President Donald Trump said Secretary of State Marco Rubio handed him a note indicating the United States is ‘very close to a deal in the Middle East,’ a revelation he made Wednesday at the White House during a roundtable on Antifa.

‘Yeah, I was just given a note by the Secretary of State saying that we’re very close to a deal in the Middle East, and they’ll get to need me, pretty quickly,’ Trump said.

Nearly two hours later, Trump posted on Truth Social that a deal had been struck.

‘I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan,’ he said. ‘This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace.’

‘All Parties will be treated fairly!’ Trump added. ‘This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!’

Israeli TV Channel 12 reported the agreement will be signed at noon local time on Thursday, and the release of hostages and prisoners will take place Saturday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also weighed in, saying, ‘With God’s help we will bring them all home.’

Trump said earlier Wednesday he might travel to the Middle East as Gaza peace negotiations continued. He said he might make the trip on Sunday, adding there is a ‘great team’ of negotiators already there.

‘It’s something I think that will happen,’ Trump said. ‘Got a good chance of happening.’

U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are in Egypt negotiating details of a potential peace agreement between Israel and Hamas in the war that began Oct. 7, 2023.

Later Wednesday, Trump signaled that negotiations are going well.

‘I was just dealing with people from the Middle East, our people and other people, on the potential peace deal for the Middle East,’ he said. ‘Peace for the Middle East. That’s a beautiful phrase, and we hope it’s going to come true, but it’s very close and they’re doing very well.’

Trump unveiled a 20-point plan to end the Gaza war on Sept. 29, when Benjamin Netanyahu visited the White House. The plan includes granting Hamas terrorists who give up their arms in favor of peace ‘amnesty,’ establishing Gaza as a ‘deradicalized, terror-free zone,’ and redeveloping the area so it no longer poses a threat to its neighbors and residents.

Trump warned Hamas that if it did not agree to the peace deal, the terrorists would face ‘massive bloodshed.’

Hamas announced Friday that it agreed to release all Israeli hostages, dead or alive, as part of Trump’s peace proposal.

Israeli and Hamas officials met Monday in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm El Sheikh at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula. Kushner — Trump’s son-in-law, credited with helping facilitate the Abraham Accords during his first administration — and Witkoff remain in Egypt to help negotiate an agreement.

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.

Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, a staunch supporter of Israel, congratulated President Donald Trump on Wednesday shortly after the commander in chief announced in a Truth Social post that Hamas and Israel agreed to phase one of a peace plan.

Fetterman said that he and the president are both unflinchingly committed to the U.S. ally.

‘I congratulate @POTUS on this historic peace plan that releases all the hostages. Now, enduring peace in the region is possible. Our parties are different but we have a shared ironclad commitment to Israel and its people,’ the senator noted on X while including a screenshot of Trump’s Truth Social post.

Israel launched a war effort in the wake of the heinous Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack in which terrorists committed atrocities including murder, rape and kidnapping. 

Trump, who has been brokering a peace deal, declared in a Truth Social post on Wednesday, ‘I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan. This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace. 

‘All Parties will be treated fairly! This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!’ the president added.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and others have said Trump should receive the Nobel Peace Prize for the deal, but GOP Rep. Randy Fine argued that the award would be insufficient if lasting peace is obtained, instead suggesting that presidential term limits should be abolished.

‘The Nobel Peace Prize isn’t enough. If every living hostage is returned and lasting peace in the Middle East is secured, we should repeal the 22nd Amendment and thank the Lord for every day @realdonaldtrump can be our President. There will never be another one like him,’ he said in a post on X.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., is demanding information from the FBI on whether she has been subjected to additional surveillance, following revelations that former Special Counsel Jack Smith tracked her phone calls, calling the action ‘one of the most serious infringements on the separation of powers in American history.’ 

Fox News Digital first reported Monday that Smith and his’Arctic Frost’ team investigating Jan. 6 allegedly monitored the phone calls of Lummis and fellow GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and GOP Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania.

Fox News Digital exclusively obtained an FBI document stating the names of the lawmakers and that an FBI special agent on Smith’s team ‘conducted preliminary toll analysis’ on the toll records associated with them.

An FBI official told Fox News Digital that Smith and his team were able to view which phone numbers the senators called, along with the location each call originated and where it was received.

Lummis is now seeking more information on the matter, writing a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel thanking him, President Donald Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi for their ‘transparency regarding the blatantly unconstitutional surveillance activities conducted on the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives by the Biden Administration during Operation Arctic Frost.’

‘Your willingness to expose these abuses is crucial to getting the FBI and Department of Justice focused back on its core mission of delivering justice for all,’ she wrote in the letter to Patel, obtained by Fox News Digital.

Lummis is now demanding all FBI and DOJ records that identify which members of the Biden administration ‘authorized or approved the surveillance of my phone records and communications.’

Lummis is asking for the names of all DOJ officials, FBI officials, and any White House officials involved; the entire data file collected on her, including all phone records and any recordings or transcripts of her private communications; any legal statutes cited to justify the data collection; and any individuals with whom the information was shared.

She is also requesting documentation of ‘any other surveillance conducted by the FBI or DOJ from January 20, 2021, through January 20, 2025, on me related to my official duties as a United States senator.’

‘I believe that the surveillance of sitting United States Senators by the executive branch represents one of the most serious infringements on the separation of powers in American history,’ she wrote. ‘It seriously impinges on both my civil rights and my constitutional duties as a legislator, especially since this surveillance was directly connected to core legislative activities protected by the Speech or Debate Clause of the United States Constitution.’

Lummis added that ‘the American people deserve to know the truth about how the Biden administration weaponized federal law enforcement against their elected representatives.’

‘Those responsible will be held accountable,’ she wrote. ‘Thank you for your prompt attention to these requests, and for restoring integrity to the FBI.’

‘Arctic Frost’ was opened inside the bureau on April 13, 2022. Smith was appointed as special counsel to take over the probe in November 2022. 

An FBI official told Fox News Digital that ‘Arctic Frost’ is a ‘prohibited case,’ and that the review required officials to go ‘above and beyond in order to deliver on this promise of transparency.’ The discovery is part of a broader, ongoing review.

‘The American people deserve the truth, and under my leadership, they will have it,’ Patel told Fox News Digital. ‘We promised accountability for those who weaponized law enforcement, and we will deliver it.’

Patel added: ‘Under our watch, the FBI will never again be turned against the American people.’

‘It is a disgrace that I have to stand on Capitol Hill and reveal this — that the FBI was once weaponized to track the private communications of U.S. lawmakers for political purposes,’ FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, who briefed senators on the matter, told Fox News Digital. ‘That era is over.’

Bongino added: ‘Under our leadership, the FBI will never again be used as a political weapon against the American people.’

Meanwhile, the FBI has terminated employees and disbanded the CR-15 squad. Patel announced the actions were taken in response to the revelation of the ‘baseless monitoring’ of U.S. lawmakers.

‘We are cleaning up a diseased temple three decades in the making — identifying the rot, removing those who weaponized law enforcement for political purposes and those who do not meet the standards of this mission while restoring integrity to the FBI. I promised reform, and I intend to deliver it,’ Patel said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Patel also posted about it on X, saying, ‘Transparency is important, and accountability is critical. We promised both, and this is what promises kept looks like… We terminated employees, we abolished the weaponized CR-15 squad, and we initiated an ongoing investigation with more accountability measures ahead.’

Senate Republicans aren’t ready to go ‘nuclear’ again to change the rules around the Senate filibuster as Senate Democrats dig deeper against the GOP’s push to reopen the government.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Republicans need at least eight Democrats to cross the aisle and vote for their continuing resolution (CR) to pass through the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster threshold.

But only three Democratic caucus members have joined Republicans after six failed attempts to pass the short-term funding extension as the shutdown enters its second week.

Republicans have already turned to the ‘nuclear option’ to unilaterally change the rules this year to blast through Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Democrats’ blockade of President Donald Trump’s nominees. But for many, the notion of changing the rules and nuking the filibuster is a third rail.

‘Never, never, ever, never, none,’ Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., told Fox News Digital when asked if he would consider changing the rules.

‘I’ve never heard that since the Democrats tried to do it, and I think we would all fight it pretty hard,’ he continued.

The last time the filibuster was put under the microscope was when Democrats controlled the Senate in 2022. Schumer, who was majority leader at the time, tried to change the rules for a ‘talking filibuster’ in order to pass voting rights legislation.

However, the effort was thwarted when then-Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., joined Republicans to block the change. Both have since retired from the Senate and become Independents.

Republicans are not actively discussing changes to the filibuster.

‘I don’t think that’s a conversation we’ve had,’ Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital. ‘Right now, we think that the Democrats’ position has been untenable, and the more they hear from their constituents of their unreasonable activities, that will break this because we got a clean CR, so we got the better argument.’

Because of the filibuster, spending bills like a CR are generally bipartisan in nature. However, Senate Democrats have panned Republicans’ bill to reopen the government as partisan and argue that they had no input on it before it passed through the House late last month.

‘I’m generally aware of how important it is to try to keep things bipartisan, using the filibuster as the tool to do that, but I also get the fact that after a while, the frustration just boils over,’ Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., told Fox News Digital.

Frustrations reached a new level in Congress on Wednesday, with Sens. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., and Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., publicly arguing with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., over the shutdown. Then there was another public back-and-forth between House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y.

Still, neither side in the upper chamber is ready to budge from their positions.

Most Senate Democratic caucus members are rooted in their position that unless they get a deal on expiring Obamacare tax credits, they will not join Republicans to reopen the government.

Republicans have been adamant that negotiations on extending the subsidies — with reforms — can happen, but only after the government is reopened.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., is the lone Senate Democrat who has voted with Republicans each time to reopen the government. He pointed out that Republicans had just changed Senate rules last month to advance Trump’s nominees.

‘I think we probably should. If you’re able to get out of the filibuster to prevent either party to make it a lot harder to shut the government down, I’d absolutely support that,’ Fetterman said. 

More than 2.8 million Brits have signed a petition as of Wednesday, calling on the U.K. government to reverse its mandatory Digital ID system over concerns it will lead to ‘mass surveillance and digital control.’

The ID program, dubbed ‘Brit Card’ and announced last week by U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, is set to be rolled out by August 2029 in an attempt by the Labour government to crack down on illegal immigration as it would bar anyone who doesn’t have a digital ID from working in the U.K.

But critics of the plan argue its effects on illegal immigration will not be significant enough to make up for the privacy concerns it poses. 

The White House confirmed to Fox News Digital that this controversial step to curb immigration is not currently being considered by President Donald Trump, despite his commitment to curbing illegal immigration and his security crackdowns in cities across the U.S.

But according to one security expert, digital ID is actually not nearly as concerning as most opponents of the system believe it to be.

‘When the government issues a digital ID, they’re issuing it to the individual. That means, just like your paper ID sits in your physical wallet, your digital ID sits in your digital wallet, it’s not stored at a central location,’ Eric Starr, founder and CEO of Ultrapass Identity Corp, told Fox News Digital.

‘When you pass your digital ID to a relying party, they don’t ping a central database,’ he continued. ‘They look at the digital ID you’ve presented, and through cryptography, can determine the authenticity of the digital document.’

Starr, whose company works with governments around the world to provide decentralized digital ID options, said the controversy around digital ID comes down to poor conception and a lack of understanding.  

The tech guru said he believes the U.K. went about its rollout of a digital ID the wrong way by making it mandatory and releasing few details on the system itself. 

Starr argued that governments have the right to know who its citizens are and nations, including the U.S., already have systems in place that keep track of its people, including by issuing social security numbers – a system that the U.S. has relied on since 1936.

When pressed about concerns relating to a government’s ability to enforce mass surveillance through the ease that the technology could offer, even if that is not the original intent, Starr said it comes down to establishing those protections for personal privacy from the get-go. 

‘We care deeply about personal freedom in ways that other countries don’t think about it, and generally speaking, individuals don’t want the federal government in their business every day,’ Starr explained in reference to the American public. ‘The fear that people have about digital identity is that it’s a surveillance opportunity.’

Starr explained that some are concerned that any time a digital ID is used, it will then alert or ‘phone home’ a government tracking system – a concern that privacy advocates like the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the ACLU have flagged.

‘It’s not about the technology, but managing fear and managing what actually gets deployed,’ he added, noting that safeguards can be put in place to counter these concerns.

Even though there is no federal version of a digital ID, more than a dozen states have already begun issuing mobile driver’s licenses.

A federal version of a digital ID would, in theory, just include an individual’s information that the government already has access to, including details like passport information.

But there’s another major concern people flag when it comes to digital IDs – how to ensure personal information is protected from identity theft, which has become a major concern in recent years amid mass cyber breaches.

According to Starr, the ‘architecture of digital identity’ is different from centralized databases used by institutions like hospitals, which have found themselves vulnerable to cyber-attacks and data breaches.

Decentralized systems, as in the case of a digital ID, make hacking ‘nearly impossible’ because ‘the only way to hack a million IDs is to hack a million phones,’ he explained. 

 ‘There are solutions. It’s not a technology issue, it’s an education issue, it’s a fear issue,’ Starr said. ‘It’s also poorly conceived solutions that open the door for bad behavior.’

Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, a staunch supporter of Israel, congratulated President Donald Trump on Wednesday shortly after the commander in chief announced in a Truth Social post that Hamas and Israel agreed to phase one of a peace plan.

Fetterman said that he and the president are both unflinchingly committed to the U.S. ally.

‘I congratulate @POTUS on this historic peace plan that releases all the hostages. Now, enduring peace in the region is possible. Our parties are different but we have a shared ironclad commitment to Israel and its people,’ the senator noted on X while including a screenshot of Trump’s Truth Social post.

Israel launched a war effort in the wake of the heinous Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack in which terrorists committed atrocities including murder, rape and kidnapping. 

Trump, who has been brokering a peace deal, declared in a Truth Social post on Wednesday, ‘I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan. This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace. 

‘All Parties will be treated fairly! This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!’ the president added.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and others have said Trump should receive the Nobel Peace Prize for the deal, but GOP Rep. Randy Fine argued that the award would be insufficient if lasting peace is obtained, instead suggesting that presidential term limits should be abolished.

‘The Nobel Peace Prize isn’t enough. If every living hostage is returned and lasting peace in the Middle East is secured, we should repeal the 22nd Amendment and thank the Lord for every day @realdonaldtrump can be our President. There will never be another one like him,’ he said in a post on X.

A diplomatic battle is being waged between leading Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Nigerian government officials. Cruz has warned he will hold those officials accountable for the reported ‘mass slaughter’ of tens of thousands of Christians in Nigeria. Officials have claimed Cruz is lying, with one claiming that despite even the pope publicly calling out the killings, there is religious harmony in the country.

Nigeria is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a Christian, according to international Christian advocacy group Open Doors International’s 2025 World Watch List (WWL). An estimated 48% of the population is Christian. But of the 4,476 Christians reported killed worldwide in WWL’s latest reporting period, 3,100 of those who died — 69% — were in Nigeria.

On Saturday, the spokesperson for Nigerian President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, told a Lagos, Nigeria newspaper, that Cruz should ‘stop these malicious, contrived lies’ over the murders.

In response, Cruz, the Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy, told Fox News Digital, ‘Nigeria’s federal government and a dozen state governments enforce blasphemy laws in their criminal and sharia codes, and they ignore or facilitate mob violence targeting Christians.’

On Friday, the Nigerian Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, spoke exclusively to Fox News Digital, rejecting Cruz’s claims of Christians being massacred in his country. ‘The Nigerian government rejects that. This is certainly not true,’ he said.

In reaction, Sen. Cruz told Fox News Digital that the killings ‘are the result of decisions made by specific people, in specific places, at specific times. The United States knows who those people are, and I intend to hold them accountable’.

Cruz said, ‘Since 2009, over 50,000 Christians in Nigeria have been massacred, and over 20,000 churches and Christian schools have been destroyed. These atrocities are directly linked to the policies of Nigerian federal and state officials. They are the result of decisions made by specific people, in specific places, at specific times — and it says a great deal about who is lashing out now that a light is being shone on these issues.’

On Friday, Cruz posted on X: ‘Officials in Nigeria are ignoring and even facilitating the mass murder of Christians by Islamist jihadists. It’s time to hold those responsible accountable.’ He went on to refer to a new bill he has introduced in the Senate: ‘My Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act would target these officials with powerful sanctions and other tools.’

This drew an immediate response from Nigerian presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga. Interviewed by the Nigerian Daily Post the next day, Onanuga demanded, ‘Senator, stop these malicious, contrived lies against my country. Christians are not targeted. We have religious harmony in our country.’

Idris told Fox News Digital that Cruz’s comments are ‘very misleading. This is not true. This is not the reflection of what is on the ground. I mean it’s false where you say over 20,000 churches have been burned. It’s also false if you say 52,000 (Christians killed), where did he get those numbers from? I think this is absolutely absurd. It’s not supported by any facts whatsoever. The Nigerian government rejects that. No Nigerian officials will willingly, deliberately indulge in the act of siding with violent extremists to target any particular religion in this country. This is absolutely false.’

Idris also stated, ‘Nigeria is a multi-faith country, meaning that it’s a country that has multiple religions. We have Christians, we have Muslims, we even have those who don’t believe in any of these two religions. Nigeria is a very tolerant country. The government of Nigeria is committed to ensuring that there is religious freedom in this country, but we do have extremist organizations in this country.’ 

Idris continued, ‘It’s unfortunate sadly, that some of these extremists have killed a number of Christians and a number of Muslims almost everywhere where this violent extremism has support. So it’s (the accusation by Sen. Cruz) not true. We find that to be very unfortunate. It’s despicable, it’s not right. This is absolutely false to say that there is a calculated or a deliberate attempt to kill a particular religious group, is not correct and we find that really very, very unfortunate.

Open Doors’ Natalie Blair says independent data from Nigeria shows ‘Christians can be targeted by radical extremists, and radical extremists can also kill Muslims who do not conform to their radical ideology.’ But Blair, a senior member of Open Doors Advocacy team, told Fox News Digital, ‘Boko Haram and ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province) have explicitly and repeatedly declared Christians as targets.  And many victims have told us that when Fulani militants attack they don’t just shout ‘Allahu Akbar’, (God is Great), they yell, ‘we will destroy all Christians.’

Blair added: ‘According to the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa, data of civilians killed — exempting out the military and terrorist deaths — in northern Nigeria is unequivocal: more Christians are killed by the extremists than Muslims — if you are a Christian you are 6.5 times more likely to be killed than a Muslim. This does not make the suffering of a Muslim less significant, it just makes it less likely.’

Bishop Wilfred Anagbe’s Makurdi Diocese is almost exclusively Christian. But the constant and escalating attacks by Muslim Fulani militants led him to testify at a congressional hearing in March in Washington, saying there is ‘a long-term Islamic agenda (in Nigeria) to homogenize. The population has been implemented over several presidencies through a strategy to reduce and eventually eliminate the Christian identity of half of the population all over Nigeria. These terrorists are going about on a jihad and conquering territories and renaming them accordingly.’ 

Idris was dismissive of the Bishop’s Congressional testimony: ‘let me say that the Bishop’s position is an extreme one. It’s not true. The Nigerian government has debunked that in the past.’

Open Doors’ Blair, with access to Nigerian villagers, responded, ‘We must listen to the voices of those who have experienced the violence firsthand.  People on the ground do not trust that anyone will pay for these violent crimes. This is because they have seen hundreds of suspects arrested over the years and then most of them released, having never been charged or brought to trial.’

Blair concluded, ‘the right to life, guaranteed under Section 33 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution, is meaningless unless the state acts decisively to punish those who violate it. The ongoing culture of impunity will only result in more bloodshed and continue to erode public trust in the rule of law.’

The House Oversight Committee has dropped its subpoena for former FBI Director James Comey, after he said he had no knowledge relevant to the panel’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, The Hill reported, citing a letter Comey sent to the committee.

In the Oct. 1 letter sent to Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky, Comey said he had no ‘knowledge’ or ‘information relevant to the Committee’s investigation’ into the late pedophile.

Comey was slated to sit for a deposition on Tuesday before the committee that is examining Epstein’s contacts and potential government ties dating back to the 1990s. 

‘I offer this letter in lieu of a deposition that would unproductively consume the Committee’s scarce time and resources,’ Comey wrote.

Comey served as deputy attorney general from 2003 to 2005 and later as FBI director from 2013 to 2017 — two periods now under scrutiny by House Republicans seeking answers about Epstein’s federal connections.

‘At no time during my service at the Department of Justice or the FBI do I recall any information or conversations that related to Jeffrey Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell,’ Comey wrote.

Because the letter was submitted under penalty of law — making any false statements a potential federal crime — Comer accepted Comey’s response and withdrew the subpoena.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Oversight Committee for a copy of Comey’s letter and confirmation of the subpoena’s withdrawal.

The late pedophile Epstein committed suicide in 2019 while awaiting prosecution on federal sex trafficking charges, though questions continue to swirl about the circumstances surrounding his death.

Comer issued a wave of subpoenas in August tied to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation — including to Comey and former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Comer also subpoenaed the Justice Department for records related to Epstein’s case.

Others ordered to appear include former FBI Director Robert Mueller and former Attorneys General Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder, William Barr, Jeff Sessions and Alberto Gonzales.

Holder and Attorney General Merrick Garland sent letters similar to Comey’s, denying any knowledge of Epstein and prompting Comer to withdraw those subpoenas as well, per The Hill.

It’s unclear if sessions for the Clintons will proceed.

The committee’s work comes amid growing partisan tension over how to handle the Epstein investigation, and the GOP base has fractured over the current administration’s handling of the case.

Top Republicans, including President Donald Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., support continuing the Oversight inquiry as the fastest route to uncover new information. Comer has already released thousands of pages of subpoenaed documents from the Justice Department and Epstein’s estate.

Critics, however, accuse the GOP of shielding certain figures by selectively releasing records. Several lawmakers are instead pushing legislation to declassify all government files related to Epstein and Maxwell — a move endorsed by multiple Epstein victims.

Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.  

The Senate remains deadlocked on a path to end the shutdown as it nears its second week, and Republicans’ meager support across the aisle to reopen the government may be crumbling.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., needs at least eight Senate Democratic caucus members to join Republicans to reopen the government, given that Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has consistently voted against the GOP’s bill.

So far, a trio of Democratic caucus members, Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Angus King, I-Maine, have crossed the aisle to reopen the government.

That group has joined Republicans in nearly all five attempts to reopen the government.

But, as time drags on and a deal remains out of reach, at least one is considering changing his vote.

King said ahead of the fifth vote to reopen the government on Monday that he was considering flipping his support of the GOP’s bill, and he argued that he needed ‘more specificity about addressing the problem’ of the expiring Obamacare tax credits.

‘I think this problem is urgent, and just saying, as the leader did on Friday, ‘well, we’ll have conversations about it,’ is not adequate,’ he said.

King’s possible defection comes as Republicans and Democrats engage in low-level conversations on a path out of the shutdown. Those impromptu dialogues have so far not morphed into real negotiations, however.

And the stalemate in the upper chamber has only further solidified both sides’ positions.

Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., want a firm deal in place to extend expiring Obamacare subsidies. Senate Republicans have said that they will negotiate a deal only after the government is reopened and want reforms to the program that they charge has been inflationary and further increased the cost of healthcare for Americans.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, has circulated an early plan that includes a discussion of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies that could be a way out of the shutdown, but so far, it’s in its preliminary stages.

‘It suggests that there be a conversation on the ACA extension for the premium tax credits after we reopen the government,’ she said. ‘But there will be a commitment to having that discussion.’

President Donald Trump signaled on Monday that he would be open to a deal on the subsidies, and he said that negotiations with Democrats were ongoing.

However, Schumer pushed back and called Trump’s assertion ‘not true.’ The top Senate Democrat has also shifted the onus of the shutdown, and lack of negotiations, directly onto House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

‘Clearly, at this point, he is the main obstacle,’ Schumer said on the Senate floor. ‘So ending this shutdown will require Donald Trump to step in and push Speaker Johnson to negotiate.’

Meanwhile, the White House is exerting more pressure on Senate Democrats to cave and reopen the government. A new memo reported by Axios suggested that furloughed federal employees may not have to receive back pay, running counter to a law that Trump signed in 2019 that guaranteed furloughed workers would receive back pay in future shutdowns.

That comes on the heels of a memo from the Office of Management and Budget last month that signaled mass firings beyond the typical furloughs of nonessential federal workers, and it follows the withholding of nearly $30 billion in federal funds for blue cities and states.

Thune argued that ‘if you’re the executive branch of the government, you’ve got to manage a shutdown.’

‘At some point, you’re going to have to make some decisions about who gets paid, who doesn’t get paid, which agencies and departments get priorities and prioritized and which ones don’t,’ Thune said. ‘I mean, I think that’s a fairly standard practice in the event of a government shutdown. Now, hopefully that doesn’t affect back pay … but again, it’s just that simple: open up the government.’

President Donald Trump met with Edan Alexander, who was freed in May from captivity with Hamas, on Tuesday — exactly two years after Hamas attacked Israel. 

This marks the second time Alexander, a 21-year-old American–Israeli who spent nearly 600 days as a hostage after Hamas abducted him after its initial attack on Israel, will visit the White House since his release from captivity. Alexander previously visited the White House in July. 

Alexander was raised in Tenafly, New Jersey, and headed to Israel when he was 18-years-old to volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces. He lived with his grandparents in Tel Aviv before he was taken hostage by Hamas. 

Alexander’s appearance at the White House also comes as the Trump administration has put forth a 20-point plan to end the conflict and return the 48 hostages still in captivity. The plan would require all hostages, both dead and alive, to be returned within 72 hours of Hamas signing off on the deal. It also calls for Israeli forces to withdraw its troops and for a complete disarmament of Hamas. 

Trump’s Justice Department has cracked down on Palestinian militant group Hamas, and established a new task force in March aimed at providing justice to the victims of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. 

Attorney General Pam Bondi said the group, known as Joint Task Force October 7, would focus on identifying, charging and prosecuting those who conducted the 2023 attacks, which took the lives of roughly 1,200 people — including 47 U.S. citizens. Hamas also took more than 250 people hostage that day, including eight U.S. citizens.

The IDF is the national military for Israel. Hamas has served as the governing body of Gaza.

Meanwhile, lawmakers on Capitol Hill have warned that antisemitic attacks are becoming more common in the U.S., in the aftermath of the ongoing conflict. Antisemitic violence reached a new high in 2024, according to the Anti-Defamation League, which recorded 9,354 antisemitic instances of harassment, assault and vandalism in the U.S. in 2024. That is a 5% increase from the 8,873 incidents recorded in 2023 and a 344% increase in the past five years.

‘The October 7 Hamas-led terrorist attack was not only a horrific assault on innocent civilians in Israel, including numerous American citizens, but it was also a wake-up call to the threats we face here at home,’ Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, said in a Tuesday statement to Fox News Digital.

‘In the two years following this tragedy, acts of terrorism and targeted antisemitic violence are increasingly common on U.S. soil, as both foreign and domestic terrorists work to inspire lone-wolf actors,’ Garbarino said. ‘Jewish Americans continue to face intimidation and attacks simply because of their faith. This is unacceptable, and anyone who defends these calls for violence is complicit.’ 

Trump also met with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney Tuesday amid ongoing trade negotiations between the two countries.

Fox News’ Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.