A teenage street musician has been jailed and charged with leading a public gathering in which she led a crowd in singing an anti-Putin rock song in St. Petersburg, a rare act of defiance, according to local reports.

Diana Loginova faces a single administrative charge for organizing an unauthorized public gathering and has been jailed for 13 days, The Moscow Times reported.

After serving her sentence, Loginova will face an additional administrative offense of ‘discrediting’ the Russian military, Reuters reported.

Loginova, who performs under the name Naoko with the band Stoptime, was arrested Tuesday after being filmed earlier leading a crowd in singing the lyrics to exiled rapper Noize MC’s hit song ‘Swan Lake Cooperative.’

Noize MC, the musician who wrote ‘Swan Lake Cooperative,’ is openly critical of the Kremlin and left Russia for Lithuania after the start of the war in Ukraine.

For its part, Moscow has added him to its list of ‘foreign agents,’ which includes hundreds of individuals and entities accused of conducting subversive activities with support from abroad, Reuters reported.

The song doesn’t reference Russian President Vladimir Putin or mention the war in Ukraine. It is a reference to Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, which was played on television after the deaths of Soviet leaders and during the 1991 coup attempt against President Mikhail Gorbachev.

In May, a St. Petersburg court banned the song on grounds it ‘may contain signs of justification and excuse for hostile, hateful attitudes towards people, as well as statements promoting violent changes to the foundations of the constitutional order.’

A video shared on X shows Erika Kirk at the Turning Point USA office surrounded by staff members, proudly showing them the Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded to her late husband, Charlie Kirk.

In the clip posted by Mikey McCoy, Charlie Kirk’s former chief of staff, Erika speaks movingly to the assembled team.

In the clip, she can be heard saying, ‘I wanted you guys all to see the Medal of Freedom and be able to look at it and the back of it.’

‘You guys are all part of the legacy. Thank you,’ she says warmly.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award in the U.S. It was awarded posthumously to Charlie Kirk by President Donald Trump on Oct. 14, 2025, a date that would have been Kirk’s 32nd birthday. 

Erika accepted the award on her husband’s behalf at a ceremony in the Rose Garden at the White House. She also delivered remarks highlighting her husband’s beliefs and sacrifice.

Charlie Kirk was assassinated on September 10, 2025, while speaking at a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley State University in Orem, Utah.

Following her husband’s death, Erika was unanimously appointed CEO and chair of Turning Point USA’s board.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., believed that Senate Democrats were ‘in a bad place’ after they tanked Republicans’ push to consider the annual defense spending bill on Friday.

Thune argued during an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital that Democrats’ decision to vote against the procedural exercise seemed like ‘an extreme measure, and I think it’s coming from a very dysfunctional place right now.’

‘I think there’s a ton of dysfunction in the Democrat caucus, and I think this [‘No Kings’] rally this weekend is triggering a lot of this,’ he said.

Thune’s move to put the bill on the floor was a multipronged effort. One of the elements was to apply pressure on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus to join Republicans to jump start the government funding process as the shutdown continues to drag on.

Another was to test Democrats’ desire to fund the government on a bipartisan basis — a demand they had made in the weeks leading up to the shutdown.

‘I think the leadership is applying pressure,’ Thune said. ‘They were all being called into Schumer’s office this morning to be browbeaten into voting ‘no’ on the defense appropriations bill, something that most of them, you know, like I said, that should be an 80-plus vote in the Senate.’

To his point, the bill easily glided through committee earlier this year on a 26 to 3 vote, and like a trio of spending bills passed in August, typically would have advanced in the upper chamber on a bipartisan basis.

The bill, which Senate Republicans hoped to use as a vehicle to add more spending bills, would have funded the Pentagon and paid military service members.

But Senate Democrats used a similar argument to block the bill that they’ve used over the last 16 days of the government shutdown in their pursuit of an extension to expiring Obamacare subsidies: they wanted a guarantee on which bills would have been added to the minibus package.

‘What are you — are you gonna go around and talk to people about a hypothetical situation,’ Thune countered. ‘I think, you know, once we’re on the bill, then it makes sense to go do that, have those conversations, which is what we did last time.’

The Senate could get another chance to vote on legislation next week that would pay both the troops and certain federal employees that have to work through the shutdown, but it won’t be the defense funding bill. Instead, it’s legislation from Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and several other Senate Republicans.

As for the torpedoed defense bill, which was the last vote for the week in the Senate, Thune argued that it was emblematic of Senate Democrats being ‘in a place where the far-left is the tail wagging the dog.’

‘And you would think that federal workers, who you know, federal employee unions, public employee unions, who Democrats [count] as generally part of their constituency, right now, they’re way more concerned about what Moveon.org and Indivisible, and some of those groups are saying about them, evidently, than what some of their constituents here are saying,’ he said.

‘Because there’s going to be people who are going to start missing paychecks, and this thing gets real pretty fast,’ he continued. 
 

In theory, this should be a moment of vindication for the Free Palestine movement. A ceasefire holds. Israel has pulled back troops. International headlines finally reflect what activists have shouted for months: that Gaza’s suffering matters. 

And yet, the plazas are still. The hashtags have gone dormant. The chants that once shook campuses have faded into uneasy silence.

Why? 

Many activists can’t celebrate because celebration feels like surrender.

Behavioral science has some explanations. First, there’s cognitive dissonance at play. When the suffering that fueled your cause suddenly ends, any gesture toward happiness feels obscene. They still see bombed hospitals and displaced families. To cheer would feel like betrayal – not of Israel, but of grief itself.

Second, social identity theory tells us people bond most tightly when facing a common enemy. But when the enemy momentarily recedes, cohesion falters. You can see it in activist networks now debating purity tests and political hierarchies: who’s really anti-colonial, who’s performative. The silence isn’t apathy; it’s fragmentation.

And then there’s the matter of trust. The Free Palestine movement’s emotional currency is their perceived moral authenticity. That’s why President Donald Trump, despite questioning aid to Israel, gains no credit here. Even if he were to deliver every demand the Free Palestine movement has ever made – an end to occupation, full recognition, humanitarian aid – he would get no credit. 

To them, he is not a messenger; he is a metaphor. His name evokes everything they stand against: nationalism, hierarchy, cruelty disguised as strength. Their ears are hardened not by indifference, but by identity. When a message comes from a symbol of what you despise, its meaning dies on arrival. That’s not hypocrisy – it’s human nature. We hear only what affirms who we are. What remains is a vacuum of feeling – neither victory nor defeat, just unresolved tension.

For many, that tension is unbearable, so silence becomes self-protection. But silence has a cost.

A movement that cannot speak when conditions improve loses moral clarity. If the world only hears you when you’re angry, it stops listening when you’re right. The tragedy of the Free Palestine silence is not hypocrisy; it’s heartbreak. It reveals how thoroughly moral identity has replaced moral imagination.

To move forward, supporters must learn to celebrate small mercies without mistaking them for betrayal – to see progress not as perfection, but as proof that pain is finally being heard. Until then, the quiet will continue. Not because there’s nothing to say, but because joy, after so much rage, feels foreign on the tongue.

House Republicans in battleground districts appear to be closing ranks as GOP leaders dig in on their government shutdown strategy, while the fiscal standoff shows no signs of slowing. 

Eight House GOP lawmakers whose seats are being targeted by Democrats in 2026 spoke with Fox News Digital this week. And while some shared individual concerns, they were largely united in agreeing with Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., that Republicans should not renegotiate their federal funding proposal — and were confident that Americans are behind them.

‘The more people understand the math inside of the Senate, the more I would say Republicans are winning,’ said Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-Pa., who defeated a moderate Democrat for his seat last year.

Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., who also flipped her seat from blue to red, argued the results of the 2024 election show Americans ‘can see through a lot of the games that the Democrats have been playing.’

‘We’ve gotten to work with the demands of the American voters, and Democrats are still in disarray,’ she said.

Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., said, ‘It’s a simple math problem. And the Democrat Party grossly underestimated the American public’s ability to understand math.’

For a House GOP conference that’s been plagued by historic levels of division in recent history — particularly over the issue of government funding — it has shown a notable display of unity amid the shutdown, with few exceptions.

The shutdown is poised to roll into next week after most Senate Democrats voted to block the GOP’s bill for a tenth time. 

Republicans put forward last month a seven-week extension of fiscal year (FY) 2025 funding levels, called a continuing resolution (CR), aimed at giving congressional negotiators more time to strike a long-term deal for FY2026.

But Democrats in the House and Senate were infuriated by being sidelined in those talks. The majority of Democrats are refusing to accept any deal that does not include serious healthcare concessions, at least extending COVID-19 pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of this year.

Several vulnerable Republicans who spoke with Fox News Digital pointed out they’re in favor of extending the Obamacare subsidies as well. Indeed, a majority of them are backers of a bipartisan bill to extend them for one year, led by Kiggans.

‘I think we would actually prefer to have … longer term than one year,’ said Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Pa.

But Mackenzie also pointed out that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., criticized the one-year bill, adding, ‘He already said ‘Absolutely not,’ so I don’t even know what their position is and what they’re asking for.’

Jeffries walked those comments back somewhat a day later, telling reporters that Democrats were willing to look at any good-faith offer.

Kiggans told Fox News Digital, ‘I care about that issue, certainly, you know, I had introduced that [Affordable Care Act] premium tax cuts extension.’

She added that Obamacare, formally called the ACA, and reopening the government are ‘two different issues, though’ that should be discussed separately.

The House Republicans who spoke with Fox News Digital, while largely supportive of discussing Obamacare subsidy reforms and extensions, were united in refusing to entertain Democrats’ demands to come back to the negotiating table on federal funding. All maintained, in some form, that the House did its job in passing the CR on Sept. 19.

‘We have a clean CR that would fund all of the programs — all of the federal employees, keep everything up and running through Nov. 21st, so that we can finalize FY2026 appropriations and address issues like healthcare. But you don’t do it at the barrel of a gun,’ said Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y.

Lawler is one of three House Republicans who won in a district that President Donald Trump lost in 2024.

‘I think what the Democrats are doing here is creating a mess for the American people. And they’re not actually solving any of the problems,’ he said.

Mackenzie said, ‘It was a seven-week continuing resolution so that we could have time to have policy discussions on other issues that did need to be wrapped up by the end of the year. And we were on track to do that. And I think [Democrats] totally blew that process up.’

‘This is an unprecedented thing that Senate Democrats are doing, trying to add policy programs into the new continuity of funding bill,’ Rep. Tom Kean, R-N.J., the most vulnerable Republican in the Garden State, also said.

Both Lawler and Rep. Dave Valadao, R-Calif., warned that giving up a policy rider-free spending bill in favor of inserting partisan demands would create an unworkable new standard.

‘Holding the government office is never a good strategy. And if it becomes a successful way of negotiating … it’ll set a bad precedent for governing moving forward,’ Valadao said. ‘So this is an absolute no-go, should never be successful.’

Lawler said, ‘The reality is, the moment you start giving in on a clean CR and start giving in to demands, this will continue in perpetuity. Every time there’s a government funding lapse, you’ll have a group of people demanding something, and it will turn into a fiasco.’

Several of the battleground Republicans also praised Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., in the process.

Valadao told Fox News Digital, ‘I think they’re doing a good job. At least all the calls I’ve been on, the conversations I’ve had with my colleagues and, again, folks in the district, they all seem pretty confident that we’re doing the right thing.’

Lawler said Johnson had ‘handled it well,’ while Bresnahan said, ‘I would say, at least with members, they’re, you know, keeping very fluid conversations. We have daily or at least biweekly calls here as to what the messaging needs to be and what the conversations are.’

But there has been some dissent within the House GOP as the shutdown drags on.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., has criticized House Republican leaders for not announcing a plan on extending the Obamacare subsidies.

And Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., publicly ripped Johnson’s decision to keep the House out of session while the Senate considers the CR.

‘It is absolutely unacceptable to me and I think only serves further distrust,’ Kiley told MSNBC on Wednesday.

Notably, not all battleground House Republicans who spoke with Fox News Digital directly backed Johnson’s move — but none explicitly condemned it, either, and most blamed Senate Democrats for the holdup.

‘I’m kind of torn on that, because to come back and just be a part of the gimmicks that you see going on right now is not helpful,’ Valadao said. ‘Holding the government hostage is what’s the problem here.’

Kiggans, who said she’s lobbying for the House to vote on a standalone bill to pay both active duty and civilian members of the military, said, ‘I think we all want to get back to work. We know that we have work to do, but the ball’s in the court of the Senate Democrats and Chuck Schumer.’

Others more directly backed the move, however.

Kean told Fox News Digital that his staff were still busy in D.C. and in New Jersey trying to help constituents navigate the shutdown and other matters.

‘Any chance we can get back to our district, it’s always important that we listen to our constituents and hear their concerns,’ Kean said. ‘Right now, I 100% support the decision.’

Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, said it was ‘the right move.’

‘We should be with our district. I’m keeping all my district offices open despite nobody getting paid,’ Nunn said. ‘Coming back and having a theatrical debate is less effective than having a real conversation about how to get the government back open.’

Israel is preparing to deploy one of the world’s first combat-ready laser air-defense system, marking a historic shift in how nations defend against rockets, drones and missiles — and a sign that Jerusalem is intent on staying one step ahead of its adversaries even as active fighting subsides.

In an interview with Fox News Digital at the Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) conference in Washington, D.C., Rafael Advanced Defense Systems CEO Yoav Turgeman confirmed that the company has completed acceptance testing of its Iron Beam laser interceptor and is now delivering the system to the Israeli Air Force for operational use.

‘We have demonstrated the first production-line system. It was very successful,’ Turgeman said. ‘We are delivering the system to the Air Force, which will use it operationally.’

The Iron Beam represents a breakthrough in directed-energy technology — capable of destroying incoming rockets, drones and mortars with a beam of light that can strike targets moving as fast as the speed of sound and at a fraction of the cost of conventional interceptors.

‘The interception cost is just a few dollars,’ Turgeman explained. ‘There’s no interceptor debris, so the collateral damage is much smaller. It enables us to reduce the cost of interception and enhance the performance of our system.’

The Iron Beam’s rollout makes Israel the first nation to field a high-power laser interceptor integrated into a national air-defense network — a milestone that could redefine missile defense for decades to come.

Rafael designed it as part of Israel’s layered air-defense architecture, which also includes the Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Arrow systems.

The laser will handle short-range threats such as rockets, small drones, and mortar rounds, freeing up Iron Dome’s more expensive missile interceptors for higher-value targets.

‘Each layer complements the other,’ Turgeman said. ‘The system decides what is the optimized solution.’

Turgeman said Rafael will partner with Lockheed Martin to produce Iron Beam components and indicated the technology could be integrated into the U.S.’s Golden Dome plans.

‘We are looking forward to start the production stage,’ he told Fox News. ‘Lockheed Martin will take part in a significant part of the production. We were able to meet our schedule on time, even though we had a war.’

Modeled after Israel’s Iron Dome, the U.S. is currently developing plans for its own homeland missile defense shield.

‘We would love to see [Iron Dome] as part of that solution,’ he said. ‘We have Iron Dome, the Stunner interceptor, and the laser — all could help protect the U.S.’

The new technology comes amid relative calm in the Middle East. Israel and Hamas have maintained a cease-fire in Gaza, and Iran has not launched attacks since June’s 12-day war.

Still, Israel isn’t taking any chances: Turgeman said Rafael has doubled its research and development investment to ensure Israel maintains its technological edge.

‘If there will be another war, it will be the surprise,’ he said. ‘The idea is to deter the enemy from attacking Israel — that is the safest way to prevent war.’

At AUSA, Rafael also unveiled a new L-Spike loitering weapon, a drone-like missile capable of reaching a target rapidly and then circling overhead until a strike is authorized.

Turgeman said it’s designed for ‘time-critical targets’ and built to resist electronic warfare interference.

‘Even though the system has its own brain and can identify the target, the operator must approve the attack,’ he said. ‘One operator can run four systems — but the final decision is human.’

A prominent Washington think tank told Fox News Digital that one of its experts, who is a State Department employee, was placed on administrative leave after being accused of removing classified documents from secure locations and meeting with Chinese officials dating back to 2023. 

The Justice Department announced Tuesday that Ashley Tellis of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace was arrested over the weekend.

‘We are aware of the allegations against Ashley Tellis. He is now on administrative leave, including from his role as Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs,’ Katelynn Vogt, Vice President for Communications for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

The Justice Department said Ashley Tellis was an unpaid senior advisor to the State Department and also a contractor with the Office of Net Assessment at the Department of Defense, recently renamed the Department of War. He is considered a subject-matter expert on India and South Asian affairs in his role at the Office of Net Assessment. 

Tellis began working for the State Department in 2001, court documents state. He is accused of unlawful retention of national defense information, according to an affidavit. 

‘We are fully focused on protecting the American people from all threats, foreign and domestic. The charges as alleged in this case represent a grave risk to the safety and security of our citizens,’ Lindsey Halligan, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said in a statement. 

Tellis held a top-secret clearance and had access to sensitive information, federal prosecutors said in court documents.  

During a search of his Vienna, Virginia, home, authorities found more than a thousand pages of documents marked ‘TOP SECRET’ and ‘SECRET,’ the court documents added. 

On Sept. 12, Tellis had a coworker at a government facility print multiple classified documents for him, authorities said. 

On Sept. 25, he allegedly printed U.S. Air Force documents concerning military aircraft capabilities. Federal prosecutors allege that he met with Chinese government officials multiple times over the past several years. 

In September 2022, he met with Chinese officials at a Virginia restaurant while holding a manila envelope, prosecutors said. 

If convicted, Tellis faces a maximum sentence of 10 years and up to a $250,000 fine, according to the Justice Department. 

The Associated Press reported that Tellis was ordered detained Tuesday pending a detention hearing next week, and an attorney representing him, Deborah Curtis, said, ‘we look forward to the hearing, where we’ll be able to present evidence.’ 

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said on its website that Tellis specialized ‘in international security and U.S. foreign and defense policy with a special focus on Asia and the Indian subcontinent.’

‘While on assignment to the U.S. Department of State as senior adviser to the undersecretary of state for political affairs, he was intimately involved in negotiating the civil nuclear agreement with India,’ it added. 

‘Previously he was commissioned into the U.S. Foreign Service and served as senior adviser to the ambassador at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi. He also served on the National Security Council staff as special assistant to President George W. Bush and senior director for strategic planning and Southwest Asia,’ the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said. 

It also described Tellis as a ‘member of several professional organizations related to defense and international studies including the Council on Foreign Relations, the International Institute of Strategic Studies, the United States Naval Institute, and the Navy League of the United States.’ 

As Israel and Hamas lay down their arms after more than two years of war, the U.S. is stepping in to oversee the next phase of the deal as a peacekeeping force is formed. 

Sources tell Fox News that all 200 U.S. troops had arrived in Israel by Tuesday night and will operate out of a base in Israel. Additionally, a U.S. Military C-17 transport plane packed with command-and-control equipment and supplies arrived Tuesday.

Last week, negotiators working toward a Gaza deal participating in talks in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, asked U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) to brief both sides, sources tell Fox News. CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper, along with Jared Kushner and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, briefed the Qataris, the Egyptians and the Turks on the Civil Military Coordination Center (CMCC).

Once the U.S. committed to providing heavy coordination, but no boots on the ground in Gaza, negotiators left to tell the Israelis and Hamas. From there, things moved quickly, and, as one well-placed source said, ‘They saw an opportunity and moved at lightning speed and took it.’ However, with speed comes risk as certain questions were left unanswered, such as who would be in the stabilization force in Gaza? Or, what is the mechanism for ensuring Hamas disarms?

Fox News has learned that the CMCC will be located a few miles northeast of Gaza, not at the Israel Defense Force’s Hatzor Airbase, as some previously reported. The CMCC will be under U.S. leadership, but it will also have representatives from multiple countries and stakeholders, such as the United Nations and private aid groups. U.S. personnel will monitor everything going in and out of Gaza, and will oversee all logistics of delivering aid to the enclave.

While the center is expected to be operational in the coming days, Egypt, Turkey and Qatar have yet to decide whether their representatives will be based there.

Neither Jordan nor Egypt said they would be willing to send troops to stabilize Gaza, and it looks as though countries outside the region could be left to handle the situation, but nothing has been finalized. Additionally, outside countries willing to send troops would likely need a mandate passed by the U.N. Security Council, as well as approval from their own governments, giving Hamas more time to rebuild and fill the power vacuum.

Despite heavy losses in the war and international threats, Hamas fighters have shown signs that they are not ready to stand down. Since the start of the ceasefire, videos of extrajudicial killings by Hamas in public squares began circulating online.

‘We strongly urge Hamas to immediately suspend violence and shooting at innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza — in both Hamas-held parts of Gaza and those secured by the IDF behind the Yellow Line,’ Cooper said in a statement Wednesday. ‘This is an historic opportunity for peace. Hamas should seize it by fully standing down, strictly adhering to President Trump’s 20-point peace plan, and disarming without delay.’

Fox News has learned of a massive effort taking place behind the scenes to plan and execute the rebuilding of Gaza. Part of the issue is the giant tunnel network under Gaza City. To rebuild the city, the tunnels will need to be filled to make the ground stable enough for construction.

The first phase of the deal remains ongoing as Hamas has failed to deliver all 28 bodies of deceased hostages, making it less clear when the second stage will begin. Israel has repeatedly reaffirmed its commitment to getting all the deceased hostages’ bodies so they can have proper burials.

On Monday, Israel received the bodies of four deceased hostages later identified as Yossi Sharabi, Binpin Joshi, Guy Iluz and Daniel Peretz. Israel received four more bodies on Tuesday, three of whom were identified as deceased hostages Staff Sgt. Tamir Nimrodi, Uriel Baruch and Eitan Levi. Israel said the fourth body did not match any of the hostages and was in fact a Palestinian. 

‘Hamas is required to make all necessary efforts to return the deceased hostages,’ the IDF wrote on X.

Members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, led by GOP Conference Chair Lisa McClain, R-Mich., held a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, making the argument that Republicans have a winning hand when it comes to messaging over the government shutdown — even as the stalemate drags on into a 15th day.

To the group’s chair, Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., that’s because the ball is solidly in the Democrats’ court.

‘We’re in the second week of a shutdown with no end in sight. Hopefully, the Senate Democrats change their minds and decide to reopen the government. But until then, the Republicans are standing together,’ Harris said.

During the call, members doubled down on support for the clean-spending extension Republicans advanced last month — not just as a matter of policy, but also as a facet of public opinion.

‘I think if the American people understand the truth, they will put pressure on their Democratic senators to actually open up the government,’ McClain said.

Republicans need the support of at least seven Democrats in the Senate to clear the 60-vote threshold to pass spending legislation over a filibuster. The GOP holds 53 seats in the chamber.

Congress remains gridlocked over funding allocations for the 2026 fiscal year which began at the start of October. Although Republicans had advanced a short-term spending plan to keep the government open through Nov. 21, the government entered a shutdown on Oct. 1 when Democrats made it clear they wouldn’t support any spending extension without a key add-on: the continuation of emergency, COVID-era healthcare subsidies set to expire at the end of 2025.

‘We passed it clean, no gimmicks. No gimmicks, no tricks, just at the exact same funding levels, of which, I might add, the Democrats put in place, that they voted for 13 times ago, as recently as March. But Democrats killed it,’ McClain said, referring to the Republican-led stopgap legislation.

Republicans have framed the standoff as a Democrat attempt to take the government hostage over bloated government programs that would add billions to the country’s expenses.

Democrats see the shutdown as a Republican refusal to negotiate over healthcare — one that will spike the monthly premiums of anyone currently relying on the expanded COVID-era subsidies to pay for Obamacare health insurance plans.

Members of the Freedom Caucus said that consideration of some sort of tax-credit extension is still out of the question. 

‘The bottom line is that the COVID-era enhancements have to end. Should we be looking at other reforms to Obamacare to stop the upward spiral of insurance premiums? Sure, we should. But to discuss, again, COVID-era enhancements as the Democrats want to do is a complete nonstarter,’ Rep. Keith Self, R-Tx., said.

That’s of particular focus to the House Freedom Caucus; since its formation in 2015, the group has always had its eye on reeling in government spending.

Some members of the caucus noted that it’s unusual for the group to support a clean-funding extension at levels the group believes are too high to begin with.

‘We’ve given [in] to the Democrats by extending the Biden policies, Biden funding. We could put Republican priorities — Republican funding requests on this, but we didn’t. So, we have already given [in] on this. They are demanding more. Well, not this time,’ Harris said. 

As the shutdown enters a third week, neither side has signaled an intent to blink any time soon.

The Senate will consider spending legislation again on Thursday. If it fails, it will mark the 10th time Democrats have rejected the Republican-led spending extension.

A federal judge in San Francisco on Wednesday blocked the Trump administration from continuing government furloughs, granting a temporary restraining order sought by labor unions that argued layoffs were unlawful during the ongoing government shutdown.

U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston, a Clinton appointee, ordered the administration not to issue any reduction in force notices to federal employees in ‘any program, project or activity,’ including any bargaining unit or member represented by the unions during, or because of, the shutdown.

‘The evidence suggests OMB and OPM have taken advantage of the lapse in government spending–function to assume all bets are off and that the laws don’t apply to them,’ Illston said.

She further claimed the administration’s actions were ‘…illegal and is in excess of authority and is arbitrary and capricious.’ 

In a court filing Tuesday night, an official with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) said more than 4,000 government workers had already received reduction in force notices.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.