Israel kills over 50 in Gaza; Qatar calls Israeli attack ‘state terror’
As the world’s attention was focused on Israel’s attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Israeli forces continued their unrelenting bombardment of Gaza, killing more than 50 people on Tuesday. Among the dead are nine Palestinians, who had gathered in the enclave’s south seeking aid. Israel pressed on with its offensive in Gaza City after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened Palestinians to flee to the south for their lives. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list The Wafa news agency reported that a drone strike on a makeshift tent sheltering displaced families at Gaza’s port killed two civilians and injured others. Warplanes also hit several residential buildings, including four homes in the al-Mukhabarat area and the Zidan building northwest of Gaza City, it reported. Another house was reportedly bombed in the Talbani neighbourhood of Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, while two young men were killed in an attack on civilians in the az-Zarqa area of Tuffah, northeast of Gaza City. Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking agency confirmed footage showing an Israeli strike on the Ibn Taymiyyah mosque in Deir el-Balah. The video captured a flash of light before the mosque’s minaret was enveloped in smoke. Despite the blast, the minaret appeared to remain standing. Israel issued new evacuation threats on Monday, releasing maps warning Palestinians to leave a highlighted building and nearby tents on Jamal Abdel Nasser Street in Gaza City or face death. It told residents to move to the so-called “humanitarian area” in al-Mawasi, a barren stretch of coast in southern Gaza. Advertisement But al-Mawasi itself has been repeatedly bombed, despite Israel insisting it is a safe zone. At the start of the year, about 115,000 people lived there. Today, aid agencies estimate that more than 800,000 people – nearly a third of Gaza’s population – are crammed into overcrowded makeshift camps. Philippe Lazzarini, the chief of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, described al-Mawasi as a vast camp “concentrating hungry Palestinians in despair”. “There is no safe place in Gaza, let alone a humanitarian zone. Warnings of famine have fallen on deaf ears,” he said. The Palestinian Civil Defence warned that “Gaza City is burning, and humanity is being annihilated”. The rescue agency said that in just 72 hours, five high-rise towers containing more than 200 apartments were destroyed, leaving thousands of people homeless. More than 350 tents sheltering displaced families were also flattened, it added, forcing nearly 7,600 people to sleep in the open, “struggling against death, hunger, and unbearable heat”. More than 64,000 Palestinians have been killed, some 20,000 of them children, in the Israeli offensive, which has been dubbed a genocide by numerous scholars and activists. The International Criminal Court has also issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu for alleged war crimes. ‘The crime of forced displacement’ The Government Media Office in Gaza said that more than 1.3 million people remain in Gaza City and surrounding areas, despite Israeli attempts to push them south. It described the evacuation orders as an effort to carry out “the crime of forced displacement in violation of all international laws”. More than 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced multiple times in 23 months of genocidal war, and an Israeli curb on aid entry, including food items, has led to starvation deaths. Last month, a UN agency declared famine in Gaza, affecting half a million people. On Tuesday morning, Palestinians in central Gaza staged a protest against the latest evacuation orders. Reporting from Deir el-Balah, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said that demonstrators carried banners reading, “We will not leave”, and “Not going out”. “The primary goal of the [Israeli] occupation is displacement,” said Bajees al-Khalidi, a displaced Palestinian at the protest. “But there’s no place left, not in the south, nor the north. We’ve become completely trapped.” Violence also flared in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli forces killed two teenagers in the Jenin refugee camp, according to the Wafa news agency. Advertisement Mourners on Tuesday buried 14-year-old Islam Noah, who was shot while attempting to enter the besieged refugee camp. A funeral was also held for another 14-year-old, Muhammad Alawneh. Two others were wounded in the same incident. Israel targets Hamas leaders Israel sent missiles at Doha as Hamas leaders were meeting in the Qatari capital for talks on the latest ceasefire proposal from the United States to end the war in Gaza. Hamas said five people were killed, while Qatar said a security official was also among the dead. Hamas said its leadership survived the assassination attempt. Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani condemned Israel’s “reckless criminal attack” in a phone call with US President Donald Trump. Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani called the attack “state terrorism”. The Qatari prime minister said Doha would continue to work to end Israel’s war on Gaza, but raised doubts about the viability of the most recent talks. “When it comes to the current talks, I don’t think there is something valid right now after we’ve seen such an attack,” he said. Qatar has sent a letter to the UN Security Council, condemning what it calls a cowardly Israeli assault on residential buildings in Doha. The Doha attack has drawn global condemnation, with the UN chief calling it a “flagrant violation” of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar. The White House claimed that the US had warned Qatar of the impending strike, but Doha rejected that account, insisting the warning came only after the bombing had begun. Trump later said he felt “very badly about the location of the attack” and that he had assured Qatar that it would not happen again. “This was a decision made by Prime Minister Netanyahu, it was not a decision made by me,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a Sovereign Nation and close Ally of the United States, that is working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker
Poland downs drones during airspace intrusion as Russia attacks Ukraine
DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk says military defences deployed after ‘multiple violations of Polish airspace’. Published On 10 Sep 202510 Sep 2025 Poland has shot down drones over its territory after repeated violations of its airspace during a Russian aerial attack on neighbouring Ukraine, the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces said. “During today’s attack by the Russian Federation targeting targets in Ukraine, our airspace was repeatedly violated by drones,” the Polish command said in a statement early on Wednesday. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list “At the request of the Operational Commander of the Armed Forces, weapons have been used, and operations are under way to locate the downed targets,” the military said. The army said that Polish and NATO military aircraft had been mobilised to ensure airspace safety. “Polish and allied aircraft are operating in our airspace, while ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems have been brought to the highest state of readiness,” the operational command said. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk confirmed that an “operation is under way related to multiple violations of Polish airspace”. Trwa operacja związana z wielokrotnym naruszeniem polskiej przestrzeni powietrznej. Przeciwko obiektom wojsko użyło uzbrojenia. Jestem w stałym kontakcie z Prezydentem i Ministrem Obrony. Odebrałem bezpośredni meldunek od dowódcy operacyjnego. — Donald Tusk (@donaldtusk) September 10, 2025 Translation: An operation is under way related to multiple violations of Polish airspace. The military used armaments against the objects. I am in constant contact with the President and the Minister of Defence. I received a direct report from the operational commander. Earlier, it was reported that four airports in Poland, including its main Chopin airport in Warsaw, were closed due to military activity. According to notices posted to the US Federal Aviation Administration’s website, the three other airports closed were Rzeszow–Jasionka airport, the Warsaw Modlin airport, and the Lublin airport. Poland’s military did not mention the airport closures. Advertisement The military mobilisation in Poland came after Ukraine’s Air Force reported that Russian drones had entered Polish airspace, posing a threat to the city of Zamosc, but the air force later removed the statement from its Telegram messaging app. Most of Ukraine, including the western regions of Volyn and Lviv, which border Poland, were under air raid alerts for several hours overnight, according to Ukraine’s Air Force data. Poland said earlier that it planned to close its border with Belarus at midnight local time on Thursday (22:00 GMT, Wednesday) due to Russian-led military exercises scheduled to take place in Belarus. Russia and Belarus’s large-scale military exercises, known as the “Zapad” drills, have raised security concerns in neighbouring NATO member states: Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. The “Zapad-2025” (West-2025) drills will be held in western Russia and Belarus from Friday. Asked about the duration of the border closure, Polish Minister of Interior Marcin Kierwinski said it would only be reopened when the government was sure “there was no more threat to Polish citizens”. The Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had summoned the Polish charge d’affaires to complain about the border closure, which it said “caused significant difficulties”. It described Poland’s move as “an abuse of its geographical position”. “The temporary suspension of passage indicates rather an intention to conceal one’s own actions than the existence of any threat from Belarus,” the Foreign Ministry said. Lithuania’s border guard said on Tuesday that the protection of its border with Belarus and Russia would be strengthened due to the exercises. Adblock test (Why?)
Nepal Protest: PM Modi expresses grief over heart-wrenching violence, says, ‘Nepal’s stability…’
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief and concern over the students protest in Nepal that led to the deaths of 19 people and top ministers, including the PM and Presiden,t to resign.
Why Vande Bharat sleeper will not run after trial? Indian Railways’ BIG decision for the convenience of passengers, it is…
Indian Railways is working hard to provide enhanced facilities to passengers; therefore, the authorities have taken some major decisions regarding Vande Bharat sleeper trains. Read here to see what Indian Railways has Vande Bharat sleeper trains.
Texas voters have mixed views on redistricting and Trump’s megabill, poll finds
The statewide survey found that more voters disapprove of the mid-decade redraw than support it, fueled by overwhelming opposition from independent and Democratic voters.
Newsom says Trump has ‘relentless, unhinged’ obsession with California during State of the State address
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, on Tuesday argued that President Donald Trump and his administration have a “relentless, unhinged California obsession.” In a letter to the state legislature, Newsom touted the state’s achievements during the State of the State address on its 175th anniversary of statehood. The governor also posted a clip of himself delivering a shortened version of the address on social media. Newsom has not delivered a formal State of the State address the last three years, despite decades of tradition of doing just that. He has instead opted for letters and prerecorded videos. “We are now nine months into a battle to protect the values we hold most dear and to preserve the economic and social foundation we built for California,” Newsom wrote. “We are facing a federal administration built on incompetence and malicious ignorance, one that seeks the death of independent thinking.” NEWSOM WARNS AMERICANS ‘YOU WILL LOSE YOUR COUNTRY’ UNDER TRUMP AT CALIFORNIA SUMMIT California has been a target for the Trump administration over issues such as immigration, in which federal raids targeting migrant workers over the summer sparked protests against arrests and deportations. Newsom butted heads with the administration over its move to deploy the National Guard and the Marines to the Los Angeles area to respond to the demonstrations and support immigration enforcement. The federal government has also cut funding for the state’s long-delayed high-speed rail project, rolled back the state’s rule prohibiting the sale of new gas-powered vehicles and sued the state over a law that allows transgender girls to compete on sports teams matching their gender identity rather than their biological sex. California, meanwhile, has filed 41 lawsuits against the administration. Earlier this year, state lawmakers approved giving $50 million to the state’s Department of Justice and other legal groups to help preserve its progressive policies. NEWSOM ESCALATES TRUMP IMMIGRATION FEUD WITH FOUL-MOUTHED INSULT Newsom said California is also challenging the president’s move to suspend funding to the University of California, Los Angeles, over allegations of antisemitism on campus and affirmative action. “It would be a mistake to think California is cowering in the face of this onslaught,” Newsom said. The governor’s letter also detailed what he described as the state’s achievements, including the state’s resiliency and quick recovery effort after the wildfires in Los Angeles earlier this year, as well as advancements in tech, green energy and education. Newsom also lauded the state’s tens of thousands of young volunteers and a tax credit program to bring back Hollywood productions. State Republicans contended that Newsom, seen as a potential presidential candidate in 2028, is focusing more on boosting his national profile rather than on working on issues in the Golden State, with James Gallagher, the GOP leader of the state Assembly, citing the state’s ongoing budget deficits, its homelessness crisis and high costs of living. “Stop refusing to show up and actually do the work of being a governor,” Gallagher said in a video posted to social media. Gallagher also criticized Newsom’s push for a U.S. House redistricting plan to boost Democrats and potentially win control of the chamber ahead of the 2026 midterms. The move by California lawmakers was done in response to a similar Trump-endorsed effort by Republican lawmakers in Texas. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Hellfire missile bounces off mysterious orb in stunning UAP footage shown to Congress
A House hearing on unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs) stunned lawmakers when video evidence showed a U.S. drone firing a Hellfire missile at an orb off Yemen—only for the object to remain intact and keep moving, raising urgent questions about technology beyond known military capabilities. At a House Oversight subcommittee meeting on UFO transparency and whistleblower protection, Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., unveiled the video. The footage showed an MQ-9 drone tracking a UAP orb as another MQ-9 launched a Hellfire missile at it. The missile struck the orb, but instead of destroying it, the round appeared to “bounce right off.” “That’s a Hellfire missile smacking into that UFO and [it] just bounced right off, and it kept going,” journalist George Knapp said. “There are servers where there’s a whole bank of these kind of videos that Congress has not been allowed to see.” HOUSE WITNESS TESTIFIES UFOS NEARLY ACTIVATED RUSSIAN NUCLEAR MISSILES DURING 1982 INCIDENT Lawmakers and witnesses stressed that no known U.S. technology could withstand a Hellfire strike. “Are you aware of anything in the U.S. arsenal that can split a Hellfire missile like this…and do whatever blob thing it did, and then keep going?” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., asked each witness. Nuccetelli and Wiggins testified that no U.S. technology is capable of surviving such a strike. UFO MANIA GRIPS SMALL TOWN AFTER MYSTERIOUS GLOWING OBJECT SIGHTING GOES VIRAL Asked if the video frightened them, all three – Nuccetelli, Wiggins and U.S. Air Force Veteran Dylan Borland – answered “yes.” Beyond the Hellfire video, witnesses also shared their own UAP encounters. JD VANCE SAYS HE’S ‘OBSESSED’ WITH EERIE UFO VIDEOS Nuccetelli described the “Vandenberg Red Square,” a 2003 incident at what is now Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. At the time, it was still an Air Force installation. He recalled hearing chaos unfold over the radio. His friend screamed, “It’s coming right at us! It’s coming right for us!” Just moments later, he said he heard them say the object “shot off and was done.” Wiggins also recalled a “Tic Tac” encounter, noting the craft showed no “conventional propulsion signatures” as it left. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Though the origins remain unknown, lawmakers pressed for answers, demanding greater transparency on UAPs. Fox News Digital’s Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.
Charlotte mayor scores primary re-election victory amid national backlash over gruesome train murder
Mayor Vi Lyles of Charlotte, North Carolina, won Tuesday’s Democratic Party mayoral primary in an election overshadowed the past few days by the deadly stabbing of a Ukrainian refugee aboard a city train. The stabbing death of Iryna Zarutska last month on a light-rail train by a man with a history of mental illness and over a dozen arrests quickly grabbed national attention and reignited a conversation about crime after security video of the gruesome attack was released and went viral. Lyles’ response to the slaying has been criticized, and Republicans claim the mayor and other Democrats are too soft on people with criminal records. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT HITS CHARLOTTE TRAIN STABBING SUSPECT WITH FEDERAL CHARGES While not specifically criticizing the mayor, President Donald Trump on Monday argued that the victim’s “blood is on the hands of the Democrats who refuse to put bad people in jail.” Trump also placed blame for Zarutska’s killing on former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who is now running for the Senate in battleground North Carolina in a crucial 2026 showdown that may determine if Republicans keep control of the chamber. UKRAINIAN WOMAN WHO FLED WAR STABBED TO DEATH AT CHARLOTTE LIGHT RAIL STATION The Charlotte killing came amid Trump’s focus this summer on spotlighting horrific crimes in Democrat-controlled cities as he moves federal forces into urban areas. Decarlos Brown Jr., who is Black, was arrested soon after the stabbing and charged with first-degree murder. On Tuesday, the Department of Justice charged Brown with one count of committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system. According to police records, he was arrested 14 times over the past 12 years. Lyles, who is Charlotte’s first Black female mayor, faced four lesser-known challengers in the Democratic primary, with the killing increasingly in the spotlight. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP One of the mayor’s rivals, Tigress Sydney Acute McDaniel, accused Lyles’ response of being a “day late and a dollar short.” Lyles now advances to the general election in the Democrat-dominated city against Republican nominee Terrie Donovan, a real estate agent who had already made crime her top issue even before the killing. The Associated Press contributed to this report
Hawley pushes legal action against Meta after whistleblowers detail child abuse in VR
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., called to “open the courtroom doors” so parents can sue Meta, accusing founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg of misleading Congress after whistleblowers detailed child safety failures on the company’s virtual reality (VR) platforms. Two former Meta researchers told a Senate panel Tuesday that the company buried child harm evidence in VR, killed age-verification studies and let AI chatbots flirt with kids, prompting a bipartisan push to pass measures protecting minors online. “The claims at the heart of this hearing are nonsense; they’re based on selectively leaked internal documents that were picked specifically to craft a false narrative,” a Meta spokesperson said. “The truth is there was never any blanket prohibition on conducting research with young people and, since the start of 2022, Meta approved nearly 180 Reality Labs-related studies on issues including youth safety and well-being.” MARK ZUCKERBERG SUES META OVER FACEBOOK SUSPENSIONS — BUT NOT THE ONE YOU THINK Testifying before the Senate were Cayce Savage and Jason Sattizahn, both former Meta researchers. Sattizahn alleged Meta routinely prioritized engagement and profit over safety — especially for kids — and manipulated or erased research showing harm. He said despite attempts to curb data collection, the studies researchers could run still showed the company’s products endangered users. Germany once banned Meta’s VR sales over data treatment concerns; after sales resumed in 2022, Sattizahn was sent to conduct research there. META AI DOCS EXPOSED, ALLOWING CHATBOTS TO FLIRT WITH KIDS He said he understood Meta was trying to show its VR headsets were safe for Germans. But when research uncovered that underage children using Meta VR in Germany were subjected to demands for sex acts, nude photos and other acts children should never be exposed to, Sattizahn alleged Meta demanded all evidence be erased. “My research still revealed emotional and psychological damage, particularly to women who were sexually solicited, molested or worse,” he testified. “In response, Meta demanded I change my research in the future to not gather this data on emotional and psychological harm.” Savage testified she led youth safety research in VR and likewise said Meta prioritized engagement over child safety. HAWLEY OPENS PROBE INTO META AFTER REPORTS OF AI ROMANTIC EXCHANGES WITH MINORS She said the company employed suppression tactics, including editing reports, demanding deletions and threatening jobs. Hawley asked Savage why it was important for Meta to have children under 13 using VR. She told him kids drive household adoption of gaming devices, which means more money for Meta. “So, this is about profits at the end of the day,” Hawley told Savage while seeking clarification on whether Meta will do anything for a profit, including exposing children to vile sexual abuse. “When I was doing research to identify the harms that children were facing in VR, which I had to be sneaky about because legal wouldn’t actually let me do it, I identified that Roblox, the app on in VR, was being used by coordinated pedophile rings,” Savage said. “They set up strip clubs, and they paid children to strip.” She added that Robux could be converted into real money. LOUISIANA SUES ONLINE GAMING PLATFORM ROBLOX FOR ALLEGEDLY ENABLING CHILD PREDATORS Savage said she flagged the issue to Meta, saying under no circumstances should Meta host the Roblox app on the headset. “You can now download it in their app store,” she said. Later, under questioning, Savage told the panel she estimates any child in a social VR space will come in contact with, or be directly exposed to, something inappropriate. “She said every single child who goes into the platform will 100% be exposed to child sex abuse material. Every single one,” Hawley told Fox News Digital Tuesday evening. “I just come back to the fact that we have got to protect our children. “It can’t be that if you go online as a kid, you are 100% likely to be sexually abused, and that’s what the witnesses said today. If you are online, if you’re on their virtual reality program platform rather, you are going to get sexually abused. That was their testimony.” Hawley called out Zuckerberg for testifying on Jan. 31, 2024, that Meta does not allow people under the age of 13 on the service. I LOST MY 16-YEAR-OLD SON TO SUICIDE FROM ADDICTIVE AI ALGORITHMS. WE CAN’T LET BIG TECH DESTROY OUR CHILDREN During his testimony last year, the CEO said anyone under the age of 13 will be removed from the service, and, in response to another question, Zuckerberg said Meta does not want users under the age of 13. Hawley said Zuckerberg misled Americans with that testimony, pointing to whistleblowers who said under-13 users are rampant on the platform. “I don’t see how you can square what he told us under oath last year with what these whistleblowers said today,” Hawley told Fox News Digital. “But that’s true of a lot of his statements. I mean, he said over and over, whether it’s the safety protocols Facebook has put into place, that’s not true. “Whether it’s regarding their work in China, he said, ‘Oh, we don’t do work in China.’ That is not true. He said, ‘We don’t have any contacts with the Chinese government.’ That’s not true. So, I mean, we’re really piling up a long list here.” Hawley said he has called for Zuckerberg to testify again under oath, though he’s heard Meta isn’t interested. Ultimately, Hawley said, it was time to “open the courtroom doors” so victims and families can sue Meta for failing to protect children. “It is abundantly clear to me that it is time to allow parents and victims to sue this company,” he said. “They have got to be able to get into court and to get in front of a jury and hold this company accountable, and that begins with Mark Zuckerberg. There has to be accountability. We have to open the courtroom doors and allow victims to have their day in court.” Earlier this year, Hawley
Thune’s suitcase nuke – and the filibuster’s latest blast injury
It was a full-on nuclear explosion. Just like the Pacific Testing Grounds near the Marshall Islands and French Polynesia. But this political blast tore through the Senate chamber. In November 2013, late Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., detonated the first Senate “nuclear option.” He curbed the filibuster to confirm executive branch nominees — except the Supreme Court. Rather than 60 votes to break a filibuster, such nominees would only need a simple majority. SENATE GOP LEADER MOVES TO LOWER FILIBUSTER THRESHOLD FOR TRUMP NOMINEES THROUGH NUCLEAR OPTION Former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., ignited the second “nuclear option” in 2017. The Kentucky Republican anticipated a Democratic filibuster as the Senate tried to confirm Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. So, McConnell chipped away at the filibuster bar for nominations to the High Court. McConnell also lowered that bar from 60 yeas to 51. Both of these instances were so dramatic, they featured parliamentary mushroom clouds erupting over the Capitol. The Senate eventually fell into nuclear winter after both instances, paralyzed from the fallout. Now, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is poised to discharge the parliamentary equivalent of a “suitcase nuke” on Thursday. Thune’s gambit isn’t something to ignore. It won’t carry the same immediate parliamentary weight of the maneuvers executed by Reid and McConnell. However, it’s another crack in the Senate custom of the filibuster. The legislative filibuster still exists. Senators can still block bills if they can prevent the body from cobbling together 60 yeas to break a filibuster. Thune will follow the playbook established by Reid and McConnell to alter the Senate precedent (Note: this is not a rules change. The Senate requires 67 votes to break a filibuster on a rules change.) to expedite the confirmation of lower-level nominees in groups. This plan will not include judges nor cabinet secretaries. Thune set his gambit into motion Monday by introducing a resolution to accelerate a slate of about 40 nominees. By rule, the Senate will take a procedural vote to break a filibuster on his resolution to confirm the batch of nominees on Thursday. The resolution itself, which is specific to this type of batch of nominees, needs 60 yeas. The Senate won’t get 60 yeas. THUNE LAYS GROUNDWORK FOR NUCLEAR OPTION IN SENATE FIGHT OVER TRUMP NOMINEES But this is exactly the scenario that Thune needs to go nuclear. The coin of the realm in the Senate is unlimited debate. But one of the rare occasions senators can’t debate something is when an issue fails and a senator requests a re-vote. So, a failed vote to break the filibuster backs the Senate into the exact parliamentary cul-de-sac that Thune wants. At the end of the roll call vote, Thune will likely switch his vote from yes to no on breaking the filibuster. The Senate allows members to demand a mulligan if they are on the prevailing side of the issue. In this case, Thune is suddenly with the “noes,” even though he initially voted yes to break the filibuster. But remember, Thune is only temporarily switching his vote in order to advance his cause. He may lose the battle. But he may ultimately win the war. By changing his position, Thune can then order a re-vote on the roll call that failed. And since the Senate is in this unique posture of not allowing any debate, Democrats are paralyzed. They can’t do anything to stop Thune from what he plans next. This is similar to what Reid did in 2013, followed up by McConnell in 2017, on the first two nuclear options. Thune will then make a point of order on the floor. Thune will assert that on the resolutions like the one he drafted a bloc of lower-level nominees (e.g. – the ones now before the Senate) does not need 60 votes to break a filibuster. The chair — potentially Senate President Pro Tempore Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, or even Vice President Vance, who is the President of the Senate — will presumably rule that Thune is wrong. Senate rules and precedent do require 60 votes to break a filibuster on this type of resolution. CONGRESS RETURNS WITH DEMOCRATS REFUSING TO NEGOTIATE AS OCT 1 SHUTDOWN DEADLINE LOOMS But Thune doesn’t stop there. The majority leader will then request a vote to overturn how the chair ruled. He will assert that a simple majority is necessary to break a filibuster for this type of resolution — even though that’s never been the case before. The Senate will vote. And if 51 senators vote in favor of ruling against the chair, the Senate will have established a new precedent. It will lower the threshold from 60 to 51 on this type of resolution to speedily advance a batch of nominees all at once. Once the Senate does that, Thune will need to set up another procedural vote under the new precedents to break a filibuster. If Thune “files cloture” again on Thursday, the Senate can vote on Monday to break a filibuster — needing only 51 yeas — on Monday, Sept. 15. If the Senate votes to break the filibuster on the resolution under the revamped precedents, the Senate could vote to confirm the 48 nominees in question on Wednesday, Sept. 17. Here’s an example of some of the nominees in the queue for confirmation: Former Rep. Brandon Williams, R-N.Y., is up for under secretary for nuclear security. President Trump tapped Leslie Beyer to serve as assistant secretary of the interior. Richard Anderson to become an assistant secretary of the Air Force. Jovan Jovanovic to lead the Export-Import Bank. Callista Gingrich, wife of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., is the president’s pick as ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Thune says Democrats are obstinate, not allowing the Senate to confirm a batch of nominees in one fell swoop. He accuses Democrats of obstruction, saying the minority is trying to undermine the president. “This is simply the world’s longest, most drawn out temper tantrum over losing