Category: USA Politics

Previous supporters of disgraced former Democratic California Rep. Eric Swalwell are working to claw back donations they made to him before he faced accusations of sexual assault, according to a new report. 

More than 200 donors are demanding over $1.5 million in refunds from Swalwell’s gubernatorial campaign, according to an internal campaign document reviewed by the San Francisco Chronicle. These refund requests could represent a significant setback for Swalwell as the former congressman is relying on what remains of his campaign war chest to pay the attorney defending him against sexual assault claims, per campaign finance records.

Swalwell’s gubernatorial campaign had about $4 million in cash when women first began coming forward with allegations against him in early April, according to campaign finance records. Shortly after his campaign collapsed, Swalwell made himself the treasurer of his campaign committee, giving himself full control over its funds. He continued to solicit donations after news of the alleged sexual assaults broke, raising nearly $200,000, the New York Post reported. 

Federal disclosures show that Swalwell has up to $100,000 in student loan debt, between $30,000 and $100,000 in credit card debt, and a mortgage that he owes up to $5 million on.

EXCLUSIVE: ERIC SWALWELL HIT WITH FRESH COMPLAINT OVER ALLEGED USE OF HOUSE OFFICE TO BOOST HIS BUSINESS

California state law requires that campaign funds spent on legal expenses must be directly related to an individual’s status as an elected official or candidate. Swalwell, however, has resigned from Congress and suspended his gubernatorial campaign. 

Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School, told the Chronicle Swalwell will likely argue that the women only came forward because he was running for governor, thus justifying the legal spending.

If Swalwell is found liable for sexual misconduct, he may be required to reimburse his donors, according to the Chronicle.

GONZALES HIT WITH EXPULSION VOTE THREAT AHEAD OF EXPECTED RESIGNATION

“These allegations of sexual assault are flat false,” Swalwell said. “They did not happen, they have never happened and I will fight them with everything that I have … I have certainly made mistakes in my judgement in my past, but those mistakes are between me and my wife.”

Of the first four women to accuse Swalwell of sexual misconduct, one alleges that he raped her, others say he sent them unwanted explicit images, and another claims he kissed and touched her without consent. 

The day after Swalwell announced his intention to resign from the House of Representatives on April 14, a fifth woman came forward to accuse Swalwell of rape.

LEGACY MEDIA TRUST HITS NEW LOW WITH SWALWELL STORY LATEST EXAMPLE OF PROTECTING DEMS

“He raped me. And he choked me. And while he was choking me, I lost consciousness. And I thought I died,” Lonna Drewes, a former model, claimed. “It had a profound impact on my mental health. I self-medicated it in an unhealthy way. I did not want to live anymore.”

Many of Swalwell’s donors publicly expressed feelings of betrayal after the accusations against him were made public.

“I am no longer supporting Eric. F—ing tell everyone I’m a libertarian. F— you, Democrat Party. I’m a libertarian now,” Stephen Cloobeck, a resort mogul who gave $1 million to a super PAC supporting Swalwell’s gubernatorial bid, told the Post following the allegations. “I’m going to change my Godd— party affiliation, because I cannot stand this Democratic Party at all. I am done. Finito.”

Swalwell’s exit from California’s primary election has helped Democrats narrow the field, reducing the chance of two Republicans advancing to the general election, which is possible under California election law if the top-two vote getters in the state’s jungle primary are both affiliated with the GOP.

The Swalwell campaign did not respond to a request for comment after being reached by Fox News Digital on Thursday.

Senate Democrats again failed to splinter Republicans’ unified support for President Donald Trump’s conflict with Iran amid the looming Friday deadline to curb his war powers.

The vote marks the sixth time Republicans have rejected a Democrat-led resolution aimed at handcuffing the president’s authority and halting the conflict. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., made one final push to limit Trump ahead of the deadline requiring Congress to decide whether the U.S. should or should not continue fighting in the Middle East. 

Sixty days after Trump’s first notification to Congress of his strikes in Iran is when lawmakers are supposed to either authorize or halt the war. That deadline hits Friday, May 1, when lawmakers are expected to be gone from Washington, D.C., for a weeklong recess.

HEGSETH TESTIFIES AT SENATE AS IRAN WAR’S $25B PRICE TAG AND 60-DAY WAR POWERS DEADLINE LOOM

While some Republicans have raised issue with extending the conflict past the 60-day mark, and are mulling an Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF), Schiff said that side effort was “too late.

“The mere introduction of one is not sufficient,” Schiff said. “And there’s no way that’s going to pass both houses and get signed by the president today.” 

Meanwhile, Republicans argue that Trump has unilateral authority, without Congress’ explicit say-so, to continue the war for 30 more days. However, that window is meant to be a drawdown period to pull out military assets and prevent a sudden and possibly chaotic exit rather than continue a raging and active conflict.

So far, Trump’s move to indefinitely extend the ceasefire in the region has held.

AFTER THIRD ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT, DEBATE GROWS OVER WHETHER TRUMP ATTACK WARRANTS ANOTHER INVESTIGATION

For now, it appears there isn’t a desire to put an authorization vote on the floor. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has deferred that decision to his Republican colleagues, rather than unilaterally force the issue.

“At this point, I don’t see that,” Thune said. “I mean, I think they’re, you know, obviously getting readouts from our military leadership on a somewhat regular basis that, I think, will be helpful in terms of shaping the views of our members about how comfortable they are with … everything that’s happening there and the direction heading forward. But as of right now, I’m not hearing that.”

The decision to punt Congress’ authority comes as Secretary of War Pete Hegseth this week made his first appearance on Capitol Hill since the war began.

REPUBLICANS EYE PICKING UP $400M TAB FOR TRUMP’S BALLROOM AS SOME DEMS OPEN TO ‘DISCUSS’ IDEA

Though his hearings before the House and Senate Armed Services committees were billed as an opportunity to dig into the Pentagon’s eye-popping $1.5 trillion budget request, lawmakers instead used their time to grill Hegseth on the Iran war.

One made-for-TV back-and-forth included the revelation that the war has so far cost taxpayers $25 billion.

Democrats contend that figure doesn’t add up and argue that the money could be spent elsewhere to combat rising costs for Americans.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said it was past time for Republicans to break from the administration, and he blamed Trump and Hegseth for the ongoing war.

“Our greatest challenge in Iran is Donald Trump and Secretary Hegseth, and Americans know it,” Schumer said. “The war is unpopular. They blame Trump for it, of course.”

“The greatest obstacle to peace is the incompetence of the Secretary of Defense and of the President of the United States,” he continued. 

The Senate scrapped the House’s reauthorization of the nation’s controversial spying powers and is instead moving on a temporary extension to the program.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital that the upper chamber would extend the divisive Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for 45 days as lawmakers continue to work on reforms to the program.

“We’ll kick it over there and process it quickly, and we’ll kick the can down the road again,” Thune said.

The maneuver comes after the House on Wednesday passed a three-year extension to the program with modest reforms that included a ban on central bank digital currencies — a priority of conservatives in the lower chamber.

But the inclusion of that provision was a nonstarter in the Senate, given that it was unrelated to the underlying bill and was already baked into a housing affordability package passed by the Senate in March that the House has yet to move on.

The Trump administration is accusing President Joe Biden’s Justice Department of colluding with pro-abortion organizations to create personal “dossiers” on Christian pro-life advocates that included personal information and photographs of their children as part of a wider campaign by Biden officials to prosecute them under the FACE Act.

The Justice Department published “The 2026 Report by the Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias,” which details in more than 200 pages incidents that occurred under and policies from the Biden administration alleging that Biden Justice Department officials “zealously pursued” prosecuting Christians.

“The Biden Administration’s policies regularly clashed with a Christian worldview and burdened traditional religious practices,” the report stated. “These conflicts frequently arose over abortion, gender ideology, and sexual orientation. Ultimately, the Biden Administration penalized Christians who lived in accordance with their beliefs.”

The report, compiled based on an executive order signed by President Donald Trump, alleged that former Attorney General Merrick Garland “weaponized” the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE Act) against pro-life protesters and activists through the revival of the National Task Force on Violence Against Reproductive Health Care Providers.

FAITH RETURNS TO THE PUBLIC SQUARE DURING TRUMP’S SECOND TERM, CHRISTIAN LEADER SAYS

The FACE Act makes it illegal to obstruct or block entrances to reproductive health care centers, including both pregnancy resource centers and abortion clinics, but the report alleged that Biden Justice officials worked closely with abortion clinics and advocacy groups to prosecute pro-life protesters.

The report alleged that Garland’s Task Force would ask abortion groups about the travels and advocacy work of pro-life individuals, which prompted a warning from the FBI. The bureau told the Justice Department that pro-choice groups were tracking pro-life activists engaged in “1st Amendment protected activity.”

Despite the warning, the Task Force “monitored” pro-life activists who were flagged by abortion groups, which alleged the activists were in violation of the FACE Act for participating in protests outside clinics.

CLINTON-ERA LAW ‘WEAPONIZED’ BY BIDEN AGAINST PRO-LIFERS MUST GO, PENCE GROUP URGES HOUSE GOP

Garland’s Task Force would monitor suspected FACE Act violators for years, and abortion groups allegedly sent the Justice Department “security reports” or “dossiers” detailing the activities of pro-life activists, including their addresses and their driver’s license numbers, as well as photos of their families and minor children.

In 2021, a pro-choice group sent the Task Force and the FBI a 137-page memorandum detailing a pro-life conference, including the schedule, lodging, and several dossiers on numerous “anti-choice individuals.” Many of the individuals included in the dossiers were later prosecuted by the Justice Department.

The report said abortion groups repeatedly complained to the task force about a particular female pro-life activist.

TRUMP’S ‘TWO SEXES’ EXECUTIVE ORDER COMES ON HEELS OF SCOTUS ACCEPTING ANOTHER CHALLENGE TO LGBT AGENDA

“The Biden DOJ investigated this woman’s conduct around the country until one of the United States Attorney’s Offices brought charges,” the report stated. “After her conviction and lengthy sentence, the NGOs stopped complaining about her.”

The report alleged that the Task Force director would text with the National Abortion Federation’s security team and was in regular communication with Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Feminist Majority Foundation. NAF’s security team was dubbed the “MVP” by the Task Force for its ability to flag protests for the Justice Department “often in real-time, which usually result[ed] in an investigation/prosecution.”

The report suggests that in many instances the Task Force was alerted before local law enforcement could respond.

DOJ TASK FORCE FINDS ‘NUMEROUS INSTANCES’ OF ANTI-CHRISTIAN GOVERNMENT BIAS UNDER BIDEN

In January 2025, Trump issued full and unconditional pardons to 23 pro-life activists and protesters who were prosecuted under the FACE Act.

The report comes just weeks after the Justice Department published an 800-page report revealing 700,000 internal records from the Biden administration that showed how the SAVE Act was unfairly used against conservative activists.

“This Department will not tolerate a two-tiered system of justice,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “No Department should conduct selective prosecution based on beliefs. The weaponization that happened under the Biden Administration will not happen again, as we restore integrity to our prosecutorial system.”

A source close to Biden declined to comment. Fox News Digital reached out to the National Abortion Federation for comment.

EXCLUSIVE: President Donald Trump was “one door away” from danger at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, a GOP lawmaker said, as he demands answers from the Secret Service over what he described as a major security lapse.

House Homeland Security Committee member Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., who previously investigated security failures at the Butler, Pa., rally where Trump was targeted, said the latest incident raises similar concerns about gaps in Secret Service protection.

Gimenez, who examined the Butler site firsthand, told Fox News Digital that security at the Washington Hilton — where the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner was held and where President Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981 — showed troubling vulnerabilities as well.

Gimenez said things have changed since then in some positive ways, as crowds can’t regularly get as close to a president as John Hinckley Jr. was able to when he attempted to kill the president, reportedly to impress Jodie Foster.

SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR CURRAN ‘CONFIDENT’ THE AGENCY WILL SOLVE FAILED TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS

“Mr. Brady got injured pretty severely — but it was a long time ago and things tend to kind of fade away into history and from memory. So I am not sure [of an apples-to-apples comparison],” he said, pivoting back to examining any “glaring holes” in the security posture at Trump’s event.

“If there were, why, and why weren’t they caught? And who is responsible for that? And does the Secret Service have the training needed in order to account for and to make [adjustments].”

He questioned whether the Secret Service has the training and preplanning needed to prevent similar threats.

Gimenez dismissed any notions that Hilton itself was liable for the breaches, saying that when a president is threatened, the onus falls on his detail.

“It’s not the job of the Hilton hotel to protect the president and so again it all falls on Secret Service,” he said while underlining that the rank-and-file officers are very brave and that they all did their jobs Saturday and stopped suspect Cole Allen quickly with no injuries beyond an agent hit in his vest.

TRUMP SHOOTING TASK FORCE SAYS DHS, SECRET SERVICE HAVEN’T PRODUCED DOCS ON GOLF COURSE INCIDENT

“My question is how did how in the world did that would-be assassin get that far, where he was basically one door away from God knows what. Those are questions that need to be answered.”

Gimenez said that for events such as the WHCA dinner, “you have to account for the what-if,” noting that the USSS may go through hours and days of “boredom” but need to be ready for an instantaneous threat.

“That doesn’t mean you’re going to think of every contingency, but you should be thinking of most and make it very, very difficult for any would-be assassin to get one door away from the president.”

“Those are the concerns I have now – and those are the concerns I had in Butler.”

He said that in both cases there were things that went both right and wrong.

Efforts to stop Allen went right, but allowing someone like him to get all the way to the sub-basement ballroom unfettered went wrong, Gimenez said.

When asked about his Butler special committee and whether a similar panel will be formed now, Gimenez said he’s heard rumblings about such, while reiterating that members of his staff had no problem getting into the various pre-parties without passing magnetometers or additional security, showing there remains a lot to examine.

He said he expects any panel to demand a classified briefing with USSS brass, and give “situational awareness” of the agency’s posture that night.

“It’s frankly rather amazing that we don’t have a facility like that in the White House for state dinners, et cetera, for the most powerful country in the world, right?”

FORMER SECRET SERVICE OFFICIALS WARN OF LOW-TECH THREATS FACING TRUMP AFTER LATEST MAR-A-LAGO BREACH

In that regard, Gimenez said Trump is “ahead of the game” in a lot of areas and that his ballroom plans for the East Wing may have directly mitigated threats posed by using a public hotel in the business district with multiple entrances.

At the same time, he said procedures must be examined to see whether the USSS has fallen into a pattern of “what used to work in the past is good enough for what’s working and what threats are today.”

“We need to get to the bottom of it and see how the Secret Service is adapting to the new threat environment, which changes every single day.”

After former USSS Director Kimberly Cheatle left the agency following the Butler failures, Gimenez said it will be important to look at what improvements, if any, have been undertaken by the new leadership in the two years since, analyzing their own worthiness.

On the ballroom debate, Gimenez said anyone who examines the plans seriously and apolitically will find that this is exactly the kind of solution needed for such threats.

“Putting my doctor hat on, I will say that the validity to those lawsuits is based on Trump Derangement Syndrome — So [critics] need help, OK… The White House, which is a site of many official functions, and especially state dinners, when we’re bringing in dignitaries and heads of states from around the world, needs a ballroom.”

He said the “temporary tent” set up in the garden is an embarrassment for a first-world country.Fox News Digital reached out to the USSS for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Hannah Brennan contributed to this report.

Outgoing Texas Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett is drawing fresh criticism after appearing to mock Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s disability, reopening scrutiny over her past remarks about the paralyzed governor.

“It was a tree that ended up making [Abbott] a part of the DEI class, just so y’all know. He is DEI, yes, because he is uniquely-abled or actually he ain’t abled, child,” said Crockett in a video posted to her X account on Wednesday. 

Crockett claimed Abbott became “wealthy after legislation allowed him to sue” following an incident when a tree fell and crippled him while on a jog. The incident left Abbott partially paralyzed and wheelchair-bound at the age of 26.

Crockett’s comments on Abbott’s disability follow outrage over her “Governor Hot Wheels” remark in 2025, which the lawmaker denied was tied to the Republican governor’s disability. 

TEXAS DEMOCRAT FEUD GROWS AS COLLIN ALLRED CLAIMS JAMES TALARICO MADE OFFENSIVE REMARK ABOUT FAMILY, CAMPAIGNS

The office of the governor directed Fox News Digital to Abbott’s X post when approached for additional comment on the matter. 

‘STRAIGHT OUTTA CONGRESS’: TOP PROGRESSIVE CONCEDES RACE AFTER VIRAL MOCKERY FOR ‘EMBARRASSING’ DEFEAT

“Uniquely abled,” wrote the governor along with an AI photo of him in a superhero suit while in his wheelchair.

Critics called the remarks “low IQ” on social media or responded with their own mockery and confusion. 

“‘I only mocked a paraplegic and suddenly people have a problem with me,’” said Fox News Contributor Joe Concha quipped on X.

“Uh. What.” one account posted. 

“How does she think of this ridiculous stuff she says,” another account posted. 

“DEI? Disgraced Jasmine Crockett claims Governor Abbott is a DEI hire as a result of his disability,” X account Amuse wrote.

CROCKETT FIRES BACK AT JD VANCE’S ‘STREET GIRL’ COMMENTS, SAYS IT’S A RACIST TROPE 

Fox News Digital reached out to Crockett’s office on Thursday for additional comment.

Last year, Crockett landed in hot water for another comment about Abbott that was viewed as a jab at his disability. 

“We in these hot a– Texas streets, honey. Y’all know we got Governor Hot Wheels down there, come on now! And the only thing hot about him is that he is a hot a– mess, honey!” she said, laughing.

Crockett issued a statement at the time, without an apology, and said she “wasn’t thinking about the governor’s condition,” but his policies to deport illegal immigrants. 

“At no point did I mention or allude to his condition. So, I’m even more appalled that the very people who unequivocally support Trump—a man known for racially insensitive nicknames and mocking those with disabilities—are now outraged,” she added. 

Crockett launched a Senate bid but lost the Democratic primary in March and did not seek re-election to her House seat, bringing her time in Congress to an end in 2027.

The U.S. military has explored deploying its new Dark Eagle hypersonic weapon to the Middle East, according to a report, as the Army begins fielding the long-range system after years of delays.

U.S. Central Command has requested deployment of the Army’s Long Range Hypersonic Weapon, known as Dark Eagle, to the Middle East, according to a Bloomberg report citing a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

A defense official told Fox News Digital the system has reached initial operational capability, marking the first time the U.S. has a land-based hypersonic weapon available for potential use.

The request was driven in part by concerns that Iranian ballistic missile launchers have been moved beyond the range of existing U.S. systems, including the Army’s Precision Strike Missile, which can strike targets more than 300 miles away, according to the Bloomberg report.

US FALLS BEHIND IN HYPERSONIC RACE AS CHINA, RUSSIA GAIN EDGE

It reflects growing concern that existing U.S. strike capabilities may not be sufficient to reach key Iranian missile assets, while also highlighting a major milestone for the Army as it fields its first land-based hypersonic weapon. If deployed, Dark Eagle would significantly expand the U.S. military’s ability to strike distant, hard-to-reach targets with little warning, marking a shift in how the Pentagon can project power in the region.

The Army began fielding the system to one of its multidomain task forces in December 2025 following testing and live-fire exercises, according to the official, placing the weapon within specialized units designed to carry out long-range precision strikes across multiple domains.

Individual Dark Eagle missiles are estimated to cost around $15 million each, though earlier analyses have placed the cost significantly higher, while a single battery — including launchers and support equipment — is estimated at roughly $2.7 billion.

No deployment of the system to the Middle East has been publicly announced, and officials have not confirmed any request. The U.S. and Iran are still currently adhering to a ceasefire in hopes of broader negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program.

Dark Eagle is designed to travel at hypersonic speeds while maneuvering in flight, allowing it to strike targets at much longer ranges — potentially exceeding 1,700 miles — and with far less warning than traditional missiles.

That combination of speed and range makes it particularly suited for targeting mobile or hardened systems, such as missile launchers, that are difficult to reach with existing weapons.

Unlike traditional ballistic missiles, hypersonic weapons can maneuver in flight, making them more difficult to track and intercept.

US GENERAL WARNS RUSSIA MAY BE DEVELOPING NUCLEAR ANTI-SATELLITE WEAPON IN ORBIT

The reported request comes as the Pentagon continues efforts to accelerate its hypersonic weapons programs amid concerns about competition with China and Russia.

The U.S. has spent years developing hypersonic weapons, though some programs have faced delays, testing constraints and shifting priorities as the Pentagon works to advance the technology.

China and Russia already have fielded hypersonic systems, underscoring the growing importance of weapons designed to travel at extreme speeds while maneuvering in flight, making them more difficult to detect and intercept.

“Fielding and scaling hypersonic weapons is a top priority for the War Department — and we are delivering at a  rapid speed,” a Pentagon official told Fox News Digital. “‘Scaled hypersonics’ has been designated as one of the Department’s critical technology areas by Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael to focus resources on delivering cost-effective and lethal hypersonic solutions to the warfighter.” 

“The Department’s Test Resource Management Center (TRMC) is working to upgrade test facilities and establish new, nontraditional testing locations,” the official said. “Simultaneously, the Department is placing its acquisition system on a ‘wartime footing’ to forge a robust, responsive industrial base capable of rapidly delivering these advanced technologies.”

U.S. Central Command declined to comment to Fox News Digital. 

Congress took a major step toward ending the record-breaking Department of Homeland Security shutdown on Thursday as the White House warned hundreds of thousands of federal employees were on the verge of missing paychecks amid the 75-day funding lapse.

The House of Representatives approved by voice vote a Senate-passed spending measure covering most of the department’s appropriations through September.  

President Donald Trump is expected to swiftly sign the measure into law, restoring funding for the Secret Service, Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency and Transportation Security Administration, among other agencies.

The vote came after the Senate’s DHS funding bill had stalled in the lower chamber for more than a month as House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., declined to put the bill on the floor over objections to language he said defunded law enforcement. The speaker’s opposition reflected the views of many in the Republican conference, who viewed the bill as a dead letter when the Senate passed it unanimously in March.

CHUCK SCHUMER INSISTS CALLING DHS FUNDING SHUTDOWN ‘POLITICAL’ POSTURING’ IS ‘NOT FAIR’

Johnson changed course this week after the White House appeared to side with the Senate and urged swift passage of the upper chamber’s bill. 

“We’re not defying the White House,” Johnson told reporters Wednesday. “Everybody understands what we’re doing. We’re all one team.”

In an internal memo sent to Hill offices and obtained by Fox News Digital, the White House warned it would not be able to pay employees starting in May if the House did not pass the Senate’s partial DHS bill. The administration since early April had been using existing funds to cover six weeks of back pay and a new pay period for DHS employees — but warned that money was quickly depleting.

“If this funding is exhausted, the Administration will be unable to pay DHS personnel beginning in May, which will once again unleash havoc on air travel, leave critical law enforcement officers—including our brave Secret Service agents—and the Coast Guard without paychecks, and jeopardize national security,” the memo states.

Republicans are in the beginning stages of writing a separate party-line package to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). But that legislation will not advance before lawmakers leave Washington for the upcoming recess period. 

Trump has requested top Republicans send the immigration enforcement measure to his desk by June 1.

Johnson said he dropped his objections to the Senate bill after his chamber took the first step toward funding Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda late Wednesday.

“We had to ensure that they could not isolate and eliminate those two critical agencies,” Johnson told reporters. “That was critically important for us to ensure that we’re going to protect the homeland.”

HOUSE REPUBLICANS UNLOCK RECONCILIATION PROCESS TO FUND ICE AND BORDER PATROL WITHOUT DEMOCRATS

Some Republicans argued that failure to move the Senate’s DHS bill prior to leaving Washington for a planned recess was untenable.

“We have got to fund DHS, even if it’s 80% of DHS,” Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital in an interview. “We’re in a dangerous position with funding levels right now. We have to get this done before we even think of leaving on a recess.”

Langworthy sent a letter, obtained by Fox News Digital, to Johnson earlier in the week imploring the speaker to put the Senate’s DHS bill up for a vote. 

“What other avenue of approach are you going to have? Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital when asked about whether the House would take up the Senate’s languishing DHS bill. “This is hurting families of individuals willing to serve their communities, their nation, their state. Why wouldn’t we?”

The prolonged funding lapse created financial distress for a vast swath of DHS employees, who were forced to report to work for weeks at a time without pay. More than 1,000 TSA agents quit their jobs during the shutdown, DHS announced this week.

Democrats, who initially sparked the shutdown over objections to funding immigration enforcement, supported the Senate measure because it did not include funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

“Bring the bipartisan Senate-passed bill to the House Floor today, and it would fund the Department of Homeland Security in its entirety with the exception of ICE and the violent Republican mass deportation machine,” Jeffries said at a news conference on Monday.

House conservatives did not ask for a recorded vote on the Senate DHS bill despite warning about the precedent of passing an appropriations bill that isolates immigration enforcement funding from the rest of the department. 

“That vote was going to pass if there was a suspension vote, so we agree to let it go by voice [vote],” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told reporters Thursday.

FIRST ON FOX: The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) racked up a $1.2 million tab at D.C.’s five-star Salamander Hotel during a lobbying trip to oppose President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a new report from the Center for Union Facts (CUF) found.

Social media posts show that SEIU members from around the country converged in Washington, D.C., between June 23 and June 29, 2025, to confront lawmakers and stage protests against the tax and spending cuts under consideration in Congress. Department of Labor disclosures logged on June 30, 2025, reveal that the union spent $1.2 million of members’ dues at the Salamander Hotel to cover a series of expenses labeled as “support for political activities.” 

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act served as the cornerstone of Trump’s second-term economic agenda. While supporters touted tax breaks for service workers and small business owners, critics argued cuts to health and food subsidies would harm less affluent Americans. This disagreement sparked fierce opposition, including the SEIU’s seven-figure protest campaign, though Trump ultimately signed the bill into law on 4th of July weekend 2025.

“Once again, we see union leaders spending lavishly at the expense of the members who fork over millions in union dues every year,” Rep. Tim Walberg, chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, told Fox News Digital. “These limousine liberals chose to stay at top-tier hotels so they could fight a bill that is actively lowering costs for workers and families across the nation—including their own members. SEIU’s leadership should put its money where its mouth is and focus on actually helping workers thrive.”

DC RESTAURANT GROUPS BLAST DEMS’ ‘BASELESS’ BOYCOTT THREAT REPORTEDLY BACKED BY AOC, SANDERS

The SEIU did not respond to a request for comment after being contacted by Fox News Digital on Wednesday.

SEIU chapters posted images of its members in the hotel’s event spaces and outside its rooms to social media in late June 2025, according to images collected by CUF and reviewed by Fox News Digital.  

“The SEIU lectures the country about economic justice by day and apparently checks into five-star luxury hotels by night on their members’ dimes,” CUF communications director Charlyce Bozzello told Fox News Digital. “So much for solidarity.”

CUF is a nonprofit interest group critical of organized labor. The SEIU, meanwhile, is a union representing roughly two million workers in healthcare, public service and other sectors.

The hotel appears in the Michelin Guidebook, a catalog of luxury hotels published by the same organization responsible for awarding coveted Michelin stars to restaurants. 

“While it’s slightly less central than some of the older hotels, there’s an immediate payoff in the form of spectacular views — rooms overlook the Mall and the Washington Monument on one side, with the Basin and Jefferson Memorial on the other,” the guide reads. “Facilities, of course, are first-class; the Salamander Spa is one of the main attractions, itself as large as some hotels we’ve seen, offering every therapy yet devised in a surprisingly chic environment.”

Alongside spacious rooms and dramatic architecture, the Salamander Hotel has several luxury dining options, including a restaurant belonging to celebrity chef Kwame Onwuachi.

REPUBLICANS RIP 4 BLUE STATES FOR KEEPING TAXES ON TIPS, OVERTIME AFTER TRUMP REPRIEVE

CUF notes in its report that the SEIU has its own conference space in D.C., raising questions about why it spent so much at the five-star hotel.

The SEIU’s website states that “dues are a touchy topic in any union,” and that “when times are tough, almost any expense can seem burdensome to workers.”

The webpage goes on to explain how the SEIU believes that dues payments help union members secure better pay and benefits through lobbying efforts, legal aid, educational programs and organizational training.

ASRA NOMANI: THE $2.1 BILLION MACHINE BEHIND ‘SPONTANEOUS’ ANTI-TRUMP PROTESTS

While staying in D.C. to protest the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, some SEIU members were among the more than two dozen people arrested by the United States Capitol Police for illegally occupying a Senate office building on June 25, 2025.

Disclosures show that the SEIU spent additional funds at other high-end resorts in 2025.

Among these was the Salamander Resort in Middleburg, Virginia, where the union’s leadership spent $32,806 on “staff meetings and training.” The resort consistently ranks among the best in the nation.

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers moved Thursday to strip out a controversial pesticide provision from legislation setting U.S. farm and nutrition policy after Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., threatened to “slaughter” the legislation if her measure did not receive a floor vote.

Lawmakers voted 280 to 142 to approve Luna’s amendment, which removed language from the farm bill shielding pesticide manufacturers from legal liability. 

The successful vote could be a sign of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement’s growing influence over congressional Republicans, who splintered over the issue. Leading MAHA advocates applied public pressure on Republicans to back the amendment, arguing that failing to do so would be a betrayal of the MAHA movement.

Seventy-three Republicans backed Luna’s measure, while 142 GOP lawmakers rejected it.

HOUSE CONSERVATIVES THREATEN EXTENDED SHUTDOWN OVER ELECTION INTEGRITY MEASURE

The provision that lawmakers struck would block lawsuits against pesticide companies for failing to disclose potential health risks as long as they are in compliance with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations on labeling. States and localities would be barred from issuing pesticide labeling guidance that diverges from the EPA. 

“I have a little boy, and the amount of articles I have seen on pesticides and herbicides popping up in children’s products (to include organic) is very bad,” Luna, a MAHA-aligned Republican, wrote on social media earlier this week. “On behalf of all the moms and dads that aren’t in office, I am not going to be bullied into supporting a bill that is providing protections and immunity to corporations that are responsible for giving children and adults cancer.”

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, policy chair of the House Freedom Caucus, also endorsed Luna’s amendment, arguing it would “protect Americans from dangerous pesticides.”

‘LONG OVERDUE’: SENATE REPUBLICANS RAM THROUGH TRUMP’S CLAWBACK PACKAGE WITH CUTS TO FOREIGN AID, NPR

Republican critics, however, contended that Luna’s amendment would raise costs for consumers if the pesticide provision was stripped from the farm bill. 

“If the EPA says the label is good, I don’t see why every state municipality should have to have another label that would simply raise the price for the American consumer,” Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., said in opposition to Luna’s measure.

“We’re not talking about the pesticide in the jug as has been misrepresented to the American citizens and especially the MAHA movement,” Scott continued. “We’re talking about just the label on the jug. There is no liability shield for the pesticide in the jug. 

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., also sharply criticized Luna’s measure.

“The arguments on the other side are pretty shallow, and they’re emotional,” Thompson said on the House floor. “They’re not science-based.”

Democrats also widely backed the effort to remove the pesticide provision from the bill.

“Put simply, this language puts chemical company profits over the health of Americans,” Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, said during debate on the House floor. 

The floor battle over the pesticide provision also comes as the Supreme Court heard oral arguments this week about whether pesticide manufacturers like Bayer, which acquired Monsanto in 2018, should be given legal preemption from failing to warn consumers that its weedkiller product Roundup could cause cancer.

The Trump administration sparked controversy among MAHA advocates earlier this year when it declared domestic production of glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup, a national security priority. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an influential MAHA voice, publicly defended the move despite railing against glyphosate for years.

Bayer has repeatedly maintained that its product is safe to use and has not been found to cause cancer.