Schumer’s shutdown holds as Senate Dems block GOP bid to reopen government
A weekend away from Washington did little to soften Senate Democrats’ resolve as they again blocked Republicans’ effort to reopen the government, ensuring the shutdown will last at least a week. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and most of his caucus are adamant that unless a deal is struck on expiring Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits, commonly known as ObamaCare subsidies, they will not provide the votes needed to fund the government. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., needs at least eight Democrats to cross the aisle and support the GOP’s bill, which would reopen the government until Nov. 21. SCHUMER’S SHUTDOWN SCHEME EXPLAINED: DEMS DOUBLE DOWN ON OBAMACARE CREDITS AS STANDOFF DRAGS ON However, only Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Angus King, I-Maine, have broken with their caucus to end the shutdown. Meanwhile, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., remains the lone Republican to buck his party. Senate Democrats have remained steadfast in their demand that a deal must be reached to extend expiring ObamaCare subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of the year. They argue that unless Congress acts, Americans who rely on the tax credits will see their healthcare premiums skyrocket. Both Senate leaders are encouraging talks among rank-and-file members to find a solution, but neither side can agree on when exactly the subsidies should be dealt with. GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN ENTERS 3RD DAY AS SENATE STALEMATE OVER OBAMACARE SUBSIDIES DRAGS ON When asked what the appetite for tackling the expiring subsidies was within the Senate GOP, Thune said it was “a mixed bag.” “But like I said, you know, there may be a path forward,” he said. “I think a lot of it would come down to what the White House lands on that, but certainly not without reforms. And we all know the program is broken, it needs to be fixed, so that would be certainly a starting place.” Schumer wants an additional bulwark added to a deal: President Donald Trump has to sign off on it, given that there may be resistance among House Republicans to extending the Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies. “Look, the bottom line on that is we need the president to be involved. [House Speaker Mike] Johnson and a whole lot of his caucus don’t like the ACA, don’t want to do the extensions,” he said. “A lot of Republican senators in the Senate do, but they’re not enough. Good is not enough.” DEMOCRATS REFUSE TO BUDGE OVER OBAMACARE FIGHT AS SHUTDOWN DRAGS ON “You need Johnson and you need Trump to get it done,” he continued. “So that’s the bottom line.” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that “we’re talking to the Democrats.” When asked if he would work to make a deal with them on ObamaCare subsidies to reopen the government, he said, “Yeah.” “I’d like to see a deal made for great healthcare,” Trump said. “I want to see great healthcare, I’m a Republican, but I want to see healthcare much more so than the Democrats.” Schumer fired back in a statement that Trump’s “claim isn’t true — but if he’s finally ready to work with Democrats, we’ll be at the table.” And Fetterman, who has routinely voted against shutting the government down regardless of which party controlled the Senate, recognized that without Trump’s greenlight, a deal would go nowhere. He gave the example of a bipartisan border deal negotiated between Republicans and Democrats in the Senate in 2023 that was sidelined under orders from Trump. “It got tanked. Trump tanked that, and he wasn’t the president, and he didn’t have to sign that thing,” Fetterman said. “So what I’m saying, where’s the leverage? Because ultimately, doesn’t he have to sign off on any of it anyway?”
White House rebukes ‘egregious’ court order blocking troop deployments amid Portland unrest
The White House blasted a federal judge who temporarily blocked the Trump administration twice from dispatching National Guard troops to Oregon in October, asserting that President Donald Trump has “undisputed authority” to deploy troops to Portland amid ongoing immigration protests there. U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut issued a ruling late Sunday blocking the Trump administration from sending California National Guard troops to Oregon — or any other state as Trump advances his quest to deploy troops to major U.S. cities to tackle crime and to keep watch on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt discredited Immergut’s ruling Monday and said that the Trump administration was appealing the decision. FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP’S NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYMENT TO PORTLAND AMID CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGE “I think her opinion is untethered in reality and in the law,” Leavitt told reporters at a White House press briefing. “The president is using his authority as commander in chief, U.S. code 12 406, which clearly states that the president has the right to call up the National Guard and in cases where he deems it’s appropriate. … The ICE facility has been really under siege. And, by these anarchists outside, they have been, disrespecting law enforcement. They’ve been inciting violence.” Earlier Monday, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said that Immergut, a Trump appointee, has no authority to bar the president from sending troops to Oregon, and blasted the decision as one of the most “egregious” orders he’s ever seen. “A district court judge has no conceivable authority, whatsoever, to restrict the President and Commander-in-Chief from dispatching members of the US military to defend federal lives and property,” Miller said in a Monday X post. “Today’s judicial ruling is one of the most egregious and thunderous violations of constitutional order we have ever seen — and is yet the latest example of unceasing efforts to nullify the 2024 election by fiat.” “Remember: all of this is about preventing the removal of illegal alien trespassers from the United States at any cost,” Miller said. The Sunday temporary restraining order came just hours after Trump signed off on mobilizing California National Guard troops to Portland, despite Immergut’s initial restraining order Saturday blocking the deployment of Oregon National Guard troops to the city. NATIONAL GUARD NOW IN PLACE FOR OREGON AMID ‘CHAOS, DEATH AND DESTRUCTION’: TRUMP “How could bringing in federalized National Guard from California not be in direct contravention to the temporary restraining order I issued yesterday?” Immergut said during a telephone hearing Sunday. “Aren’t defendants simply circumventing my order?” Immergut said later. “Why is this appropriate?” The Trump administration has argued that the deployment of National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon, is necessary to defend ICE officers amid ongoing protests at an ICE facility there. Miller previously railed against Immergut’s first restraining order barring the Trump administration from sending troops to Portland, Oregon, and said Saturday the deployment is “an absolute necessity to defend our personnel, our laws, our government, public order and the Republic itself.” Miller’s posts come amid recent scrutiny for denouncing judges. For example, Democratic Rep. Daniel Goldman of New York singled out Miller and the “extreme right” for “threatening judges” who rule against Trump after a fire broke out at a South Carolina Circuit Court judge’s property Saturday. Trump’s effort to deploy National Guard troops to U.S. cities comes just after he told military leaders in September that they could be tasked with neutralizing the “enemy within” and that Democratic-led cities where he’s sending troops could serve as “training grounds.” TRUMP VS NEWSOM SHOWDOWN LANDS IN COURT WITH FAMILY TIES TO THE NATION’S HIGHEST BENCH “We should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military, National Guard, but military,” Trump said Tuesday to top military leaders in Quantico, Virginia. The effort is controversial, given that the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 puts restrictions on deploying U.S. troops to enforce domestic law. National Guard troops are reserve forces that are mobilized in response to state and federal operations, including natural disasters, and typically are overseen by their respective state governments. However, Trump controversially deployed National Guard troops from states to respond to immigration riots in June, bypassing California Gov. Gavin Newsom to dispatch the troops. Newsom responded to Immegut’s order late Sunday, and said: “We just won in court — again.” “Trump’s abuse of power won’t stand,” Newsom said in a post on X. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Mike Johnson fires back at Hakeem Jeffries’ ‘desperate’ call for televised shutdown debate
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., dismissed the top House Democrat’s demand for a primetime debate on the government shutdown. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., wrote to Johnson on Monday morning challenging him to a debate on the House floor “any day this week,” to be broadcast live “to the American people.” Johnson suggested he would not entertain that, however, calling the move a “publicity stunt” to reporters that same morning. DEMOCRATS REFUSE TO BUDGE OVER OBAMACARE FIGHT AS SHUTDOWN DRAGS ON “When the poll says that about 13% of the people approve of your messaging, then you make desperate pleas for attention, and that’s what Hakeem Jeffries has done,” Johnson said. “We debated all this on the House floor. As you know, before we passed our bill, he spoke for seven or eight minutes. He had all of his colleagues lined up. They gave it their best shot, and they argued, and they stomped their feet and screamed at us and all that. And still we passed the bill in bipartisan fashion and sent it over to the Senate.” The House speaker was referring to a short-term federal funding bill aimed at keeping the government running through Nov. 21, in order to give congressional negotiators more time to pass fiscal year (FY) 2026 spending priorities. That bill passed the House largely along party lines — with two Republicans opposed and one Democrat in support — but has stalled in the Senate. “The House has done its job. I’m not going to let Hakeem try to pretend for theatrics. I mean, this is a [Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.] decision. The ball is in the Senate’s court now,” Johnson said. “We don’t need to waste time on that nonsense. Those debates have been had. I mean, Hakeem is a friend and a colleague. I respect him, but we all know what he’s trying to do there.” The government is in its sixth day of the current shutdown, with Senate Democrats having rejected the GOP-led funding plan four times. FIRST BIPARTISAN SHUTDOWN NEGOTIATIONS SURFACE ON CAPITOL HILL AFTER FUNDING BILL BLOCKED AGAIN Democrats in the House and Senate, infuriated by being sidelined in federal funding talks, have been pushing for an extension of Obamacare subsidies enhanced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those enhancements would expire by the end of 2025 without congressional action. “Democrats have been clear and consistent in our position. The country needs immediate, bipartisan negotiations between the White House and congressional leadership in order to reach an enlightened spending agreement that reopens the government, improves the lives of hardworking American taxpayers and addresses the Republican healthcare crisis,” Jeffries wrote to Johnson on Monday. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Unfortunately, Donald Trump and your party decided to shut down the government, because the GOP refuses to provide healthcare to everyday Americans. Further, you have kept House Republicans on vacation instead of working with Democrats to reopen the government.”
Schumer’s shutdown scheme explained: Dems double down on Obamacare credits as standoff drags on
The government shutdown entered its sixth day on Monday, and Senate Democrats are so firmly planted in their position that unless there is a deal on expiring ObamaCare tax credits, they will not reopen the government. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus have largely remained unflinching in their demand that Republicans and President Donald Trump agree to a deal on the tax credits, which are set to expire by the end of the year. It’s one of several demands they made in their counter-proposal to the GOP’s continuing resolution (CR), and appears to be the one that they believe to be the most attainable. Their other demands, repealing the healthcare section of the “big, beautiful bill” and putting guardrails on the rescissions, are a nonstarter for Republicans and the White House. GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN DRAGS INTO WEEKEND AS SENATE DEMOCRATS BLOCK GOP PLAN Still, no party that has introduced unrelated demands into a government shutdown fight has walked away with a victory. The last government shutdown in early 2019 saw Trump demand that Democrats provide funding for his border wall, and he walked away empty-handed. Throughout last week, Senate Democrats maintained a posture that they wanted Republicans to come to the negotiating table on the subsidies, which are set to sunset at the end of this year. Conversations among members are ongoing, which both Schumer and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., have encouraged. “We want Democrats to talk with Republicans,” Schumer said. “And so it’s a good thing.” ERNST DEMANDS $2T IN FEDERAL CUTS, URGES TRUMP TEAM TO ‘MAKE DC SQUEAL’ AMID SHUTDOWN FIGHT But, he countered that Republicans hadn’t offered “anything really new — just the same old stuff.” “And so, nothing new on [ObamaCare], nothing on rescissions,” he said. “And so, look, Democrats want to go back and negotiate again, but they got to negotiate with something, get something in return.” Democrats’ initial push was to make the subsidies — created during the COVID-19 pandemic to ease the cost of healthcare premiums available through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — permanent. The subsidies were later enhanced through the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022 when Democrats last had a trifecta in Washington. That change removed the income cap on the subsidies. Republicans have said that they are interested in working out something on the tax credits, but that there should be reforms to the program. GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN SPARKS GOP PLAN TO PENALIZE LAWMAKERS WITH NEW SALARY TAX “The ObamaCare enhanced, or COVID subsidies, are inflationary, and rates have been going up because that program is fundamentally flawed in ways designed,” Thune said. “That doesn’t mean it can’t be reformed and fixed. It can, but we can’t get to that conversation until we get the government back open.” Lawmakers are set to again vote on Republicans’ CR, and it is again expected to fail for a fifth time Monday, given that no deal was struck over the weekend. Both sides agree that a deal won’t come from the top level, but will have to be borne from negotiations among rank-and-file members. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., has been directly involved in the member-level negotiations and said that Republicans did want to tackle the ObamaCare issue. But, Democrats have to agree to reopen the government first. “It would be nice if Sen. Schumer could say his shutdown is complete, but we suspect that it will take members of his conference to make that decision on his behalf,” Rounds said.
Army veteran-turned-MAGA rising star jumps into fiery GOP Senate primary as polls tighten
Republican Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas announced Monday that he’s running for the Senate, jumping into an already bitter battle between incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and primary challenger Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. “The U.S. Senate race in Texas must be about more than a petty feud between two men who have spent months trading barbs,” Hunt said in a statement as he launched his campaign. “With my candidacy, this race will finally be about what’s most important — Texas.” Hunt’s entry into the race turns up the heat on an already combustible battle between Cornyn, who’s running in 2026 for a fifth six-year term representing red state Texas in the Senate, and Paxton, the MAGA firebrand who’s an ally of President Donald Trump. Hunt, a West Point graduate who flew Apache helicopters during his Army service and a rising MAGA star who is in his second term representing a safe Republican district in the Houston-area, emphasized in his statement, “My record speaks louder than words. I am the most consistently conservative legislator representing Texas in Congress.” IS CORNYN CLOSING THE GAP WITH PAXTON IN THE GOP’S MOST COMBUSTIBLE 2026 SENATE PRIMARY? Cornyn, who is backed by Senate Majority Leader John Thune and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, trailed Paxton by double digits at the beginning of the summer. TRUMP’S SHADOW LOOMS LARGE IN 2025 ELECTION SHOWDOWNS But Cornyn has narrowed the polling gap in recent weeks, thanks in part to a massive ad blitz by allies that spotlighted the numerous controversies that have battered Paxton over the past decade. Trump, whose endorsement would make a major impact in the Texas primary battle, has remained neutral to date. Hunt, pointing to his backing of Trump as the then-former president launched his 2024 White House comeback, touted that “I was the first person in the nation to endorse President Trump, and I have remained steadfast in my commitment to the people of Texas.” FOUR KEY SENATE SEATS THE GOP AIMS TO FLIP IN 2026 MIDTERMS Hunt had been mulling a Senate run for months and sources confirmed to Fox News earlier this year that the congressman had made his case to Trump’s political team that he’s the only person who could win both a GOP primary and a general election. And an aligned super PAC spent big bucks this summer to increase Hunt’s name recognition across the state of Texas. Paxton adviser Nick Maddux, in a statement to Fox News, said that “Primaries are good for our party and our voters, and Paxton and Hunt both know that Texans deserve better than the failed, anti-Trump record of John Cornyn.” But Cornyn campaign senior adviser Matt Mackowiak argued in a statement that “Rep. Wesley Hunt is a legend in his own mind. No one is happier this morning than the national Democrats who are watching Wesley continue his quixotic quest for relevancy, costing tens of millions of dollars that will endanger the Trump agenda from being passed.” Hunt’s entry into the GOP nomination race could prevent the winner of next March’s primary from winning a majority of the vote, which would trigger a runoff election two and a half months later. Democrats are hoping for a Paxton victory in the primary, which they believe would make next year’s general election more competitive. It’s been nearly four decades since a Democrat won a Senate election in Texas. You have to go back to the 1988 re-election victory by then-Sen. Lloyd Bentsen. Former Rep. Colin Allred, who lost last November’s Senate election in Texas to conservative firebrand Sen. Ted Cruz by over 8 points, is running for the 2026 Democratic nomination, along with rising star Texas state Rep. James Talarico and former astronaut Terry Virts.
White House mocks ‘slob’ Pritzker after he rejects Trump’s National Guard plan
The White House ridiculed Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, D-Ill., on Monday for rejecting President Donald Trump’s deployment of national guardsmen to Illinois to combat crime. “Chicago is descending into lawlessness and chaos because this slob cares more about boosting his anti-Trump creds on X than he does about making his city safe,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital. “Pritzker should be ashamed of himself,” she said. Pritzker, long considered a potential 2028 presidential candidate, said he refused to comply with the Trump administration’s “ultimatum” to deploy Illinois National Guard troops, calling it “absolutely outrageous and un-American.” “We must now start calling this what it is: Trump’s Invasion,” Pritzker said. PRITZKER SAYS TRUMP ORDERING 400 MEMBERS OF THE TEXAS NATIONAL GUARD TO ILLINOIS, OREGON AND OTHER LOCATIONS After Pritzker refused to deploy his own troops, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott authorized Trump to send 400 Texas National Guard members to Illinois and Oregon. TRUMP ESCALATES FIGHT WITH PRITZKER AS BLOODY CHICAGO WEEKEND SPARKS TROOP WARNING Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to block the Trump administration from deploying the National Guard troops to Chicago. Abbott said he deployed Texas troops to “ensure safety for federal officials” in the blue states where protesters have rejected the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) deportation efforts. “You can either fully enforce protection for federal employees or get out of the way and let Texas Guard do it,” Abbott said. Pritzker said the Trump administration never contacted him directly about the Texas deployment but that on Sunday, the Department of War warned him to “call up your troops, or we will.” “For Donald Trump, this has never been about safety,” Pritzker said. “This is about control.” Pritzker has become a leading voice rejecting Trump’s sweeping second-term agenda, particularly over the past few months as the president threatened to deploy national guardsmen to Chicago. “It started with federal agents, it will soon include deploying federalized members of the Illinois National Guard against our wishes, and it will now involve sending in another state’s military troops,” Pritzker said, while urging Abbott, a Trump loyalist, to refuse to coordinate. Pritzker criticized the Trump administration for using the National Guard as “political props” and urged Americans to “speak up and help stop this madness.” “I want to be clear: there is no need for military troops on the ground in the State of Illinois,” Pritzker said. “State, county and local law enforcement have been working together and coordinating to ensure public safety around the Broadview ICE facility, and to protect people’s ability to peacefully exercise their constitutional rights.” Anti-ICE protesters have gathered for weeks at the Broadview ICE facility, demanding transparency about the conditions inside the holding center and rejecting the Trump administration’s deportation rollout in Chicago. “I will not call up our National Guard to further Trump’s acts of aggression against our people,” Pritzker said. “In Illinois, we will do everything within our power to look out for our neighbors, uphold the Constitution and defend the rule of law.” Illinois Democrats, including Pritzker, Johnson and Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, have railed against Trump since he told his Cabinet in August that he’s “willing to go to Chicago, which is in big trouble.” Pritzker and his fellow Democrats responded by labeling Trump a “wannabe dictator” as the White House for months considered deploying the U.S. National Guard to Chicago. The move is part of the Trump administration’s attempt to crack down on crime nationwide and protect federal officers who are leading deportation efforts in major U.S. cities. A federal judge blocked Trump’s efforts to deploy the U.S. National Guard troops to Oregon on Sunday. Trump deployed the U.S. National Guard to Washington, D.C., in early August to thwart crime in the nation’s capital. Prior to that deployment, Trump deployed the national guardsmen to Los Angeles during anti-ICE protests that devolved into riots in June.
Stephen Miller trashes Dem who blamed ‘extreme right’ for fire at South Carolina judge’s home: ‘You are vile’
White House deputy chief of staff for policy and Homeland Security advisor Stephen Miller lambasted Democratic Rep. Daniel Goldman of New York after the congressman blamed a fire at a South Carolina Circuit Court judge’s property on the political right. Goldman blamed “the extreme right” for the inferno at the home of Judge Diane Schafer Goodstein, asserting that it was an act of arson. “Trump, @StephenM and MAGA-world have been doxxing and threatening judges who rule against Trump, including Judge Goodstein. Today, someone committed arson on the Judge’s home, severely injuring her husband and son. Will Trump speak out against the extreme right that did this??” Goldman said in a post on X. Miller fired back, excoriating the Democratic lawmaker in a scathing rebuke. STEPHEN MILLER: THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS A ‘DOMESTIC, EXTREMIST ORGANIZATION’ “You are vile. Deeply warped and vile. While the Trump Administration has launched the first-ever government-wide effort to combat and prosecute illegal doxing, sinister threats and political violence you continue to push despicable lies, demented smears, malicious defamation and foment unrest. Despicable,” Miller declared. “Meanwhile, the Democrat AG nominee in Virginia is fantasizing about murdering his opponents and a Biden federal judge is showing radical leniency to a monster who tried to assassinate a Supreme Court Justice. While you post your libelous madness, we will keep focused on delivering public safety and fighting domestic terror,” he concluded. SOUTH CAROLINA AG DEMANDS DEATH PENALTY AGAINST CAREER CRIMINAL CHARGED IN COLLEGE STUDENT’S MURDER Goldman shot back at Miller. “Now try answering my question. If you are trying to combat political violence, why don’t you condemn the political violence against a judge who ruled against you and your admin? It’s pretty simple: do you condemn all political violence or only that against your supporters?” the lawmaker wrote. SOUTH CAROLINA COURT MOVES FORWARD EXECUTION OF COP KILLER WHO SAYS MOST LAWS ARE UNCONSTITUTIONAL The fire took place Saturday, destroying the home that the Post and Courier reported is owned by Judge Diane Schafer Goodstein and her husband, former South Carolina state lawmaker Arnold Goodstein,. Footage of the blaze showed a massive plume of smoke billowing from the home, which was engulfed in flames. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP FITSNews reported that South Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice John Kittredge wrote in a message that “Judge Goodstein was walking on the beach when the fire started,” but that “Her husband, Arnie, was in the house with children and perhaps grandchildren. The family had to escape by jumping from a window or balcony. I’m told there were injuries from the fall, such as broken legs.” “Arnie’s injuries may have been the most serious, for he was airlifted to the hospital,” Kittredge communicated, according to the outlet.
Supreme Court declines to take up Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking appeal
The Supreme Court declined to take up Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal in her sex trafficking case, quashing the last hope the former girlfriend and associate of Jeffrey Epstein had of fighting her 2021 conviction. The high court revealed in an order list on Monday that it would not hear her case this term, leaving in place a denial by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. Maxwell, 63, was convicted by a jury in New York of five counts involving sex trafficking of a minor and conspiracy. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison. BONDI UNDER SIEGE AFTER DOJ REVEALS NO EPSTEIN CLIENT LIST In her appeal, Maxwell argued her conviction should be tossed out for several reasons, including that a plea deal Epstein reached with the federal government in 2007 immunized her and that statutes of limitations had run out. In the deal in question, Epstein pleaded guilty to charges in Florida of soliciting prostitution from a minor, and he registered as a sex offender as part of the agreement. Epstein later faced federal charges but died before he could stand trial. Authorities have said he died by suicide. The plea deal included a clause about co-conspirators, which Maxwell argued protected her from prosecution. The 2nd Circuit disagreed, and that finding will now remain in place. The Supreme Court’s denial comes as the Epstein case continues to roil the Trump administration. The DOJ has faced pressure from MAGA loyalists to publish new information about the matter after Trump and top officials at the DOJ, prior to them taking office, had promoted the idea that the government was hiding undisclosed information about sexual predators tied to Epstein. EPSTEIN DOCUMENTS RELEASED BY HOUSE DEMOCRATS NAME ELON MUSK, STEVE BANNON AND PETER THIEL The president has brushed off the Epstein case files as unimportant, angering a faction of his base, while the DOJ has made futile attempts to release more information on Epstein. Maxwell, for her part, has been serving out her sentence in a federal prison in Tallahassee, Florida, but was transferred to an all-women minimum-security facility in Bryan, Texas, days after meeting with DOJ Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. Blanche had interviewed Maxwell as part of the department’s broader attempt to extract more information about Epstein from untapped sources. The DOJ has denied extending Maxwell any preferential treatment. Maxwell’s legal team has also expressed hope of receiving a presidential pardon. Over the summer, her attorney said she had not asked Trump for one but would welcome any relief. Asked in July about pardoning Maxwell, Trump said it was not on his radar. “I’m allowed to do it, but it’s something I have not thought about,” Trump said. In a statement provided to Fox News Digital, Maxwell’s attorney David Markus suggested his client still has other options to fight her conviction. “We’re, of course, deeply disappointed that the Supreme Court declined to hear Ghislaine Maxwell’s case,” Markus said. “But this fight isn’t over. Serious legal and factual issues remain, and we will continue to pursue every avenue available to ensure that justice is done.”
Self-described ‘unapologetic supporter of Israel’ John Fetterman weighs in as Trump seeks to broker peace deal
Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, a staunch and unflinching Israel supporter, wants Hamas to accept the peace deal President Donald Trump is aiming to help broker, and is calling out pro-Palestinian protesters for not demanding that Hamas agree to the peace deal. “Good morning to everyone except all the protesters who aren’t protesting for Hamas to accept the peace deal,” the senator declared in a Sunday post on X. In a post on Friday, Fetterman shared a screenshot of a Mediaite headline that read, “CNN’s Dana Bash Wonders Why Pro-Palestine Movement Isn’t Pressuring Hamas to Accept Trump Deal” — in his post, the senator commented, “For those protesters: Hamas > Peace,” adding, “No flotilla, blocking a highway or disrupting public events demanding Hamas to take the peace deal.” NEW POLL REVEALS HOW PENNSYLVANIA DEMS FEEL ABOUT FETTERMAN BUCKING HIS PARTY Israel went to war against Hamas in response to the heinous October 7, 2023, attack in which terrorists committed atrocities including mass murder, rape and kidnapping. But Trump posted a statement on Truth Social last week in which Hamas declared willingness to negotiate a deal including the release of all hostages, dead and alive. “Hamas must choose peace or its own destruction. Send the hostages home, now. As an unapologetic supporter of Israel, the Gaza War must end to have peace and security for Israel and Palestinians. Politics aside, credit to @POTUS’ peace plan to get to this encouraging point,” Fetterman noted in a Friday post on X, sharing a screenshot of a Reuters headline that said, “Hamas says it agrees to release all Israeli hostages under Trump Gaza plan.” Trump indicated in a Sunday evening Truth Social post, “There have been very positive discussions with Hamas, and Countries from all over the World (Arab, Muslim, and everyone else) this weekend, to release the Hostages, end the War in Gaza but, more importantly, finally have long sought PEACE in the Middle East.” FETTERMAN REJECTS ‘NAZI,’ ‘FASCIST’ LABELS FOR OPPONENTS WHILE AFFIRMING PARTY LOYALTY Later in the post, he warned, “TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE OR, MASSIVE BLOODSHED WILL FOLLOW — SOMETHING THAT NOBODY WANTS TO SEE!” Fetterman accused the Democratic Party of an “ongoing and escalating betrayal of Israel,” in a post on X last month. Sharing a screenshot of a headline from The Hill that read, “Pair of Senate Democrats charge Israel with ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Palestinians,” Fetterman firmly pushed back. FETTERMAN DEFENDS TRUMP’S ‘TASTEFUL’ $200M WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM MAKEOVER AMID DEM CRITICISM CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “I reject this in the strongest terms. My party’s ongoing and escalating betrayal of Israel is gross and outrageous,” he asserted.
More lawmakers say they’re rejecting paychecks as government shutdown drags on
A growing number of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have declared they’re forgoing their paychecks as the government shutdown drags on. The federal government has been shut down for nearly a week after Senate Democrats rejected Republicans’ plan to fund agencies through Nov. 21 multiple times. Reps. Chip Roy, R-Texas, Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, Tom Barrett, R-Mich., Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, and Rob Bresnahan, R-Pa., are among the Republicans who wrote to the Chief Administrative Officer of the U.S. House of Representatives asking for their pay to be withheld during a shutdown. SHUTDOWN EXPLAINED: WHO WORKS, WHO DOESN’T AND HOW MUCH IT COSTS Democrats like Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and Lou Correa, D-Calif., have requested the same. But lawmakers requesting their pay be withheld cannot forgo it altogether, because federal law requires them to be paid. Article I of the Constitution states, “The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States.” Further, the 27th Amendment prevents any changes to congressional pay until after the next election. GOP ACCUSES DEMS OF RISKING SHUTDOWN TO RESTORE ‘ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT HEALTHCARE’ Most House and Senate lawmakers are paid $174,000 yearly — a figure that has not changed since 2009 — while members of congressional leadership can earn more. A source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital that members of Congress can elect to have their pay withheld until a shutdown is over, but they must receive that as backpay when the government is funded again. Meanwhile, Rep. Joe Morelle, D-N.Y., the top Democrat on the Committee for House Administration, told Bloomberg Government last week that those checks can go into an account separate from lawmakers’ usual salaries. He told the outlet, “It’s an administrative way of withholding pay for people who choose to.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Congressional staffers, meanwhile, automatically miss paychecks if their pay period falls during a government shutdown — but that is also backpaid when the shutdown ends. Some lawmakers, like Sens. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., have announced they would donate their paychecks for the duration of the shutdown. “Each day the government remains closed, I will be donating my salary to the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, which provides help to vulnerable populations who may be impacted by this reckless choice,” Moody said in a statement last week.