Author: Daniel

A Democrat congressional candidate’s history of violent rhetoric is coming under fire after his public vow to “kick the s—” out of senior Donald Trump aide Stephen Miller resurfaced online.

“Stephen Miller needs to be THUMPED! That guy’s a freaking worm. I would be willing to go to jail for – I mean, how much [time] would I get for just cracking him a couple of times?” North Carolina congressional candidate Richard Ojeda said while recording one of his regular “Ojeda LIVE” live streams in March 2022.

“I’d be willing to go to jail to kick the s— out of him,” he added. “I’d be more than happy to find myself in an elevator with him and I’d whoop his a– from the first floor to the fifth floor and be happy to go to jail.”

The Trump administration was quick to denounce the rhetoric.

“Unfortunately, Democrats disgustingly supporting political violence is nothing new,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai told Fox News Digital. “Neither Stephen Miller nor any other member of the administration is going to back down from delivering on President Trump’s agenda to Make America Great Again. In the meantime, Richard Ojeda should seek help.”

LIBERAL MSNBC PANELIST CALLS FOR VIRGINIA AG CANDIDATE TO DROP OUT OVER VIOLENT TEXT MESSAGES

Speaking in response to the backlash his comments have garnered, Ojeda said that despite his language, he does not believe that violence is the answer. 

“The language I used in that video reflects my discontent with how political figures like Steven [sic] Miller are steering the nation I served for 24 years in the U.S. Army. I believe his conduct and the conduct of many who enable him to be a betrayal of our oath that I can not accept,” the Democrat candidate said in a statement he sent to Fox News Digital.

“That said, political violence has no place in our society. I know that better than most. When I first ran for state senate, I was beaten nearly to death on a creek bank simply for putting my name on the ballot in defense of my community. My family wasn’t sure I’d make it out of the ER that night, and I won my seat from a hospital bed. I survived my attack, but as we know many others haven’t. Political violence has spiraled toward darkness in our country and I would not use those same words today.” 

Ojeda also pointed to the fact that he grew up around coal miners, people who “talk tough and don’t mince words about how they feel.”

Criticism of Ojeda’s controversial rhetoric comes amid heightened GOP concerns surrounding inflammatory and violent political rhetoric in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination and multiple attempted assassinations on President Donald Trump. Even Democrats have warned that “violent words precede violent actions” and that “we should have a culture of condemning any rhetoric that glorifies violence.” 

Meanwhile, this week, Virginia’s Democrat candidate for attorney general, Jay Jones, came under fire after text messages surfaced of him saying his Republican colleague should get “two bullets to the head.” 

Ojeda is running to represent North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District in the House of Representatives. A veteran who served in the prestigious 82nd Airborne Division, he had a short stint in the West Virginia state Senate before attempting multiple failed runs for Congress at both the House and Senate level. Those runs include two failed bids for the U.S. House in 2014 and 2018, followed by a short-lived run for the presidency that preceded an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate in 2020. 

Amid his current race, Ojeda has raised more money than any other Democratic candidate he is facing in the upcoming North Carolina Democratic primary, according to Federal Election Commission records.

DEMS FACE BACKLASH FOR VIOLENT RHETORIC AFTER DEADLY ICE SHOOTING: ‘MUST STOP’

In his comments to Fox News Digital, Ojeda noted that the remarks being referenced are four years old, and they were made “long before” he ever considered running for Congress, even though he had already run three failed bids up to that point. He also reiterated multiple times that he condemns political violence.

“I’ll admit I was angry then, and I’m still angry now. Angry at what people like Stephen Miller are doing to this nation,” Ojeda concluded in his comments to Fox News Digital. “The fact that he holds a place in our history books disgusts me, and I think it disgusts a lot of Americans. Steven Miller is a racist.”

WATCH: LAWMAKERS WRESTLE WITH HOW TO APPROACH HATEFUL POLITICAL RHETORIC IN WAKE OF KIRK ASSASSINATION

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Prior to his assassination last month, Kirk warned “assassination culture” was spreading on the left in a post on social media. At the time, months before his death, Kirk’s post cited survey data showing 55% of left-leaning respondents said killing Trump could be justified. 

Kirk called the violent momentum a “natural outgrowth of left-wing protest culture,” and accused the left of tolerating “violence and mayhem,” while also slamming “the cowardice” of local prosecutors and school officials for their complicity in promoting the trend of violent attitudes.

The Republican Governors Association is dishing out an additional $1.5 million to boost Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the GOP nominee facing off against former Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger in November’s ballot box gubernatorial showdown.

The new funding from the RGA, the top group that supports Republicans in races for governor, comes after explosive revelations in Virginia’s attorney general race that the GOP is aiming to leverage up and down the ballot.

Democratic Party attorney general nominee Jay Jones has acknowledged and apologized for texts he sent in 2022, where he compared then-Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert to mass murderers Adolf Hitler and Pol Pot, adding that if he was given two bullets, he would use both against the GOP lawmaker to shoot him in the head.

Jones has been in crisis mode since the texts were first reported last Friday by the National Review, and a chorus of calls from Republicans urges Jones to drop out of the race.

DEMOCRATIC VIRGINIA ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINEE CANCELS EVENTS AMID CONTROVERSY

Earle-Sears, who trails Spanberger in all the latest public opinion polls in the race to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, is hammering her Democratic rival for not calling on Jones to drop out of the race. 

The Earle-Sears campaign launched a new ad, which was first reported on Tuesday by Fox News Digital, that aims to link Spanberger to Jones and calls on voters to “reject the insanity” and “vote Republican.”

TRUMP FRONT-AND-CENTER IN THESE 2025 ELECTION SHOWDOWNS

“It’s clearer now than ever that this race isn’t about Republicans versus Democrats. It’s common sense versus violence,” said Peyton Vogel, a spokesperson for Earle-Sears campaign, in a statement to Fox News. “The RGA understands what’s at stake here in Virginia, and their support will help us stand strong against Abigail Spanberger’s ticket of rage.”

The boost in funding by the RGA, first reported by Politico and confirmed by Fox News Digital, now matches the roughly $5 million investment by the rival Democratic Governors Association (DGA) to Spanberger. But the RGA’s infusion of cash is still far short of the nearly $11 million the group spent four years ago to help elect Youngkin.

Earle-Sears and Spanberger face off in a debate on Thursday evening, and it’s expected the controversy over Jones’ three-year-old texts will be discussed.

Virginia, along with New Jersey, are the only two states to hold gubernatorial showdowns in the year after a presidential election and the contests traditionally grab outsized attention and are viewed as political barometers ahead of the following year’s midterm elections.

DGA Communications Director Sam Newton, asked for a comment, argued that “Winsome Sears is running a disastrous campaign.”

Newton went on to say that “Instead of desperate spin to try to bail out a losing campaign, the RGA should ask Donald Trump a simple question: why does he still refuse to endorse or campaign with Sears?”

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Jones, who has apologized for the texts, has not held a campaign event since Friday evening.

Most Virginia Democrats, including the Commonwealth’s two U.S. senators, have condemned Jones’ comments, but have stopped short of urging him to drop out of the race.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a DGA vice chair who takes over as chair next year, told Fox News Digital that the text was “absolutely inappropriate.

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“I condemn political violence in all forms and the type of language that would discuss or promote political violence,” the governor emphasized in an interview in New Hampshire.

But asked about GOP calls for Jones to end his campaign, Beshear said, “I don’t know enough about that situation.”

Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller contributed reporting.

The Trump administration is ramping up the consequences of a lingering government shutdown as a lapse in appropriations enters its eighth day, with no signs of ending soon. 

Now, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has floated plans reviewed by Fox News Digital that would not guarantee that federal workers currently furloughed from the shutdown would receive backpay — upending a 2019 law from Trump’s first administration in the aftermath of a 35-day shutdown.

The threat of furloughed workers failing to receive backpay increases the stakes every day that Congress fails to pass a funding measure — and puts greater pressure on Democrats as President Donald Trump continues to accuse them of creating the crisis. 

SHUTDOWN IGNITES STRATEGIST DEBATE: WILL TRUMP AND GOP PAY THE POLITICAL PRICE IN 2026?

Trump told reporters Tuesday during a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney that Democrats were the ones who started the shutdown, even as Democrats have pinned the blame on Republicans, who control both the House and Senate. 

“This is like a kamikaze attack. They have nothing to lose,” Trump said of the Democrats, referencing suicide missions by Japanese aviators during World War II.  

Additionally, Trump said it “depends on who we’re talking about” when asked about whether furloughed workers would be compensated after the shutdown ends.  

“The Democrats have put a lot of people in great risk and jeopardy, but it really depends on who you’re talking about,” Trump said. “But for the most part, we’re going to take care of our people. There are some people that really don’t deserve to be taken care of, and we’ll take care of them in a different way.”

The possibility of furloughed workers not receiving backpay, first reported by Axios, already comes as the Trump administration is moving to trim the federal government. For example, OMB already instructed agencies in September to craft plans for a reduction-in-force should a government shutdown occur. 

The move is a departure from the status quo, since furloughed employees typically return to their jobs once the government shutdown ends. 

HERE’S WHAT TRUMP WANTS TO DO TO RESHAPE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DURING THE SHUTDOWN

But Trump signaled that permanent cuts would emerge in the coming days, and that “a lot of those jobs will never come back.” 

“We have a lot of things that we’re going to eliminate and permanently eliminate,” Trump said Tuesday. 

The government entered a partial shutdown Oct. 1, amid a stalemate between Senate Republicans and Democrats over a short-term funding bill to keep the government open through Nov. 21. The House previously had passed the temporary spending bill in September. 

Three Senate Democrats joined Republicans to vote for the temporary funding bill on Sept. 30, but the measure didn’t hit the required 60 votes needed for passage.

Trump and Republicans assert Democrats want to provide illegal immigrants healthcare, due to a provision that would repeal part of Trump’s tax and domestic policy bill known as the “big, beautiful bill” that scaled back Medicaid eligibility for those who aren’t U.S. citizens. 

Even so, Democrats have pushed back against these claims, and have said they want to permanently extend certain Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. 

GOVERNMENT SHUTS DOWN AFTER CONGRESS DEADLOCKS ON SPENDING DEAL

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., accused Republicans of not taking the shutdown seriously and are “refusing to address the health care crisis they created.”

“It’s past time to get it done,” Schumer told reporters Tuesday. 

The White House said in a Wednesday statement to Fox News Digital that every shutdown comes with consequences and that Democrats “simply” voted to reopen the government. 

“Whether it’s our brave military members working without pay, business owners missing out on previously promised contract work, or families dealing with flight delays, everyone is paying the price for the Democrats’ radical demands,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said. 

The Senate is gearing up for another vote on a temporary spending bill Wednesday. 

Fox News’ Alex Miller contributed to this report. 

Florida state Rep. Kevin Steele has fielded a bill that would order institutions of higher education to rename roads after the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

The bill has real teeth since it stipulates that state funds should be withheld from schools that fail to comply.

“State funds shall be withheld from any state university or Florida College System institution whose board of trustees fails to redesignate the roadway or portion of a roadway listed in subsections (1) and (2), respectively, within 90 days after the effective date of this act,” the text of the proposal states.

CHARLIE KIRK HAS FLORIDA HIGHWAY NAMED AFTER HIM

Charlie Kirk, a prominent figure in the conservative movement, was assassinated in September while holding an event at Utah Valley University.

“I’m honored to file HB 113, which renames a street at each of the 40 public institutions in Florida to Charlie James Kirk,” Steele noted in a post on X.

TURNING POINT MONTANA STATE EVENT FEATURING RAMASWAMY, GIANFORTE DRAWS THOUSANDS

“My goal with this bill is to continue his legacy through generations of students that will attend our schools and will be faced with many differing ideas,” the Republican added.

Some examples from within the text of the proposal include, “New College of Florida shall redesignate College Drive as Charlie James Kirk Drive,” “The University of Florida shall redesignate Stadium Road as Charlie James Kirk Road” and “Hillsborough College shall redesignate West Tampa Bay Boulevard from Air Cargo Road to North Dale Mabry as Charlie James Kirk Drive.”

FLORIDA TOURISM CHIEF REJECTS WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM SUMMIT INVITATION: ‘I’M GOING TO DECLINE’

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The Lake County board of commissioners has already designated a stretch of road as Charlie Kirk Memorial Highway.

“Charlie Kirk Memorial Highway has been approved by the Lake County Commission. The road is a section of Wellness Way from US 27 to the Orange County line. Lake County’s dedication of the highway represents the first county to memorialize Kirk in the aftermath of his assassination,” Sunshine State Gov. Ron DeSantis noted in a post on X.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris took an apparent shot at the Trump administration during her latest public appearance while promoting her new book, remarking from a stage in Los Angeles that “these mother—-ers are crazy.”

“There’s so much about this moment that is making people feel like they’ve lost their minds. When, in fact, these mother—-ers are crazy,” Harris said Monday during an event in Los Angeles called “A Day of Unreasonable Conversation.” 

The comment, which did not identify the Trump administration directly, earned applause from attendees, according to footage of the clip. 

“I call this, ‘The Freedom Tour,’” she added, according to the Hollywood Reporter. 

KAMALA HARRIS OFFICE SILENT WHEN QUESTIONED IF FACT-CHECKER REVIEWED NEW BOOK BEFORE PUBLICATION

Harris remarks came as she explained she wrote her most recent memoir, “107 Days,” so history would directly hear her retelling of the unprecedented 2024 election, according to clips of the event spreading like wildfire on social media. 

“One of the other reasons I wrote it is history is going to write about this. And it was important to me that that be told with my voice being present,” she said. “And I would say that that everyone, we are living history right now. And you all as storytellers are living this. You’re not passive observers. You know that. You’re living it.”

“And I’m gonna ask you that all the emotions that we are feeling, give those emotions, give that experience to those people that you are writing about and writing for. It gets back to my point about helping people just put a label on it, even if it doesn’t change the circumstance,” she continued before dropping the line that leaders of the current political climate are “crazy.” 

“A Day of Unreasonable Conversation” is a one-day invitation-only event hosted in Los Angeles that previously featured speakers such as former first lady Jill Biden and singer Kesha, according to its website. The series aims to “equip creators of culture — television writers, artists, producers, executives, and digital storytellers — for the year ahead,” according to its website. 

When asked about Harris’ remarks, White House spokesman Kush Desai took aim at the former vice president’s laugh. 

“Kamala Harris should listen to an audio recording of her cackle of a laugh before calling anyone crazy,” Desai said. 

KAMALA HARRIS PLAYS UP COZY RELATIONSHIP WITH HILLARY CLINTON AS WEDGE WITH BIDEN WIDENS

Harris’ appearance, which was not listed on her official book tour agenda, also included lamenting election night 2024, when she reported she felt levels of grief that could only be compared to how she felt following her mother’s death. 

“I couldn’t articulate anything else — I kept saying over and over again, ‘My God, my God,’ she said, according to the Hollywood Reporter. “I had never felt that level of pain and grief except that when my mother died, and it was grieving for the country. I knew what was going to happen.” 

Harris is on a public event blitz since the release of “107 Days” in September, kicking off her book tour in New York City before making stops across the nation to promote the new political memoir that walks readers from former President Joe Biden’s attempted 2024 run through her picking up the mantle in an effort to defeat President Donald Trump at the ballot boxes. 

The former vice president’s book tour has included repeated claims that the most recent presidential election was the “closest” this century, claiming at a book tour stop in Houston Saturday that Trump doesn’t have a “mandate.” 

KAMALA HARRIS BREAKS SILENCE ON BIDEN DROPOUT, ADMITS SHE HAS REGRETS ABOUT HER HANDLING OF SITUATION

“Here’s the other thing that is quite unprecedented — and, it was the tightest, closest presidential election in the 21st Century. He does not have a mandate! That is not a mandate! That is not a mandate!’” she said during that event. 

Harris lost both the Electoral College and popular vote to Trump during the 2024 election in a defeat that also included each of the seven battleground states voting in favor of Trump. Harris ended the campaign with 75,019,617 total votes to Trump’s 77,304,184 votes, and 226 electoral votes to Trump’s 312. 

The data, however, has not stopped Harris from repeatedly claiming it was the “closest” election in the 21st century. 

“By the way, what is also historic about that, in many ways — it was the closest election for president of the United States in the 21st Century,” she said in September 2024 from Howard University’s campus in Washington. 

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“Period. Period,” she added. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Harris’ office for comment on her remarks in Los Angeles but did not immediately receive replies. 

California Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter went viral Tuesday evening after a clip from a recent interview spread across social media showing her repeatedly lashing out at a reporter and abruptly ending the interview.

“What do you say to the 40% of CA voters who you’ll need in order to win, who voted for Trump?” Porter was asked by CBS California’s Julie Watts during a segment on the controversial redistricting effort launched by Democrats in the state. 

“How would I need them in order to win, ma’am?” Porter, considered by many to be the frontrunner in the race, responded.

“Well, unless you think you’re going to get 60% of the vote,” the reporter, asking about the voter breakdown of Democrats and Republicans in the state, said before Porter started laughing. 

KATIE PORTER BLAMES BILLIONAIRES, CAMPAIGN ‘LIES’ IN CONCESSION SPEECH EVEN THOUGH BIG DONORS BACKED HER

Porter then went back and forth with the reporter, arguing about whether she needs to court and win over Trump voters, particularly if she’s running head-to-head against another Democrat. 

“So you don’t need them to win,” Watts asked Porter.

“I feel like this is unnecessarily argumentative,” Porter said, prompting the reporter to point out that she had asked the same question to the other candidates in the race and they answered it.  

NEWSOM JUST MADE A CATASTROPHIC MISTAKE ON CALIFORNIA’S HOMELESSNESS DISASTER

“I don’t want to keep doing this, I’m going to call it,” Porter said. 

“You’re not going to do the interview?” Watts said as Porter tried to remove her microphone. 

“Nope, not like this I’m not, not with seven follow-ups to every single question you ask,” Porter responded. 

When Watts reminded Porter that every candidate had answered the question, Porter said, “I don’t care.”

The clip quickly went viral on social media with conservatives blasting Porter for struggling with follow-up questions.

“I feel like this is unnecessarily argumentative,” Porter said. “I don’t want to keep doing this. I’m gonna call it.”

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“This Katie Porter crashout is INCREDIBLE,” Republican communicator Matt Whitlock posted on X. 

“What a mean, spoiled brat Katie Porter is to a journalist asking a very normal/straight forward question,” conservative commentator Meghan McCain posted on X. “The rumors in DC were always she’s an absolute nightmare – and as usual, people always reveal themselves.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Porter’s campaign for comment.

FIRST ON FOX: One of only two House Republicans serving in districts won by former Vice President Kamala Harris last year is preparing to announce that he’s brought in more than $1 million in the latest fundraising quarter.

Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., one of Democrats’ top targets in the 2026 midterms, will announce later on Wednesday that he’s raised $1.1 million in the third quarter of 2025.

His campaign said it was the strongest fundraising quarter the moderate House Republican has had in a non-election year.

Lawler’s campaign spokesman Chris Russell told Fox News Digital that the numbers show “our message is winning, and our ground game is unmatched.”

TRUMP FRONT-AND-CENTER IN THESE 2025 ELECTION SHOWDOWNS

Russell went on to suggest part of Lawler’s platform is campaigning on the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” passed by Republicans earlier this year, and which Democrats have been messaging hard against.

“While our opponents trip over themselves to appease a far-left base, Mike Lawler is building a coalition of working families, labor, law enforcement, Republicans, independents and mainstream Democrats who are fed up with chaos politics and radical extremists,” Lawler’s spokesman said.

“Congressman Lawler delivered on SALT, secured historic tax relief for middle and working-class families and will keep focusing on commonsense solutions that make life more affordable and Hudson Valley communities safer.”

His $1.1 million haul means Lawler’s campaign ended the quarter with $2.3 million cash on hand.

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Lawler’s district includes suburbs just outside New York City, which were critical to the GOP’s winning and then retaining the House in the 2022 and 2024 elections.

New York’s 17th Congressional District, which he represents, is currently rated +1 in favor of Democrats by the non-partisan Cook Political Report.

The competitive seat has already attracted eight Democrats for a crowded primary to take on Lawler in next year’s general election, but it appears he has outraised at least several of them.

Army veteran Cait Conley raised over $500,000 in the third quarter, former Briarcliff Manor Mayor Peter Chatzky raised over $340,000, and Rockland County legislator Beth Davidson raised $370,000, according to Politico Playbook New York.

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Democrats nationwide are betting big on their base being energized in response to President Donald Trump and his policies, a gamble that paid off for the left in the 2018 midterms when they swept the House of Representatives.

But this cycle, New York Republicans have been able to seize on their own boogeyman in Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, the current frontrunner for mayor of New York City.

Lawler told Fox News Digital of Mamdani’s candidacy in June, “Frankly, for Democrats, this is a time for choosing. Do they align themselves with a radical socialist who engages in antisemitism, hates the police, believes that illegal immigrants should have free everything, and you know, is basically going to destroy the finances of New York City?”

“They can’t have it both ways,” he said at the time.

The government has been shut down for a week and so far shows no clear sign of stopping, as Democrats continue to demand that any funding bill include an extension of enhanced Obamacare subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of 2025.

But conservative groups are pushing back hard, arguing that those subsidies are fuel on the fire of higher healthcare premiums.

“What the Biden COVID credit did is they made the situation worse in two ways: They shifted a portion of the premium away from the enrollees to the taxpayer, and they brought more people into the subsidy structure by lifting the cap at four times the poverty line,” Brian Blase, president of Paragon Health Institute, told Fox News Digital.

“So if the underlying Obamacare subsidies were inflationary, then the Biden enhancements to it just pour fuel on that underlying inflationary structure.”

SCHUMER’S SHUTDOWN SCHEME EXPLAINED: DEMS DOUBLE DOWN ON OBAMACARE CREDITS AS STANDOFF DRAGS ON

Obamacare, formally called the Affordable Care Act (ACA), established a marketplace where healthcare insurers offer plans under certain rules set in place by the federal government, among other provisions. People and families are eligible for subsidies based on their income relative to the Federal Poverty Level (FPL).

Former President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan, passed during the COVID-19 pandemic, expanded access so more Americans could qualify for subsidized Obamacare plans while also lowering out-of-pocket costs. A Democrat-led Congress later extended those benefits to 2025 under the Inflation Reduction Act.

Now, however, Democrats are warning that many Americans’ healthcare costs are at risk of drastically rising if those enhanced subsidies are allowed to expire.

But conservative groups who have long objected to Obamacare’s effects on the market are now arguing that the subsidies themselves have driven up the amount of money that healthcare companies charge for premiums.

Brittany Madni, executive vice president at the Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC), told Fox News Digital, “You do have patients who are still continuing to pay high prices, and a huge reason that they’re paying higher prices is because the entire system has been artificially inflated by the unaffordable mandates in Obamacare and the continued subsidies.”

“The supersized COVID credit subsidies aren’t reducing prices whatsoever. They’re just adding funds to the insurance revenues,” Madni said.

Obamacare did originally include a federal-level tax penalty for Americans who remained uninsured after its passage. That was repealed under the first Trump administration, but some states have levied their own penalties in its place.

But conservatives say rising healthcare costs have been most acutely felt by U.S. taxpayers rather than Obamacare enrollees.

“When insurers increase premiums, the cost is not paid by the enrollee, it’s paid by the taxpayer. So that gives insurers less incentive to negotiate lower prices with healthcare providers,” he said.

He said Biden’s legislation “made the situation worse because you make the taxpayer share even greater than it already was, and he lifted the cap at four times the poverty line, which brought more people into this subsidized market. So when you have all these people in a market where they don’t care what the premiums are, that is, of course, going to be inflationary.”

Madni agreed that the COVID-era subsidies served to increase costs on taxpayers.

“What do you do if someone who is younger and healthier is choosing not to go into the risk pool and therefore driving up the overall cost of the risk, all because now it’s just full of sick people instead of healthy people in the middle?” You offer the plans for such a low rate that it seems silly not to jump into the deal,” she said. “You can’t actually get rid of the cost. You can only shift the cost. So it shifts from the enrollees who are in the risk pool to taxpayers.”

House Ways & Means Committee Chair Jason Smith, R-Mo., whose committee has jurisdiction over the enhanced subsidies, told Fox News Digital, “Democrats are doubling down on their failure to reduce the cost of healthcare, with premiums for Obamacare marketplace plans increasing 80% since they were created a decade ago.”

“When it comes to healthcare, Americans are paying more but getting less, paying higher deductibles, having their claims denied, and unable to see their doctor while insurers profit from generous taxpayer subsidies handed to them by Washington Democrats,” Smith said.

But outside conservative circles, people in the healthcare sphere argue that Americans will feel financial pain if the subsidies expire and deny the COVID-era enhancements’ contribution to inflated prices.

Cynthia Cox, who oversees Obamacare research for KFF — an independent health policy research, polling and news organization — said that extending the subsidies would cost more taxpayer dollars but that they did not raise costs for insurers or enrollees.

“I think from a taxpayer perspective or from a federal spending perspective, they certainly do raise costs,” Cox said. “But from an insurance perspective, they bring down average cost and, from an enrollee perspective, it also brings down the cost that they’re paying.”

Cox also said the ACA itself did have some “inflationary” aspects but that the COVID-era enhancements were not part of them.

DEMOCRATS REFUSE TO BUDGE OVER OBAMACARE FIGHT AS SHUTDOWN DRAGS ON

“The tax credits do not have an inflationary effect on insurance premiums. In fact, they help keep they have a downward effect on insurance and the amount that the insurance company is charging,” Cox told Fox News Digital.

She pointed to the ACA’s protections for people with preexisting conditions, such as bans on insurance companies denying coverage or charging more based on individuals’ health, as potential drivers of healthcare cost inflation.

“But then the tax cuts are meant to kind of offset that by reducing how much individuals pay and subsidizing them,” Cox explained.

“The idea is that it will make health insurance more attractive to healthier people, so therefore would not wait until they get sick to get coverage. They would start paying into the insurance pool when they’re healthier, and then that brings down the overall average premium that insurers charge.”

Brendan Buck, spokesman for Keep Americans Covered, reiterated Democrats’ warning that the expiring subsidies will lead to higher costs for people who currently benefit from them.

“There’s no inflation quite like seeing your health premiums more than double, which is the reality facing millions of working people if Congress doesn’t act. Things do cost too much, but the answer is not making families pay thousands more for their healthcare,” Buck told Fox News Digital.

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Rep. Richard Neal, the top Democrat on the House Ways & Means Committee, blamed President Donald Trump’s policies for driving up costs across the board.

“Republicans will throw out any excuse — no matter how debunked — to justify letting healthcare costs skyrocket. The facts are clear: extending the ACA tax credits will keep coverage in reach for millions, but Republicans would rather see their constituents’ costs jump on average by 114 percent than admit they’re wrong. And the truth is, the biggest driver of inflation and unaffordability is Trump himself,” Neal told Fox News Digital.

Republican Rep. Randy Fine of Florida lambasted New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani as “little more than a Muslim terrorist,” asserting that the Empire State assemblymember should be stripped of his citizenship and deported.

“This is nauseating. Mamdani is little more than a Muslim terrorist. It’s a disgrace he was ever granted citizenship. It should be stripped and he should be deported to the Ugandan s—hole he came from,” Fine wrote in a post on X in response to a statement Mamdani issued on the two-year anniversary of the heinous October 7, 2023 Hamas terror attack against Israel.

Fox News Digital emailed Mamdani’s campaign to request a comment from the mayoral candidate.

ISRAEL CALLS PROMINENT DEMOCRAT ‘MOUTHPIECE FOR HAMAS’ IN BLISTERING OCT. 7 POST

Terrorists committed atrocities including rape, murder, and kidnapping during the 2023 attack.

While Mamdani began the statement by acknowledging that “Hamas carried out a horrific war crime,” he went on to assert that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the government of Israel mounted “a genocidal war” and that the U.S. government “has been complicit through it all.”

‘ABSOLUTELY A COMMUNIST’: MAMDANI DODGES LABEL, BUT HIS RECORD AND EXPERT SAY OTHERWISE

“The occupation and apartheid must end. Peace must be pursued through diplomacy, not war crimes, and our government must act to end these atrocities and hold those responsible to account,” he declared in the statement.

Mamdani was born in Uganda and moved to the Big Apple with his family when he was 7, according to his biography on nyassembly.gov, which notes that “in 2018, he became naturalized as an American citizen.” 

MAMDANI FUNNELS BIG MONEY TO RADICAL ALLIES PLOTTING CONTROL OF CITY HALL: ‘SEIZE STATE POWER’

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In the biography on his X account, Mandani calls himself a “Democratic Socialist” and indicates that he is “Running to freeze the rent, make buses fast + free, and deliver universal childcare.”

Senate Republicans confirmed a staggering tranche of President Donald Trump’s nominees on Tuesday as the government shutdown continues.

Lawmakers voted along party lines to confirm the batch of 107 of Trump’s nominees, a move that whittled down the remaining pending nominees on the Senate’s calendar to double digits. It also came as the upper chamber was deadlocked in the midst of a government shutdown, during which floor votes have largely been dedicated to trying to reopen the government.

The slate of confirmed nominees included many of Trump’s top allies and former candidates that he hand-picked to run in previous elections.

SENATE CONFIRMS DOZENS OF TRUMP NOMINEES IN FIRST TEST OF NEW NUCLEAR RULES

Some of the most recognizable on the list were former Republican Senate candidate and ex-NFL star Herschel Walker, who was tapped as the U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas, and Sergio Gor, a top advisor to Trump who he picked to be his U.S. Ambassador to India.

Other posts confirmed included a wave of senior administration officials, several prosecutors and the reappointment of Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins to a seat on the commission until 2031.

GOP TRIGGERS NUCLEAR OPTION IN SENATE TO BREAK DEM BLOCKADE OF TRUMP NOMINEES

The vote also marked the second time that Senate Republicans have deployed the new rule change surrounding confirmations since going “nuclear” on Senate rules last month.

Republicans opted to change confirmation rules to allow a simple majority of votes to advance large swathes of nominees in response to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus’ blockade of Trump’s picks that lasted nearly nine months into his presidency.

SENATE GOP READY TO GO NUCLEAR AFTER SCHUMER’S ‘POLITICAL EXTORTION’ OF NOMINEES

Typically, subcabinet-level nominees, particularly those with bipartisan support out of committee, are sped through the Senate either by unanimous consent or through a voice vote, two fast-track procedural moves in the upper chamber. But Senate Democrats refused to relent, and Republicans argued they forced their hand on a rules change that they believed would benefit both parties in the future.

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The rule change allows for an unlimited number of nominees to be confirmed in a single batch, but includes several procedural hoops to jump through before a final confirmation vote.

Senate Republicans previously confirmed 48 of Trump’s picks last month. Among that batch were Kimberly Guilfoyle, who Trump tapped to be the U.S. ambassador to Greece, and Callista Gingrich, who was picked to be the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland.