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Stefanik receives top Jewish award days after announcing New York governor bid at Manhattan gala

Stefanik receives top Jewish award days after announcing New York governor bid at Manhattan gala

Rep. Elise Stefanik on Monday night accepted the World Jewish Congress’ highest honor, vowing to continue fighting antisemitism and defending what she called “the very Western values that have shaped America” just days after announcing her bid for New York governor. Speaking before 400 guests at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan, Stefanik received the Theodor Herzl Award from Ronald Lauder, the businessman and former U.S. ambassador to Austria under President Ronald Reagan. Established in 2012, the award is considered the World Jewish Congress’ highest honor and recognizes individuals who embody Herzl’s vision for a secure and self-reliant Jewish people. “I want to thank my friend Ambassador Ronald Lauder for his steadfast leadership and his extraordinary commitment to the cause of Jewish unity and security,” Stefanik said. “Under his leadership, the World Jewish Congress has carried forward Theodor Herzl’s vision — not only of a Jewish homeland, but of a Jewish people strong, self-reliant, and respected among the nations.” “It is deeply humbling to receive the Theodor Herzl Award from the World Jewish Congress — an organization that, for generations, has stood as the diplomatic voice and moral conscience of the Jewish people across the globe,” she continued. “You have defended Jewish communities in every corner of the world, fought antisemitism in every form, and strengthened the unbreakable bonds between Israel and the global community of free nations.” KEY TRUMP ALLY JUMPS INTO NEW YORK GOVERNOR’S RACE DAYS AFTER SHOCKING MAMDANI MAYORAL VICTORY Stefanik described her fight against antisemitism in Congress and on college campuses, recalling her viral 2023 hearing with the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and the University of Pennsylvania. “Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate your university’s code of conduct?” she recalled asking what she said was a moral question, not a political one. “I expected them to say ‘yes.’ But one after another after another said, ‘it depends on the context.’ And the world heard. Let me be clear. It does NOT depend on the context.” She said that exchange “set off a global reckoning and delivered accountability in higher education that we are still just beginning.” STEFANIK DECRIES HOCHUL AS ‘WORST GOVERNOR IN AMERICA’ IN FIERY 2026 CAMPAIGN LAUNCH Turning to New York, Stefanik said the state “is not just a city and state in crisis — it is the epicenter of the battle for the very Western values that have shaped America.” “Eighty years after Kristallnacht, we must not stay silent. I will continue to call out Antisemitism. Bigotry. Jew-hatred. Anti-Americanism,” she said. “This moral fight is particularly important in New York — the beloved home to more Jews than anywhere outside of Israel — where antisemitic incidents hit an all-time high last year, the highest count in the nation.” “My friends, Theodor Herzl’s story is not ancient history,” she said. “That is the spirit I see in this room tonight — the spirit that built Israel, the spirit that has always animated the Jewish people, and the spirit that will save New York.” STEFANIK TO RELEASE NEW BOOK ON COLLEGE ANTISEMITISM AS SHE EYES BID FOR NY GOVERNOR The award comes a day after billionaire philanthropist Miriam Adelson voiced support for Rep. Elise Stefanik’s New York gubernatorial bid during the Zionist Organization of America’s Justice Louis D. Brandeis Award Dinner. Stefanik, chairwoman of the House Republican Leadership, was honored with the Zionist Organization of America’s Mortimer Zuckerman Maccabee Warrior Award for her efforts to combat antisemitism. Introducing her at the gala, Adelson lauded Stefanik for confronting university leaders over antisemitism and invoked her late husband Sheldon Adelson’s insistence on moral conviction. Adelson described Stefanik as “a great leader,” crediting her for defending “the Jewish people, Israel and the Free World.” Stefanik launched her long-anticipated Republican campaign for New York governor on Friday, entering the 2026 race as she challenges Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul. Fox News Digital has reached out to Hochul’s office for a comment. Stefanik, who once criticized President Donald Trump during his first presidential run, has since become one of his staunchest defenders in Congress. Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

Senate ends 41-day government shutdown stalemate, sends bipartisan deal to House

Senate ends 41-day government shutdown stalemate, sends bipartisan deal to House

The shutdown stalemate that has dragged on in the Senate officially ended late Monday night, and it places Congress on a path to reopen the government later this week. Senators advanced a bipartisan funding package to end the government shutdown after a group of Senate Democrats broke from their colleagues and joined Republicans in their bid to reopen the government. Those same eight Senate Democratic caucus members stuck with Republicans and provided the crucial votes needed to send the package to the House. MIKE JOHNSON EYES WEDNESDAY VOTE WITH END OF GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN IN SIGHT The votes went deep into Monday night on the shutdown’s 41st day and resulted in an updated continuing resolution (CR) being combined with a trio of spending bills in a minibus package that is now headed to the House. Whether the Senate would get to this point was in the air for much of last week and even earlier in the day. On Monday, lawmakers were riding high after smashing through the package’s first procedural test, but concerns of objections and other procedural maneuvers threatened to derail the process. “I think everybody’s pretty united [behind] this bill,” Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, said. “We want to reopen the government.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus demanded throughout the entirety of the shutdown that they would only vote to reopen the government if they received an ironclad deal on expiring Obamacare subsidies. But that deal, or at least the one that Democrats wanted, never materialized. Instead, eight Senate Democrats took the offer that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has made since the beginning: A guarantee to vote on legislation that would deal with the subsidies. SENATE HOPES TO BLOW THROUGH PROCEDURAL HURDLES IN BID TO REOPEN GOVERNMENT Thune reiterated his promise and noted that a vote would come, “No later than the second week of December.” The subsidies are set to expire by the end of the year. “We have senators, both Democrat and Republican, who are eager to get to work to address that crisis in a bipartisan way,” he said. “These senators are not interested in political games, they’re interested in finding real ways to address healthcare costs for American families. We also have a president who is willing to sit down and get to work on this issue.” Senate Democrats did not leave completely empty-handed, however. Included in the revamped CR, which would reopen the government until Jan. 30, was a reversal of the Trump administration’s firing of furloughed federal workers, a deal to ensure that furloughed workers would get back pay and future protections for federal workers during shutdowns. “This was the only deal on the table,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., one of the eight that crossed the aisle to support the package, said. “It was our best chance to reopen the government and immediately begin negotiations to extend the [Obamacare] tax credits that tens of millions of Americans rely on to keep costs down.” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., another of the eight Senate Democrats to break with Schumer, said that it was clear that Republicans weren’t going to budge on their position that healthcare would be dealt with after the government reopened.  But it wasn’t the guarantee of a vote on the expiring subsidies that got him to splinter, it was promises that there would be protections for federal employees.  SENATE DEMOCRATS CAVE, OPEN PATH TO REOPENING GOVERNMENT “If you wait another week, they’re going to get hurt more, another month or even more,” Kaine said. “So what got me over the line was the pledge that they were able to give the federal employees.”  On the House side, it appears GOP leaders are eager to move quickly on ending the prolonged shutdown. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., earlier Monday told Fox News Digital that he would bring the House back into session “immediately” upon Senate passage of the legislation. He later told House Republicans on a lawmaker-only call that he anticipated a vote in their chamber midweek at the earliest, Fox News Digital was told. “We’re going to plan on voting, on being here, at least by Wednesday,” Johnson said. “It is possible that things could shift a little bit later in the week, but right now we think we’re on track for a vote on Wednesday. So we need you here.” Johnson signaled the House would not move to fast-track the legislation via suspension of the rules however, which would bypass procedural hurdles in exchange for raising the passage threshold to two-thirds of the chamber. It’s not a surprising move given House Democratic leaders’ opposition to the bill. He said, however, that the House Rules Committee should be ready to move by Tuesday at the earliest.