Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina has introduced legislation that would make illegal immigrants who engage in animal cruelty inadmissible to the United States and subject to deportation.

The measure is called the “Illegal Alien Animal Abuser Removal Act of 2026.”

“If you come here illegally, you’re already a criminal. Add animal cruelty to the list and you’re on the next flight back to where you came from,” Mace said, according to a press release. 

NANCY MACE RIPS TRANS ATHLETE’S ATTORNEY FOR REFUSING TO DEFINE SEX AT SCOTUS WOMEN’S SPORTS HEARING

“We have a duty to protect the voiceless from torture and abuse. Animal cruelty is a proven red flag for violence against people. These criminals escalate. Our bill makes it crystal clear: commit these sick acts and you’re deported. Immediately. No second chances,” she added.

Mace, who has served in the House since 2021, is currently running for South Carolina governor.

REP NANCY MACE SLAPS DOWN EARLY RETIREMENT RUMOR: ‘BIG FAT NO FROM ME’

“The message is clear: abuse animals, get deported. America will not be a sanctuary for animal abusers, especially ones who broke into our country illegally in the first place. Pack your bags,” she noted, according to the release.

Under the legislation, an alien convicted under state, tribal or local laws related to animal cruelty, abuse or animal fighting would be deemed inadmissible and deportable. The bill also specifies that convictions under certain federal animal welfare statutes would carry the same immigration consequences.

‘TR*NSGENDER ANTIFA’ EXTREMIST CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED MURDER AFTER SKATING ON DEATH THREAT, REP MACE SAYS

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The proposal further states that an alien who admits to committing acts that constitute such offenses could also be deemed inadmissible.

The partial government shutdown stretched into another week after negotiators failed to reach a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over the weekend.

Congress is on a weeklong recess and is not scheduled to return to Washington, D.C., until next week, leaving the shutdown’s end in limbo as both parties remain far apart on key provisions.

Senate Democrats are demanding a series of reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a position they have maintained since the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good during ICE operations in Minnesota.

FETTERMAN BUCKS DEMOCRATS, SAYS PARTY PUT POLITICS OVER COUNTRY IN DHS SHUTDOWN STANDOFF

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus are standing by a list of 10 proposed reforms, including requiring ICE agents to obtain judicial warrants and limiting the use of face coverings — proposals Republicans have described as red lines.

“Americans are tired of masked agents conducting warrantless operations in their communities — secret police,” Schumer said. “They’re tired of chaos, secrecy and zero accountability. That is not what law and order looks like, and Republicans simply cannot pretend that this outrage does not exist.”

However, ICE received additional funding under previously passed legislation, and core enforcement operations are expected to continue. Other DHS agencies, including the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Coast Guard, remain affected by the shutdown.

GOVERNMENT TO SHUT DOWN AT MIDNIGHT AFTER DEMS, WHITE HOUSE FAIL TO STRIKE DHS DEAL

The White House has led negotiations for Senate Republicans and offered Senate Democrats a proposal that they have rejected. Details of that proposal have not been made public.

“This is a Democrat-driven shutdown caused by their intransigence and desire to use government funding for services all Americans rely on as a hostage in order to achieve an unrelated political goal,” a senior White House official said.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said lawmakers would receive 24 hours’ notice to return if a deal is reached.

DHS SHUTDOWN EXPLAINED: WHO WORKS WITHOUT PAY, WHAT HAPPENS TO AIRPORTS AND DISASTER RESPONSE

“I think all those reasonable efforts and requests have been overshadowed by the fact that the Democrats don’t seem to want to play ball,” Thune said.

On the House side, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told lawmakers they would receive 48 hours’ notice to return if the Senate passes a bill. The House is also in recess until Feb. 23.

Johnson and other Republicans have expressed support for the original DHS funding bill crafted by House and Senate appropriators, but the speaker said he does not want further delays in DHS funding to be attributed to the House.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., has said Democrats will not accept a funding bill that does not include significant reforms to ICE.

The Department of War on Sunday transported a next-generation nuclear reactor aboard a C-17 from California to Utah, advancing President Donald Trump’s executive order to modernize America’s nuclear energy infrastructure and strengthen U.S. national security.

The reactor was flown from March Air Reserve Base in California to Hill Air Force Base in Utah and is expected to be transported to the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab in Orangeville for testing and evaluation – a key step in assessing how advanced nuclear systems could support military installations and remote defense operations.

The Department of War shared images on X showing the reactor loaded onto the C-17 aircraft.

“We’re advancing President Trump’s executive order on nuclear energy,” the post read. “Moments from now, we will airlift a next-generation nuclear reactor.”

TRUMP ADMIN POURS $1B INTO MASSIVE EFFORT TO RESTART NUCLEAR REACTOR AT HISTORIC MELTDOWN SITE

The Department of War said the successful delivery and installation of the reactor will open new possibilities for energy resilience and strategic independence for the nation’s defense, highlighting what officials described as an agile, innovative and commercial-first approach to addressing critical infrastructure challenges.

“By harnessing the power of advanced nuclear technology, we are not only enhancing our national security but championing a future of American energy dominance,” the agency said in a press release. “This event is a testament to the ingenuity of the American spirit and a critical advancement in securing our nation’s freedom and strength for generations to come.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of War for additional comment.

THREE MILE ISLAND NUCLEAR PLANT MAKES COMEBACK WITH $1B IN FEDERAL BACKING TO MEET INCREASING ENERGY DEMANDS

In May, President Donald Trump signed several executive orders aimed at expanding domestic nuclear energy development. At the time, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said America led the postwar world on “all things nuclear” until it “stagnated” and was “choked with overregulation.”

War Secretary Pete Hegseth added that the U.S. was “going to have the lights on and AI operating when others are not because of our nuclear capabilities.”

One of Trump’s nuclear directives called for reforming Energy Department research and development, accelerating reactor testing at national laboratories and establishing a pilot program for new construction.

ENERGY SECRETARY REVEALS HOW US NUCLEAR TESTS WILL WORK

Nuclear energy, the White House said in the order, “is necessary to power the next generation technologies that secure our global industrial, digital, and economic dominance, achieve energy independence, and protect our national security.”

The nuclear expansion effort is part of a broader administration push to reinforce domestic energy production and grid reliability across multiple sectors.

Days later, Trump signed another executive order directing the Department of War to work directly with coal-fired power plants on new long-term power purchasing agreements, arguing the move would ensure “more reliable power and stronger and more resilient grid power.”

The order, “Strengthening United States National Defense with America’s Beautiful Clean Coal Power Generation Fleet,” states, “The United States must ensure that our electric grid … remains resilient and reliable, and not reliant on intermittent energy sources,” calling the grid “the foundation of our national defense as well as our economic stability.”

“It is the policy of the United States that coal is essential to our national and economic security,” the order adds.

Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr and Charles Creitz contributed to this report.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., vowed Sunday that Senate Democrats will block the latest GOP-backed effort to require proof of citizenship to vote.

“We will not let it pass in the Senate,” Schumer told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “We are fighting it tooth and nail. It’s an outrageous proposal that is, you know, that shows the sort of political bias of the MAGA right. They don’t want poor people to vote. They don’t want people of color to vote because they often don’t vote for them.”

Schumer’s comments came after Tapper pressed him on his opposition, noting that polling shows roughly 83% of Americans support some form of voter identification. That figure comes from a Pew Research poll published last year that found 71% of Democratic voters surveyed supported presenting an ID to vote.

COLLINS BOOSTS REPUBLICAN VOTER ID EFFORT, BUT WON’T SCRAP FILIBUSTER

Still, Schumer and most Senate Democrats have criticized the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, which passed the House last week and is expected to face a vote in the Senate.

The bill would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and would establish a system for state election officials to share information with federal authorities to verify voter rolls. It would also allow the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to pursue immigration cases if noncitizens are found listed as eligible voters.

Schumer and his caucus have panned the bill as voter suppression targeting poorer Americans and minority groups.

FETTERMAN SLAMS DEMOCRATS’ ‘JIM CROW 2.0’ VOTER ID RHETORIC AS PARTY UNITY FRACTURES

“What they are proposing in this so-called SAVE Act is like Jim Crow 2.0,” Schumer said. “They make it so hard to get any kind of voter ID that more than 20 million legitimate people, mainly poorer people and people of color, will not be able to vote under this law.”

Without support from Senate Democrats — save for a possible defection from Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa. — the bill is likely to fail.

The only way around that would be eliminating the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster threshold — a move Republicans oppose — or forcing a so-called talking filibuster that could require hours of debate and stall other Senate business.

HARDLINE CONSERVATIVES DOUBLE DOWN TO SAVE THE SAVE ACT

Schumer also pushed back on comments from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who earlier this week said elections “may be one of the most important things that we need to make sure we trust, is reliable, and that when it gets to Election Day that we’ve been proactive to make sure that we have the right people voting, electing the right leaders to lead this country.”

The comments come as Senate Democrats and the White House negotiate funding for DHS, which has been shut down since midnight Friday.

Part of those negotiations includes Democrats’ demand that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents be kept away from several areas, including schools and polling places.

“That’s a load of bull,” Schumer said. “They show no evidence of voter fraud. They show there’s so little in the country. And to have ICE agents, these thugs, be by the polling places, that just flies in the face of how democracy works, of how we’ve had elections for hundreds of years, very successfully.”

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton clashed with a Czech political leader at the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Saturday.

Clinton was speaking during a panel on the state of the West where she heavily criticized President Donald Trump for his dealings with Europe. Petr Macinka, a Czech deputy prime minister, defended the Trump administration as Clinton repeatedly mocked his statements and tried to speak over him.

“First, I think you really don’t like him,” Macinka said as he began to respond to Clinton’s Trump-bashing.

“You know, that is absolutely true,” Clinton said. “But not only do I not like him, but I don’t like what he’s actually doing to the United States and the world, and I think you should take a hard look at it if you think there is something good that will come of it.”

TRUMP RIPS EUROPE AT DAVOS FOR WRONG ‘DIRECTION,’ POINTS TO MIGRATION AND SPENDING

“Well, what Trump is doing in America, I think that it is a reaction. Reaction for some policies that really went too far, too far from the regular people,” Macinka said as Clinton interjected to ask for examples.

Macinka referenced “woke” ideologies, gender theories and cancel culture that ran rampant throughout the U.S. in recent years.

Clinton then mocked him, suggesting he was opposed to “women getting their rights.”

THE ONE SENTENCE IN RUBIO’S MUNICH SPEECH THAT REVEALED TRUMP’S RED LINE FOR EUROPE

Macinka then rebuffed her hostility, saying he can tell he was making her “nervous.”

The exchange came during the same panel where Clinton discussed immigration in the U.S., admitting that it had gone “too far.”

“It went too far, it’s been disruptive and destabilizing, and it needs to be fixed in a humane way with secure borders that don’t torture and kill people and how we’re going to have a strong family structure because it is at the base of civilization,” she added.

Clinton acknowledged that there are places where a physical barrier is appropriate but opposed large-scale expansion of a border wall during her 2016 presidential campaign.

At the time, she supported then-President Barack Obama’s executive actions that deferred immigration enforcement against millions of children and parents in the country illegally and wanted to end the practice of family detention.

Clinton also planned on continuing Obama’s policy of deporting violent criminals, but wanted to scale back immigration raids, which she said at the time produced “unnecessary fear and disruption in communities,” Fox News Digital previously reported.

Fox News’ Ashley DiMella contributed to this report.

Standing in Germany, whose Cold War fault line once symbolized the division of a continent, Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered President Donald Trump’s red line for Europe.

“We in America have no interest in being polite and orderly caretakers of the West’s managed decline,” Rubio said during his Friday remarks before the Munich Security Conference.

America’s top diplomat called for tighter borders, revived industry and a reassertion of national sovereignty, arguing that the West’s drift was not inevitable but the result of policy choices the Trump administration now intends to reverse.

RUBIO STEPS INTO MUNICH SPOTLIGHT AS TRUMP LEANS ON HIM TO CARRY VANCE’S POPULIST MESSAGE ABROAD

“We do not seek to separate, but to revitalize an old friendship and renew the greatest civilization in human history,” he added, urging an alliance that “boldly races into the future.”

Rubio’s 3,000-word address marked one of the clearest articulations yet of Trump’s break with the global status quo. It underscored a broader shift in transatlantic ties, with Washington pressing European allies to shoulder more of their own defense and elevate national sovereignty.

He described the erosion of manufacturing, porous borders and dependence on global institutions as symptoms of Western complacency.

RUBIO BLASTS ‘WORLD WITHOUT BORDERS’ FANTASY, WARNS MASS MIGRATION THREATENS WESTERN CIVILIZATION

Reclaiming supply chain independence, enforcing immigration limits and rebuilding defense capabilities, he said, would be key to reversing course.

His remarks landed before an audience of European leaders who have long relied on U.S. security guarantees and remain wary of a more transactional Washington. 

The shift was striking in a forum that has traditionally served as a showcase for transatlantic unity, where U.S. officials in previous years stressed multilateral cooperation and institutional continuity.

Whether European capitals embrace that vision remains to be seen. But Rubio made clear that, under Trump, the U.S. no longer sees itself as the quiet steward of a fading order.

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Members of President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace have pledged more than $5 billion in aid for Gaza, the president announced Sunday.

Trump made the announcement on Truth Social, saying the funding would be formally pledged during a Feb. 19 meeting in Washington, D.C. The Board of Peace was chartered in January and currently includes nearly 20 countries.

“On February 19th, 2026, I will again be joined by Board of Peace Members at the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., where we will announce that Member States have pledged more than $5 BILLION DOLLARS toward the Gaza Humanitarian and Reconstruction efforts, and have committed thousands of personnel to the International Stabilization Force and Local Police to maintain Security and Peace for Gazans,” Trump wrote.

“Very importantly, Hamas must uphold its commitment to Full and Immediate Demilitarization. The Board of Peace will prove to be the most consequential International Body in History, and it is my honor to serve as its Chairman,” he added.

TRUMP SEEKS DAVOS SIGNING CEREMONY FOR GAZA BOARD OF PEACE

Israel formally joined the Board of Peace last week ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with Trump at the White House.

ISRAELI BOBSLED TEAM APARTMENT ROBBED AHEAD OF WINTER OLYMPICS, COMPETITOR SAYS

Leaders from 17 countries participated in the initial Gaza Board of Peace charter signing ceremony in Davos, Switzerland, in late January, including presidents and other senior government officials from Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Central and Southeast Asia.

A handful of other countries were also invited by the White House to join, including Russia, Belarus, France, Germany, Vietnam, Finland, Ukraine, Ireland, Greece and China, among others. Poland and Italy on Wednesday said they would not join.

Trump has deployed the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group and the USS Michael Murphy, a guided-missile destroyer, as his envoys meet with Iranian officials in Oman.

Other U.S. naval assets, including the USS Bulkeley, USS Roosevelt, USS Delbert D. Black, USS McFaul, USS Mitscher, USS Spruance and USS Frank E. Petersen Jr., are positioned across key waterways surrounding Iran, from the eastern Mediterranean and Red Sea to the Persian Gulf, and Arabian Sea.

Fox News’ Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the U.S. capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday, going on to call out a reporter for supposedly trying to stir up tension during a press conference.

Rubio made the statement during a joint appearance with Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico. A reporter referenced Fico’s previous criticism of the U.S. operation against Maduro and asked whether he stood by it, leading Rubio to address the issue first while he was answering other questions from the same reporter.

“I think you asked him a question in order to, like, see if you can get him against us, or something… A lot of countries didn’t like what we did in Venezuela. That’s OK. That was in our national interest,” Rubio said. 

“I’m sure there’s something you may do one day that we don’t like, and we’ll say we didn’t like that you did this,” Rubio continued, while turning to Fico. “So what? That doesn’t mean we’re not going to be friends, we’re not going to be partners.”

TRUMP ANNOUNCES VENEZUELA TURNING OVER MILLIONS OF BARRELS OF OIL TO US GOVERNMENT ‘IMMEDIATELY’

“We have very close allies that didn’t like what we did in that regard. I can tell you what, it was successful. It was necessary, because the guy was a narco-terrorist, and we made him a bunch of offers,” the secretary continued. 

“And look what’s happened in Venezuela in the six weeks since he’s been gone,” Rubio said, acknowledging that the country still has “a long way to go.”

“There’s still much work that needs to be done, but I can tell you Venezuela is much better off today than it was six weeks ago. So we’re very proud of that project. And I know some will disagree… I think everyone can now agree that Venezuela has an opportunity at a new future that wasn’t there six weeks ago,” he added.

Rubio’s statement comes days after President Donald Trump recounted the military’s strength during the operation to capture Maduro. Trump, speaking in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, honored U.S. special forces and their families for their roles in the operation.

STATE DEPT CONFIRMS ‘LIMITED NUMBER’ OF PERSONNEL IN CARACAS WORKING TO RESUME VENEZUELA DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS

“It was in a matter of minutes before (Maduro) was on a helicopter being taken out of there. They had to go through steel doors,” Trump said Friday afternoon. “The steels were like it was like paper-maché. You know what paper-maché is? That’s weak paper.”

U.S. special operations forces carried out the successful capture of Maduro and his wife on sweeping narcotics charges. Trump celebrated that there wasn’t single U.S. casualty during the operation, despite Maduro being housed on a heavily-armed military base.

“These guys blasted through every door,” Trump continued Friday. “They got up to him before he got to the big safe. But that wouldn’t have worked either, because they had equipment that was going to knock that out in a matter of minutes, but he never got there. It went so fast.”

Maduro was whisked off on a helicopter, and brought to the U.S., where he faces federal charges, including narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine-trafficking conspiracy and weapons-related offenses. He is being held in federal custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York City. 

Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report.

A student group affiliated with Turning Point USA is facing criticism for hosting an event at a Maryland high school in December, with one woman saying that Child Protective Services had been notified.

A local community member, who was identified as Nancy, expressed “serious concern” about the December TPUSA-affiliated event at a February 12 board meeting. The woman spoke after a student from the high school who serves as president of the Calvert County Club America.

That student said his group placed restrictions on the event after receiving “hate” online, including restricting access for adults they did not know who were not volunteers or parents of attendees. He also stated that all students who attended had parental permission.

“We have been accused of many things. We have been accused of grooming children… an allegation that a random unnamed man was president of our group and had certain felony charges. I’m the president of the group. I’m 17, I’m a minor. I can’t groom children because I am a child. I don’t have any felony charges or convictions,” the student said, adding an invitation to discuss any questions.

ERIKA KIRK WELCOMES ATTENDEES TO FIRST AMERICAFEST SINCE HUSBAND’S DEATH, ENDORSES JD VANCE FOR PRESIDENT

The student clarified that CCCA is affiliated with TPUSA but is its own 501(c)(3) organization and is not part of the state’s public school system.

Nancy spoke next, raising her issues with the TPUSA event. 

“While community building opportunities for students are important, this event raises serious concerns related to student safety, parental rights and governance oversight,” the woman stated, claiming that parents and legal guardians were not permitted to attend the event.

“Excluding parents and guardians from a student-focused event creates a lack of transparency and undermines established best practices for youth safety,” she continued, going on to say that such events should be subject to supervision and background checks.

“Students are widely recognized as vulnerable population, they are in critical developmental stages, and especially susceptible to influence,” she added.

DEFIANT TPUSA LEADER WON’T QUIT DESPITE CHAPTER FACING HARASSMENT, HOSTILITY AFTER KIRK ASSASSINATION

“All Board of Education members in this room are mandated reporters under state law, as I am. Based on the circumstances surrounding this event, a report was made to Child Protective Services,” the woman added as she concluded her remarks.

Controversy over the event comes as TPUSA continues to grow its influence on high school and college campuses across the country since the assassination of the group’s founder, Charlie Kirk.

His wife, Erika Kirk, told Fox News’ Shannon Bream in December that the organization intends to resume its normal presence on college campuses in particular.

TURNING POINT USA HOLDS AMERICAFEST CONFERENCE FOLLOWING CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSINATION

“We are not afraid,” she said, adding that the TPUSA team will continue to host “Prove Me Wrong”–style debates as part of its campus outreach.

Charlie Kirk was assassinated during an outdoor event on Sept. 10 at Utah Valley University. The gathering marked the first stop on TPUSA’s planned “American Comeback Tour,” and at first, nothing appeared out of the ordinary.

The charismatic TPUSA founder rose to prominence through his signature political debates on college campuses. Moments before the fatal shot, he sat beneath a white tent emblazoned with the slogan “Prove Me Wrong,” fielding open-mic questions from thousands in attendance.

Fox News’ Amanda Macias contributed to this report.