The U.S. Secret Service-involved shooting of a man with a shotgun inside the secure perimeter of Mar-a-Lago over the weekend brought the Department of Homeland Security’s partial shutdown into new focus.

Two USSS agents and a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office deputy confronted and later shot and killed Austin Martin, 21, who authorities said slipped through a vehicular exit gate that had opened for a car before brandishing his weapon.

‘They confronted a white male that was carrying a gas can and a shotgun. He was ordered to drop those two pieces of equipment that he had with him – at which time he put down the gas can, raised the shotgun to a shooting position… the deputy and the two Secret Service agents fired their weapons and neutralized the threat,’ according to Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw.

Those agents are among the many working their dangerous jobs without pay due to the ongoing partial shutdown of DHS, which Republicans say was brought on by Democrats’ demands that ICE, which remains funded through other means, be reformed.

Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., who represents Daytona Beach just up the coast from Mar-a-Lago, said the incident proves the bravery of the Secret Service no matter the circumstances.

‘The attempted assassination of President Trump at Mar-a-Lago is a stark reminder of growing leftist political violence in our country,’ Fine said in a statement.

‘Grateful to the Secret Service who neutralized the terrorist. Even as Democrats refuse to pay them because of their shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, these men and women continue to stand their post.’

Top White House aide Stephen Miller offered an even more pointed response to the dynamic:

‘Democrats voted to defund Secret Service, Homeland Security Investigations (who partner with Secret Service) and all the intelligence and law enforcement functions that support Secret Service,’ Miller said.

‘Never before in history has federal law enforcement been purposefully defunded.’

House Small Business Committee Chairman Roger Williams of Texas added that Americans should take note of the agents who responded whether paid or not.

‘As we continue to learn more about the armed man at Mar-a-Lago this morning, we must remember that the brave agents who responded are serving our country without pay due to the Democrat-led shutdown,’ Williams, R-Texas, said.

Prior to the incident, Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., warned that the Secret Service and other agencies like FEMA would be put in a bad spot if the partial shutdown went forward.

‘Democrats are prioritizing illegal immigrant criminals ahead of the safety of the American people,’ he said in a February 12 floor speech.

At least one Democrat did react to the agent-involved shooting.

Rep. Lois Frankel of Florida, for whom Trump is technically a constituent at his Mar-a-Lago address, said that ‘political violence is never the answer.’

‘Thank you to the Secret Service and Palm Beach County law enforcement for their swift response today and for their continued work in keeping the president safe,’ Frankel said.

The Northeast blizzard presents separate challenges for resource-suspended agencies like FEMA, while certain Homeland Security-run services, such as TSA escorts for members of Congress, are also suspended.

Fox News’ Elise Oggioni contributed to this report.

France has restricted U.S. Ambassador Charles Kushner’s access to senior government officials after he failed to attend a summons from the French Foreign Ministry over comments regarding the death of a French activist.

Speaking Tuesday in an interview with public broadcaster France Info, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Kushner’s decision not to appear at the Quai d’Orsay ‘will naturally affect his ability to carry out his mission in our country,’ and demanded ‘explanations’ from the ambassador.

Barrot described the no-show as a ‘surprise,’ saying that when an ambassador has ‘the honor of representing your country in France,’ they are expected to ‘respect the most basic practices of diplomacy’ and respond to summons from the ministry.

The diplomatic dispute stems from social media posts by official U.S. government accounts following the death of Quentin Deranque, a 23-year-old activist who was killed in Lyon earlier this month.

The Associated Press reported that Deranque, described as a fervent nationalist, was beaten during clashes between far-left and far-right activists and later died of brain injuries sustained in the attack.

‘Reports, corroborated by the French Minister of the Interior, that Quentin Deranque was killed by left-wing militants, should concern us all. Violent radical leftism is on the rise and its role in Quentin Deranque’s death demonstrates the threat it poses to public safety,’ the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Counterterrorism said in a Feb. 19 post on X. ‘We will continue to monitor the situation and expect to see the perpetrators of violence brought to justice.’

The U.S. Embassy in France later shared the statement on its official account.

Barrot said the remarks amounted to an ‘injunction’ toward France and rejected what he characterized as foreign interference in the country’s domestic political debate. 

‘We have no lessons to learn in matters of maintaining order or public order in matters of violence and we have no lessons to learn at all from the reactionary international, simply,’ he told France Info.

The State Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Barrot said Kushner could regain access to French officials if he provides clarification to the ministry, stressing that the dispute would not alter broader relations between France and the United States. 

He noted the two countries are preparing to mark the 250th anniversary of their historic alliance this year and expressed hope that cooperation would continue ‘in this spirit.’

A new study aims to jolt Israel’s security and technology establishment into embracing a new post-Oct. 7, 2023 business model that will advance the U.S.-Israel strategic partnership in the heart of the Middle East and across the globe.

The Henry Jackson Society study titled ‘Israel 2048: A Blueprint for a Rising Asymmetric Geopolitical Power’ jumps into the future, with a view toward advancing American and Israeli security interests.

Co-author of the report, Barak M. Seener, told Fox News Digital that America requires Israel for ‘its security architecture in the region via the Abraham Accords and, more broadly, will be a force multiplier regarding the technological edge against China.’

During President Donald Trump’s first term, his administration sealed diplomatic normalization deals between Sunni Gulf and North African countries: Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Sudan and Israel.

Seener and co-author David Wurmser argue that there is a pressing need to reframe the U.S.–Israel strategic partnership ‘around technology,’ and ‘shift from military aid dependency towards joint R&D and investment in shared technological platforms in defence-tech, AI, quantum computing and next generational warfare capabilities.’

They wrote, ‘Israel must prioritize passing negotiated regulations for technology sharing to prevent AI/ quantum technology leakage to China.’

Seener noted that the U.S. Pentagon’s National Defense Strategy (released in January) describes Israel as a strategic military partner. That hat has never happened before.’

He continued that ‘Israel is not only achieving regional dominance but international power by connecting trade routes and digital connectivity. Israel simply cannot remain in a purely defensive posture and hunker down and react to threats on its borders.’ 

Seener said following Israel’s successful air war campaign against the Islamic Republic of Iran in June 2025, ‘America now wants to be part of this success story. ‘

He argues that President Donald Trump entered on the side of Israel with military attacks because ‘Israel demonstrated intelligence acumen and military prowess. For the first time, America joined Israel’ in the prosecution of a war.

Consequently, Seener said Israel’s ‘defense technology makes it indispensable for nations.’

Seener and Wurmser’s 51-page study contains granular information on how the U.S. can strengthen American security and recommend embedding ‘Israel as a defense-tech and deep-tech power that is indispensable to Western security and global technological competition in supply chains for AI, semiconductors, missile defense, cyber capabilities and critical materials. Israel’s technological dominance must be leveraged to anchor alliances and shape global supply chains.’

The wobbliness of America’s European partners is also highlighted to show the need for Israel to ‘Accelerate domestic lines of production of critical military systems, munitions and energy infrastructure to reduce vulnerability to foreign political pressure such as Europe’s growing ambivalence, coupled with episodic constraints on arms transfers,’ according to the authors.

Earlier this month, Britain’s left-leaning government reportedly denied the U.S. military’s use of British bases to strike the Islamic Republic.

Israel is uniquely positioned to help regenerate relations among Western powers, the study notes. According to the authors, there is an opportunity to ‘use Israel’s defense-tech, quantum computing, AI and cyber capabilities as a tool of statecraft to deepen alliances, deter political isolation and strengthen influence in Europe, the Gulf and Asia.’

Seener said that ‘Israel is not a superpower but a geopolitical power that gives nations a force multiplier, and they benefit from Israel as a tech defense nation.’

Former White House speechwriters from both parties say President Donald Trump must decide whether to double down on the rally-style politics that powered his campaign or broaden his message to unify a divided country around his governing agenda in his State of the Union address Tuesday night.

As Trump prepares to speak to the nation and the world, a majority of Americans think the country is worse off today than it was a year ago, according to a recent Fox News survey. The challenge he faces Tuesday night is to persuade skeptical voters that his economic policies are bringing costs down, that tougher immigration enforcement is making the country safer and that he has a disciplined, forward-looking plan for the years ahead — a message that could shape Republicans’ prospects as they head into the 2026 midterm elections with narrow majorities in Congress.

Clark Judge, a speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan and now chairman of the Pacific Research Institute, told Fox News Digital that Trump should address America’s position in the world.

‘Threats to the country and to the economy were growing,’ Judge said. ‘Now, in area after area, those threats have been confronted and defeated.’

Judge said Reagan’s strength was clarity. People ‘knew where he would come down. One advantage of working with him was that he had been so clear throughout his career on what he was for,’ he said.

There are lessons from Reagan that Judge suggested Trump should take to heart. ‘Know the president, know the administration, know the public — where is the public at any one moment?’

‘Where are the Democrats? What are they trying to do — and how do we disarm their arguments?’ he said.

The balance needed in a State of the Union is finding a ‘middle ground’ between the president’s Cabinet fighting for their mentions and ‘trying to create big, thematic connections,’ former Jimmy Carter presidential speechwriter James Fallows told Fox News Digital.

Fallows, the Georgia Democrat’s chief speechwriter during his first two years in office, has since been a book, magazine and Substack writer. He said Trump’s challenge, both now and in his previous addresses, is to unite the country around his agenda, not just please his supporters.

Trump’s preferred rhetorical style is a rally-style approach — ‘where he can digress and weave’ and create ‘us versus them’ scenarios to rile the audience,’ he said, adding that a State of the Union address requires the opposite.

Former Joe Biden speechwriter Dan Cluchey expressed skepticism that Trump would be able to rise to the occasion.

‘President Biden has a deep reverence for both the constitutional role of Congress and the dignity of the presidential office, so he approached the State of the Union as an opportunity to rise above the fray and bring Americans together,’ Cluchey said, pointing to what the Delawarean considered the ‘Unity Agenda’ laid out in his 2022 address.

When asked what could surprise him about Trump’s Tuesday address, Fallows said sticking to his script would be a novelty.

‘[Also,] given what the next day’s news will describe as a ‘big tent speech’’ à la Reagan, the Carter speechwriter said.

Former George W. Bush speechwriter and current Wall Street Journal editorial board member Bill McGurn said presidents do tend to differ, sometimes greatly, from each other in style, contrasting the president with his former boss.

‘George W. Bush was very driven by logic — the speech had a flow and had a logic that was coherent.’

‘He’d always say, ‘make it so Bubba would understand what that meant’ — don’t dumb it down; but make it so an intelligent person listening can get the idea of what you’re about.’

Trump, he said, will likely repeat what many presidents often say, that ‘the State of the Union is strong.’

‘Even if it is a laundry list, there’s ways to make it more compelling if you find a unifying thread to it.’

Fallows told Fox News Digital there are many ‘structural challenges’ for any president and his team crafting a State of the Union.

‘So much to cover and only so much time you can hold the attention of even a captive audience.’

Fallows, who now writes ‘Breaking the News’ on Substack, said the SOTU is a rare moment for a president to address the nation as a whole, not just partisan supporters.

McGurn agreed.

‘For all the grandiosity and the important things they cover, they’re usually not remembered,’ he said, noting how many more Americans remember Bush’s 9/11 speech or his brief address through a bullhorn atop the rubble of the Twin Towers.

‘A dirty little secret is most speech artists hate the State of the Union for the laundry list kind of thing,’ he added.

Sometimes, a State of the Union may not be remembered itself, but it may lead to something much more memorable.

Judge recalled drafting Reagan’s 1988 address, thinking ‘this is technical and dull — what I need is an image.’

Settling on the phrase, ‘1,000 sparks of genius in a 1,000 communities,’ the line went viral in then-fledgling ‘dial’ polling — to the extent that Reagan’s protégé, the future President George H.W. Bush, borrowed the line for his ‘Thousand Points of Light’ speech, Judge said.

While the public may not remember everything from every SOTU, the speechwriters collectively said there are parts they still recall today. Cluchey said his best memories are of Biden choosing to share stories of everyday Americans he helped, ‘in order to illustrate the impact of his policies.’

In other cases, there are times the world takes notice.

Working with Reagan near the end of his successful bid to stifle the Cold War, Judge said crafting the speech was important not just for Congress in front of him and the American people at home, but everyone at once.

‘Behind the cameras are the editors and producers — even if they’re hostile, how do I frame something so it gets through? Behind them is our world leaders — what will catch them and move them in the direction you want?’

With Reagan pushing hard to end the Soviet Union, he was also speaking to both the leaders and those to the East.

Reagan would later be greeted by Soviet dissidents in public who would tell him, ‘You don’t know how important that was – the speeches gave us courage.’

Fallows said that Trump may have to overcome some habits to give an effective address this year.

‘State of the Unions are best in areas that are not Donald Trump’s strengths. They’re meant to be embracing the country as a whole. They’re meant to be delivered from a prompter but without seeming too scripted.’

‘We’ll see how this goes.’

The State Department has received hundreds of calls on its 24/7 crisis hotline as Americans in Mexico scramble to find ways home amid escalating chaos following the killing of a top cartel leader. 

The calls have been mostly pertaining to flight cancellations and concerns about travel back to the U.S., Fox News has learned.

Violence erupted in Mexico after a Feb. 22 government operation in which Jalisco New Generation cartel leader Nemesio ‘El Mencho’ Oseguera Cervantes was killed. The cartel leader was killed during a shootout inside his home as the Mexican military attempted to capture him. The operation was carried out by Mexican forces with U.S. intelligence support. 

Mexico Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch said the 25 Mexican National Guard troops in Jalisco were killed in six separate attacks following the killing of El Mencho. He also said some 30 criminal suspects were killed in Jalisco and four others were killed in Michoacan. Additionally, García Harfuch said that a prison guard, an agent from the state prosecutor’s office and a woman whom he did not identify were also killed.

The State Department’s travel advisory for Mexico, which was issued in August 2025, has since been updated regarding areas of risk. The Mexican states of Colima, Guerrero, Michoacan, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas and Zacatecas are under a ‘Level 4: Do Not Travel’ advisory. Meanwhile, the states under a ‘Level 3: Reconsider Travel’ advisory are Baja California, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Morelos and Sonora.

Americans in Mexico who need consular assistance are advised to call the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs at +1-202-501-4444 from outside the U.S. or +1-888-407-4747 from within the U.S. or Canada. 

Additionally, the department has recommended U.S. citizens enroll in the online Smart Traveler Enrollment Program or follow the ‘U.S. Department of State – Security Updates for U.S. Citizens’ WhatsApp channel for safety and security updates. The Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, also known as STEP, allows the U.S. embassy or consulate to contact travelers or their emergency contact if necessary.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Mexico issued an updated security alert for Jalisco State, including Puerto Vallarta, Chapala and Guadalajara, and Nayarit State, including the Nuevo Nayarit/Nuevo Vallarta area near Puerto Vallarta. The embassy and consulates said in the joint alert that due to road blockages and criminal activity, U.S. government staffers in several locations — including Guadalajara (Jalisco), Puerto Vallarta (Jalisco/Nayarit), and Ciudad Guzman (Jalisco) — are sheltering in place. The government entities said the workers would remain sheltered in place until blockades are cleared and called on U.S. citizens to follow suit.

While the State Department hotline has been flooded with calls regarding flight cancellations, the embassy and consulates noted that ‘all airports in Mexico are open, and most airports are operating normally.’ The entities noted that travelers whose flights to the U.S. had been canceled could be able to book a connecting flight through another Mexican city, as not all airports were impacted by the disruptions.

Fox News Digital’s Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump, taking to social media earlier this month, touted, ‘The highest Poll Numbers I have ever received.’

‘Obviously, people like a strong and powerful Country, with the best economy, EVER!’ the president added in a post on his Truth Social platform.

But on the day of his annual State of the Union Address, Trump’s poll numbers remain in negative territory in the vast majority of national surveys.

The president’s approval rating stands at 44% in the latest Fox News national poll, which was conducted late last month, with 56% disapproving of the job he’s doing in the White House.

And he stood at 39% approval among all adults and 41% among registered voters in an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos survey conducted Feb 12-17 and released on Sunday.

An average of the most recent surveys conducted over the past four weeks puts Trump’s approval ratings in the low 40s, with disapproval in the mid-50s.

Trump started his second term in positive territory, but his approval ratings sank below water last March and have slowly edged down deeper into negative territory in the ensuing months.

The latest surveys point to a massive partisan divide, with continued strong support for the president among Republicans, a thumbs down among independents and near total disapproval among Democrats.

‘Support among Republicans has remained in place, but the opposition has become even more calcified,’ veteran Republican pollster Daron Shaw told Fox News Digital, as he pointed to Democrats.

Deep concerns over inflation boosted Trump and Republicans to sweeping victories at the ballot box in 2024, as they won back the White House and Senate and kept their House majority.

‘We had record inflation. We don’t have it anymore,’ Trump said at a campaign event last week in Rome, Georgia. ‘I’m going to make a State of the Union address on Tuesday. I hope you’re going to watch and we’re going to be talking about it.’

But the president’s approval ratings on the economy are, on average, slightly lower than his overall approval ratings.

And Democrats say their decisive victories in November’s 2025 elections, and their overperformances in special elections and other ballot box showdowns in the year since Trump returned to office, were fueled by their laser focus on affordability amid persistent inflation.

A slew of surveys, including the latest Fox News polling, indicate Americans are pessimistic about the economy and say things have not generally improved during the second Trump administration.

‘He can’t unstick the notion that inflation is too high and that the economy is not moving in the right direction,’ added Shaw, who helps run the Fox News Poll with Democrat Chris Anderson.

But Democrats don’t have much to brag about when it comes to the polls.

The party’s brand dropped to historic lows last year in a slew of polls, with the trend continuing into the new year.

The president’s primetime address in front of Congress comes with just over eight months to go until the midterm elections, when Republicans will be defending their razor-thin majority in the House and their narrow control of the Senate.

Last week, the president’s political team huddled in a closed-door strategy session with Trump administration Cabinet members and their top aides on how best to sell the president’s agenda to voters in this year’s midterm elections.

According to sources familiar with the meeting, the message during a slide presentation by chief pollster and strategist Tony Fabrizio was that the economy will be the top issue on the minds of voters, and that the White House needs to spotlight its efforts on easing affordability.

‘Team Trump will deploy every resource necessary to win the midterms, protect our majorities, and ensure President Trump keeps delivering results for America’s working families,’ a source in the president’s political orbit told Fox News Digital.

Regardless of Trump’s overall approval ratings, he remains very popular and influential with Republicans. And in what may be a base election, the GOP sees the president as their best tool to motivate low-propensity MAGA voters, who don’t always vote when Trump’s not on the ballot, to show up at the polls during the midterms.

Republican National Committee Chair Joe Gruters told Fox News Digital last month that Trump was the GOP’s ‘secret weapon’ that will help Republicans ‘defy history’ in the midterms.

‘We got to make sure we turn our voters out, and we got to make sure that we have people energized. And there’s nobody that can energize our base more than President Trump,’ Gruters said.

‘I can’t believe they just left!’

‘Why didn’t they just stay until they fixed it?’

‘Why didn’t they make them stay?’

I must have fielded forty questions last week from colleagues, friends and acquaintances. Even reporters and editorial staff from other news organizations. And that’s to say nothing of a few Congressional aides.

Everyone had the same question. They were in disbelief that lawmakers just abandoned the Capitol a week ago Thursday and left the Department of Homeland Security without funding on Saturday at 12:00:01 am et.

The Senate tried twice to avert the partial government shutdown on Thursday. The Senate failed to break a filibuster on a placeholder, undetermined funding bill. And then Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., objected to a request by Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., to approve a stopgap, two-week funding bill. Passage of the bill would require agreement of all 100 senators. But all it took was one objection. And Murphy, speaking for many Democrats on both sides of the Capitol, interceded to sidetrack Britt’s effort.

‘I’m over it!’ shouted an exasperated Britt on the Senate floor, as Congress pitched at least part of the federal government into its third shutdown since October 1.

Democrats are refusing to fund the Department of Homeland Security until there’s a specific agreement to reform U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). And – few Democrats will say this out loud – but their base insists on Democrats shuttering DHS over ICE tactics after the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.

This is somewhat ironic. Republicans funded ICE through 2029 via last year’s One, Big, Beautiful Bill. So thanks to Democrats, TSA, the Coast Guard and FEMA – all under the DHS aegis – are without money right now. That means tens of thousands of employees are technically working without paychecks as they scan passengers at airports, patrol the seas and respond to natural disasters.

This brings us back to the basic question: Why didn’t they just stay until they figured it out?

As a reporter, I have covered dozens of shutdowns, partial shutdowns, near shutdowns, flirtations with shutdowns. That’s to say nothing of various permutations of interim spending bills – long and short – known as Continuing Resolutions or CRs. Those bills keep the funding flowing at the old spending level – until lawmakers all agree on something new. Sometimes one CR begets another CR. And even another one after that until everything’s resolved. The exercise can go on for months.

But as it pertains to DHS, lawmakers weren’t going to solve the issues surrounding ICE right away. So both the House and Senate got out of Dodge last Thursday as the deadline loomed. Lawmakers were everywhere from the Middle East to Munich when the bell tolled midnight Saturday and DHS lumbered into a slow-speed funding crash.

Failure to fund the Department of Homeland Security may seem unreasonable from a policy standpoint – regardless of what you think of ICE. But it’s not unreasonable if you understand the politics and Congressional procedure to fund ICE.

Let’s say they were on the precipice of an agreement to fund DHS. That may involve some last-minute trading of paper between Senate and House leaders. Maybe a call or two from the President to reluctant Republicans. If lawmakers believed a deal was within range, it’s doubtful that leaders would have cut Members loose. They would have stayed if there was a viable path to nail something down last Friday, have the Senate expedite the process and vote on either Saturday or Sunday (albeit after the deadline) and then have the House vote on Monday. That’s all under the premise of a deal being close.

They were nowhere near that stage when lawmakers called it last Thursday. Democrats didn’t send over their offer for days after a brief shutdown of 78 percent of the government more than two weeks ago. Democrats then criticized Republicans and the White House for slowly volleying a counteroffer. Democrats then rejected the GOP plan – only sending back another plan late Monday.

Getting a deal which can pass both the House and Senate – and overcome a Senate filibuster – takes time. And there simply wasn’t a deal to be had yet.

This is where things get really interesting. With no agreement in sight, you simply don’t anchor lawmakers in Washington with nothing to do. There’s nothing to vote on. There are no committee meetings scheduled. All tethering lawmakers to DC does is stir up trouble.

There’s a line in the song ‘Trouble’ in The Music Man by Meredith Willson: ‘The idle brain is the devil’s playground.’ Who knows what kinds of mischief you would have, just making very cranky lawmakers hang around Washington for days – without anything to vote on. Keeping everyone here does not contribute to securing a deal. Yes, all 532 House and Senate Members (there are two House vacancies) must eventually be dialed-in to vote on a bill to fund DHS. But we aren’t there yet. A handful of Members in the House, Senate and people at the White House will be the ones to negotiate an agreement. Rank-and-file Members marooned in Washington with nothing to do but post outrageous things on social media and appear on cable TV is counterproductive.

Now, let’s look at the other scenario of being close to an agreement. House and Senate leaders may believe they are still a little short of votes. But if something is viable, leaders know they can nail down the votes with some arm-twisting, legislative and ego massaging and a few forceful phone calls. Yes, that process may require elbow grease. But in that instance, keeping everyone in Washington for a few extra days and blowing up a long-awaited Congressional recess actually helps the process.

Why?

Think of the Stockholm Syndrome. You demand that everyone stay in Washington for an extra day or two and the ‘hostages’ will start to come around to the viewpoints of their captors. Yes, everyone is frustrated and mad. But they feel the bill is something they can support and finally end this triumvirate of government shutdowns. In this case, the fustigation builds – but just a little. Everyone is happy to vote yes and rush off of Capitol Hill.

If they were close to nailing down an agreement on DHS funding, then Congressional leaders would have deployed a version of the Stockholm Syndrome to wrap up everything.

But with no deal, leaders were more afraid of the mayhem they may trigger by keeping everyone in Washington. The devil would romp freely through the playground of idle brains.

So how will you know when there’s a deal?

When everyone’s present and accounted for.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) provided an update Sunday morning, saying TSA PreCheck is operating normally Sunday following reports that it had been suspended amid the partial government shutdown.

The suspension of the TSA PreCheck and Global Entry programs was first reported by The Washington Post, which noted the changes would begin Sunday at 6 a.m. EST. DHS says it will now be evaluating PreCheck on a ‘case by case basis.’

‘At this time, TSA PreCheck remains operational with no change for the traveling public. As staffing constraints arise, TSA will evaluate on a case by case basis and adjust operations accordingly,’ TSA wrote in a statement on X.

‘Courtesy escorts, such as those for Members of Congress, have been suspended to allow officers to focus on the mission of securing America’s skies,’ it added.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Saturday blamed Democrats for shutting down the government, saying they were causing ‘serious real world consequences.’

‘This is the third time that Democrat politicians have shut down this department during the 119th Congress,’ Noem said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. ‘Shutdowns have serious real world consequences, not just for the men and women of DHS and their families who go without a paycheck, but it endangers our national security.’

Noem said the department was making ‘tough but necessary workforce and resource decisions to mitigate the damage inflicted by these politicians.’

She said TSA and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) would be ‘prioritizing the general traveling population at our airports and ports of entry and suspending courtesy and special privilege escorts.’ The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), she added, will halt all non-disaster-related response to prioritize disasters.

Noem noted the suspension comes as a major storm is expected to hit the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, criticized the Trump administration for ‘idiotically’ shutting down the programs ‘to punish the American people.’

‘This is Trump and Kristi Noem purposely punishing the American people and using them as pawns for their sadistic political games,’ he said in a statement. ‘TSA PreCheck and Global Entry REDUCE airport lines and ease the burden on DHS staff who are working without pay because of Trump’s abuse of the Department and killing of American citizens.’

He called on the administration to immediately reverse the decision.

The third government shutdown in under half a year began on Feb. 14 after Democrats and Republicans were at an impasse on reaching a deal regarding President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

DHS was the only department left without federal funding after Democrats walked away from a bipartisan plan released last month in response to the deaths of two U.S. citizens at the hands of federal law enforcement agents in Minneapolis during anti-ICE demonstrations.

DHS is the third-largest Cabinet agency with nearly 272,000 employees. Roughly 90% of DHS workers were expected to continue working, many without pay, according to the department’s Sept. 2025 government shutdown plan.

DHS has jurisdiction over numerous agencies and offices, including CBP, TSA, FEMA, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the U.S. Coast Guard, and the U.S. Secret Service.

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind and Alex Miller contributed to this report.

An emotional Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., attempted to blame critics – and even President Donald Trump’s own off-the-cuff agility – for the backlash she received for her response to a question at the recent Munich Security Conference on American defense of Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion.

‘If you think I don’t understand foreign policy, because of out of hours of discourse about international affairs, I pause to think about one of the most sensitive geopolitical issues that currently exist on earth, I’m afraid the issue is not my understanding, but perhaps the problem is you’ve gotten adjusted to a president that never thinks before he speaks,’ a raspy-voiced Ocasio-Cortez said on a late-night Instagram Live video circulating on social media.

The leftist congresswoman’s Munich stumbling on Friday, Feb. 13, started the critical firestorm and has conservatives questioning her fitness for a potential 2028 Democrat presidential primary campaign.

‘Um, you know, I think that this is such a, you know, I think that this is a um — this is, of course, a, um, very long-standing, um, policy of the United States,’ she said with pause when asked about America defending Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion to enforce its One China Policy over the island-nation.

‘And I think what we are hoping for is that we want to make sure that we never get to that point, and we want to make sure that we are moving in all of our economic, research and our global positions to avoid any such confrontation and for that question to even arise.’

Vice President JD Vance, a potential 2028 presidential campaign opponent in a prospective general election matchup, weighed in multiple times this week to Ocasio-Cortez’s remarks.

‘I think it’s a person who doesn’t know what she actually thinks, and I’ve seen this way too much in Washington with politicians: Where they’re given lines and, when you ask them to go outside the lines they were given, they completely fall apart,’ Vance told Fox News’ ‘The Story With Martha MacCallum’ in an in-studio interview earlier this week.

‘That was embarrassing,’ he continued. ‘If I had given that answer I would say, ‘You know what? Maybe you ought to go read a book about China and Taiwan before I go out on the world stage again.’ I hope that Congresswoman Cortez has the same humility. I’m skeptical.’

President Donald Trump called on Netflix to fire board member Susan Rice immediately or ‘pay the consequences.’

Trump’s comments followed remarks Rice made Thursday on the ‘Stay Tuned with Preet’ podcast, hosted by former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. 

During the interview, Rice warned that corporations she said had ‘taken a knee’ to Republican pressure should not expect forgiveness from Democrats if they return to power.

‘This is not going to be an instance of forgive and forget. The damage that these people are doing is too severe to the American people and our national interest,’ Rice said.

It was not immediately clear what specific actions the Trump administration might pursue.

Netflix did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

Rice made the remarks while discussing what she described as corporate retreats from diversity and governance commitments amid pressure from Republican lawmakers.

‘If these corporations think that the Democrats, when they come back into power, are going to, you know, play by the old rules, and, you know, say, ‘Oh, never mind. We’ll forgive you for all the people you fired, all the policies and principles you’ve violated, all, you know, the laws you’ve skirted.’ I think they’ve got another thing coming,’ Rice added.

Rice, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, predicted an ‘accountability agenda’ awaited those entities, forecasting an electoral shift in the upcoming midterm elections. 

She also pointed to waning public approval for Trump’s economic and immigration policies in making her case.