Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s surprise resignation from Congress stunned House Republicans and sets up an even tighter majority in the lower chamber that could foil major legislative priorities.

Whether it triggers a ripple effect of Republican lawmakers following her lead remains to be seen. Still, there are members of the House GOP who are frustrated by how events have unfolded in recent months, especially after House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., opted to keep the House in session for over 50 days during the government shutdown.

Rep. Mike Haridopolos, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital he’s ‘heard rumors’ of frustration among his colleagues but, from people he’s spoken with, ‘They’re committed to being here.’

‘This is an incredible honor to serve in the House of Representatives, and when you run for office, I think you should fill out your term,’ Haridopolos said.

‘This is what the American public wanted,’ he continued. ‘I mean, they affirmatively put Republicans in power. And the only frustration we’ve been through, at least my biggest frustration, is when the Democrats exercise their power to shut the government down for 43 days.’

Greene, in her resignation letter teeing up her departure from Congress Jan. 5, 2026, aired grievances about how little progress has been made on Capitol Hill since she became a lawmaker in 2021.

She also took aim at President Donald Trump, who she has for weeks been distancing herself from despite being a die-hard Trump loyalist for much of her legislative career, and at Johnson for his handling of the shutdown.

‘During the longest shutdown in our nation’s history, I raged against my own speaker and my own party for refusing to proactively work diligently to pass a plan to save American healthcare and protect Americans from outrageous overpriced and unaffordable health insurance policies,’ Greene said. ‘The House should have been in session working every day to fix this disaster, but instead America was forced fed disgusting political drama once again from both sides of the aisle.’

Rep. Blake Moore, R-Utah, the fifth highest-ranking House Republican, sought to quash any rumors of dissent among the ranks in a statement to Fox News Digital.

‘Speaker Johnson and the House Republican leadership team have made a diligent effort to listen to all members of the conference for input, policy ideas and concerns,’ he said. ‘As usual, the media is building a negative narrative, but our record of delivering for the American people with our majority this year speaks to our teamwork and unity.’

That majority is now headed for a tenuous situation with Greene’s retirement.

Though Republicans are expected to maintain a seat after former Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., retired, the special election to replace the late former Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Texas, is expected to stay in Democratic control, effectively nullifying the results.

That means when Greene leaves, and if the results in Tennessee in December favor Republicans, Democrats are hoping for a miracle in the race. The results in Texas in late January favor Democrats, so the GOP would be left with effectively a two-vote majority.

Another lawmaker was tempted to exit the House for a different reason.

Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., was furious over the White House’s 28-point plan for Russia and Ukraine and told Fox News Digital that he found it ‘so appalling, so embarrassing.’

Bacon argued that the plan, which has broadly been viewed as giving Moscow much of what it wants and leaves Ukraine with little other than an end to the ongoing war, was ‘a recipe for Ukraine being abused for decades to come, and to be basically a vassal state under Russian control. And that was unacceptable.’

His preference is that if Ukraine is pushed to give up territory to Russia, it should be allowed to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization at the very least.

He noted that he ran on a pro-Ukraine platform, and, for a moment, considered resigning, fast-tracking his planned retirement from Congress at the end of next year.

‘I was so frustrated, it went through my mind,’ Bacon said. ‘You know, I don’t want to be a part of this team, frankly, but I don’t — I knew it was wrong. It was short-lived.

‘I think people would be doing a disservice to a lot of people just to resign,’ he continued. ‘I frankly think you should only resign if you got, like, an illness, or your spouse has an illness, or you got a legal issue. You know, when you run, there’s a commitment.’

A Florida man was arrested after an FBI investigation linked him to multiple extremist group chats on the encrypted messaging app Signal, where agents claim he used aliases to share disturbing graphic messages, detailed instructions for explosives and violent neo-Nazi propaganda.

Lucas Alexander Temple, 20, is facing federal charges for distribution of information regarding the manufacturing or use of explosives and possession of an unregistered short-barreled shotgun, according to court documents.

According to criminal complaints, Temple shared a hand-drawn diagram of a homemade detonator, linked to YouTube videos describing how to synthesize dynamite and construct blasting caps, and posted a 122-page extremist manual filled with White supremacist rhetoric. 

Investigators said the chats also included graphic discussions promoting rape, torture and murder, including the killing of non-White children.

Screenshots of messages allegedly sent by Temple’s aliases included phrases like, ‘How long would it take to rape a femboy to death?’ and discussions about sexually assaulting men.

Temple’s online aliases were linked to his true identity through personal details shared in chats — including his age, job at a grocery store and a family museum visit — and were verified with state records and security footage, according to the complaint.

While executing a search warrant at Temple’s home on Thursday, FBI agents found neo-Nazi propaganda, a book related to Columbine High School shooters Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris and a Springfield Model 67 Series E shotgun with a barrel shorter than 18 inches.

The barrel was allegedly sawed off and found in a separate area by investigators.

ATF records confirmed Temple was not registered to have the weapon.

Agents also found a handwritten note that said, ‘Plans: Wear body cams for livestream. Notify friends of livestream. Put flags on car. Play music on car speakers during operation. Place motion-activated bombs in doorways (for cops).’

During his initial court appearance, Magistrate Judge Amanda Arnold Sansone ordered that he remain detained pending trial, finding he posed a serious danger to others.

U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff gave a senior Kremlin official tips on how to sell a Ukraine peace deal to President Donald Trump, a report said.

Witkoff spoke by phone to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov on Oct. 14, advising him on how Putin should bring up the topic with the U.S. president, according to Bloomberg.

‘We put a 20-point Trump plan together that was 20 points for peace, and I’m thinking maybe we do the same thing with you,’ Witkoff was quoted by Bloomberg as saying, in reference to the Trump administration’s Gaza peace deal.

During the phone call, which lasted about five minutes, Witkoff said he had a deep respect for Putin and that he had informed Trump that he believed Russia has always wanted a peace deal for Ukraine, Bloomberg reported.

Witkoff mentioned that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was visiting the White House in mid-October and that Putin could speak to Trump ahead of that meeting, the report added.

‘Zelenskyy is coming to the White House on Friday,’ Witkoff said, according to a recording of the phone call obtained by Bloomberg. ‘I will go to that because they want me there, but I think, if possible, we have the call with your boss before that Friday meeting.’

Witkoff suggested that Putin congratulate Trump on the Gaza peace deal and say that Russia backed it and that he respects Trump as a man of peace, Bloomberg reported.

‘Here’s what I think would be amazing,’ Witkoff reportedly added. ‘Maybe he says to President Trump: you know, Steve and Yuri discussed a very similar 20-point plan to peace and that could be something that we think might move the needle a little bit. We’re open to those sorts of things.’

Bloomberg also reported that Ushakov said Putin ‘will congratulate’ Trump and say ‘Mr. Trump is a real peace man.’

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.

‘This story proves one thing: Special Envoy Witkoff talks to officials in both Russia and Ukraine nearly every day to achieve peace, which is exactly what President Trump appointed him to do,’ White House communications director Steven Cheung told Bloomberg.

Ushakov told Russian media on Wednesday that details about his conversation with Witkoff should not have been leaked, describing the situation as ‘unacceptable,’ according to Reuters.

It added that Ushakov said the leak was aimed at hindering discussions between the U.S. and Russia and that he would be raising the matter with Witkoff.

On Tuesday, Ukraine agreed to the peace deal that would see an end to the war with Russia, a U.S. official told Fox News.

Some minor details of the agreement are still to be sorted out, the official said.

Lt. Col. Jeff Tolbert, a spokesman for U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, had told Fox News that Driscoll and his team met with Russian officials in Abu Dhabi on Monday and Tuesday to discuss the framework for a Ukraine peace deal.

A U.S. official told Fox News that the Ukrainian delegation was also in Abu Dhabi and was in contact with Driscoll and his team.

Fox News’ Ashley Carnahan and Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump has signaled that he is planning to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization after several groups have stepped up warnings in recent months that the Islamist group is gaining a foothold in the U.S.

‘It will be done in the strongest and most powerful terms,’ Trump told Just the News over the weekend. ‘Final documents are being drawn.’

Trump’s comment comes shortly after Texas declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization and just days after the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP), a prominent global research center, released a comprehensive 200-page study warning of the Muslim Brotherhood’s growing influence in the U.S.

The Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist organization founded in Egypt, has gained access to government agencies, been involved in advising American civil rights policy, infiltrated educational institutions, and created a vast social media footprint, the report states, while outlining the belief that the group has allegedly targeted U.S. government agencies for infiltration, including the State Department, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Justice, through career appointments and advisory roles.

‘We welcome President Trump’s statements and the growing recognition that the Muslim Brotherhood, its ideology and network pose a serious challenge to the United States and democratic societies,’ Charles Asher Small, executive director of ISGAP, said in a press release after Trump’s interview with Just the News.

‘A formal U.S. designation would represent an important first step to confront the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States. This will require sustained, evidence-based policy, serious scrutiny of its affiliated structures and funding streams, and long-term investment in democratic resilience.’

The ISGAP report dives deep into alleged terrorist ties within the group along with various funding sources from places like Qatar, while making the case that both al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood ‘share the strategic aim’ of establishing an Islamic state government by sharia law and differing only in tactics where the Brotherhood’s ‘gradualism allows it to maintain ideological continuity with militant jihad while avoiding direct confrontation.’

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not hear back by press time.

‘The Brotherhood is the progenitor of all modern Jihadist terror groups, from al-Qaeda to HAMAS,’ Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism Sebastian Gorka posted on X over the weekend. ‘The time has come.’

A Senate Republican wants to take a legislative shot at New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and his desire to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., is introducing legislation that would halt some funding to cities that follow through on any International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant to arrest or detain officials from North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries.

The measure, called the ‘American Allies Protection Act,’ is in direct response to Mamdani doubling down on his vow to arrest Netanyahu. Last year, the ICC issued a warrant for the Israeli prime minister’s arrest that has been heavily scrutinized by lawmakers in the U.S. and abroad.

Mamdani reiterated his desire to arrest Netanyahu last week before meeting with President Donald Trump. He told local news station ABC7 that New York City was a ‘city of international law’ that would uphold the court’s arrest warrants, which accused the Israeli prime minister of intentionally attacking civilians and using starvation as a method of warfare.

‘I’ve said time and again that I believe this is a city of international law, and being a city of international law means looking to uphold international law,’ he said. ‘And that means upholding the warrants from the International Criminal Court, whether they’re for Benjamin Netanyahu or Vladimir Putin.’

Budd charged in a statement to Fox News Digital that the U.S. is ‘not bound by the morally bankrupt’ court, and accused Mamdani’s position and comments of not being based in law but rather a means to ‘virtue-signal to his radical, anti-Israel base.’

‘Mayor-elect Mamdani’s pledge to facilitate the arrest of Benjamin Netanyahu is not just ridiculous; it represents a grave threat that could seriously damage America’s relationship with our closest allies and partners,’ Budd said.

His legislation would halt Department of Justice (DOJ) grants from flowing to any city that cooperates with the court and arrests a NATO or U.S. major non-NATO ally. 

There is an override mechanism built in that would allow the president to end the penalty only if cooperation with the court is deemed necessary for national security.

Meanwhile, the issue of Netanyahu apparently did not come up during Trump and Mamdani’s confab. When asked if there was discussion of stopping Mamdani from arresting Netanyahu, Trump said the pair, ‘Didn’t discuss’ the matter.

The campaign firm that helped Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani spread his message in New York City is now turning its focus to vulnerable Republicans across the country.

Among other races, the firm has set its sights on defeating two vulnerable House Republicans in Pennsylvania: Reps. Rob Bresnahan and Ryan Mackenzie.

Fight Agency — a six-man crew with experience in over 300 winning elections — focuses on many of the issues Mamdani made a fixture of his campaign, like affordability and housing.

‘If you’re doing everything right but finding it harder and harder to get by, you’re not alone. We know a simple truth about American life: the economy is not delivering enough for enough people. If the next forty years are like the last forty years, the American middle class will disappear,’ the firm states on its website.

The balance of power in the House of Representatives is in a precarious position ahead of the 2026 midterms. With Republicans holding just a three-seat majority, even one or two key losses for Republicans could cut the legs out from under the GOP’s control over the chamber. Pennsylvania — home to both Bresnahan and Mackenzie — also makes up a key battleground state with several competitive districts. According to the Cook Political Report, the state has five competitive Republican-held districts all projected to be a five-point contest or less.

In that struggle, the Fight Agency’s leaders have come to the support of Paige Cognetti, a former mayor of Scranton, Pa., who is running to unseat Bresnahan. Bresnahan, a freshman lawmaker, won election to Congress in 2024 by just 1.6 percentage points.

‘We can stand tall against a Washington that takes advantage of working people and makes it work for us,’ Cognetti said in her launch video.

Rebecca Katz, the Fight Agency’s strategist for the election of Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., reposted Cognetti’s campaign ad in a post to X.

‘If you can, pls chip in a few bucks and let’s get someone who cares about people in Congress,’ Rebecca Katz wrote. 

Cognetti, the former mayor, has also highlighted the firm’s other work, saying she was ‘proud to know these folks’ in a repost showcasing the agency’s past campaigns.

Like in Cognetti’s campaign, the Fight Agency team is also supporting Bob Brooks and his race against Republican incumbent Ryan Mackenzie in Pennsylvania. Mackenzie won election by a single percentage point in the last cycle.

‘The biggest problem we face is a Washington that burns working people,’ Brooks said in his campaign launch video. ‘I’m running for Congress in one of the closest districts to take on the billionaires and big corporations holding us back.’ 

Morris Katz, the firm’s lead on the Mamdani campaign, reposted Cognetti’s launch video alongside Fight Agency’s main account. Brooks has returned the favor, reposting Fight Agency’s productions in a Maine Senate race. 

With Mamdani, the firm helped produce lighthearted content with a brighter, more comedic edge. In one video, the firm mimicked the style of ‘The Bachelor,’ the TV romance show known for its match-making drama.

‘New York, will you accept this rose?’ Mamdani asked in the video.

In the past, the firm has supported Democrat candidates away from the mainstream of the party, gravitating towards either more progressive candidates or candidates with an unconventional streak.

Besides Mamdani, some of Fight Agency’s previous partners include Sen. Bernie Sanders,’ I-Vt., bid for president and Sen. John Fetterman’s 2021 campaign. 

Today, some of their more high-profile current candidates include Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner and Nebraska Senate hopeful Dan Osborn, both featured prominently on the firm’s website.

Fight Agency did not respond to a request for comment.

The Club for Growth says it has President Donald Trump’s back as the president pushes Republican-controlled states to redraw congressional maps in order to create more right-leaning districts to help defend the GOP’s fragile House majority in next year’s midterm elections.

‘We’re all in on helping Republicans do redistricting,’ David McIntosh, longtime president of the deep-pocketed and influential conservative group, said in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital.

McIntosh highlighted that the Club for Growth’s seven-figure efforts ‘give Republicans a better shot at winning those extra districts.’

The push by the Club is the latest example of its strong support for the president and his policies, just two years after the group worked to prevent Trump from winning the 2024 Republican presidential nomination amid a bitter feud.

Trump and his political team are aiming to pad the GOP’s razor-thin House majority to keep control of the chamber in next year’s midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats.

Trump is trying to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House when Democrats reclaimed the House majority in the 2018 midterm elections.

Texas was the first Republican-controlled state to pass rare but not-unheard-of mid-decade congressional redistricting, although a ruling by two federal judges threatens to overturn the redrawn map. Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio have also drawn new maps as part of the president’s push.

Indiana, where McIntosh served three terms as a congressman 25 years ago, is the latest battlefield in the high-stakes redistricting showdown pitting Trump and Republicans versus Democrats to shape the 2026 midterm landscape in the fight for the House majority.

‘Democrats for years have gerrymandered and Republicans have not, and now it’s time so we can have Republicans in Congress for states like my home state of Indiana, step up to the plate, draw the district, so Republicans can be represented,’ McIntosh argued.

Trump has threatened to back primary challenges against Republican state lawmakers in Indiana who are reluctant to pass redistricting.

‘I was delighted to see President Trump calling them to do it. And you know, he said, we’re going to start endorsing against you if you don’t do what’s right for the Republican Party and for the nation. Club for Growth will be there to back up his endorsements,’ McIntosh said.

And the Club’s political arm, the Club for Growth Action super PAC, which is one of the biggest spenders in Republican primary showdowns thanks to the support of top-dollar conservative donors, is running ads to support the president’s push in right-leaning states across the country.

‘We’re way over seven figures when you put together all the different states. And what we’re doing is running ads. We have a new ad today that talks about the need for redistricting,’ McIntosh revealed. ‘We have a program that brings constituent calls into the Senate members, and so they get to hear directly from their voters that they want them to do this.’

It’s not just redistricting.

The Club is spending seven figures in next week’s hotly contested special election for a Republican-controlled vacant House seat in a solidly red congressional district in Tennessee.

‘Matt Epps is going to win,’ McIntosh said as he pointed to the Trump-endorsed GOP nominee in the race to succeed former Republican Rep. Mark Green, who resigned from office in June to take a private sector job.

‘It’s going to be a hard race. They all are, but he’s going to win that race because he’s more in line with Tennessee,’ McIntosh said of Van Epps. ‘I’m confident of him, and we’re going to help him do it.’

And looking ahead to next year’s midterms, McIntosh shared that the Club has ‘already started raising a $40 million fund to keep the House majority, and we’re about 25 million into it.’

‘I’m going to keep going, and then we’ll deploy that to make sure Republicans can keep the majority,’ he emphasized.

And as they’ve done in the past, the Club, which pushes a fiscally conservative agenda, including a focus on tax cuts and other economic issues, will once again play an influential role in GOP primaries.

‘We’re interviewing a lot of candidates now. We’re going to look for the strongest conservative candidate, somebody who wants to continue the economic progress, less regulation, lower taxes, balance the budget, the things that will make America great,’ McIntosh said. ‘And then when we endorse them, we’ll come in with our funding to pay for ads. We’ll recruit and help them raise money. It’s important we get the right Republicans in these primaries, and there are a lot of open seats.’

Democrats are energized coming out of their party’s sweeping victories earlier this month in the 2026 elections.

‘Democrats have racked up wins this year by running on affordability and lowering costs, and headed into 2026 our momentum continues to build,’ CJ Warnke, communications director for the Democrat-aligned House Majority PAC told Fox News Digital.

Warnke predicted, ‘As Trump’s poll numbers on the economy continue to plummet and voters see him prioritizing the elite over lowering prices, his broken promises will sink House Republicans. No Republican-held seat is safe, and HMP will do whatever it takes to win the House in 2026.’

McIntosh sees the 2025 elections as ‘a warning sign, a wake-up call for two things.’

‘One, we got to get our voters out, and that’s the job of the party and Club for Growth and groups like us,’ McIntosh noted.

But he added that ‘the party has to explain how our agenda makes life more affordable, how we can lower your insurance costs by forcing the insurance industry to tell you how much they’re charging. We can lower housing by getting rid of all sorts of regulation.’

McIntosh and the Club have had an up-and-down relationship with the president. They opposed Trump as he ran for the White House in 2016 before embracing him as an ally. In the 2022 cycle, Trump and the Club teamed up in some high-profile GOP primaries but clashed over combustible Senate nomination battles in Alabama, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

The Club was on the outs with Trump as the 2024 Republican presidential nomination race got underway. Trump repeatedly criticized McIntosh and the Club, referring to them as ‘The Club for NO Growth,’ and claimed they were ‘an assemblage of political misfits, globalists, and losers.’

However, Trump and McIntosh made peace in early 2024, with Trump saying as he was wrapping up the GOP presidential nomination, that they were ‘back in love’ after the protracted falling out.

Asked about the Club’s relationship with Trump, McIntosh said, ‘We’re right there with the President, especially in these races … Club for Growth is very aligned with President Trump, and we’re especially in these contested races, we’re going to help him win.’

A federal judge threw out the indictments against James Comey and Letitia James on Monday, finding they were illegitimate because they were brought by an unqualified U.S. attorney.

Judge Cameron Currie dismissed the false statements charges against Comey and bank fraud charges against James without prejudice, meaning the charges could be brought again.

‘I conclude that the Attorney General’s attempt to install Ms. Halligan as Interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia was invalid and that Ms. Halligan has been unlawfully serving in that role since September 22, 2025,’ Currie wrote.

The Department of Justice could appeal the decision or attempt to bring the charges under a different U.S. attorney. Fox News Digital has reached out to the DOJ for comment.

The move to scrap two of the highest-profile criminal cases the DOJ has leveled against President Donald Trump’s political foes comes after the judge voiced skepticism at a recent hearing in Virginia about Lindsey Halligan’s ability to bring the charges as interim U.S. attorney.

Currie, a Clinton appointee based in South Carolina, was brought in from out of state to preside over proceedings about the question of Halligan’s authority because it presented a conflict for the Virginia judges. Comey’s and James’ challenges to Halligan’s appointment were consolidated because of their similarity.

Halligan acted alone in presenting charges to a grand jury days after Trump ousted the prior interim U.S. attorney, Erik Siebert, and replaced him with Halligan. At the same time, Trump urged Attorney General Pam Bondi in a social media post to act quickly to indict Comey, a call that came as the statutes of limitations in his case was about to lapse. Halligan, who had no prior prosecutorial experience when she took over one of the most high-profile federal court districts in the country, was the lone lawyer to present the cases to the grand jury and sign the indictments. No prosecutors from Virginia joined in on the case.

The DOJ has since put its full backing behind Halligan. Bondi attempted to ratify and then re-ratify the indictments after the fact, a move Currie suggested would not have been necessary if Halligan were a valid appointee.

DOJ attorney Henry Whitaker had argued during the hearing that the motions to dismiss Comey’s and James’ cases involved ‘at best a paperwork error.’

James’ attorney Abbe Lowell said Halligan was a ‘private person’ when she entered the grand jury rooms and completely unauthorized to be in them. Currie agreed, saying in her decision that retroactively validating Halligan and her actions would be unheard of.

‘The implications of a contrary conclusion are extraordinary,’ Currie wrote. ‘It would mean the Government could send any private citizen off the street — attorney or not — into the grand jury room to secure an indictment so long as the Attorney General gives her approval after the fact. That cannot be the law.’

One Senate Republican proved that it’s still possible to bridge the chasm between the aisles after brokering an end to the longest government shutdown in history.

The 43-day impasse in Congress may have ended in the House, but it was in the Senate that Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., worked to build an old-fashioned bipartisan coalition to jump-start the stalled chamber.

It took several weeks, numerous conversations and reconstructing broken trust between Senate Republicans and Democrats to pull off what would become a bipartisan package to reopen the government.

And it was something that Britt, in an interview with Fox News Digital, contended she was uniquely positioned to do.

She was chief of staff for former Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and knew how the sausage was made in the upper chamber. She also had longstanding relationships with some of the key Democratic negotiators, like Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., who ultimately joined most Republicans to reopen the government.

For Britt, who chairs the Homeland Security Appropriations Committee, the key to reopening the government was funding the government through spending bills.

‘I’m very grateful for those on the other side of the aisle that had the courage to step forward and say, you know, we’re not going to allow everyday Americans to suffer as a result of keeping this government closed,’ she said. ‘I do think what we saw was a lot of people that were listening to their political consultants instead of the actual constituency that they serve.’

‘Because clearly, I think a lot of people had lost sight of the fact that we were in this place because we hadn’t passed appropriations bills,’ Britt continued.

During the last session of Congress, the chambers were split. Republicans held a tenuous grip on the House while Schumer and Senate Democrats controlled the Senate. Many of the spending bills produced by the House were often partisan, while the bipartisan bills crafted in the Senate never made it to the floor.

‘If you look back over Senator Schumer’s tenure as leader and over the last two years, he didn’t even put one bill on the floor last year, which is what led us to this posture of a CR to start with,’ she said.

Britt believed that at least moving a trio of spending bills could perhaps unstick the gears in the Senate and get lawmakers closer to ending the shutdown. Whether that package of bills could end up attached to legislation to reopen the government, however, remained elusive.

While she lauded both Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., for their roles in ensuring the funding process actually worked, her role as de facto arbiter began roughly three weeks before the shutdown ended.

One of the main issues before and throughout the shutdown was a lack of trust that Senate Democrats had in Republicans, an issue that was reaffirmed when the GOP voted to claw back billions in congressionally approved funding earlier in the year.

That trust issue was further solidified due to a lack of commitments from Republicans to prevent the Trump administration from continuing to carve away at federal funding with impoundments and rescissions.

And the key moment that saw the wheels begin to move in the direction of reopening came when Senate Democrats blocked the Defense appropriations bill, which would have paid service members among a plethora of other things.

‘The question that I had for each of them, you know, why? This came out of committee in a bipartisan way, and it was clear, they wanted greater conversation around how we were planning on moving these things forward,’ she said.

It was from those informal talks that she leaned into speaking with more Democratic lawmakers to try and assuage their concerns about what would happen during and after the spending bills were passed. Those conversations brought her all the way to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on whether he would approve of the appropriations process moving forward.

‘Taking a cue from that is why I really leaned into conversations, both with people that I believed were gettable in finding a pathway forward on reopening the government and those who were not,’ she said. ‘You know, just saying, like, ‘Look, guys, here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to work to fund these three bills. And if we do that, you know, here will be the ultimate result of it.’’

But, as with any successful legislation, there’s always a numbers game.

Not every Senate Republican was in favor of reopening the government, or at least the vehicle to do so, a point Britt reiterated often. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., had consistently voted against the House-passed bill until that point.

So that meant she needed to find the numbers elsewhere across the aisle. Shaheen, who was leading negotiations for Senate Democrats, largely had her numbers in check, but there was one more that needed an extra nudge: Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.

Over the course of 48 hours, the weekend of the penultimate vote to seal the deal in the Senate, Kaine went from being against the package to supporting it. Britt acted as a liaison to the White House, bringing Kaine’s demands that the administration roll back firings carried out during the shutdown and provide protections to federal workers, which the administration ultimately agreed to.

But ending the shutdown was the first hurdle. Lawmakers now have until Jan. 30, 2026, to fund the government. Britt said she would keep doing what she’s been doing: talking to the other side.

‘I am hopeful that people will remember what we’re supposed to be doing, and that is working to pass these bills,’ she said. ‘And I am sure that there will be challenges in front of us, but you know, having dialogue and working to break the logjam will be essential when it does occur to keep America moving.’

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday aimed at bolstering U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives as it unveiled its new ‘Genesis Mission’ to accelerate AI use for scientific purposes. 

The ‘Genesis Mission’ will direct the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and their national labs to work with private companies to share federal data sets, advanced supercomputing capabilities, and scientific facilities. 

‘The private sector has launched artificial intelligence at huge scale, but with a little bit different focus – on language, on business, on processes, on consumer services,’ Secretary of Energy Chris Wright told reporters Monday. ‘What we’re doing here is just pivoting those efforts to focus on scientific discovery, engineering advancements. And to do that, you need the data sets that are contained across our national labs.’ 

Additionally, the executive order instructs the Department of Energy and national labs to create an integrated platform aimed at expediting scientific discovery, in an attempt to connect AI capability with scientists, engineers, technical staff, and the labs’ scientific instruments, according to a White House official.

Trump hinted an effort like this was in the works during the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum Wednesday in Washington, where he said the U.S. would work ‘to build the largest, most powerful, most innovative AI ecosystem in the world.’

The effort comes after Trump issued an AI policy document called ‘Winning the Race: America’s AI Action Plan’ in July. The document laid out a framework focused on accelerating AI innovation, ensuring the U.S. is the leader in international AI diplomacy and security, and using the private sector to help build up and operate AI infrastructure. 

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is also currently considering other executive orders pertaining to AI, and more executive orders could be on the horizon. 

For example, Fox News Digital previously reported that the White House was gearing up an executive order instructing the Justice Department to sue states that adopt their own laws regulating AI. 

Trump appeared to address the initiative at the U.S-Saudi Investment Forum as well, claiming that a series of AI regulations imposed at the state level would prove a ‘disaster.’

‘And we are going to work it so that you’ll have a one approval process to not have to go through 50 states,’ Trump said. 

Fox News’ Amanda Macias and Dennis Collins contributed to this report.