Contributing Writers

The U.S. is positioning ground-capable forces in the Middle East after Iran rejected a ceasefire proposal Wednesday, a shift that gives Washington new — though limited and high-risk — options for potential operations inside Iran. Military experts say the deployments are not a precursor to a large-scale invasion but instead position the U.S. for targeted, short-duration missions, options that have taken on new relevance as diplomatic off-ramps narrow.

House Republicans are lurching forward with a second budget reconciliation package, ending months of speculation about whether the chamber would attempt to marshal a second GOP-only megabill through Congress before November’s midterm elections.

A Florida GOP gubernatorial candidate is pushing a “permanent” federal ban on Muslim immigration, arguing Islam is incompatible with American law and values.Former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, who launched his gubernatorial bid in the Sunshine State last summer, said Tuesday he would propose and promote a federal ban on Muslim immigration that is “permanent and comprehensive.

New Jersey Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill attended a Ramadan event at a Paterson mosque led by an Imam who fought deportation for years over alleged ties to Hamas.Sherrill posted photos of her visit to the Islamic Center of Passaic County on social media, wearing a hijab and taking selfies. In one image, she is seen speaking with the mosque’s longtime leader, Imam Mohammad Qatanani.

Florida Democrats on Tuesday flipped control of a long-vacant Republican-held state House seat in a Palm Beach-anchored district that includes Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s home turf.The Associated Press reports that Democrat Emily Gregory defeated Republican Jon Maples in a special election in Florida’s House District 87, in the race to fill the seat left vacant last August, when GOP state Rep. Mike Caruso resigned to become Palm Beach County clerk and comptroller.

Illinois’ Democratic Governor JB Pritzker recently highlighted the calm of Chicago’s shore with Lake Michigan in a video he posted across his social media platforms — a nearby area where an illegal alien shot and killed a college student last week.”Lots of runners coming by,” Pritzker said in a video he posted to Facebook last September.”Lakefront path, Lakefront Trail — absolutely gorgeous. Just gorgeous. Look at that overpass. A great lakefront.

Senate Republicans again didn’t budge against Senate Democrats’ bid to handcuff President Donald Trump’s war powers in Iran.Senate Democrats again forced a vote on a war powers resolution to rein in Trump’s military authority in Iran, which Senate Republicans again blocked. It’s also been less than a week since Democrats triggered a war powers resolution in their bid to force the Trump administration to publicly explain the ongoing conflict.

The Senate confirmed Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., as the ninth Homeland Security secretary, capping a sprint to replace embattled outgoing Secretary Kristi Noem.It also caps off a 13-year career in Congress that began in the House and saw Mullin score a seat in the Senate in 2021 where he became the de facto bridge between both chambers, helping to build trust between the House and Senate during last year’s push to pass the “big, beautiful bill.

A top House Democrat is pushing back on calls for a probe into Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, hiring a wanted fugitive as a security guard before he was fatally shot in a standoff with SWAT officers. “I don’t know if that’s the House’s place to investigate,” Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., told Fox News Digital in a recent interview.

A phalanx of reporters and photographers trailed House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, out of the Capitol and across the Capitol grounds last Thursday morning.The Trump administration planned to ask Congress for an additional $200 billion to cover the cost of the war in Iran. Passing such a plan might be dicey. Especially vaulting the 60 vote barricade in the Senate. But House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is ratcheting up pressure on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Democrats in the upper chamber as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown creeps into a sixth week with no end in sight.House GOP leaders are poised to hold votes Thursday on a pair of bills aimed at putting Democrats on the spot for the shutdown, Fox News Digital has learned.

A group giving a voice to victims impacted by illegal immigrant crime says that more than 300 families who have been the victim of weak border policies are urging members of Congress to support the nomination of Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., to serve as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

A startup putting high-tech collars on cows could soon be worth more than $2 billion, as investors bet the technology could help farmers cut costs and cope with labor shortages.Halter, a New Zealand-based company, is in talks to raise new funding in a deal expected to be led by billionaire Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, according to a Bloomberg report. The round is attracting heavy investor interest and is close to being filled, though final details are still being negotiated.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., condemned President Donald Trump’s plan to deploy U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to U.S. airports on Sunday.Schumer made the comments while speaking on the Senate floor Sunday, saying Trump’s decision is “impulsive” and could make the situation at airports worse.”Today, Donald Trump and [Tom] Homan are saying they will deploy ICE agents to airports starting on Monday. This is really disturbing.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is under fire for backing a plan that would slash New York’s estate tax exemption by nearly 90%, a move opponents say could drag middle-class families into a tax burden long aimed at the rich.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s repeated claims in recent weeks promoting his state as more tax-friendly than Florida and Texas don’t add up, according to an expert who ran the numbers.”Texas and Florida are the REAL high-tax states,” Newsom recently posted on X, explaining onstage at SXSW in Austin, Texas that California has the most “progressive tax rates in America” while taking shots at the tax burden in Florida and Texas.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., survived a key test vote on Sunday on his way to becoming the next Homeland Security chief. Mullin, who was tapped by President Donald Trump to be the next Department of Homeland Security secretary, still has one more vote to go, and likely won’t be confirmed until Monday evening.

President Donald Trump issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Iran on Saturday, warning the U.S. would strike its power plants if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened.”If Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday urged a judge to dissolve the injunction that prevents the Trump administration from detaining Kilmar Abrego Garcia again so he can quickly be deported to Liberia.”Dissolution is also warranted because the Court’s Memorandum Order failed to acknowledge that the Court’s own prior injunction against removal is the sole impediment to Petitioner’s prompt removal,” the DOJ wrote in a court filing obtained by Fox News Digital.

FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently confirmed agents from the U.S. Border Patrol’s San Diego Sector arrested two Mexican fugitives with active warrants for homicide and lewd acts upon a child.Agents conducted coordinated surveillance Feb. 26 targeting Silvia Del Rosario Torres-Castro, a Mexican national wanted in Mexico for homicide.

Senate Republicans blocked an attempt by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to only pay Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers as the Homeland Security shutdown drags on.Despite being in the minority and not controlling the Senate floor, Schumer used an arcane tactic to force a procedural vote to allow the Senate to get onto the bill in Democrats’ move to shift the narrative of the ongoing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., accused Senate Democrats of not having “any excuses” to continue blocking Homeland Security funding as Republicans and the White House continue to make repeated offers to reopen the government.”The opportunity to actually drive this to a conclusion is there,” Thune said at a news conference Saturday in response to Fox News Digital.

The wife of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani reportedly celebrated terrorists in a series of social media posts as a teenager and young adult as scrutiny over her online history continues. In September 2017, Rama Duwaji posted a photo on her Tumblr account of Leila Khaled, longtime active leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) who participated in two plane hijackings in 1969 and 1970.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and his administration are presiding over a city in serious financial straits. Chicago, the nation’s third-largest city, is facing a corporate fund budget gap of more than $1 billion, while its 2025 fiscal year is projected to close with a roughly $150 million deficit with about two-fifths of the budget going toward debt service and pension costs.

Russian intelligence-linked hackers are targeting users of popular messaging apps like Signal, gaining access to private messages and impersonating victims in a sweeping global campaign, according to a joint warning from the FBI and U.S. cybersecurity officials.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer says a string of recent terrorist attacks by naturalized citizens exposes serious flaws in U.S. immigration law, arguing it’s “more imperative now than ever” to pass the Stop Citizenship Abuse and Misrepresentation (SCAM) Act to allow the government to remove “America-hating terrorists” from the country.First introduced by Emmer in January, the SCAM Act would expand the U.S.

The Department of Justice has begun investigating nonprofit groups that the Trump administration says are involved in organizing or funding political violence and destructive protests, including those linked to Antifa, sources familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital.The effort involves the FBI and IRS, the sources said, and stemmed from directives by President Donald Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi to probe political violence.