India issues BIG statement on proposed US bill to impose 500% tariffs: ‘Our position is…’
The bill grabbed headlines after Senator Lindsey Graham said Trump had conveyed his support for the proposal during a meeting at the US White House. The bill, if cleared, would allow the US president to impose tariffs up to 500 percent on countries dealing in Russian oil.
Union Budget 2026 to be tabled on Feb 1, Budget Session begins Jan 28; check details
The first phase concludes on 13 February 2026, with Parliament reassembling on 9 March 2026.
Pratik Jain’s I-PAC issues first statement since ED raids in West Bengal: ‘A difficult and unfortunate…’
High-voltage drama had unfolded in West Bengal earlier this week as the central probe agency carried out raids at I-PAC’s office and the residence of its co-founder and director Pratik Jain. Here are more details on this.
Dallas and Williamson counties end countywide voting sites for primary election day
Dallas and Williamson county Republicans are shifting away from using countywide voting sites on Election Day for Texas’ March 3 primary. Democrats will have to fall in line.
Texas hands over complete list of registered voters to Trump administration
The Justice Department has asked states for their voter rolls with an eye toward purging ineligible voters. Democrats say sharing the data could violate federal election law.
Texas, facing doctor shortage, eases path for foreign-trained physicians
Texas joins 17 other states that are making it easier for foreign medical graduates to work as doctors here. About a quarter of the state’s licensed doctors were trained outside the U.S.
Obama Presidential Center job listings push ‘anti-racism’ pledge ahead of opening
The Obama Presidential Center is just months away from opening in Chicago, officially accepting job applications for individuals who share the organization’s commitment to “anti-racism and equity,” according to its website. “When people come here, we want them to feel what makes the South Side so special,” former President Barack Obama said in a video message posted to social media Tuesday announcing the job openings. “The mix of warmth and grit, the sense of humor that can brighten any day, the creativity that turns challenges into opportunities, and the joy that shows up in every block, every place of worship and every family reunion.” The presidential center, which is expected to open on Chicago’s South Side in June, is looking to fill 150 job positions stretching from custodians to “ambassadors of hope” who greet visitors. Applications are open until Jan. 31. The Obama Foundation’s website underscores its commitment to being an “anti-racist” organization throughout its main web page focused on careers, as well as within the job descriptions for the available roles. DEI AND WOKE IDEOLOGY ARE ON LIFE SUPPORT UNDER TRUMP’S RETURN TO DC, BUT COULD COME ROARING BACK WITH REBRAND Within its job description advertising for a full-time security officer, for example, the website notes that it is an equal opportunity employer that is “deeply committed to creating an actively anti-racist organization, leveraging our global reach to combat systemic racism and inequity wherever it exists.” The center describes its team as “equal parts dreamers and doers” and who “care as much about how we achieve our goals as we do about the goals themselves.” “We are also committed to creating an anti-racist organization in order to do our part to help combat racism and inequity in all forms, in communities across our nation and around the world,” the Obama Foundation’s main webpage for careers states. TAXPAYERS ON THE HOOK FOR LAWN CARE, FIXING HINGES AT PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARIES. TRUMP-LED REFORMS AIM TO STOP IT The Obama Foundation directed website visitors and potential hires to read its lengthy statement on anti-racism and equity, which highlighted that the organization is working to build a network committed to addressing systemic racism and gender discrimination, stressing that combating inequity requires not just policy changes but sustained cultural and institutional commitment. “That’s why our goal is to make sure every member of the Foundation team is committed to anti-racism, sets expectations for how we will engage, and makes space for the work,” the statement said. “We’re focused on making sure our actions match our intent – removing barriers for diverse vendors, building anti-racism and equity into our hiring practices, and recruiting diverse cohorts for our leadership programs. We also want to be strong partners, working with members of the predominantly Black community that is our home, and the future home of the (Obama Presidential Center).” OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER BREAKS SILENCE OVER CONTROVERSIAL BUILDING DESIGN Fox News Digital reached out to the Obama Foundation Friday morning inquiring if there’s a mechanism or process to determine a potential hire is aligned with their “anti-racist” vision, and if it will accept applications from noncitizens, but did not immediately receive a reply. Obama’s presidential center underscoring its commitment to anti-racist policies comes after President Donald Trump took a hatchet to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) within the federal government upon his return to the Oval Office, which has had a cascading effect throughout private industry. Trump signed an executive order on day one of his second administration, for example, titled “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing,” which directed federal agencies to stamp out DEI-style programs across the federal government. The following day, Trump signed a second order aimed at “restoring merit-based opportunity,” including changes to federal contracting and related compliance. “We’ve ended the tyranny of so-called Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies all across the entire federal government and indeed the private sector and our military. And our country will be woke no longer,” Trump said in March during a joint address to Congress celebrating his early wins of the administration. PROTESTERS RAGED, CRITICS MOCKED — NOW OBAMA SAYS HIS LIBRARY’S ACTUALLY OPENING Obama’s presidential center is set to open its doors in June after years of delays, including lawsuits and federal reviews that pushed the timeline back from its initial 2021 expected opening. The center will include a handful of attractions, including the presidential library, a museum, auditorium, a Chicago Public Library branch, a garden, athletic facility and other attractions on its roughly 20-acre campus. The building has faced sharp scrutiny and mockery from some locals, who have previously lampooned the design of the massive, mostly window-less building, with the New York Post reporting some Chicagoans refer to it as the “Obamalisk.” Obama Foundation Deputy Director Kim Patterson defended the architecture in December 2025, telling CBS News that the design of the building was intentional, including to protect artwork within the building. “The shape of the building was actually meant to mimic four hands coming together to show the importance of our collective action,” Patterson told the outlet. “There are not a lot of windows on the building, but that’s intentional, because sunlight is just not a friend to the artwork and the artifacts that are going inside of the building,” Patterson added of why the building has few windows.
Key Republican negotiator details bipartisan Obamacare fix as abortion dispute remains sticking point
A bipartisan cohort of senators is nearing a final plan to tackle rising healthcare costs, but the issue of more-stringent restrictions preventing taxpayer-funded abortions remains a major hurdle in the way to sealing the deal. The working group, led by Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, has held several meetings since dueling, partisan proposals to either extend or replace expired enhanced Obamacare premium subsidies failed late last year. Now, they’re on the verge of unveiling their plan and have started sharing what exactly the rough framework would look like. But while selling the bones of the latest idea to tackle healthcare will be one thing, overcoming the issue of taxpayer-funded abortions will be another. EXPIRED OBAMACARE SUBSIDY DEAL INCHES TOWARD SENATE FLOOR VOTE AMID BIPARTISAN TALKS The Hyde Amendment, which dictates that taxpayer dollars can’t fund abortions, has proven a sticking point on both sides of the aisle. Senate Republicans argue that Obamacare doesn’t completely follow the law, while Senate Democrats contend that no modifications need to be made to the longstanding statute. “There’s no disagreement that there should not be federal funding for abortion,” Moreno said. “Nobody on either side is wanting to relitigate that question. So we’re past that mountain. The next mountain is a dispute as to whether that is actually happening today through [Obamacare].” “A group of people, very good people, say that it is happening, and there’s a group of other people who have good people, too, that say it’s not happening,” he continued. “So we have to resolve that.” CONGRESS BLOCKS OBAMACARE SUBSIDIES AFTER SHUTDOWN FIGHT, PREMIUMS SET TO SURGE That wrinkle, in particular, was further amplified by President Donald Trump, who earlier this week urged that House Republicans “have to be a little flexible” when it comes to the Hyde Amendment. That edict was met with backlash from Senate Republicans, who argued there was no room for flexibility on the issue. Moreno didn’t say whether the current plan addressed the Hyde issue, but he laid out what the skeletal framework that senators have built would look like. It would play out over two years and act as more of a temporary fix than a permanent bridge, which Moreno noted would be crucial in selling the plan to his Republican colleagues. SEN JIM JUSTICE SAYS REPUBLICANS ARE ‘LOUSY’ AT KNOWING WHAT EVERYDAY AMERICANS THINK ABOUT HEALTHCARE “That’s a key thing that I got to convince my colleagues to understand, who hate Obamacare, they hate the policy, and say, ‘Let’s take two years to actually deliver for the American people truly affordable healthcare and solve this problem for the people who are going to suffer as a result of not having these enhanced premium tax credits,’” Moreno said. “They didn’t cause the problem, politicians caused that problem.” Up front, their plan would extend the subsidies for two years and prolong the open enrollment period for the Obamacare marketplace until March 1. During the first year, an income cap would be added, which was blown away when the subsidies were enhanced under former President Joe Biden, at 700% of the federal poverty level. There would also be a requirement of either a $5 or $60 minimum premium payment as a fraud prevention method. That would be coupled with a $100,000 fine for insurance companies that are “deliberately causing fraud, and signing [someone] up without their consent.” In the second year, people would have a choice to either stick with the subsidies or switch their coverage plan in favor of a health savings account (HSA) — a key demand from Republicans and Trump. Their plan would also reinstate cost-sharing reduction payments, “which, according to [Congressional Budget Office], would reduce premiums for everybody on the exchange by 11%,” Moreno said.
US move on Venezuela sparks Taiwan comparisons as lawmakers debate China threat
Lawmakers are clashing over whether U.S. military action in Venezuela could be exploited by China as it weighs its next moves toward Taiwan, underscoring a sharp divide in Congress over comparisons between American force and authoritarian aggression. Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-Md., argued that China sees an opening in the making. “They are looking at this, and they can justify what they’re doing because it’s the exact same thing that the United States is doing,” Meeks said. Meeks is the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST CALLS OUT PARTY FOR ‘OPPOSE FIRST, THINK LATER’ RESPONSE TO TRUMP’S CAPTURE OF MADURO When asked about Meeks’ concern, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., agreed that China might look at the moment opportunistically. “China might try to use any rhetoric anytime, any place. That wouldn’t be surprising,” Mast said. “It would be par for the course that they do that.” But, in his view, the American effort in Venezuela bears little similarity to the one China has threatened against Taiwan. “It’s apples to oranges,” Mast said. Where Democrats see rhetorical parallels that might invite parallel results, Republicans like Mast see key substantive differences in China’s aggressive posture toward Taiwan that separate it from American efforts in Venezuela. China, led by President Xi Jinping, maintains that Taiwan is not an independent country and that it is instead a portion of China that will one day reunite under the mainland’s government. For years, China has conducted military exercises around Taiwan’s borders. Just last week, China fired a series of rockets into the waters surrounding Taiwan as a part of military drills, drawing alarm from U.S. lawmakers. Clark Summers, professor of international relations at Belmont Abbey College, believes China’s view of Taiwan’s legitimacy is not unlike the way the U.S. saw Nicolás Maduro’s presidency in Venezuela — a regime the U.S. maintains had hung on to power unlawfully. “At the same time that the U.S. asserts a legal authority to take action with regard to Venezuela, that largely becomes a two-edged sword in that Beijing can assert the same basic right of intervention within its own sphere of influence,” Summers said. VANCE SAYS CROCKETT ‘DOESN’T KNOW WHAT SHE’S TALKING ABOUT’ ON VENEZUELA MADURO OPERATION “I think China will claim that anything that will help them build the argument that the use of force is appropriate and just under international law,” he said. Other Republican lawmakers rejected the idea that the U.S. capture of Maduro bears any similarity to the aggression displayed by China and Russia. Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., the chair of the House Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific, framed the U.S.’ efforts as a narrowly tailored law enforcement effort. “[Maduro] is indicted for drug trafficking, causing and moving drugs into the United States, killing hundreds and thousands of American lives,” Kim said. “This was a law enforcement operation, precise, targeted, very successful, very limited. Contrary to that,” Kim said. Mast echoed Kim’s thinking. “We conducted a law enforcement function. It wasn’t a function of ‘we’re taking you out because we don’t recognize you as a government.’ That’s what it would be for China, right?” Mast asked. MORNING GLORY: THE UNITED STATES IS NOW ‘RUNNING’ VENEZUELA AFTER MADURO OUSTER Democrats remain unconvinced. Meeks argued that the idea that the U.S. should use its superpower status to align its neighbors more closely with its interests reflects thinking more in line with totalitarian governments. “That fits the same rationale and the reason why Putin says he is going into Ukraine and does not want NATO there,” Meeks said. Rep. George Latimer, D-N.Y., is more concerned that when the U.S. goes to stand up to future aggressors, those countries will use Venezuela to deflect international pressure. “What’s our moral standing when Russia goes into Ukraine, as China may yet go into Taiwan, as any one powerful country after another country? They’ll look at us and say, ‘What did you do in Venezuela?’” Lawmakers in the Senate voted on Thursday to advance legislation that would prevent the Trump administration from taking additional military action in Venezuela. It’s unclear when it could be taken up by the House of Representatives.
Republican senators hit border, touting tougher security and tax cuts, in 2026 kickoff
Aiming to not only hold but expand their 53-47 majority in November’s midterm elections, top Senate Republicans are showcasing the plummeting rates of border crossings during a stop Friday at the nation’s southern border with Mexico. And the group, led by Senate Majority Leader John Thune, is also highlighting how President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers are “putting more money in Americans’ pockets.” The stop at the border, hosted by One Nation, a nonprofit outside group closely aligned with Thune, is seen as an unofficial kickoff by Senate Republicans ahead of the midterms to tout the sweeping “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act,” Trump’s signature domestic achievement last year that was passed nearly entirely along party lines in the GOP controlled Congress. At the event at the border, which was a regular stop for Republicans amid the surge in border crossings during then-President Joe Biden’s administration, the GOP senators are teaming up with members of the National Border Patrol Council. And they are highlighting how the passage of the domestic policy measure “secured transformational border security funding,” according to One Nation. THUNE PREVIEWS SENATE REPUBLICANS’ MIDTERM MESSAGE “This is a remarkable, remarkable difference in just a year,” Thune said at the event. “It’s been an incredible year of progress when it comes to the southern border and the American people are experiencing the benefit of that in the form of having safer streets and safer communities and safer neighborhoods.” But with Democrats enjoying decisive victories and overperformances in the 2025 elections and in a slew of special elections and other ballot box showdowns last year, which were fueled by their laser focus on affordability amid persistent inflation, the Republican senators are also using Friday’s trip to spotlight the tax cut and energy policy provisions in the bill, which they rebranded as the “Working Families Tax Cut.” “The Working Families Tax Cut will make buying groceries more affordable for working Americans this year,” the Senate Republicans touted on social media on the eve of the border stop. “Every Democrat voted against it.” DOUBLING DOWN: TOP HOUSE DEMOCRAT SAYS FOCUS ON HIGH PRICES ‘ABSOLUTELY GOING TO CONTINUE’ And they also highlighted that “Senate Republicans have worked closely with President Trump to lower energy prices and make life more affordable — and the results speak for themselves.” Thune, at the border, pointed to the tax cut provisions in the GOP measure, including no tax on tips and overtime and reduced rates for seniors on Social Security, along with “the jobs that are going to be created by the pro-growth policies that we put in place….are going to lead us to a place where the American people are seeing their incomes go up.” But Democrats see the cost of living as their winning issue heading into the midterms. “If the Republican agenda actually made life more affordable for working Americans, then they wouldn’t be desperately flailing as families struggle to afford groceries, health care, and housing,” Lauren French, communications director at Senate Majority PAC, the top Senate Democrat-aligned outside group, told Fox News Digital. “Instead of focusing on working people, Trump and Senate Republicans are focused on bringing chaos and instability into our communities.” Joining Thune, the longtime senator from South Dakota, at the border is Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, number two in Senate Republican leadership. There are also Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who faces a bruising GOP primary showdown in March against challengers Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt; and Republican Sens. Jon Husted of Ohio and Ashley Moody of Florida, who were appointed last year and will face voters this November. HEALTHCARE, ECONOMY AND THE ‘ONE BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’: WELCOME TO THE MIDTERMS GOP Sens. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska and Mike Rounds of South Dakota, who are up for re-election this year, are also on the trip, as are former Rep. Mike Rogers and former Republican National Committee chair Mike Whatley, the GOP Senate candidates in battlegrounds Michigan and North Carolina who are backed by Thune and the National Republican Senatorial Committee. “We’re seeing signs already that the economy is starting to tick up and is starting to take hold as the President’s policies are getting in place,” Whatley argued last month in a Fox News Digital interview. “We need to make sure that we have the trade policies, the tax policies, the regulatory policies from this administration that are going to help our small businesses, our manufacturers and our farmers across North Carolina.” But Democrats are energized as the midterm year begins, as they continue to keep their focus on the issue of affordability. “Donald Trump has lost the economy, is losing his mind, and is going to lose the midterms,” Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin claimed in a recent statement.