cuba. On Monday, a nationwide power grid collapse left roughly 10 million people without electricity, according to U.S. Embassy statements and Cuban authorities. Cuban officials have said the outages are linked to fuel shortages and failures at aging power plants.

Then, there’s the ongoing economic crisis which has been made even worse in recent months after President Trump threatened tariffs on any country that sends oil to Cuba. 

RUSSIA SHIPS FUEL TO CUBA USING ‘SPOOFING’ TACTIC CHALLENGING TRUMP EMBARGO: REPORTS

“They’re living like in the Stone Age. Cave people. That’s how they live. It’s sad to see the people  [living with] malnutrition, living in ragged clothes,” said Collazo.

The escalating tension on the island comes amid remarks by Trump that he expects to have the “honor” of “taking Cuba in some form” and “I can do anything I want” with the neighboring country.

“Cuba right now is in very bad shape. They’re talking to Marco,” Trump told reporters, “We’ll be doing something with Cuba very soon.… We’re dealing with Cuba.”

On Tuesday, Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, also made comments about the island, saying “they have to get new people in charge” in Havana. 

Meanwhile, Pentagon officials told lawmakers there are no plans to invade Cuba, even as they described it as a long-standing security concern.

CUBAN ACTIVIST TO TRUMP: ‘MAKE CUBA GREAT AGAIN’ BY ENDING COMMUNIST RULE

“In all the years I’ve been here— I’m going on 47 years— I think this is the first time I’ve seen really good things happening for Cuba,” said Francisco Botella, a Cuban migrant who lives in Miami. “You can tell it’s a very precarious situation this time around. Now the system is going down, way down.”

Hearing U.S. leaders discuss the situation brings members of the Cuban exile community like Botella and Collazo hope.

“I think this is the end for Cuba. I really think it’s over. Either the communist leaders leave, or what happened to Maduro will happen to them,” said Botella.

Cuban officials have continued to blame U.S. sanctions for the country’s economic hardships, while analysts say the government is facing mounting pressure from ongoing blackouts, shortages of basic goods, and growing public frustration.

In trying to downplay its seriousness and scope, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., tacitly acknowledged the existence of a problem they’ve argued is immaterial: that illegal immigrants may be able to unlawfully participate in federal elections.

“The evidence is that almost no illegal aliens vote,” Schumer said in remarks on the Senate floor.

Warnock similarly acknowledged the issue while listing statistics about voting records in his home state.

“8.2 million people are registered to vote in Georgia. The Republican secretary of state found 20 instances of noncitizens who were registered, and only nine had ever attempted to vote,” Warnock said.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT’S TWO DECADES OF UNLAWFUL VOTES EXPOSE THE REAL ‘THREAT’ TO DEMOCRACY: EXPERTS

Their comments came as the pair of Democrats argued against passage of the SAVE America Act — legislation that would impose citizenship requirements for voter registration.

Democrats have fiercely opposed the Republican-led bill, citing concerns that its voter integrity measures are overly heavy-handed and could inadvertently burden communities that may struggle to provide documented proof of citizenship.

“This is a solution in search of a problem that does not exist,” Warnock said.

DAVID MARCUS: SENATE GOP SHOULD TAKE FETTERMAN’S DEAL ON VOTER ID

Under the bill, voters could use a REAL ID, a birth certificate, or a passport to satisfy the requirements, according to the bill’s text.

Republicans, who argue that lax identity requirements may have already allowed an unknown number of noncitizens onto voter rolls, have launched a marathon standoff over the bill on the Senate floor.

Republicans cannot pass the bill without the 60 votes needed to end debate. They hold 53 seats in the chamber, making passage impossible without support from at least seven Democrats.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, the sponsor of the SAVE America Act, argued that the scope of the problem remains unknown.

“Democrats argue that federal law prohibits noncitizen voting and insist that it is not just rare but exceedingly rare — so rare that we shouldn’t even consider it cognizable in this chamber,” Lee said Tuesday.

REPUBLICAN SENATORS BLAST DEMOCRATS FOR ‘FEAR-MONGERING’ OVER ELECTION SECURITY SAVE ACT

Lee said the lack of documented cases does not rule out future risk.

“It remains unknown — and in many instances, unknowable. How many illegal votes are being counted in federal elections? How many illegal votes cast by noncitizens might be cast in any future federal election?” Lee said.

The standoff, which began Tuesday, appears unlikely to advance the bill.

Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Schumer and Warnock.

FIRST ON FOX: Senate Republicans launched a test of Senate Democrats’ resolve against voter ID legislation, and while it may not look like what many wanted, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., argued it was the only path forward.

Thune has been pressured by President Donald Trump, a cohort in the Senate GOP, and a fervent online network of conservatives demanding that he activate the talking filibuster to pass the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act.

But it’s a floor tactic that Thune argued has never proven successful in passing legislation.

REPUBLICANS SIGNAL NO RETREAT ON SAVE ACT AS MARATHON SENATE DEBATE KICKS OFF

“Nobody really knows how this ends, and the people who are out there saying they do, don’t,” Thune told Fox News Digital in an interview. “Because it’s never been done, or at least hasn’t been done in modern history.”

Proponents of the talking filibuster view it as a method to blow through the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster threshold and ensure that the SAVE America Act is passed. But it comes at the steep price of the upper chamber’s most valuable currency — floor time — which, during an ongoing shutdown, is not something lawmakers would want to give up.

Thune added that Senate Democrats have also considered the move in the past under former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and noted that they “opted against it in both cases because I think they felt like the price that we would make them pay wasn’t worth whatever it was they were trying to get done.”

GOP TRIGGERS MARATHON SENATE FIGHT TO EXPOSE DEMS’ OPPOSITION TO TRUMP-BACKED VOTER ID BILL

“If I saw a pathway, even if it was a small-percentage pathway of getting an outcome, I’d be more inclined to do it,” Thune said. “But we looked at it, ran all the contingencies, gamed it out, mapped it out, what it would look like on the floor, did the research, studied the history, and couldn’t find a single example in modern Senate history where a talking filibuster actually led to a piece of legislation passing.”

Instead, Thune and Senate Republicans are doing a version of the talking filibuster that does allow for unlimited debate but prevents an unlimited number of amendments from Senate Democrats that would drastically alter the bill and that Republicans know they don’t have the votes to kill.

It’s not a move he made on his own, either. The nature of Thune’s leadership style, which helped secure him the top spot in the Senate GOP, is to avoid unilateral decision-making and instead allow Republicans to come to an agreement on a plan.

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Still, there are critics who are unhappy with the plan Republicans landed on given that it doesn’t lower the threshold to pass the bill. But the pressure Thune felt from all sides wasn’t enough to make him cave and pull the trigger on the talking filibuster.

“I think there’s a sort of a leadership guru who, one of his main points is, the first responsibility of a leader is to define reality, and so I try and figure out what’s achievable,” he said. “And there are a lot of folks out there who are over-promising and creating false expectations about what we can get done here.”

Republicans’ plan has seen the Senate engage in three straight days of debate on the SAVE America Act in a bid to force Senate Democrats to argue against the legislation. When that debate comes to an end is still in the air.

Some, like Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who is the lead sponsor of the bill, want the Senate to spend time on the bill for “as long as it takes” to wear down Senate Democrats.

“And if we’re not there yet, we need to continue debating it,” Lee said.

Democrats have been stockpiling ideas for months on how to retaliate against companies and figures that have aligned themselves closely to President Donald Trump’s political agenda, telegraphing that merger breakups and committee investigations will play a central role in their efforts to push back against the administration should they regain power.

Most recently, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., took to social media to highlight his most recent entry on that list.

“Brendan Carr is a corrupt political hack and fake chair of the FCC,” Jeffries said in a post to X. “This guy (and the entities he promotes) will find himself on the wrong side of a congressional investigation in short order.”

Jeffries’ comments were made in response to a post from Carr, suggesting the administration would more closely review license renewals for broadcasters perpetuating “fake news.”

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The struggle over political alignment isn’t unique to Carr.

The comments have piled up as the nation inches closer to the November midterms — a critical opportunity for Democrats to break a Republican governing trifecta and more visibly push back against the Trump administration. Even regaining control of just one chamber of Congress could enable Democrats to carry out their list of retaliation.

Democrats like Sen. Ruben Gallego hope to pressure companies that have received approval for mergers under Trump’s watch.

“Once we take power, whoever the president is, we’re going to break up your companies,” Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., told Semafor.

“So, all the investment you did to create these mergers are going to be for naught. Your investors are going to be pissed at you, and you’re likely going to end up getting fired as the CEO because you wasted so much money and corrupted yourself in the process,” Gallego said.

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Under Trump’s administration, notable mergers have included Paramount’s $82.7 billion acquisition of Warner Bros., Capital One’s $35 billion acquisition of Discover and Nippon Steel’s acquisition of U.S. Steel for $14.9 billion.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., similarly echoed Gallego’s thinking in a X post.

“Paramount should enjoy its growing news monopoly while they have it, because when Democrats win back power we are going to break up these anti-democratic information conglomerates,” Murphy wrote. “All of them.”

Skydance Media, the parent company of Paramount, has close ties to the Trump administration through its CEO, David Ellison — a figure who appeared as a Republican guest at the 2026 State of the Union and who has been a frequent guest at the White House.

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Susan Rice, a former top official in the Biden and Obama administrations, also recently caused a stir after she appeared to vow political retribution during a Vox interview last month against companies once Democrats regain control of Congress and the White House.

“They’re going to be held accountable by those who come in opposition to Trump and win at the ballot box,” Rice said.

“I think whether you’re a law firm, whether you’re a university, whether you’re a media entity, whether you’re a big corporation, whether you’re big tech, you need to play a long game, not this short game that has been so detrimental,” Rice added.

Subpoena powers also make up a part of how Democrats will also look to pursue their objectives if they regain power.

Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., the third most powerful Democrat in the House of Representatives, noted that using the subpoena powers to bring in former President Bill Clinton likely clears the way for lawmakers to compel high-profile testimony from Trump’s orbit.

“It sets an interesting precedent on who is subject to come into Oversight, and we will see what the next year holds for Trump Inc. and the Trump family,” Aguilar said, alluding to the requests Democrats might make if they hold a majority in 2027.

The targets for Democrats extend to the private sector as well.

During a House Oversight Committee hearing last year, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, interrupted proceedings to demand lawmakers subpoena billionaire Elon Musk over his work with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). 

“The motion was to subpoena Elon Musk, who is heading DOGE who is the one who made the recommendations for these [spending] cuts,” Crockett said. 

Her calls were taken up in the Senate where Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., introduced a very similar motion, citing Musk’s closeness to the president and influence in efforts to slim down government operations.

“Mr. Chairman, if we are serious about exercising our constitutional responsibilities, which I hope all of us are, it is critical for our committee to hear from the person who is in fact in charge of the federal government,” Sanders said in committee. 

Democrats reached by Fox News Digital did not respond to a request for comment on their plans to implement their past comments.

EXCLUSIVE — As he praises President Donald Trump for “taking the fight directly” to Iran, former Vice President Mike also argues that the attacks show that the president isn’t listening to the isolationist wing of the Republican Party.

“It’s one of the things I give President Trump great credit for,” Pence said this week in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital.

Pence’s comments come nearly three weeks into the military strikes against Iran, as some loud voices in the MAGA and America First orbits have pilloried the president over the attacks.

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The former vice president, who has long been a proponent of strong American deterrence around the world, highlighted that “around this administration, and to some extent in this administration, there have been some increasingly loud voices calling for America to pull back from our role as leader of the free world. Isolationist voices have taken hold in some quarters of the Republican Party.”

“But fortunately, President Trump turned a deaf ear to those voices last year when he struck Iran, and this year, when he launched Operation Epic Fury,” Pence emphasized. “I think it’s greatly to his credit.”

Pence argued that it’s “reflective of where the overwhelming majority of Republicans are. Republicans understand that America is the arsenal of democracy, that we’re the leader of the free world, that we have obligations to lead.”

And pointing to his former boss during Trump’s first administration, Pence said, “I’ve told people many times, I’m proud of President Trump for making the decision to launch operation Epic Fury. But I’m not surprised, because the President I serve with is no isolationist.”

The military attacks by the U.S. and Israel have resulted in the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and other top officials, and the decimation of the country’s military.

HEAD HERE FOR FOX NEWS LIVE UPDATES ON THE ATTACKS ON IRAN

But Iran has retaliated with attacks against Israel and many of its other neighbors in the volatile Middle East.

Iran has also targeted energy facilities with missile and drone attacks in a number of Persian Gulf nations. It has also made the Strait of Hormuz nearly impassable to commercial shipping, bringing to a halt roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply, which has sent fuel prices skyrocketing in the U.S. and across the globe.

But Pence emphasized that he “couldn’t be more proud of President Donald Trump for making the decision to send our troops directly against an enemy that has literally claimed thousands of American lives, including nearly 1,000 service members.”

The former vice president said Trump has “unleashed the armed forces of the United States to take the fight directly to the source of global terrorism. And I think at the end of the day, the American people understand that this is a fight that we have to win, and it’s going to be important that we finish the threat that Iran has posed to the American people, to our cherished ally, Israel, to nations across the region and across the West, once and for all.”

And Pence said that if he were advising Trump, he would urge the president “to finish the threat that the mullahs and Tehran have posed to the people of this country once and for all.”