President Donald Trump declared in a Tuesday Truth Social post that most NATO countries have noted that they do not want to jump into the U.S. attack against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO ‘Allies’ that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the president declared in the Truth Social post. “I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need.” 

He continued, “Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military — Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again! Because of the fact that we have had such Military Success, we no longer “need,” or desire, the NATO Countries’ assistance — WE NEVER DID! Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea. In fact, speaking as President of the United States of America, by far the Most Powerful Country Anywhere in the World, WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE! Thank you for your attention to this matter.” 

The U.S. has been waging war against Iran in conjunction with Israel, a close American ally.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

Lawyers for Brian J. Cole Jr. claimed in a court filing Monday that President Donald Trump‘s sweeping presidential pardons for Jan. 6 defendants apply to him and the case should be dismissed.

Cole Jr. is accused of planting explosive devices at the Republican and Democratic National Committee headquarters on the eve of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Trump issued the pardons on his first day in office, Jan. 20, 2025.

The motion to dismiss was filed in U.S. District Court by Cole Jr.’s lawyers, arguing the government’s own narrative in the case “inextricably” tethers Cole to the events of Jan. 6, 2021.

“By the government’s own telling, this is exactly the kind of case that President Trump’s January 20, 2025 Presidential Pardon was invoked to reach,” defense attorneys Mario Williams and John Shoreman wrote.

EVIDENCE AGAINST J6 PIPE BOMB SUSPECT WAS JUST ‘SITTING THERE’ FOR YEARS, DOJ SAYS

The defense lawyers cited Department of Justice connections between the bombs and Jan. 6, including the “timing and location,” and the allegation that Cole Jr. drove to D.C. “to attend a protest concerning the outcome of the 2020 election.”

“The Pardon — like it or not — applies to Mr. Cole, based on the ordinary and plain meaning of the Pardon’s language as applied to the relevant facts in this case,” the 23-page motion to dismiss concluded.

DOJ MOVES TO WIPE STEVE BANNON CONTEMPT CONVICTION TIED TO JAN. 6 PROBE

“Wherefore, for the reasons stated above, Mr. Cole requests that this Motion be granted and the charges against him dismissed, in their entirety.”

The defense argues that because the 2025 Pardon applies to all individuals “convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021,” Cole should be immune from prosecution.

To bolster their claim, Cole’s team pointed to the case of David Dempsey, who was sentenced to 20 years for what prosecutors described as “vicious and protracted” assaults on police officers. Despite being labeled a “domestic terrorist” by some officials, Dempsey received a full pardon.

The defense argues it would be a “grave injustice” to prosecute Cole — whose devices never exploded and caused no physical injury.

READ THE MOTION TO DISMISS – APP USERS, CLICK HERE:

The government is expected to challenge the motion.

Gov. Janet Mills of Maine on Tuesday launched a blistering negative ad that takes aim at twin controversies surrounding Graham Platner, her formidable rival for the Democratic Senate nomination in the crucial 2026 race to face off against Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

The ad features women reacting to comments Platner made over a decade ago on Reddit about rape, and it also points to a tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi symbol.

The Mills ad comes as Platner, a U.S. Marine and Army veteran and oyster farmer, who has the backing of progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, is gaining momentum. According to recent polls, Platner holds a large lead over the governor with less than three months until Maine’s primary.

Democrats view Collins as vulnerable as she seeks a sixth six-year term in the Senate in the left-leaning Northern New England state, and the race is considered a must win for Democrats as they try to claw back the chamber’s majority from the GOP in this year’s midterms.

WHAT SUSAN COLLINS TOLD FOX NEWS AS SHE LAUNCHED HER RE-ELECTION BID

The Mills campaign spot highlights Graham’s comments, as an actor in a voice that resembles the candidate, reads snippets of them aloud. Among the comments is one from 2013, which Platner later deleted, that people concerned about rape should not “get so f—ed up they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to.”

Four women in the Mills ad respond to the comments, calling them, “a horrible thing to say,” “disgusting” and “disqualifying.”

PLATNER CONFRONTED ABOUT CONTROVERSIAL TATTOO 

The ad, which the Mills campaign says it’s spending six figures to run statewide on broadcast and cable TV and streaming, also spotlights Platner’s tattoo as it closes with video of him shirtless.

“The closer you look, the worse it gets,” the narrator in the spot says.

Platner said last fall that he got the skull and crossbones tattoo in 2007 while drinking with fellow Marines stationed in Croatia. He said that he covered up the tattoo with a new design after learning it resembled a Nazi symbol.

The candidate also apologized for his controversial Reddit posts after they made headlines last fall soon after he launched his Senate campaign.

“For those of you who have read these things and been offended, have read these things and seen someone that you don’t recognize, I am deeply sorry,” he said in a video that went viral.

IS THE REPUBLICAN SENATE MAJORITY AT RISK IN MIDTERM ELECTIONS?

Platner, 41, has campaigned in front of large and energetic crowds since jumping into the race, and seems to be gaining support from a Democratic base angry with President Donald Trump’s second-term agenda and mad at their party’s leaders in the nation’s capital. Platner is being advised by Morris Katz, who was a top consultant last year on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s historic campaign.

Mills, who was urged by the party’s establishment to run for the Senate, has the tacit support of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

With the primary campaign heating up, the 78-year-old two-term governor and former Maine attorney general is getting more aggressive in spotlighting Platner’s political baggage, which she and other Democrats argue could cost their party their best shot ever at unseating Collins.

Platner’s campaign manager Ben Chin, in a statement responding to the Mills ad, argued, “This is nothing more than a desperate attempt for relevance from the governor, who is trailing an oyster farmer in every recent poll.”

“It’s why people hate politics and why not enough real people run for office: DC insiders who are so obsessed with their own power and threatened by someone who is building an actual movement of working people, that they launch a barrage of attacks to try to tear Graham down,” Chin added.

And he emphasized that “Mainers know that Graham should not be defined by the worst thing he said on the internet over a decade ago.”

President Donald Trump warned on Tuesday that he will not endorse any lawmaker who votes against the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, escalating pressure on Republicans as the bill heads to the Senate.

Trump made the pledge in a Truth Social post Tuesday morning, warning that any Republican or Democrat who opposes the measure would face political consequences.

“The Save America Act is one of the most IMPORTANT & CONSEQUENTIAL pieces of legislation in the history of Congress, and America itself,” Trump wrote.

“I WILL NEVER (EVER!) ENDORSE ANYONE WHO VOTES AGAINST ‘SAVE AMERICA!!!’”

GOP WARNS DEMOCRATS USING DHS SHUTDOWN TO STALL SENATE VOTER ID PUSH

Trump has long pushed for stricter election laws — making election integrity a central pillar of his 2024 campaign — and has repeatedly questioned the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to former President Joe Biden.

The SAVE Act would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and impose stricter voter ID rules.

Trump said the bill also touches on issues including mail-in voting, transgender athletes and medical care for minors.

“No Men in Women’s Sports, No Transgender MUTILIZATION of our Children. 90% to 99% ISSUES ALL! Only sick, demented, or deranged people in the House or Senate could vote against THE SAVE AMERICA ACT. If they do, each one of these points, separately, will be used against the user in his/her political campaign for office – A guaranteed loss.”

The GOP-led House passed the bill in February, largely along party lines.

Trump and his allies argue the legislation would prevent noncitizens from voting and strengthen election security, while critics say it could disenfranchise eligible voters who lack documentation.

SCHUMER SAYS DEMS WILL FIGHT VOTER ID PUSH ‘TOOTH AND NAIL,’ BALKS AT DHS ROLE IN ELECTIONS

The bill now faces steep odds in the Senate, where it would need 60 votes to overcome a filibuster — a threshold Republicans do not currently have given their 53–47 majority.

Some conservatives have pushed to force a “talking filibuster” or change Senate rules to bypass that threshold and pass the bill with a simple majority, but GOP leaders have said they lack the votes within their own conference to take that step.

Senate Majority Leader John ThuneJohn Thune has indicated the votes are not there to pass the measure, and most Democrats are expected to oppose it.

“It’s about the math,” Thune said. “And I’m, for better or worse, the one who has to be a clear-eyed realist about what we can achieve here.”

Republicans are expected to force a vote to put Democrats on record opposing the bill, but the measure faces steep odds of clearing the Senate’s 60-vote threshold.

Cracks have also emerged within the GOP.

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., a supporter of the bill, acknowledged Republicans “don’t have the votes for the talking filibuster right now” while Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., has opposed the legislation and said he plans to “do everything I can to prevent it from even moving forward.” Tillis has objected to the bill’s scope, arguing it goes beyond voter ID and warning against imposing sweeping federal mandates on states.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has also come out against the bill, warning that new federal mandates could disrupt state election systems.

The internal divisions come as Trump ramps up pressure on lawmakers, urging voters to contact their senators and back the legislation, which he has described as one of the most consequential bills in U.S. history.

Fox News’ Alex Miller and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report. 

EXCLUSIVE: A former high-ranking National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security official is warning that coordinated, technology-driven anti-ICE resistance is endangering operations through digital sabotage in cities across the United States.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Stewart Baker, a cybersecurity and national security expert, said that the use of new and emerging technology by agitators “has changed the atmosphere in which ICE is operating.”

“It’s already a game changer,” said Baker.

Following reports that anti-ICE agitators are using the encrypted messaging app known as Signal to track and impede agents, Baker said, “We’re going to see more of that, and it’s not easy to stop. Much of what’s being done there is perfectly lawful speech, but it is on the edge of causing serious harm.”

ANONYMOUS LETTER TO CALIFORNIA GOP CHAPTER CALLS FOR WAR ON ICE, URGES AGENTS BE SENT ‘HOME IN A BODY BAG’

Baker served as NSA general counsel under Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, and DHS assistant secretary for policy under President George W. Bush.  

Beyond Signal, there is chatter among activists about the use of sophisticated but cheap technology that serves as counter-surveillance measures.

Some of these methods are detailed in a thought piece titled “How Hackers Are Fighting Back Against ICE” by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a nonprofit digital civil liberties organization. Among the methods identified by EFF are a piece of hardware called “OUI-SPY” and a database called “DeFlock” that can be used by activists to detect and log the presence of law enforcement cameras and other technology that would otherwise be hidden.

EFF also describes an open-source app called WiGLE, which it says has the ability to alert the user when specific Wi-Fi or Bluetooth signals from federal law enforcement are detected.

The group notes that it is not affiliated with these projects and does not endorse them or make any statements about the legality of using them.

Cindy Cohn, EFF executive director, told Fox News Digital that the group, which she said “has been defending digital civil liberties and pushing back on overbroad surveillance since 1990, defends people’s indisputable constitutional right to observe and record law enforcement activities that occur in public places, so long as that recording does not interfere with those activities.”

Cohn said, “We also defend people’s legal and constitutional right to share that information with others. The Constitution and Supreme Court case law are crystal clear on these rights” and “we also support and defend people’s rights to detect, map, and share information about surveillance technology deployed in their communities, as a matter of transparency and accountability.”

She added that “the predominant danger today to both federal officers and protestors, bystanders, immigrants and U.S. citizens derives from the violent tactics being used by federal forces in U.S. cities, rather than from the tools observers are using to document this behavior.”

Baker told Fox News Digital that though he is “pretty skeptical of most of the technology that these groups are thinking they can use,” it does show that “they are remarkably organized.”

BLOCKING ICE COOPERATION FUELED MINNESOTA UNREST, OFFICIALS WARN AS VIRGINIA REVERSES COURSE

He said that for the last 30 years technology has been “moving to a place where anonymity is just impossible,” even in a law enforcement context.

“You can identify [people] from the signals that their tires send to the dashboard to say you’re flat. You can identify them by their Bluetooth signals, by their Wi-Fi signals … there are so many signals that we put off that increasingly trying to keep them all from being read by the rest of the world is just going to fail,” he explained. “And that means for law enforcement, they’re much more trackable at a very individual level.”

The result is that law enforcement operations are much more hazardous for not only agents, but also protesters, bystanders and even the illegal immigrants being targeted. The fatal shootings of activists Alex Pretti and Renee Good at the start of the year are evidence of this, Baker said.

“The people who are protesting ICE have set up a network for getting hostile people at the scene of ICE operations and [U.S. Customs and Border Protection] operations as quickly as possible and in as large numbers as possible,” Baker went on. “That is setting up more confrontations that are also going to end badly for the people who go there.”

Fox News Digital reported that the anti-ICE mobilization that unfolded around the killing of Pretti in Minneapolis mirrored the methods used to overthrow governments and spark bloody revolutions around the globe.

Encrypted Signal chats, command-and-control centers, rapid-response propaganda and orchestrated tear-gas clashes with law enforcement have served to mobilize forces and shape public opinion in the ongoing conflict. Close analysis of guidelines distributed online by anti-ICE groups and the minute-by-minute events surrounding Pretti’s death reveal tactics and strategies well known to military and intelligence analysts as elements of global insurgencies.

‘MOB MENTALITY’ ENDANGERS OFFICERS AMID ANTI-ICE UNREST AND CHAOS IN MINNEAPOLIS, RETIRED COPS WARN

What does this all boil down to? Baker believes that this means that “everybody is going to be doxed.”

“We’re all going to be living in a world where we are doxed by people who don’t like us. And ICE agents are there first, but plenty of other people are going to end up there and tracked.”

“There are people who are willing to use violence against agents, and that fear of violence is going to drive hair-trigger responses by the agents. It’s a very dangerous situation,” said Baker. “It’s dangerous for everybody. And I understand why people are enthusiastic about having discovered this technology … but it carries with it risks for the people who are running those networks.”

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said in a Monday post on X that he filed for re-election.

“It’s official. I just left my campaign headquarters after filing for re-election. Thanks to all the family, friends and supporters that make this possible,” Graham wrote in the post.

President Donald Trump endorsed Graham for re-election last year.

GRAHAM SAYS REPUBLICANS WON’T LET DEMS ‘DEFUND’ ICE, CBP AT ‘A TIME WE’RE UNDER SERIOUS THREAT’

“Senator Lindsey Graham has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election — HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN. Everyone in South Carolina should help Lindsey have a BIG WIN next year!” Trump declared in part of a March 2025 Truth Social post.

Some on the political right pushed back against the president’s move. 

But others on the right have backed Graham for re-election. 

Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson endorsed Graham last year, describing the senator as “a steadfast conservative leader for South Carolina and our nation.”

Graham has served in the U.S. Senate since early 2003.

The long-serving lawmaker is a staunch supporter of President Trump’s decision to launch the war against Iran in conjunction with Israel.

“Through Midnight Hammer and Epic Fury, @POTUS acted in the nick of time to prevent a nuclear armed Iranian regime. Past administrations failed to effectively confront this threat,” Graham said in part of a Monday post on X.

TOP IRANIAN LEADERS ALI LARIJANI, GHOLAMREZA SOLEIMANI KILLED IN STRIKES, ISRAEL SAYS

There are some candidates seeking to challenge Graham in the South Carolina Republican U.S. Senate primary.

“Senator Lindsey Graham officially filed for re-election today with the South Carolina State Election Commission, formally launching his campaign to continue representing the people of South Carolina in the United States Senate,” a March 16 press release noted. 

“Following his filing, Senator Graham was joined by family, supporters, volunteers, and campaign staff at his campaign headquarters in Columbia, where he shared his vision for South Carolina’s future and outlined how he plans to continue delivering President Trump’s agenda for communities across the state,” the release added.

“Nobody is better prepared to help President Trump protect us from evil than I am. Nobody is better prepared to help him get his agenda through the Senate than I am. Nobody running is better prepared to help our state than I am,” Graham said, according to the release.

The Trump Department of Homeland Security has requested that Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger and officials in immigrant-friendly Fairfax County not release an adult illegal alien charged with groping several high school girls on school grounds.

Illegal alien Israel Flores Ortiz, 19, is facing nine counts of assault and battery for groping girls at a Fairfax County high school he was attending. Victims and parents have alleged that Ortiz approached about 12 girls from behind in crowded hallways, grabbed them between the legs and groped their private areas, according to 7News.

The outlet reported that parents said the incidents have occurred throughout the school year. Ortiz attends the school and is in the eleventh grade, per 7News.

According to DHS, Ortiz illegally entered the U.S. in 2024 and was released into the country by the Biden administration.

ANGEL MOM WHOSE 13-YEAR-OLD SON WAS EXECUTED BY ILLEGAL GANG MEMBER URGES INCOMING DHS CHIEF TO ACT

He is currently being held without bond in the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center, which is operated by the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office, led by Sheriff Stacey Kincaid. 

According to the sheriff’s office website, the office does not honor ICE administrative detainers — requests to hold inmates — unless the detainer is accompanied by a criminal judicial order.

Further, as governor, Spanberger has rolled back state policies mandating cooperation with ICE. Spanberger has said that “when state and local law enforcement are pulled away from upholding our Virginia laws to do the job of federal agents, it weakens their ability to deepen trust — contributing to a culture of fear and distrust that makes it harder for officers to do their jobs.” 

In a later executive order, Spanberger added that Virginia law enforcement efforts “focus on upholding the rule of law, investigating and stopping criminal conduct, and protecting public safety, not the administrative enforcement of civil status.”

DHS NABS AFGHAN MAN ADMITTED UNDER BIDEN AFTER CONVICTION FOR EXPOSING HIMSELF TO MINOR

In a Monday statement, DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said that the agency is “calling on Fairfax County sanctuary politicians to NOT release this predator from jail back into our communities to assault more teenage women.”

Bis slammed Spanberger for ending former Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s policy of cooperation with ICE, saying it is “siding with criminal illegal aliens over American citizens.”

“This 19-year-old criminal illegal alien should NOT have been attending a Virginia high school and allowed to prey on innocent teenage girls,” Bis said, adding, “This is yet another example of the Biden Administration’s failed open border policies.”

In response, Allyson Conroy, a spokesperson for the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office, told Fox News Digital that Ortiz currently “remains in the custody of the Sheriff’s Office in the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.” 

Conroy said that “while it is still too early in the process to know the outcome of his case, ICE has been notified of Ortiz’s location at the ADC” and “they are able to execute their detainer by responding to the ADC and taking Ortiz into custody if and when he is ordered released.”

Conroy emphasized that the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office “does not obstruct or prevent ICE from acting on their civil detainers.”

Meanwhile, Stephanie Lundquist-Arora, a mother of three students in the Fairfax County School System, told Fox News that “this entire horrifying situation is the direct consequence of policy with really dysfunctional priorities,” which she said are attempting to “shield adult illegal immigrants at the expense of children’s safety, even in their public schools.”

ICE BUSTS HUMAN SMUGGLING RING THAT KIDNAPPED FAMILY, SEXUALLY ASSAULTED PREGNANT WOMAN

Lundquist-Arora claimed officials at the high school waited two weeks to inform parents and that the move only came after parental pressure.

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In an emailed statement, Fairfax County Public Schools said that while it is “unable to comment on specifics due to federal and state privacy laws, we prioritize student and staff safety and we fully investigate any time someone shares that an incident has occurred at school, or that they do not feel safe at school.”

The public school system added that it is “grateful to our law enforcement partners who continue to work swiftly and thoroughly when there are safety concerns in our schools” and that the “safety of all FCPS students and staff remains a top priority.”

Spanberger’s office and the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Senate Republicans are gearing up for a floor fight this week over doomed Trump-backed voter ID legislation.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is expected to launch the GOP’s floor strategy for the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act on Tuesday afternoon.

It won’t be done through the talking filibuster, despite pressure from President Donald Trump and a fervent ecosystem of conservative influencers to do so. That’s because there is not enough support among Republicans to follow through with the move.

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

“It’s about the math,” Thune said. “And I’m, for better or worse, the one who has to be a clear-eyed realist about what we can achieve here. And so we’ll continue to convey that. And I think that we’re going to have the fight on the floor. We’re going to vote on this.”

Republicans’ plan is to put Senate Democrats on record for voting down the bill. And Senate Democrats are primed to oblige. 

“Democrats will not let Donald Trump ram this bill through the Senate. Not this week, not ever,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on a call with reporters over the weekend. “And Democrats are going to make sure the American people have their chance to deliver their verdict at the elections this fall.”

Part of the issue among Republicans, outside the staggering amount of floor time it would take up, is that the GOP isn’t unified to block Democratic amendments that could drastically alter the bill if they went the route of the talking filibuster.

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., who is one of the key voices pushing for the SAVE America Act in the Senate, acknowledged that Republicans “don’t have the votes for the talking filibuster right now.”

“We just got to, you know, we got to look at every way we can try to pass it,” Scott said.

GOP REACHES KEY 50-VOTE THRESHOLD FOR TRUMP-BACKED VOTER ID BILL AS SENATE FIGHT LOOMS

Still, the first procedural step on Tuesday will take a simple majority but may still need an assist from Vice President JD Vance to break a tie.

And throughout the process, which could stretch over several days, there will be a handful of key lawmakers to watch in both chambers.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., declared last week that he wouldn’t support the SAVE America Act and that he planned to “do everything I can to prevent it from even moving forward.” 

How that could play out during the lengthy floor battle remains to be seen.

Still, Tillis’ objection to the bill is notable, given Republicans’ thin margin for error in the upper chamber.

He would rather vote on legislation that incentivized states to adopt voter ID and warned that the additional changes to the bill Trump wanted, like barring men in women’s sports or halting mail-in ballots with limited exceptions, “doesn’t sound like we’re letting the people at the tip of the spear — that’s these people running for re-election — define what we should be voting on next week.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, came out early against the SAVE America Act and contended that “one-size-fits-all mandates from Washington, D.C., seldom work in places like Alaska.”

TRUMP-BACKED VOTER ID BILL FACES GOP RESISTANCE AS TILLIS VOWS TO STOP IT

“Election Day is fast approaching,” Murkowski said in February. “Imposing new federal requirements now, when states are deep into their preparations, would negatively impact election integrity by forcing election officials to scramble to adhere to new policies, likely without the necessary resources.”

Whether she’ll vote to allow Republicans to open debate on the bill and march forward with their slew of amendments is still an open question. Fox News Digital did not immediately hear back from her office for comment.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., who often bucks his party on key votes in the Senate, likes the idea of voter ID but isn’t on board with some of the changes demanded by Trump.

Fetterman said on “Mornings with Maria” that the SAVE America Act was “needlessly complicated,” particularly Trump’s request to include a sweeping ban on mail-in ballots with limited exceptions.

“I have said it’s not Jim Crow, and it’s not extreme things, but mail-in voting is absolutely secure,” Fetterman said. “Some of the best examples in the country are red states like Florida and Ohio.”

Meanwhile, in the House, a rebellion is brewing among Thune’s fellow Republicans.

Several GOP lawmakers there are threatening to vote against any legislation that comes out of the Senate until the SAVE America Act is passed, which, given the circumstances, could lead to a lengthy standoff.

Many of those threats first bubbled up earlier this month on a House GOP lawmaker-only call, following the U.S. and Israel’s joint strikes on Iran.

Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., was among those pushing the House to reject any bills from the Senate until the measure was taken up, telling Speaker Mike Johnson, according to multiple sources on the call, “If we don’t get this done, or at least show that we’ve got some backbone, we’re done. The midterms are over.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s push to revive expired enhanced Obamacare tax credits by contrasting their cost with Pentagon spending is colliding with fresh scrutiny of the Affordable Care Act, as policy experts warn the program is riddled with improper enrollments, fraud vulnerabilities and rising taxpayer costs.

“We need to reform the ACA, not throw more taxpayer money at it,” Brian Blase, president of the health policy research group Paragon Health Institute, said. He added that “government subsidies don’t make the coverage more affordable. They make it more expensive overall because you have to consider the taxpayer amount.”

Blase spoke to Fox News Digital this month after Schumer made a viral swipe at Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth for spending $93.4 billion in the final month of the last fiscal year, including millions of dollars in luxury foods, such as king crab, for the troops. 

The New York Democrat seized on the Pentagon spending figure to make a political point that the same amount could cover extending enhanced ACA tax credits for three years, even though defense funds are not directly fungible with Obamacare subsidies.

DUELING OBAMACARE PLANS SET TO FAIL AS DEADLINE NEARS, PUSHING SENATE TOWARD BIPARTISAN TALKS

“Hegseth spent $93 billion in one month – roughly the cost of extending the ACA tax credits for THREE YEARS.     But instead of lowering American’s healthcare costs, Hegseth used millions of taxpayer dollars on fruit baskets, Herman Miller recliners, ice cream machines, Alaskan King Crabs, and a Steinway & Sons grand piano,” Schumer posted to X last week. 

Blase argued that the ACA is fraught with improper and “phantom” enrollees on top of proven fraud for which the Department of Justice has secured convictions, and that more funding was not the answer. The ACA’s premium subsidies are financed by the federal government, and advance payments of those tax credits are made on eligible enrollees’ behalf directly to insurers to reduce monthly premiums. 

A lot of Democrats have “conflated” the issue of extending enhanced ACA subsidies, but the “original Obamacare subsidies remain in place, and they are very generous,” Blase said, noting that those original subsidies are permanent and in place by statute and that the enhanced subsidies are merely a costly bonus.

The enhanced subsidies, introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, made some marketplace plans free for certain low-income enrollees. Paragon Health estimated that more than 6.4 million enrollees may have reported incomes low enough to qualify even though many likely earned more.

“That’s significant improper enrollment,” Blase said.

About 23 million people enrolled in healthcare plans in the ACA marketplace for 2026, but an estimated 3 to 4 million enrollees are likely “phantom enrollees,” Paragon Health found, describing them as those who are either fictitious or do not know they are enrolled in a plan. Blase said “unscrupulous” brokers and agents, who are incentivized to enroll people in healthcare plans, can enroll them without their consent.

Using data released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services last year, Paragon Health found that from 2021 to 2024, a growing number of ACA enrollees never used their health plans. In 2024, 35% never used their coverage.

Blase said that figure was suspicious, noting that “in a normal health insurance market, there’s about 15% of people that don’t use their health insurance in a given year.”

Democrats and Republicans were locked in a standoff last year over extending the ACA subsidies, a fight that helped fuel a six-week government shutdown. Democrats have cited sharp rises in premium costs for individuals as they continue to push to extend the credits. 

Blase said that even without the enrollment problems, the program is massively burdensome to taxpayers because insurers perpetually raise their premium costs.

“For the typical enrollee, the government is paying 80% of the premium. For lower income enrollees, the government is paying more than the premium,” Blase said, adding that the “taxpayer share of the premium continues to grow on autopilot.”

He added that the average person has health insurance through their employer.

“So they’re actually harmed because they get no relief, and they have to pay higher taxes so we can send money directly to health insurance companies, and the money that we send directly to health insurance companies just leads them to increase premiums, and it just increases their profits,” Blase said.

On top of improper enrollment and the broader taxpayer burden, the DOJ has ramped up its efforts to combat fraud in the ACA marketplace in recent years and focused on unauthorized enrollment schemes.

DOJ prosecutors secured high-profile 20-year prison sentences for two insurance executives in February after they were convicted by a jury of orchestrating a $233 million ACA fraud scheme by enrolling vulnerable people without their knowledge.

A review by the Government Accountability Office found fraud risks persist in the ACA’s advance tax credit program. In undercover testing for 2025, the ACA marketplace approved coverage for most of GAO’s made-up applicants, and the watchdog found that 18 of 20 fictitious enrollees remained actively covered as of September 2025 and received more than $10,000 a month in subsidies. The report also flagged broader vulnerabilities, including tens of thousands of Social Security numbers used for multiple enrollments.

Schumer’s jab to reallocate the Pentagon’s end-of-year spending comes as defense spending is historically modest compared to past decades, representing a small fraction of the United States’ gross domestic product at 3.7%, according to an analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Extending the controversial ACA tax credits would also come as the growing national debt is set to eclipse about $39 trillion this month. 

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White House spokesman Kush Desai called Schumer’s remarks a “vapid PR stunt” in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“If Chuck Schumer really cared about healthcare affordability, he would drop the vapid PR stunts and spend his time working with the Administration and Republicans to pass President Trump’s Great Healthcare Plan to lower premiums and slash drug prices,” Desai said.

Schumer’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on Blase’s remarks.

Social media users swiftly panned Schumer for the X post last week, accusing him of cherry-picking a politically convenient moment to care about spending, lambasting him for not supporting high-quality meals for military members and pointing out that Schumer was silent when the Biden administration had similar expenses. 

The Pentagon’s September costs nearly mirrored the $79 billion Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spent in September 2024. Spending at the end of the fiscal year has been notoriously high across administrations as agencies face pressure to “use it or lose it” to justify the next year’s budget.

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After uncovering millions of dollars in misuse of federal funds in Minnesota, the Trump administration also established a new National Fraud Enforcement Division within the DOJ this year as part of a “whole-of-government” crackdown on welfare fraud nationwide. This division is set to target Minnesota’s and other states’ social service programs in search of fraud.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., is drawing support from some of Congress’ most vocal China and Cuba hawks — and even some Democrats — to lead the Department of Homeland Security, though critics say the combative lawmaker lacks the experience and temperament for the post.

The nomination comes as the Department of Homeland Security sits at the center of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and broader homeland security agenda, placing whoever leads the agency in charge of border enforcement, FEMA disaster response and counterterrorism operations at a time of mounting geopolitical pressure.

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., who sits on the Homeland Security Committee and will question Mullin at Wednesday’s confirmation hearing, said his fellow Oklahoman is the “right man at the right time” to lead the agency.

“With the most secure border, now is the time to build on that progress and continue protecting our homeland,” Lankford said.

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“Unfortunately, in Oklahoma, we understand a thing or two about natural disasters, and FEMA is ready for reform,” Lankford added, expressing optimism Mullin will bring reform to the key DHS sub-agency. “Markwayne Mullin will be a strong leader in turning FEMA around.” 

Supporters point to Mullin’s hardline views on China and warnings about potential upheaval in Cuba as reasons he is well-suited to lead DHS at a volatile geopolitical moment. Critics, however, argue the combative senator lacks the judgment and experience needed for the role.

Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., the only Cuban-born member of Congress and one of Washington’s most vocal Cuba hawks, gave Mullin a ringing endorsement.

“I served with Sen. Markwayne Mullin in the U.S. House. Department of Homeland Security employees are currently working without pay due to the Democrats’ deranged partisan shutdown. I trust Markwayne will lead the Department with integrity and implement a much-needed course-correction to protect our citizens,” Gimenez told Fox News Digital.

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Gimenez said Mullin is rightly prepared to lead DHS amid a likely “dramatic transition in Cuba, my native homeland which has been under a brutal communist tyranny for over 67 years.”

President Donald Trump has also suggested the island’s regime could collapse soon, telling CNN it may happen “pretty soon.”

At least one Democratic senator on the Homeland Security Committee, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, indicated last week he would also support Mullin.

“I will vote [to confirm] him, of course, but I’m unsure how many Democrats [will]; I don’t know why,” he told WABC radio’s John Catsimatidis.

Fetterman said he agrees with Mullin’s view of border security and supports “rounding up and deporting criminals,” but not in the way Secretary Kristi Noem handled the controversial immigration crackdown in Minneapolis earlier this year.

“Why can’t you give someone a chance?” he said.

A Democrat colleague on the Homeland Security Committee who is a hard “no” is New Jersey Sen. Andy Kim.

Kim painted Mullin’s confirmation as a referendum on the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies and emergency management response writ-large.

“They don’t want to move forward on the types of reforms that are needed to be able to push forward on,” Kim told CNN. He added he believes the official truly running DHS is White House aide Stephen Miller.

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Committee member Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, by contrast, told Fox News Digital it is important to confirm Mullin as “Democrats shamelessly refuse to fund DHS.”

“President Trump is putting the safety and security of our citizens first by choosing a leader like Markwayne Mullin to be Secretary of Homeland Security. I’ve served alongside of him in the Senate, and there should be no delay in moving him out of committee to a quick confirmation,” Ernst said.

But not all lawmakers are convinced.

Rep. Pat Ryan, D-N.Y., a former U.S. Army intelligence officer who served in Iraq, blasted Mullin’s nomination, arguing the combative senator lacks the temperament to oversee homeland security operations.

Ryan also took issue with Mullin’s recent comments to Fox News describing the sensory experience of war despite never serving in uniform.

“Hey Sen. Mullin, what the actual f— are you talking about?” Ryan wrote on social media. “Did I miss the part of your bio where you served in combat or served in uniform at all? Call of Duty doesn’t count.”

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Ryan told Fox News Digital Mullin would be even “more sensationalist, more volatile, and more blindly loyal to the president” than outgoing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

Asked about Ryan’s criticisms, Mullin’s office pointed to the senator’s comments on the “Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show,” where he said he did take part in “special assignments outside of [the Pentagon].”

“I never wore the uniform or the flag on my shoulder,” Mullin said. “I’ve been in the same area, but two totally different things.”

Mullin also received praise across the aisle from Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., who told Fox News Digital the Department of Homeland Security needs “new leadership” and said the Oklahoma Republican would bring a more bipartisan approach.

Gottheimer said he has worked with Mullin for years in Congress and, while they may not agree on everything, “he’s someone you can count on to keep his word and work collaboratively to get things done.”

Mullin also drew support from figures in his home state, including former Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters, who said the senator has proven to be a strong partner for state officials — a key component of how the Department of Homeland Security operates.

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Walters said he worked closely with Mullin while investigating Chinese influence in Oklahoma schools tied to Confucius Classrooms, an issue he argued shows homeland security concerns extend beyond immigration.

“Senator Mullin was a great partner in assisting us with a lot of what we were looking at,” Walters said in an interview, adding that Mullin also helped Oklahoma schools through more domestic concerns as well, particularly during the Biden administration and COVID.

“He is a true believer in the American people and the America First agenda.”

The White House also defended the nomination, with spokeswoman Abigail Jackson telling Fox News Digital that Mullin is “perfectly suited” to lead DHS and work closely with the president.

“Whether it be protecting the homeland from bad actors, stopping dangerous drugs from flowing into American communities, or removing the worst-of-the-worst criminal illegal aliens, Senator Mullin will work tirelessly to implement the President’s agenda,” Jackson said.