Ciattarelli team blasts opponent over ‘slanderous’ claim he profited from opioid deaths
With the final days closing in on an especially messy New Jersey gubernatorial election, Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli’s campaign slammed his Democratic opponent, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, for pushing a narrative that he “killed tens of thousands of people.” Sherrill accused Ciattarelli of being responsible for printing “propaganda” via the medical publishing company he founded that downplayed the dangers of opioids and of designing an app to help people access dangerous drugs. She made the claims during a gubernatorial debate on Oct. 8 and doubled down during a press conference on opioid addiction on Monday. “Jack made millions, the opioid companies made billions, and thousands of New Jerseyans were dying,” Sherrill said at the press conference. ‘GETTING DESPERATE’: GOVERNOR DEBATE GETS PERSONAL AFTER DEMOCRAT IS MOCKED FOR CHEATING SCANDAL Chris Russell, a Ciattarelli campaign strategist, told Fox News that if Sherrill “had any decency, she would retract her slanderous comments and apologize.” “Whether it’s tripling her net worth in Congress and hiding details of her stock trades or concealing the true extent of her role in the Naval Academy cheating scandal, Mikie Sherrill is a proven liar and lawbreaker whose desperation is showing,” said Russell. “Her reckless and defamatory claim that Jack ‘killed tens of thousands of people, including children,’ has been roundly criticized by members of the press, legal scholars and people in both parties,” he added. “The truth is that Jack Ciattarelli’s medical publishing company helped to create an online tool which allowed a small group of chronic pain sufferers to educate themselves on treatment options and better advocate for their own healthcare choices when meeting with their medical professionals,” explained Russell. NJ REPUBLICAN CIATTARELLI THREATENS TO SUE SHERRILL OVER OPIOID CLAIM In response, Sean Higgins, a campaign spokesperson for Sherrill, told Fox News Digital that “after years of hiding his role fueling the opioid epidemic, Jack Ciattarelli is finally admitting to being paid by an opioid company to create an app to coach patients to get a Hydrocodone prescription, all at a time when the opioid crisis was raging and killing New Jerseyans.” “He made millions off of New Jerseyans’ pain and suffering and clearly cannot be trusted as governor,” said Higgins. Ciattarelli has threatened to sue Sherrill for defamation if she does not stop raising these accusations. Despite this, Sherrill was adamant about the accusations on Monday. She pushed back on the threat of lawsuits over the accusations, saying, “I’m dumbfounded that this perennial candidate, who has run now for three elections, saying that he’s a small businessman, the minute we start to talk about that small business, he wants to shut it. He wants his lawyers to shut it down. I mean, that’s ridiculous to me.” “I think we’ve laid out the case that Jack is … in league with these opioid companies,” said Sherrill. NJ DEM MIKIE SHERRILL DOUBLES DOWN ON CLAIM THAT CIATTARELLI ‘COMPLICIT’ IN OPIOID DEATHS OF THOUSANDS Pressed to clarify whether she was asserting that Ciattarelli killed tens of thousands of New Jerseyans, Sherrill answered, “Yes. Look, I think he is right there with the people that, again, paid billions of dollars. So, I think that the line is pretty clear.” For his part, Ciattarelli shot back against Sherrill at a campaign rally on Monday, saying, “her entire campaign is based on a stack of lies about me [and] her disdain for the president.” He said that for the remainder of the campaign he will be pivoting to discussing his day one plan as governor, saying he will immediately issue an executive order banning sanctuary jurisdictions for illegal immigrants, bringing state workers back to work in-person, appointing a state attorney general “who supports both police and parents,” fixing the public education system and eliminating green energy initiatives in New Jersey.
Pressure mounts on Virginia Dems to clearly state view on trans bathrooms after bombshell emails
The northern Virginia transgender bathroom saga notched another controversy Friday with the release of emails from Arlington County, Virginia, schools regarding correspondence board members received from serial sex offender Richard Kenneth Cox. Cox, 58, was thrust into the national spotlight after Virginia’s Fairfax County Democratic prosecutor Steve Descano declined to prosecute Cox for charges of perversion in women’s locker rooms while neighboring Arlington County, Virginia, arrested him in 2024 on similar offenses which he has faced in court in October. Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the Republican gubernatorial nominee, lambasted news that Cox — who identified himself as a transgender woman named “Riki” in emails to Arlington, Virginia, schools regarding concerns about using facilities at its semi-public aquatic center — was allegedly able to prey on young girls in the Washington suburb. “This ‘woman’ — child predator Richard ‘Riki’ Cox — repeatedly used a girls’ locker room and exposed himself to young girls,” Earle-Sears said in a Friday statement. “Abigail Spanberger thinks he has the right to be there.” SEX OFFENDER CALLED ‘POSTER BOY’ FOR GOP’S TRANSGENDER IDEOLOGY CONCERNS FACES COURT HEARING Fox News Digital reached out to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Spanberger to confirm whether she opposes or supports Virginia policies that allow transgender females born as males to use women’s facilities and did not receive a reply. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests filed by ABC News’ Washington affiliate returned emails between school officials after Cox sent a lengthy message to one member. Arlington schools (APS) allow people to use the facilities matching their desired gender identity. “I realize this is very short notice but the issue just occurred on Friday October 25 (2024) and I need your help before I know who to vote for. I am a member of the LGBT and specifically transgender community,” Cox wrote to board member Kathleen Clark. ‘NONSENSE’: EARLE-SEARS BLASTS FAIRFAX TRANSGENDER BATHROOM RULES IN FIERY CAMPAIGN STOP The report noted that Clark may not have known the sender — “Riki Cox” — was a registered sex offender, Richard K. Cox. A school board official told the ABC affiliate Clark also was responding in her private capacity and that as soon as Duran recognized a sex offender had been present on school property he took corrective action. “At no time did we knowingly admit a sex offender into our aquatics facilities,” the official said. Cox, who previously was reported to be living out of his van at one point, said transgender people are “disproportionately homeless” and must rely on county facilities like pool locker rooms to shower. ‘NUDE MEN IN LOCKER ROOMS’: EARLE-SEARS BLASTS SPANBERGER OVER TRANSGENDER LOCKER ROOM STANCE IN HEATED DEBATE “But let me be clear that this is not only an opportunity to be clean but to be and feel part of the community. However, solely because of complaints of a transgender person in the locker room, Washington-Liberty Swimming Pool made a rule that people using the shower but not the pool must use the single, isolated locker room away from everyone else, like they are some kind of freak or something,” Cox wrote. Cox said he once considered voluntarily using the unisex room but that he “wanted to feel like part of the community” and that complainants should be the ones forced to be apparently ostracized to the one-person shower. Cox said multiple people running for school board positions claimed to be pro-LGBT but that Cox wanted to see who may reverse the school district’s locker room decision to apparently keep their promises. VIRGINIA SCHOOL DISTRICTS SUPPORT FOR TRANSGENDER STUDENTS’ RIGHTS IN GOVERNOR’S RACE SPOTLIGHT “RSVP please and thank you,” Cox said. A second email reported by the ABC News affiliate from Cox to the board attested that Cox felt that apparent pressure for Cox to finish showering in the main locker room again sent “the message that a transgender person is a freak and I guess not normal and beautiful like everyone else.” Clark later responded, according to the affiliate, telling Cox she hoped he didn’t receive “transphobic statements” from staff during the incident and should be able to use the showers and changing rooms Cox is most comfortable using. Cox, who has a sex-offender rap sheet going back to the George H.W. Bush era in northern Virginia faces at least 21 charges, according to public court information viewed by Fox News Digital earlier in October. The charges related to visits to school facilities as well as a private gym in Barcroft, Virginia. As of January, the Arlington County, Virginia, government board was working with the county school board on formulating responses to Cox’s incidents at the pool, the activist group Defending Education told Fox News Digital. Cox, however, was individually banned from the premises following his arrest, according to reports. Arlington, Virginia, Superintendent Francisco Duran told a Washington Post reporter that the district follows state law and federal Fourth Circuit legal precedent requiring anti-discrimination protections based on gender identity and sex in places of “public accommodation.” Defending Education Vice President Sarah Parshall-Perry said in a statement that as an Arlington, Virginia, resident and attorney, she was “aggrieved and incensed” by the incident.
Bill Clinton says Trump and others ‘deserve great credit’ for Israel-Hamas ceasefire
Former President Bill Clinton praised President Donald Trump for his administration’s efforts in brokering the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, saying the president and regional partners “deserve great credit” for keeping negotiations on track. “The horrors of the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel and the conflict they reignited have resulted in unbearable human loss,” Clinton wrote. “It has been hard to watch and nearly impossible to rationalize.” “I’m grateful that a ceasefire has taken hold, that the last 20 hostages have been freed, and that desperately needed aid has begun to flow into Gaza,” he continued. “President Trump and his administration, Qatar, and other regional actors deserve great credit for keeping everyone engaged until the agreement was reached.” Clinton added that, with support from the U.S., the region, and the world, Israel and Hamas must try to turn this “fragile moment into lasting peace that provides the dignity and security of both Palestinians and Israelis.” WORLD LEADERS PRAISE ‘LANDMARK’ ISRAEL-HAMAS PEACE DEAL MEDIATED BY US: ‘NEW HORIZON OF HOPE’ “I believe that they can get there, but only if they do it together,” Clinton said. The praise for Trump comes after a years-long feud between him and the Clintons. The feud stemmed from Trump’s relentless attacks on Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign, when he branded the former secretary of state “Crooked Hillary.” COULD TRUMP WIN THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE AFTER ISRAEL-HAMAS DEAL? The Clintons have also argued that Trump’s presidency undermined democratic norms. While Trump periodically revives the feud, Bill Clinton has also criticized him — particularly over his handling of Israel-Iran tensions in June. At the time, Bill Clinton expressed skepticism about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump’s intentions for peace in the Middle East. He urged Trump to calm the situation and end the “outright constant killing of civilians.” TRUMP ANNOUNCES ISRAEL AGREES TO GAZA ‘INITIAL WITHDRAWAL LINE’ AS ‘3,000 YEAR CATASTROPHE’ NEARS END “First of all — they’re not talking about negotiating peace in the Middle East because the Israelis have no intention of… under Prime Minister Netanyahu, of giving the Palestinians a state. And now, they’re too divided and crushed to organize themselves to achieve it,” Bill Clinton said during a guest appearance on “The Daily Show.” He continued, maintaining that Trump agrees with Netanyahu in believing that the Palestinians “shouldn’t have a state.” However, he added that neither leader wants to trigger a full-scale regional disaster. “Mr. Netanyahu has long wanted to fight Iran because that way he can stay in office forever and ever. I mean, he’s been there most of the last 20 years,” the former president said. “But I think we should be trying to defuse it, and I hope President Trump will do that.” TRUMP SAYS ‘WHOLE WORLD CAME TOGETHER’ TO SECURE ISRAEL-HAMAS PEACE DEAL AFTER MONTHS OF DEADLOCK Bill Clinton emphasized the need for the U.S. to protect its allies in the region while also urging restraint. “We have to convince our friends in the Middle East that we’ll stand with them and try to protect them,” he stated. “But choosing undeclared wars in which the primary victims are civilians, who are not politically involved, one way or the other, who just want to live decent lives, is not a very good solution.” Bill Clinton conceded that the U.S. must try to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon but again stressed the need to protect innocent lives in the region. TRUMP LAUDED BY MSNBC, LIBERAL MEDIA FIGURES FOR SECURING ISRAEL PEACE DEAL “Do I think that we have to try to stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon? I do,” he declared. “But we don’t have to have all this outright constant killing of civilians who can’t defend themselves, and they just want a chance to live.” Days later, President Trump launched Operation Midnight Hammer, using B-2 bombers and other jets to strike multiple uranium sites in Iran. Hillary Clinton also praised Trump for his Israel-Hamas peace breakthrough. “I really commend President Trump and his administration, as well as Arab leaders in the region, for making the commitment to the 20-point plan, and seeing a path forward for what is often called the day after,” she told CBS News after Hamas agreed to Trump’s peace plan. Hillary Clinton also appeared to pull back her digs at Trump in August, just before the president met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Appearing on the “Raging Moderates” podcast, Clinton said she would nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize if he succeeded in getting Putin to end his war and return all the territory Russia seized in Ukraine. “You know, look, if we could pull that off — if President Trump were the architect of that — I’d nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize,” she said during the interview. Fox News Digital’s Marc Tamasco and Gabriel Hays contributed to this report.
Dem gubernatorial nominee facing heat for taking donations from CCP-linked tycoon: ‘Disqualifying’
New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mikie Sherrill is facing criticism after a businessman linked to the Chinese Communist Party made multiple donations totaling tens of thousands of dollars to her campaign. Pin Ni, the founder of Wanxiang America Corporation, donated $60,000 to the One Giant Leap super PAC backing Sherrill’s campaign in the form of two checks, in addition to giving the $5,800 individual max donation directly to Sherrill’s campaign this summer, according to records reviewed by Fox News Digital and first reported on by New York Post. Political campaigns in the United States are only permitted to accept money from American citizens or permanent legal residents and, in addition to Pin’s status being unclear, questions have been raised about the ethics of accepting money from individuals linked to the Chinese Communist Party. “The donor, Pin Ni, has an extensive history of assisting the CCP’s political warfare and influence operations upon the U.S., and of generally aligning with and carrying out party commands,” Michael Lucci, Founder and CEO of State Armor, told New York Post, adding that taking money from Ni is “disqualifying.” NEW STUDY EXPOSES GREEN ENERGY ORG’S TIES TO CCP INTERESTS WHILE UNDERMINING US Wanxiang Group posthumously awarded the company’s founder, Lu Guanqiu, the title of “National Outstanding Communist Party Member” in a 2021 press release and praised Guanqiu for his “pursuit of communism as a lifelong ideal and practice.” The press release also said Guanqiu, the late father-in-law of Pin Ni, “has always listened to the [Chinese Communist] Party and followed the Party,” a Fox News Digital review found earlier this year. The press release continued by quoting Chinese President Xi Jinping’s praise of Guanqiu, saying he was “in line with the Party Central Committee. He always actively does what our Party committees and governments at all levels advocate.” ‘COMING FOR US’: EXPERT SOUNDS ALARM ON CCP’S MISSION TO ‘KILL AMERICANS’ AFTER FBI MAKES SHOCKING ARRESTS The founder’s bio on the Wanxiang website says he was elected as the 13th and 14th Representatives of the CPPCC, and a delegate to the 9th, 10th, and 11th Chinese National People’s Congress, top levels of the CCP’s hierarchy. Fox News Digital reached out to the Sherrill campaign inquiring whether the money would be returned. Fox News Digital also reached out to Pin Ni but did not immediately receive a response. Sherrill isn’t the only Democrat running for governor in November to be faced with questions about donations from Pin Ni. Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger took $50,000 from the CCP-tied businessman in two $25,000 installments in April and May, Fox News Digital previously reported. The donations sparked criticism from Spanberger’s Republican opponent, Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears. “Taking $50,000 from someone with clear Chinese Communist Party ties tells us all we need to know,” her campaign spokesperson said at the time. “You can’t claim to stand up to foreign threats while pocketing money from someone celebrated by the CCP.” A Spanberger campaign spokesperson said, “Virginians know that Abigail Spanberger has a demonstrated record of standing up for America’s national security, delivering results for Virginia families across party lines, and never backing down from keeping the American people safe.” “Her campaign will remain focused on what Virginians care about most, keeping our communities safe, driving down costs, protecting Virginia jobs, and making sure Virginia’s public schools are the very best in America,” the spokesperson added. Fox News Digital’s Amanda Macias contributed to this report
Biden, Blinken take credit for groundwork behind Trump’s Gaza ceasefire deal
Former President Joe Biden and former Secretary of State Antony Blinken both claimed some credit for President Donald Trump’s Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement on Monday. On X, Biden – who is undergoing treatment for cancer – said that he was “deeply grateful and relieved” that the Gaza war is approaching its end. “The road to this deal was not easy,” the Democrat wrote. “My Administration worked relentlessly to bring hostages home, get relief to Palestinian civilians, and end the war.” But Biden also gave Trump credit for getting “a renewed ceasefire deal over the finish line.” BEFORE AND AFTER IMAGES SHOW DEVASTATING DESTRUCTION IN GAZA “Now, with the backing of the United States and the world, the Middle East is on a path to peace that I hope endures and a future for Israelis and Palestinians alike with equal measures of peace, dignity, and safety,” he concluded. On Monday, Blinken said Trump’s 20-point peace plan for the Gaza Strip was based on one developed by the Biden administration. In a lengthy post on X, Blinken, who served in the Biden administration, outlined how Trump was able to secure the peace agreement. He noted that Arab states and Turkey have said “enough” to Hamas, and said the response also showed that other Iran-backed groups — Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels — were not coming to Hamas’ aid. “It starts with a clear and comprehensive post-conflict plan for Gaza,” Blinken wrote. “It’s good that President Trump adopted and built on the plan the Biden administration developed after months of discussion with Arab partners, Israel and the Palestinian Authority.” NETANYAHU ADVISOR EXPRESSES ‘DEEP FAITH’ IN TRUMP’S GAZA CEASEFIRE PLAN FRAMEWORK APPROACH Blinken said the Biden administration briefly secured a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in January, resulting in the release of 135 hostages before the deal fell apart. He also questioned how Trump could secure a permanent peace plan. Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked Trump about Blinken’s remarks aboard Air Force One. “Everybody knows it’s a joke,” Trump said. “Look, they did such a bad job. This should have never happened.” “If just a decent president — not a great president like me — if a decent president were in, you wouldn’t have had the Russia-Ukraine (war),” Trump said. “This was bad policy by Biden and Obama.” Trump was in Egypt on Monday to work on the second phase of the cease-fire while meeting with more than 20 world leaders. TRUMP’S WEEK IN REVIEW: PRESIDENT SECURES HISTORIC PEACE DEAL TO BRING HOSTAGES HOME AS SHUTDOWN CONTINUES “We’ve heard it for many years, but nobody thought it could ever get there. And now we’re there,” Trump said. “This is the day that people across this region and around the world have been working, striving, hoping and praying for,” he added. “With the historic agreement we have just signed, those prayers of millions have finally been answered. Together, we have achieved the impossible.” In his post, Blinken said the postwar plan for Gaza should be implemented immediately, “with eyes wide open about its challenges: pulling together the international stabilization force, fully demilitarizing and disarming Hamas, dealing with insurgents, and expeditiously securing a phased but full Israeli withdrawal.” He also credited Trump for reaffirming “the key principles we established for Gaza at the outset of the war — no platform for terrorism, no annexation, no occupation, no forced population transfers — and for making clear the overall goal is to create the conditions for a credible pathway to a Palestinian state.”
Texas governor reveals reason why he and Trump have been working together so closely
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, whose National Guard troops were recently deployed in support of Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Chicago, revealed the “substantive reason” why he has such a good working relationship with the president: “We both believe in the rule of law.” “President Trump and I have a good, long-standing, working relationship, and there’s a substantive reason behind that. We both believe in the rule of law. We both believe in public safety. We both believed in securing the borders,” he explained. Abbott said that he and President Donald Trump are “operating very closely aligned in ensuring that our country’s going to be safe.” “I’m more than happy to be a partner with the federal government, making sure that we keep our country as safe as possible,” he added. LONG-HELD SCOTUS PRECEDENTS COULD UNDERCUT PORTLAND, CHICAGO NATIONAL GUARD LAWSUITS This comes as some 200 Texas National Guard troops are currently deployed to the Chicago area, tasked with protecting federal law enforcement officers as they carry out immigration enforcement operations. For the past several weeks, the Chicago area has been rocked by anti-ICE demonstrations that have on several occasions boiled over into violent disruption. Large crowds of what DHS has called “violent rioters” have gathered outside an ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, and have repeatedly blocked federal vehicles from exiting and entering the facility. Earlier this month, federal agents were rammed and trapped by 10 vehicles, where anti-ICE crowds had gathered for days. Nearly a dozen people were arrested. Despite this, DHS has said its agents have received little to no support from Democrat leaders in Illinois or local and state law enforcement. Against this backdrop, Abbott authorized Trump to deploy 400 of his Texas National Guard troops to trouble spots across the country under Title 10 authority. So far, only about half of those troops have been deployed to Illinois as a legal case against the deployment makes its way through federal court. HOMAN CONFIRMS TEXAS NATIONAL GUARD ‘ON THE GROUND’ IN ILLINOIS, WARNS ANTI-ICE RHETORIC FUELING ‘BLOODSHED’ Speaking with Fox News Digital, Abbott said the deployment of Texas National Guard troops, who have gained experience keeping the peace through deployments to the southern border, was “only natural.” “What the National Guard is trained and skilled at doing is dealing with civil unrest like that. They dealt with civil unrest along the Texas border for the past four years while Joe Biden was president. They’ve dealt with civil unrest even in locations in the state of Texas, when I thought it was important to call them out and make sure that we did not have any unrest in our state. So, these are National Guard troopers who are very well-trained at being able to deal with this type of environment,” he said. “It’s only natural that, by extension, that if there’s a need for that elite National Guard to provide assistance anywhere in the entire country, that it would be the [Texas] National Guard called upon.” Again, Abbott emphasized that the Trump administration shares a common vision with Texas, making them apt partners. “What Texas is trying to do is the same thing the United States is trying to do. And that is very simply, carrying out the functions of the federal government. One of them is immigration enforcement, and another is public safety. The National Guard from Texas, they’re not there to police the city of Chicago or any other place. They are there to ensure the safety and security of the ability of federal officials to fulfill their constitutional duty to enforce the laws of the United States.” PRITZKER SUES TRUMP TO BLOCK NATIONAL GUARD ACTION IN ILLINOIS Though he gave no indication of what other collaborations Texas might undertake with the Trump administration in the future, he said that Texas remains ready for whatever is needed. “No one can accurately predict exactly what’s going to happen in the future. What I can predict is how Texas will respond. And that is, whenever the country is in time of need, Texans will step up and help out any way we possibly can.”
Senate set for new vote to end shutdown, but gridlock over Obamacare subsidies remains
The Senate is set to return on Tuesday to again vote on whether to reopen the government, but like many times before, the plan is expected to fail again as a deal remains elusive. Lawmakers in the upper chamber are expected to vote for an eighth time on the House GOP’s continuing resolution (CR), as the government shutdown inches closer to its third week. But after a long weekend away from Washington, D.C., it’s unlikely either party has shifted from their positions. Senate Republicans want to pass the House’s “clean” short-term funding extension, which would reopen the government until Nov. 21. Included are millions in spending for lawmaker security and a budget fix for D.C.’s local government. TRUMP DIRECTS HEGSETH TO PAY TROOPS DURING ONGOING GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN STANDOFF AS HE RAILS AGAINST SCHUMER But Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., remain adamant that they will not provide Republicans and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., the needed votes to reopen the government unless there is a firm deal to extend expiring Obamacare subsidies. Both sides are talking, breaking up into small groups that are focused on some of the Democrats’ demands, like extending the subsidies or putting guardrails on future rescissions and impoundments of federal funding. Still, no concrete negotiations or an off-ramp out of the shutdown have materialized. “I think Leader Schumer’s checked out,” Thune told reporters on Friday. “I don’t think this is going to happen. I think this is going to happen organically with enough reasonable Senate Democrats who care enough about doing the right thing for their country and not what’s in the best interests of their left-wing political base to come forward and help us find a solution.” So far only three Senate Democratic caucus members, Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Angus King, I-Vt., have consistently crossed the aisle to reopen the government. SENATE LEAVES WASHINGTON AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN NEARS 3RD WEEK, MILITARY PAY AT RISK One key deadline, which was expected to make Democrats squeamish as the shutdown continued on, was met over the weekend. While lawmakers were away, President Donald Trump authorized Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to use “all available funds” to pay military service members by Oct. 15. But Schumer has remained steadfast that he and Democrats want more than just a guarantee on the expiring subsidies and demands that Thune, Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., come to the negotiating table. “We Democrats want to end this shutdown as quickly as we can,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “But Donald Trump and Republicans need to negotiate with us in a serious way to fix the health care premiums crisis. We can and should do both. It’s not either or, like Republicans think.” SENATE DEMOCRATS BLOCK GOP PLAN AGAIN TO REOPEN GOVERNMENT AS MILITARY PAY DEADLINE LOOMS But Senate Republicans have countered throughout the shutdown that Democrats routinely voted for CRs under former President Joe Biden, and that the only difference between then and now is that Trump is in office. “A political game is being played by the Democrats because they think that every day gets better for them,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said. “And this isn’t right versus left. This is right versus wrong. That’s what we’re facing in this country today.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP And there’s still another deadline on Capitol Hill fast approaching, this time to pay Senate staff. “I’m concerned about everybody going without pay,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said. “We need to open the government back up, and I think people need to sit down and talk to each other. And so far, the president has been unwilling to talk, the leadership in both houses have been unwilling to talk.”
Senate Republicans target Obama-era trucking rule with new English proficiency bill
FIRST ON FOX: A Senate Republican wants to add stricter English proficiency requirements for truck drivers after an Obama-era rule change loosened standards. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., plans to introduce legislation that would add more stringent English proficiency rules for commercial truck drivers and an enforcement mechanism that would deem them “out of service” should they not meet the proposed standards. The bill would add several standards, including ensuring that truck drivers can converse with the public, understand highway traffic signs and signals in the English language, respond to official inquiries and make entries on reports and records. GOP REP TARGETS TRUCKER’S ENGLISH SKILLS AFTER ILLEGAL MIGRANT CHARGED IN DEADLY FLORIDA CRASH “Wyoming families and travelers deserve safe highways,” Lummis said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “I’m introducing this commonsense legislation to ensure commercial truck drivers operating heavy vehicles can simply read signs, understand traffic laws and communicate effectively with law enforcement and emergency responders.” The bill also comes on the heels of President Donald Trump’s executive order from earlier this year, which similarly added stricter English language requirements. Trump’s order and Lummis’ bill would also require that a person driving a commercial motor vehicle who does not meet those standards will be deemed out of service, a move meant to add enforcement following a change made in 2016 under then-President Barack Obama. ‘ENGLISH ISN’T OPTIONAL’: SENATE GOP BILL TAKES AIM AT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT TRUCKERS AFTER FLORIDA CRASH “This legislation will correct the major mistake the Obama administration made in undermining these rules and will codify President Trump’s Executive Order to make our highways safer for all Americans,” Lummis said. While English proficiency requirements have existed for truck drivers for decades, a 2016 memo from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration instructed inspectors to give warnings and citations to commercial vehicle drivers who did not meet the English proficiency requirements, rather than place them out of service. Lummis’ bill, which she and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., plan to introduce, also has a companion version in the House, introduced by Rep. Harriet Haggeman, R-Wyo. TRUMP ADMIN THREATENS TO CUT MILLIONS IN FEDERAL FUNDING FROM 3 STATES OVER TRUCKER ENGLISH LANGUAGE RULES Both are named Connor’s Law, after 18-year-old Connor Dzion was killed in standstill traffic in Florida in 2017 when a Canadian truck driver, Yadwinder Sangha, slammed into the gridlocked vehicles. There was a similar incident earlier this year when Harjinder Singh, an illegal immigrant from India, allegedly struck and killed three people in a tractor-trailer while making an illegal U-turn on a Florida highway on Aug. 12. The trailer jackknifed and collided with a minivan, killing all three of its passengers. Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., introduced legislation that would crack down on commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) going to illegal immigrants and bolster English proficiency requirements to get a commercial license.
Trump credits Iran nuclear strikes for kickstarting Israel-Hamas peace deal
President Donald Trump told Fox News in an exclusive interview Monday that he credits the U.S. strikes on key Iranian nuclear sites for making the Israel-Hamas peace deal possible. Trump made the comments to Fox News’ Trey Yingst in Israel after Hamas freed the remaining 20 living Israeli hostages from captivity in Gaza. “I think it really started when we took out the nuclear capability of Iran,” Trump said, referring to the June strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites. “When you look at what they had, you couldn’t have made this deal with someone sitting over there with a nuclear weapon over your head.” Trump said that other countries around the Middle East were “fantastic” in helping the U.S. broker the peace deal, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Egypt. TRUMP WRITES MESSAGE TO ISRAELIS AFTER ALL LIVING HOSTAGES RELEASED BY HAMAS “That’s the amazing thing,” Trump said. “Everybody came together at this point. If you go back six months or seven months you would have said a thing like this was impossible.” Trump added that even with his impact as the U.S. president, the deal wouldn’t have happened if the dozens of countries that make up the Middle East did not want it to. “They all wanted this to happen,” Trump said, “and it’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.” Yingst said Trump emphasized that the Gaza deal is only the beginning of what he hopes will become a wider movement toward peace across the Middle East. When asked about the state of Iran’s nuclear program today, Trump said it is nonexistent. “They don’t have a nuclear program,” Trump said of Iran. “It was obliterated.” In June, the U.S. launched Operation Midnight Hammer, the longest large-scale B-2 bombing mission in history, striking Iran’s nuclear sites with 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs. Trump had immediately proclaimed Iran’s nuclear program had been “completely and totally obliterated,” though skeptics and opponents of the strikes voiced caution about declaring the mission a success before a final damage assessment was finished. TRUMP HERALDS ‘GOLDEN AGE OF THE MIDDLE EAST’ IN ADDRESS TO ISRAELI KNESSET HOURS AFTER HOSTAGES COME HOME Trump arrived in Israel Monday morning to coincide with the prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas. The 20 living Israeli hostages were released as part of an agreement intended to end the conflict that began with the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas terrorists. Hamas terrorists killed more than 1,200 people and took around 240 hostages in southern Israel during the attack. Two years of fighting in Gaza followed, which resulted in tens of thousands estimated dead. In exchange for the remaining living hostages, Israel began releasing around 2,000 Palestinian detainees, including approximately 250 identified as terrorists. This is a breaking news story; check back for updates. Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Mamdani raises money for UN organization that employed Oct 7 terrorists
New York City Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani spent Sunday night raising money for a United Nations organization that employed Oct. 7 terrorists, just hours before the final living Israeli hostages were released from Hamas captivity. Mamdani ran in the NYC Gaza 5K, a fundraiser for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). The organization was infamously found to have employed terrorists in Gaza who participated in the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel. Mamdani’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. “This morning I ran the NYC Gaza 5K in Prospect Park for the third time, alongside the Harlem Run Club, to raise money for UNRWA USA, which delivers critical humanitarian aid and services to Palestinians in Gaza,” Mamdani wrote on social media. “I hope you’ll join me in donating,” he added. IDF KILLS HAMAS TERRORIST IT SAYS WORKED FOR UNRWA, LED CHARGE ON REIM BOMB SHELTER MASSACRE Mamdani included a donation link for his followers to send money to UNRWA. The State Department issued a devastating report to Congress on UNRWA in August, determining that the agency needs to be abolished and is beyond reform. UNRWA’s stated goal is to provide aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, but the report argues the organization “is irredeemably compromised” According to the State Department document, the Trump administration demanded in March 2025 that UNRWA “return all remaining unspent balances of U.S. funding in its accounts.” The UNRWA Washington office said it would do so, “but has not yet completed the action.” In May, the State Department said it is working “to cease U.S. participation in all working-level UNRWA bodies” at the United Nations. UN ACCUSED OF DOWNPLAYING HAMAS TERRORISTS’ USE OF GAZA HOSPITALS AS NEW REPORT IGNORES IMPORTANT DETAILS The U.S. government pulled the plug on UNRWA funding in January 2024 and has not resumed aid to the agency. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s move calling for the wholesale dissolution of UNRWA added a new layer of pressure on the U.N. and key donor nations to UNRWA, such as Japan and Germany, to reassess the viability of UNRWA. The Biden administration had given UNRWA $1 billion in U.S. taxpayer funding since 2021 before the freeze in 2024 went into effect. Former Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant said in February 2024 that dozens of individuals employed by UNRWA were directly involved in the atrocities carried out against Israeli civilians on Oct. 7, 2023. Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon told the U.N. in January that UNRWA must close its operations in Jerusalem. In August 2024, Fox News Digital reported the U.N. fired nine employees from UNRWA who likely participated in the Hamas slaughter of 1,200 people, including more than 30 Americans, on Oct. 7 in southern Israel. Fox News’ Benjamin Weinthal contributed to this report.