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FIRST ON FOX: A Senate Republican wants to ensure that lawmakers feel the pain in their wallets as the federal government shutdown drags on.

Members of Congress, unlike other federal employees, are guaranteed to get paid during a government shutdown. But Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, wants to impose a tax on lawmakers that would eat away at their paychecks.

Moreno plans to introduce the Stop Holding Up Taxpayers, Deny Wages On Washington’s Negligence (SHUTDOWN) Act, which would create a new tax specifically for lawmakers.

GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN ENTERS 3RD DAY AS SENATE STALEMATE OVER OBAMACARE SUBSIDIES DRAGS ON

The shutdown has trudged on to a third day with no clear off-ramp in sight. The Senate is again set to vote on the GOP’s short-term funding extension on Friday, but Senate Democrats are again expected to block it.

“Democrats like Hakeem Jeffries want to get paid for shutting the government down,” Moreno said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “That’s ridiculous. If Congress can’t do the bare minimum, we don’t deserve a paycheck.”

SHUTDOWN EXPLAINED: WHO WORKS, WHO DOESN’T AND HOW MUCH IT COSTS

Members of Congress on average make $174,000 a year. That number can fluctuate depending on whether a lawmaker is in a leadership position. Preventing lawmakers from getting paid during a shutdown is tricky, however, given that the U.S. Constitution requires them to receive a paycheck even if the government is closed.

Article I, Section 6 of the Constitution requires that “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.”

Then there is the 27th Amendment, which was ratified in the 1992, that prevents Congress from passing a law affecting its pay during the current congressional term.

SCHUMER, DEMOCRATS FACE HEAT FOR SHIFTING STANCE ON GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN THREAT

Moreno’s bill could circumvent those guardrails by imposing a daily tax on lawmakers that would rise each day that members are in session and that a shutdown continues.

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Meanwhile, the likelihood that the shutdown ends this week is low. Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., are firmly rooted in their position that unless a deal is struck on expiring Obamacare tax credits, they’ll continue to block the GOP’s continuing resolution (CR).

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., plans to keep bringing the same bill, which the House passed last week, in a bid to chip away at Senate Democrats. So far, only three members of the Democratic caucus — Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, joined Republicans to vote for the bill. 

Bryan Griffin, President and CEO of the Sunshine State’s tourism agency VISIT Florida, rejected an offer to attend the World Economic Forum’s upcoming Urban Transfortation Summit.

“Florida rejects the World Economic Forum’s agenda,” he declared in a post on X when sharing an email he received regarding the event as well as his response declining participation.

The summit, scheduled to occur later this month in San Francisco, “will convene senior decision-makers from across sectors to address how cities and destinations can adapt to rapid demographic, technological, and environmental change,” the email to Griffin explained.

WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM FOUNDER KLAUS SCHWAB STEPS DOWN FROM GLOBALIST BODY’S BOARD

Griffin, who has previously served as communications director within the executive office of the governor, turned down the invite.

“I’m going to decline participation. The World Economic Forum’s values and stated objectives do not align with the State of Florida, including the WEF’s efforts to transform society through top-down government regulations and institute dangerous programs like digital IDs and Centralized Bank Digital Currencies,” Griffin wrote.

TRUMP PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY TO BE BUILT IN MIAMI AFTER FLORIDA GIFTS WATERFRONT SITE

“We choose the values of Destin and Dunedin over Davos. Individual liberty and national sovereignty matter and should be protected,” he added.

The World Economic Forum is a controversial organization known for hosting globalist gatherings of top political and business leaders.

CHARLIE KIRK HAS FLORIDA HIGHWAY NAMED AFTER HIM

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“The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. It provides a global, impartial and not-for-profit platform for meaningful connection between stakeholders to establish trust, and build initiatives for cooperation and progress,” the WEF’s website states.

The federal government entered its third day of a shutdown without a clear off-ramp in sight as the Senate gears up to once again vote on a short-term funding extension Friday.

Lawmakers will again vote on the GOP’s continuing resolution (CR) and congressional Democrats’ counter-proposal on Friday. There’s been little movement on Capitol Hill since the last failed vote, given that some either left Washington, D.C., or did not come to the Hill, in observance of Yom Kippur.

In fact, the Senate floor was open for less than three hours on Thursday, with only a handful of lawmakers giving remarks to a mostly empty chamber.

DEMOCRATS REFUSE TO BUDGE OVER OBAMACARE FIGHT AS SHUTDOWN DRAGS ON

Republicans hope that more Senate Democrats will peel off and vote for their bill, but it’s unlikely. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and most of his caucus are firmly rooted in their position that expiring Obamacare tax credits must be dealt with now.

And Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said he isn’t planning on keeping lawmakers in town over the weekend if the House GOP’s bill fails for a fourth time. Still, bipartisan talks are happening among the rank-and-file members to find some way to reopen the government.

“I’m glad that people are talking,” Thune said. “I think there are a lot of Democrats who want out of this, you know, grapple that Schumer is running now, so I’m hoping that perhaps that will lead somewhere. But it all starts with what I’ve said before, reopen the government, and I think that’s what we got to have … happen first.”

FIRST BIPARTISAN SHUTDOWN NEGOTIATIONS SURFACE ON CAPITOL HILL AFTER FUNDING BILL BLOCKED AGAIN

There are some ideas being tossed back and forth among Senate Republicans and Democrats, like agreeing to work on the subsidies until Nov. 21 under the GOP plan, or compromising on a shorter CR that lasts until Nov. 1 to coincide with the beginning of open-enrollment for Obamacare.

“We’re not asking for a full repair of a broken system,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said. “We understand how badly the healthcare system is working, but it’s going to be so much worse if the Republicans continue on this path of cutting healthcare for millions of Americans.”

Thune threw cold water on the latter idea.

“Well, and what’s the House going to come back and vote on, a one-month as opposed to seven weeks? I mean, think about this right now. We’re really kind of quibbling over pretty, pretty small stuff,” he said.

Schumer made clear over the last several days that he wants bipartisan negotiations to craft a funding extension with Democratic and Republican input, but the GOP argues that their bill, which is backed by President Donald Trump, would unlock future bipartisan negotiations on spending bills.

SHUTDOWN EXPLAINED: WHO WORKS, WHO DOESN’T AND HOW MUCH IT COSTS

But Republicans argue that his insistence on negotiating is more about political optics than actually finding a path out of the shutdown.

“This Democrat shutdown is nothing but a cynical political shutdown, with Senator Schumer kowtowing to his radical left-wing extremists,” Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., said on the Senate floor. “He’s desperately recoiling, fighting to stave off a primary and to save his party from the piranhas in their own midst.”

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And while talks at the lower level are ongoing, some contend that ultimately it will be Trump’s decision on what happens next.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said on the Senate floor, “Unfortunately, right now, our Republican colleagues are not working with us to find a bipartisan agreement to prevent the government shutdown and address the healthcare crisis.”

“We know that even when they float ideas, which we surely do appreciate, in the end, the president appears to make the call,” Klobuchar said. 

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed an executive order on Thursday directing the Virginia Board of Health to draft regulations preventing biological males from participating in female sports and changing in their locker rooms.

The order follows controversy in a Washington-area county, where the school district will mark LGBTQ+ History Month in October – and at least one elementary school reportedly encouraged students to observe “National Coming Out Day” on Oct. 11.

Youngkin’s Executive Directive 14 aims to stop males from undressing and utilizing designated female spaces and keep biological men out of women’s-only athletic teams.

‘NONSENSE’: EARLE-SEARS BLASTS FAIRFAX TRANSGENDER BATHROOM RULES IN FIERY CAMPAIGN STOP

“Since day one, this administration has worked to protect the fundamental rights of all Virginians,” Youngkin said Thursday.

“These fundamental rights intrinsically require the assurance of health and safety for all individuals. Through collaboration with our federal partners, this administration is fighting tirelessly to prevent discrimination on the basis of sex and to protect the civil rights of our citizens under the constitutions of our commonwealth and nation…”

Youngkin’s directive also runs in line with President Donald Trump’s own executive order barring public schools from “indoctrinating” children into “radical” transgender ideology.

Trump ordered Education Secretary Linda McMahon to provide recommendations for elimination of federal support for “illegal or discriminatory treatment” or indoctrination based on “gender ideology or discriminatory equity ideology (like ‘unconscious bias’ and ‘White privilege’)” under the Civil Rights Act and other titles.

VIRGINIA SCHOOL DISTRICT VOTES TO KEEP GENDER BATHROOM POLICY, DEFYING DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION DIRECTIVE

In that regard, Loudoun County Public School’s announcement it will celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month may run afoul of Trump and potentially now Youngkin, according to critics.

The board voted Wednesday to proclaim October as such, approving a motion from board member April Chandler of Algonkian.

The move “affirms [LCPS’] commitment to fostering equity, belonging and inclusion,” the board said in its minutes.

The school board did not respond to a request for further comment.

VIRGINIA LT. GOVERNOR ON WHY HER STATE IS AT RISK OF LOSING FEDERAL FUNDING OVER TRANSGENDER BATHROOMS

In Aldie, near Front Royal, an LCPS elementary school under LCPS’ auspices reportedly took the pronouncement a step further, after parents sent a purported letter from their children’s school to a reporter at ABC News’ Washington affiliate.

The reporter, Nick Minock, also posted on X that the LCPS livestream of the board meeting appeared to be inoperable Wednesday night.

The letter was reported to be from Henrietta Lacks Elementary and encouraged families to promote National Coming Out Day:

“There is also a special day called national coming out day to celebrate being yourself,” it read.

VIRGINIA SCHOOL DISTRICTS SUPPORT FOR TRANSGENDER STUDENTS’ RIGHTS IN GOVERNOR’S RACE SPOTLIGHT

John Reid, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, slammed the letter and Loudoun’s posturing.

Virginia parents in Loudoun and beyond are tired of schools being “run by politics instead of putting kids first,” Reid told Fox News Digital.

“The vast majority of normal people would agree that conversations about sexuality have absolutely no place in elementary schools,” said Reid, who is gay.

“Unlike [Democratic opponent state Sen.] Ghazala Hashmi, I’ve been clear: we need to get back to academic excellence and parental involvement, not more political agendas in the classroom.”

TRANSGENDER POLICIES PUT VIRGINIA DEMS ON DEFENSE AS GOP CONTENDERS BACK FAMILIES: ‘SOMEBODY HAS TO STAND UP’

While GOP gubernatorial nominee Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears did not respond to a request for comment, she released a related ad campaign Thursday called “Zero,” which criticized opponent Abigail Spanberger and Democrats for “radical… gender ideology” policies.

“Our children deserve a governor who is going to keep them safe. This is about making sure young girls are not forced into spaces with grown men,” Earle-Sears said.

“And they shouldn’t be. My opponent continues to avoid giving a yes or no answer to the simple question: Do you support boys in girls’ bathrooms?”

The ad features a Virginia parent endorsing Earle-Sears, whose son “shared urinals” with a “girl who claimed she’s a boy.”

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Spanberger recently told Roanoke’s ABC affiliate in response to such criticisms that Virginia “until very recently had a process in place where, on an individual… basis, schools, parents, teachers and coaches were making decisions based on fairness, competitiveness and safety.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Hashmi, Lacks and LCPS for comment.

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content. Here’s what’s happening…

-EXCLUSIVE: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac’s NY offices to shutter in response to AG James’ ‘corrupt’ practices

-Speculation swirls as AOC is rumored to harbor 2028 aspirations: ‘Savvy politician’

-Harris sought Clinton ‘marriage’ secrets to avoid running mate drama

Trump sees ‘unprecedented opportunity’ to cut government during shutdown

President Donald Trump on Thursday said he’s working to determine which “Democrat” agencies will face cuts after Democrats and Republicans failed to reach an agreement on a government funding package.

Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that he was meeting with Russell Vought, director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, later Thursday to discuss which agencies “are a political SCAM.” The president said he wanted Vought to recommend which agencies should face cuts and whether those cuts should be temporary or permanent.

“I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity,” read Trump’s post. “They are not stupid people, so maybe this is their way of wanting to, quietly and quickly, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”…READ MORE.
 

White House

CHOPPING BLOCK: White House says federal layoffs could hit ‘thousands’ ahead of Trump, Vought meeting

SPIN FIGHT: EXCLUSIVE: Media bashes Trump admin messaging for pinning shutdown on Dems, White House fires back

WAR ON CARTELS: Trump admin tells Congress it determined US engaged in formal ‘armed conflict’ with ‘terrorist’ drug cartels

World Stage

CONTROL FREAKS: Starmer’s digital ID work requirement sparks uproar from UK’s left and right

ATOMIC GAP: Trump must triple severely outdated nuke arsenal to outpace China and Russia, report warns

ANTISEMITISM EXPOSED: Jewish holiday Yom Kippur sees deadly attack in UK, Hamas refusal to end war

Capitol Hill

‘LOW MARKS’: As Fetterman bucks his party, his poll numbers with Democrats plunge

BUSIEST TIME OF YEAR: With the government shutdown threatening air travel, a GOP bill seeks to keep flights running

DEEP WATERS: ‘Real consequences’: Food aid, flood insurance, FEMA funds in jeopardy amid shutdown, Johnson says

NO DEAL DEMS: Johnson shuts door on negotiating shutdown deal as Democrats dig in on Obamacare

FISCAL FIASCO: EXCLUSIVE: Johnson says Democrats lying about illegal immigrant healthcare push

TROOP TURMOIL: Lawmaker warns government shutdown chaos potentially leading to big waste in the military, impacting readiness

NO TRUST: Democrats refuse to budge over Obamacare fight as shutdown drags on

Across America 

EMPIRE STATE OF MIND: NYC mayoral candidates Mamdani, Cuomo air first ads amid government shutdown drama

‘LOST THE PLOT’: Rahm Emanuel warns Democrats need ‘education reset’ to win back public trust

‘JUSTICE FOR LOGAN’: South Carolina AG demands death penalty against career criminal charged in college student’s murder

Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

A federal judge appointed by Ronald Reagan has made headlines this year for penning some of the most blistering opinions against President Donald Trump’s executive orders — including in one case where he was criticized by two Supreme Court justices for failing to adhere to the high court’s emergency guidance. 

U.S. District Judge William Young, a Reagan appointee, has spent nearly four decades on the federal bench. He most recently authored a scathing, 161-page opinion on Tuesday in a case involving Trump’s attempts to deport and crack down on pro-Palestinian protesters and activists on college campuses.

Young said the Trump administration’s actions were illegal and an unconstitutional violation of free speech protections under the First Amendment. He also used the decision to criticize, at some length, Trump’s broader conduct, which he described as “bullying.”

FEDERAL JUDGE LAUNCHES SCATHING BROADSIDE OF TRUMP’S EFFORTS TO DEPORT PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTERS

Trump, Young argued, is a president who fundamentally misunderstands the country he was elected to serve. Young described Trump as focused largely on “hollow bragging” and on “retribution” at all costs.

“Yet government retribution for speech (precisely what has happened here) is directly forbidden by the First Amendment,” Young quipped.

It’s not the first time Young has raised eyebrows for his public dressing-down of the commander in chief. 

JUDGES V TRUMP: HERE ARE THE KEY COURT BATTLES HALTING THE WHITE HOUSE AGENDA

Young in June ruled that the Trump administration acted illegally when it slashed funding for research grants at the National Institutes of Health, siding with the grant recipients and ordering the funding be restored. He also used the opinion to describe the cuts as “appalling” evidence of what he said was “racial discrimination” and “discrimination against the LGBTQ community.”

“That’s what this is,” Young said at the time, adding that, in his decades on the federal bench, he had “never seen government racial discrimination like this.”

“I would be blind not to call it out,” he said, adding later, “Have we no shame?”

FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP’S BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP BAN FOR ALL INFANTS, TESTING LOWER COURT POWERS

The Trump administration appealed Young’s injunction to the First Circuit Court of Appeals, which declined to stay the ruling while the case continued to play out.

However, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 in August to lift the injunction — and two justices took that opportunity to chastise Young, at least to some degree, for the manner in which he went about issuing the opinion.

Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh chastised Young for failing to adhere to an emergency ruling the court granted in April, which allowed Trump to follow through with slashing tens of millions of dollars in education grants for funding so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. 

 “When this Court issues a decision, it constitutes a precedent that commands respect in lower courts,” Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh said in the August opinion.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, in writing the dissent, appeared to sympathize with Young’s view, noting at one point: “Calvinball has only one rule: There are no fixed rules,” she said. “We seem to have two: that one, and this administration always wins.”

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Young, for his part, apologized for the error. But it appears to have done little to quell his desire to speak out on what he argued Tuesday is Trump’s apparent disregard for free speech protections. 

“I fear President Trump believes the American people are so divided that today they will not stand up, fight for, and defend our most precious constitutional values so long as they are lulled into thinking their own personal interests are not affected,” Young said Tuesday, before adding: “Is he correct?”

Former FBI Director James Comey, who was indicted Friday on two federal charges alleging that he issued a false statement to Congress and obstructed justice, previously has called for those who lie under oath to face consequences. 

For example, Comey once railed against lifestyle icon Martha Stewart, who was convicted of misleading federal investigators, and said her case served as an example to deter others from lying to officials. 

“The Stewart experience ­reminded me that the justice system is an honor system,” Comey wrote in his book, “A Higher Loyalty,” released in 2018. “We really can’t always tell when people are lying or hiding documents, so when we are able to prove it, we simply must do so as a message to everyone. People must fear the consequences of lying in the justice system or the system can’t work.” 

MARTHA STEWART’S ANGER AT JAMES COMEY FOR MAKING HER ‘TROPHY’ CRIMINAL IS ‘UNDERSTANDABLE,’ ATTORNEY SAYS

“There once was a time when most people worried about going to hell if they violated an oath taken in the name of God,” Comey wrote. “That divine deterrence has slipped away from our modern cultures. In its place, people must fear going to jail…To protect the institution of justice, and reinforce a culture of truth-telling, she had to be prosecuted.” 

Comey served as the lead prosecutor who indicted Stewart on charges of obstruction of justice and lying to the FBI in 2003, which stemmed from the FBI’s insider trading investigation into Stewart’s friend’s company, ImClone.

Stewart ultimately was convicted on four counts of obstructing justice and lying to investigators. She was sentenced to five months in prison. 

Comey’s statement in his book aligns with those he made at the time. After the charges were filed against Stewart in 2003, Comey said Stewart’s “case is about lying — lying to the FBI, lying to the SEC and investors.”

“That is conduct that will not be tolerated. Martha Stewart is being prosecuted not because of who she is, but what she did,” Comey said at a news conference in 2003. 

Stewart took a swipe at Comey in her Netflix documentary called “Martha,” which was released October 2024. 

“It was so horrifying to me that I had to go through that to be a trophy for these idiots in the U.S. Attorney’s office,” Stewart said. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Comey for comment and has yet to receive a reply. 

Trump–Comey vendetta back in the spotlight 

Meanwhile, Comey’s feud with President Donald Trump is also back in the spotlight following Comey’s indictment. 

The two men have gone head-to-head against each other for years, dating back to Trump’s first administration amid the FBI’s investigation into whether Russia interfered in the 2016 election, and they have continued to trade barbs during Trump’s second term. 

While Trump has lobbed out terms like “sick person” and “untruthful slime ball,” Comey also has hurled criticism against the president and said he’s not fit for office. 

HOW JAMES COMEY’S INDICTMENT COULD GO SOUTH FOR THE DOJ

For example, Comey described Trump as someone who “lies constantly about matters big and small and insists the American people believe it,” and questioned whether Trump embodied U.S. values during an interview in April 2018 with ABC News ahead of the release of his book, “A Higher Loyalty.” 

“I don’t think he’s medically unfit to be president — I think he’s morally unfit to be president … that’s not a policy statement,” Comey told ABC News. “Again, I don’t care what your views are on guns, or immigration, or taxes. There is something more important than that, that should unite all of us, and that is our president must embody respect and adhere to the values that are at the core of this country, the most important being truth. This president is not able to do that.” 

That same month Comey attracted the ire of Trump, who accused Comey of being a “terrible” FBI director and that it was his “great honor” to fire Comey. 

“James Comey is a proven LEAKER & LIAR. Virtually everyone in Washington thought he should be fired for the terrible job he did-until he was, in fact, fired. He leaked CLASSIFIED information, for which he should be prosecuted. He lied to Congress under OATH,” Trump said in a social media post in April 2018. 

COMEY DENIES CHARGES, DECLARES ‘I AM NOT AFRAID’

“He is a weak and untruthful slime ball who was, as time has proven, a terrible Director of the FBI…It was my great honor to fire James Comey!” Trump said. 

Trump fired Comey in May 2017, just after Comey revealed in March 2017 before the House Intelligence Committee that the FBI had launched a criminal investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia during the 2016 election. 

At the time, Trump said that he had ousted Comey due to his handling of an investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server.

Comey, who previously identified as a Republican, went on to endorse former President Joe Biden in the 2020 election. He also called for “everyone who cares about the rule of law and America’s indispensable role in the world” to get behind former Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee during the 2024 election when she went up against Trump. 

TRUMP SAYS COMEY ‘PLACED A CLOUD OVER THE ENTIRE NATION’ WITH CROSSFIRE HURRICANE, REACTS TO INDICTMENT

“Kamala Harris made me feel like it’s finally morning in America,” Comey wrote in a post on X in August 2024. 

More recently, Comey and Trump sparred after the former FBI director posted a photo on Instagram in May depicting shells arranged on a beach to spell out “86 47.” The term “86” can mean getting rid of something or someone, and Trump is the 47th president. 

Following backlash from Trump allies who interpreted Comey’s post as a threat to remove Trump, Comey said that the thought hadn’t crossed his mind and he opposed “violence of any kind.” 

Still, Trump didn’t buy Comey’s explanation. 

“He knew exactly what that meant,” Trump told Fox News. “A child knows what that meant. If you’re the FBI director and you don’t know what that meant, that meant assassination.” 

Following Comey’s indictment, Trump said in a social media post Friday that Comey is “one of the worst human beings this country has ever been exposed to,” and labeled the former FBI director a “DIRTY COP.” 

The charges against Comey are tied to his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in September 2020 regarding the FBI’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. Meanwhile, Comey has denied the allegations leveled in the charges against him, and said that he is “not afraid.” 

“My family and I have known for years that there are costs to standing up to Donald Trump, but we couldn’t imagine ourselves living any other way,” Comey said in an Instagram video. “We will not live on our knees, and you shouldn’t either. Somebody that I love dearly recently said that fear is the tool of a tyrant, and she’s right.”

Fox News’ Audrey Conklin contributed to this report. 

As the federal government shutdown continues, a clip from the 2019 Democratic presidential primary went viral when the candidates were asked if they support providing healthcare to those in the country illegally.

“Is JD Vance a liar or just woefully ignorant when claiming that Democrats want to give health benefits to undocumented immigrants?” disgraced ex-Democratic Minnesota Sen. Al Franken posted to X on Wednesday, leading to the clip being posted in the comments by one user.

“Raise your hand if your government plan would provide coverage for undocumented immigrants,” NBC News anchor Savannah Guthrie asked while moderating the June 2019 debate followed by all ten Democrats on stage raising their hands.

JOHNSON SAYS DEMOCRATS LYING ABOUT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT HEALTHCARE PUSH

Franken’s post triggered a range of responses, including from conservatives.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

“You should stick to intimate photography,” GOP communicator Matt Whitlock posted on X, referring to the disgraced ex-senator’s scandal that included a photo of him smiling while posing and groping radio host Leeann Tweeden, who was sleeping in the photo.

DEMS IN THE HOT SEAT AFTER OBAMACARE’S SPIKING PREMIUM COSTS TORPEDO THEIR NARRATIVE

“Why don’t we let Democrats answer that?” Heritage Action said, posting the debate clip. 

The clip, which included multiple current members of Congress like Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., also garnered the attention of billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who posted “lol” in response to the debate video, which means “laugh out loud.”

Part of the ongoing government shutdown debate centers on subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, which would lead to a rise in premiums that opponents say prove that the program is unsustainable.

Illegal immigrants are unable to get insurance on the ACA marketplace, but Emergency Medicaid is covered as well as several states that use state taxpayer dollars for illegal immigrants to enroll in Medicaid.

SPEAKER JOHNSON, ABC’S STEPHANOPOULOS CLASH OVER GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN, ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS GETTING HEALTHCARE

However, California was once the subject of a federal audit where they were recommended to refund over $52.7 million in “improperly claimed” medical costs for those with “unsatisfactory immigration status.” 

“Democrats are now trying to run away from their RIDICULOUS $1.5 Trillion big government spending bill — now that Americans are learning what’s in it,” House Speaker Mike Johnson posted to X on Thursday. “Some Democrats now claim they don’t want illegal immigrants on Medicaid — but their previous votes, and the ACTUAL LANGUAGE of their current bill, say otherwise.”

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However, some Democrats have also criticized Republicans for bringing up state-based Medicaid programs that offer coverage to illegal immigrants.

“This isn’t funded by the Federal Government or ACA Tax credits.  [The Vice President] is lying again. However if he wants to tell the GOP to write a bill to exclude illegal immigrants from buying on the market and restore ACA tax credits to 24 million Americans, I would be game,” Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., said in response to a post from Vice President JD Vance, which included a screenshot showing New York’s public health insurance coverage for “undocumented immigrants over age 65.”

As of Thursday afternoon, it’s unclear when the shutdown will end.

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) chief Russell Vought and President Donald Trump are in the midst of mapping out cuts to the federal government after lawmakers on Capitol Hill failed to reach a funding bill agreement early Wednesday morning. 

Trump set the stage in the lead-up to the shutdown that the federal government is likely to see staffing and program cuts during the shutdown, adding in a message Thursday to Truth Social that many federal agencies are a “political SCAM.” 

“I have a meeting today with Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame, to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent,” Trump posted. 

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

“I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity. They are not stupid people, so maybe this is their way of wanting to, quietly and quickly, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”  

Fox News Digital spoke with Richard Stern, the Heritage Foundation’s director of the Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget, Thursday morning to discuss which agencies the OMB chief would likely target for staffing cuts and if such cuts would be permanent. 

How a shutdown enables cuts 

Stern explained to Fox Digital that there are a pair of overlapping issues that lead to the government’s staffing size. Agencies are required by various laws to provide certain services to citizens. And, separately, appropriation bills set funding floors on how much money an agency has available to spend on staff payroll. 

During a shutdown, however, there is a lapse in funding, meaning agencies do not have “payroll floors from the funding bill,” leaving the executive branch with discretion on how to continue providing required services to citizens, he explained.  

“Because the funding bills set effective floors per salary spending, that tends to dictate how many people work for the agencies. In the event of a shutdown, the only requirement on the administration is to ensure that the agencies provide the services and whatnot that are required by law. But those laws don’t say you need, you know, 100 staffers to write a grant or only one staffer,” Stern told Fox Digital in a phone interview. 

WHITE HOUSE PREPARES FOR ‘IMMINENT’ FEDERAL LAYOFFS AFTER DEMOCRATS FORCE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

“They simply say, you know, ‘There’s a grant program that has to go out the door under XYZ parameters.’ So, in the event of a lapse in funding, it means that the administration … can lay out a plan saying, ‘Hey, look, you know, we think the Department of Education, for example, could do everything it is legally required to do, but do it with 10% of the workforce,’” he continued. 

If the administration determines that an agency can fulfill its legally required services to citizens with fewer people, it will subsequently send reduction in force notices, known as RIFs, to staffers. 

“If the funding was there, and if the funding law required those staff levels, then you wouldn’t be able to RIF,” he said. “But in the lapse of funding, it gives the White House that opportunity.” 

Permanent changes to the government are in a gray zone, however, because RIFs would not be able to take effect until after 60 days. 

“Once the RIF notices go out, you … legally need to wait 60 days before the RIF notices can be enacted,” Stern continued. “Really the shutdown would have to last 60 days, beyond that, to actually act on the RIFs.” 

The Heritage Foundation expert, who also serves as the conservative think tank’s acting director of the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies, stressed that any staffing cuts are not an example of government “downsizing.” 

TRUMP’S WHITE HOUSE DEMANDS AGENCIES MAP OUT MASS LAYOFFS AHEAD OF POTENTIAL SHUTDOWN

“It’s not downsizing the activities of agencies,” he said. “It’s not reducing what they make available, what services they provide. It’s simply reducing the workforce that’s providing the same level and the same amount of services.” 

What agencies could be targeted for cuts? 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told a gaggle of reporters Thursday that “thousands” of federal employees could be laid off during the shutdown. 

“Look, it’s likely going to be in the thousands. It’s a very good question. And that’s something that the Office of Management and Budget and the entire team at the White House here, again, is unfortunately having to work on today,” Leavitt said.

Stern pointed to a handful of agencies that will likely be targeted for layoffs, citing agencies that have “mission creeped” their original purview into regulatory issues, such as the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as other agencies, like the National Science Foundation, that handle grant writing for programs. 

“Probably the Department of Ed is, is kind of the poster child on this one,” he said. “They’ve been talking about, they quite literally only need 10% or so on the staff.” 

He also noted the EPA, Department of the Interior and the Department of Labor could face cuts due to the various agencies’ “mission creep into a lot of regulations that are quite harmful to the economy, that are quite harmful to just American families.”

WHITE HOUSE TELLS FEDERAL AGENCIES TO PREPARE LAYOFF PLANS AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN LOOMS

“EPA over … a decade or so, has mission creeped its jurisdiction into more and more regulatory affairs, that just simply the EPA doesn’t have under a statutory capacity,” he said. “They’re regulating outside of the confines, the charge they were given by law, by Congress. So, EPA is another one of those where that makes a lot of sense to cut a lot of the workforce there. Then, at HUD and Department of Labor you have similar things.” 

Stern said the administration likely is also eyeing agencies such as the National Science Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities and certain aspects of the Department of Housing and Urban Development that are charged with “running programs that write grants where there’s an enormous amount of legal discretion on who gets the grant money.”

“These grants are not serving some critical, or frankly, constitutional role,” he said, adding the grants often land in the hands of universities and promote “left-wing” ideology on topics, such as transgenderism and climate change. 

What has Trump said on federal cuts?

Trump said during various public remarks Tuesday, as the deadline clock began to run dry, the shutdown presented him with the opportunity for the administration to carry out layoffs as part of a continued mission to slim down the federal government and snuff out overspending and fraud. Trump, however, repeatedly has stressed he does not support the shutdown, pinning blame on Democrats. 

WHITE HOUSE PREPARES FOR ‘IMMINENT’ FEDERAL LAYOFFS AFTER DEMOCRATS FORCE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

“We don’t want it to shut down because we have the greatest period of time ever,” Trump said from the Oval Office Tuesday. “I tell you, we have $17 trillion being invested. So, the last person that wants it shut down is us.

“Now, with that being said, we can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are bad for them and irreversible by them, like cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like,” he continued. 

Republicans have pinned the shutdown blame on Democrats, arguing they refused to fund the budget as an attempt to reinstate taxpayer-funded medical benefits for illegal immigrants. Democrats have countered that claim as a “lie” and cast blame for the shutdown on Republicans. 

“A lot of good can come down from shutdowns,” Trump added Tuesday. “We can get rid of a lot of things that we didn’t want, and they’d be Democrat things. But they want open borders. They want men playing in women’s sports. They want transgender for everybody. They never stop. They don’t learn. We won an election in a landslide.” 

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Trump’s second administration has spotlighted the size of the federal government as bloated since Inauguration Day, including the president launching the Department of Government Efficiency to weed out potential fraud, overspending and corruption and offering federal employees voluntary buyouts in January to leave their posts before rolling out other RIF initiatives across various agencies. 

Fox News Digital reached out to OMB’s office for comment on the anticipated cuts but did not immediately receive a reply. 

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

War Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered a blunt message to military leaders from around the globe this week: Get fit, get on board with the Trump agenda or get out.

It marked the first time generals from around the world had been summoned to convene with the secretary, and many had expected closed-door announcements on trimming the general officer corps, drawing down forces in the Middle East and Europe or cutting civilian and contractor roles.

Instead, what they got was a televised address from Hegseth and President Donald Trump. The secretary pushed a populist message of handing decision-making back to the warfighter, requiring senior leadership to perform physical training in line with lower-ranking officers and bringing uniformity back to the force.

Garrett Smith, an active-duty Marine Corps reservist and CEO of defense tech firm Reveal, said the spectacle was unusual but not without precedent.

TRUMP DECLARES ‘REAWAKENING’ OF ‘WARRIOR SPIRIT,’ UNWAVERING SUPPORT FOR MILITARY: ‘I HAVE YOUR BACKS’

“At a first level, at any big multinational corporation or big organization, when there’s a new boss, it’s totally reasonable to call in all your regional managers and VPs for a setting of tone, to reconfirm the agenda, to ensure alignment. So, all of that makes sense,” Smith said. 

“But, obviously, these are not normal times. This is the Trump administration. So, it’s going to come with a bunch of enhanced drama and mystique and weirdness about it. … The policy and the action might have been totally great, but much of the country is going to be left wondering, ‘What was that really about?’”

Even so, Smith argued, the underlying message was unmistakable: “A return to warfighting and preparation for winning wars as the priority mission of the department. There was a perception we’d strayed from that, that it had become just one mission among many. Reconfirming that this is the mission is really important — investing in a warfighting ethos.”

At a moment when the Trump administration is on alert for internal resistance to its agenda, the speech served as a reminder to commanders stationed far from Washington that their authority ultimately flows from the president.

“This is a historic come-to-Jesus meeting,” said Chad Robicheaux, a former reconnaissance Marine who deployed to Afghanistan eight times. “The message is clear. The days of divisiveness, resistance and undermining leadership are over.”

“It was crystal clear. Generals and admirals are on notice. Comply and enforce these new policies and culture or be fired. No more woke leaders,” said Amber Smith, a combat veteran and advisor with the Coalition for Military Excellence.

“The topic today is about the nature of ourselves, because no plan, no program, no reform, no formation will ultimately succeed unless we have the right people and the right culture at the Department of War,” Hegseth told the group.

He emphasized that combat fitness tests would be gender-neutral and that high-level officers would need to meet standards.

“It’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon and leading commands around the country and the world. It’s a bad look. It’s not who we are,” he said. “Whether you’re an airborne Ranger or a chairborne Ranger, a brand-new private or a four-star general, you need to meet the height and weight standards and pass your PT test.”

Hegseth announced that all personnel must pass physical training tests and meet weight requirements twice a year and would be required to work out daily. 

“We’re not talking, like, hot yoga and stretching,” he said. “Real hard PT.”

That represented a departure from previous years, when fitness standards often fell away once officers reached higher ranks and desk-bound commands.

HEGSETH INSTATES ‘HIGHEST MALE STANDARD ONLY’ FOR COMBAT, OTHER CHANGES, DECLARING DEPT. OF DEFENSE ‘IS OVER’

Smith, who comes from the infantry, said the focus on standards for physical readiness was part of that shift. 

“If we want to present a deterring force to the world so we don’t have to go to war, we have to be ready to win the next war. That is the deterrent force we project,” he said.

At the same time, Smith acknowledged the cultural edge of Hegseth’s message. 

“There was an obvious and very clear anti-woke, anti-social justice threat in there. That is unique to this administration, and it has to be a part of their message every time. That’s not a surprise given the last four or five years.”

From Trump, generals saw a preview of what is expected in the forthcoming national defense strategy, a renewed focus on homeland defense and U.S. dominance in the Western Hemisphere. Trump suggested crime-ridden U.S. cities could even serve as “training grounds” for troops.

“I told Pete we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military — National Guard, but military — because we’re going into Chicago very soon,” Trump said.

HEGSETH TELLS TROOPS TO RESIGN IF THEY OPPOSE HIS PLAN TO SCRAP ‘WOKE’ POLICIES AND RESTORE WARRIOR ETHOS

Hegseth’s message carried a personal edge rooted in his own military experience. A former Army National Guard officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, Hegseth left the service at the rank of major, well short of the general officer tier he now oversees.

That trajectory has long colored his outsider posture toward the Pentagon brass, giving him credibility with rank-and-file troops but also fueling what some see as a chip-on-the-shoulder tone toward those who climbed higher in the hierarchy.

His insistence that generals shed weight, train daily and live by the same standards as junior officers reflects both his populist instincts and his lived sense of being closer to the warfighter than the war planner.

“I can’t really imagine a scenario where a general needs to be able to run across a battlefield,” one veteran mused. 

“It felt a bit theatery,” one junior officer said of the speech. “But he’s right that generals should have to meet the same standards they expect of the people they lead.”

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“The future of the military and ‘war’ department finally is starting to look better, and I’m happy all that bulls— that happened in the past was addressed, and I don’t have to deal with it,” said another. 

Hegseth also said he would lift guardrails aimed at preventing bullying and hazing and “empower leaders to enforce standards without fear of retribution or second-guessing.”

“No more walking on eggshells.”

He told military officers in the room that if they didn’t like his message, “then you should do the honorable thing and resign.”