Lawmakers could soon have Jeffrey Epstein’s infamous ‘birthday book,’ which could potentially give insight into the disgraced late financier’s social ties. 

Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., who serves as the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, told MSNBC on Friday that Epstein’s estate ‘is actually going to actually now get us that book and a bunch of other documents that they have that’s not actually been reported yet.’ He added that the lawmakers expect to receive the book and the documents on Sept. 8.

Garcia also told MSNBC that ‘many of the victims’ of Epstein would speak to lawmakers on Capitol Hill next week to ‘highlight their stories.’ He did not name the lawmakers or accusers expected to meet.

The release date is confirmed in the subpoena signed by House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky. The specific deadline listed in the subpoena is Sept. 8 at 12 p.m.

‘The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is reviewing the possible mismanagement of the federal government’s investigation of Mr. Jeffrey Epstein and Ms. Ghislaine Maxwell, the circumstances and subsequent investigations of Mr. Epstein’s death, the operation of sex-trafficking rings and ways for the federal government to effectively combat them, and potential violations of ethics rules related to elected officials,’ Comer stated in a cover letter that accompanied the subpoena.

‘Recent reporting indicates the estate of Mr. Epstein has access to documents relevant to the Committee’s investigation, including the alleged ‘birthday book’ prepared for Mr. Epstein by Ms. Maxwell… It is imperative that Congress conduct oversight of the federal government’s enforcement of sex trafficking laws generally and specifically its handling of the investigation and prosecution of Mr. Epstein and Ms. Maxwell,’ Comer added.

READ THE LETTER BELOW. APP USERS CLICK HERE:

House Oversight Democrats released a statement Monday supporting the subpoena for the book and calling on former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida and Trump Labor Secretary Alex Acosta to testify before Congress. He is expected to appear for a closed-door transcribed interview next month.

With a federal probe of the case under way, lawmakers have sought the testimony of several former high-ranking officials, such as former Attorney General Bill Barr. While Barr testified before lawmakers, Democrats, such as Reps. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., and Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, were not pleased with Republicans’ questions.

Comer, who argued those accusations were baseless, implored Democrats not to politicize a bipartisan investigation. Divisions deepened after Comer said Barr had no knowledge of, nor did he believe there were any implications of wrongdoing on President Donald Trump’s part related to Epstein.

Garcia disagreed. Though he did not attend the deposition, he said in a statement that Barr did not clear Trump.

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

For Dyan Cannon, age is more than just a number.

The ‘Heaven Can Wait’ actress, 88, attempted to go inside the White House this week, but as she and her friends documented in a video shared on social media, the Secret Service refused to let her enter because of an age discrepancy on her passport.

Cannon, along with fellow actresses Kym Douglas and Tracey Bregman and TV personality and chef Christine Avanti-Fischer, traveled to Washington, D.C., together recently. The group hosts a new podcast, ‘God’s Table.’ 

They went out to do some sightseeing, but there was a hiccup in their plans.

‘We are lined up for a great tour, and we have these Secret Service guys and all of the federal agents. We can’t get in because someone lied about their age,’ Douglas, who filmed the video, explained.

Cannon laughed throughout the explanation as Bregman and Avanti-Fischer teased her.

‘Listen,’ Cannon said. ‘Years ago, here’s the thing, I lied about my age on my passport.’

‘Who doesn’t, Dyan?’ Douglas joked.

Avanti-Fischer remarked, ‘If we get in, it’s going to be a miracle of God.’

The video was originally shared by Douglas on her Instagram story Thursday, but Cannon reposted it to her own page, writing in her caption, ‘And I’d do it again.’

She added, ‘It’s nobody’s business what the number is they’ve pinned on me ….right girls? Right guys? it’s just a blinkin number… no matter what number they put next to me there’s one thing that never changes …I WUV WU’

Bregman commented on the post, writing, ‘Hilarious. Love you so but seriously, how can I change my age.’

Cannon has been a force in the entertainment industry for decades. She got her start in show business by appearing in various TV shows in the 1950s, and, in 1962, she appeared in her first Broadway show.

Her breakthrough role came in 1969, when she appeared in ‘Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice,’ a role that earned her her first Academy Award nomination.

She was later nominated for the award for best live action short film for 1976’s ‘Number One,’ which she produced. This nod made her the first woman nominated for an Oscar for her work in front of and behind the camera.

Cannon has also had a storied love life, which included marrying legendary actor Cary Grant in 1965. The couple welcomed one daughter, Jennifer, before divorcing in 1968.

She got married a second time in 1985 to real estate investor Stanley Fimberg, but the couple split in 1991. She also had what she once called a ‘love affair’ with Johnny Carson.

Earlier this year, she told People that ‘of course’ she’s still dating.

She told the outlet she was seeing ‘somebody very special,’ then clarified that she was actually seeing ‘several special [people]. … I have friends with benefits, yes.’

The Israel Defense Forces said on Saturday that it had killed the Houthi prime minister and several other senior officials in a strike in Yemen. 

‘Houthi Prime Minister, Ahmed Al-Rahawi, along with additional senior officials of the Houthi terrorist regime were eliminated during an IDF strike in Sanaa, Yemen,’ the IDF said in a social media post.

The IDF said it had targeted a Houthi site where officials responsible ‘for the use of force, the military buildup of the Houthi terror regime, and the advancement of terror actions against Israel. The IDF will continue to target all threats against Israeli civilians.’ 

The airstrike was conducted by the Israeli Air Force Thursday using intelligence gathered by the IDF. 

‘The strike was made possible by seizing an intelligence opportunity and completing a rapid operational cycle, which took place within a few hours,’ the IDF said. 

A Houthi statement confirmed Al-Rahawi’s death. 

It was Israel’s second strike against the Houthis in Yemen in a week. 

On Sunday, Israel hit Yemen’s capital in response to missiles fired by the Houthis. The attack killed six people and wounded 86 others, according to Reuters, which cited a Houthi Health Ministry spokesperson.

‘As we warned the Houthis in Yemen: ‘After the plague of darkness comes the plague of the death,’’ said Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, who was in the IDF central command during the attack. ‘Whoever raises a hand against Israel, their hand will be cut off.’

The IDF previously said the Houthis were operating under Iran’s direction to harm Israel and its allies. The IDF also blamed the Houthis for ‘undermining regional stability and disrupting global freedom of navigation.’ 

The strikes Thursday were launched after Israel intercepted two drones from Yemen and happened during a speech by Houthi leader Abdul-Malik Badreddin al-Houthi, according to YNet. Additionally, the Israeli outlet reported that the speech went on without interruption.

The conflict between Israel and the Houthis has gone on for nearly two years. 

The Iran-backed terror force threatened to strike Israel just days after Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre. Within weeks of Hamas’ attacks, the Houthis shot missiles and drones at Israel that were intercepted by U.S. forces aboard the USS Carney.

The Houthis have continued to attack Israel in support to Hamas. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is demanding that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. resign after multiple senior officials at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention departed the agency.

The Trump administration announced the removal of CDC Director Susan Monarez earlier this week, less than a month after she was confirmed, after she refused Kennedy’s directives to adopt new limitations on the availability of some vaccines, including for approvals for COVID-19 vaccines.

Four other senior CDC officials resigned in protest after Monarez’s ouster, pointing, in part, to anti-vaccine policies pushed by Kennedy. Hundreds of workers at the agency also walked out of the CDC’s headquarters in Atlanta in support of their former colleagues.

In response to the departures, Sanders wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times that Kennedy is ‘endangering the health of the American people now and into the future’ and accused the secretary of firing Monarez because she refused ‘to act as a rubber stamp for his dangerous policies.’

‘Despite the overwhelming opposition of the medical community, Secretary Kennedy has continued his longstanding crusade against vaccines and his advocacy of conspiracy theories that have been rejected repeatedly by scientific experts,’ Sanders wrote in the piece published Saturday.

‘It is absurd to have to say this in 2025, but vaccines are safe and effective,’ he added. ‘That, of course, is not just my view. Far more important, it is the overwhelming consensus of the medical and scientific communities.’

Sanders also noted that vaccines for diseases like polio and COVID-19 have saved hundreds of millions of lives around the world.

Sanders, the ranking member of the Senate’s health committee, opposed Kennedy’s confirmation earlier this year. The secretary was sworn in back in February. Deputy HHS Secretary Jim O’Neill was selected to be the acting director of the CDC after Monarez’s termination.

The Trump administration has defended Monarez’s ouster, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying Thursday the president has the ‘authority to fire those who are not aligned with his mission.’

‘The president and Secretary Kennedy are committed to restoring trust and transparency and credibility to the CDC by ensuring their leadership and their decisions are more public-facing, more accountable, strengthening our public health system and restoring it to its core mission of protecting Americans from communicable diseases, investing in innovation to prevent, detect and respond to future threats,’ Leavitt told reporters.

Sanders earlier this week called for an investigation into Monarez’s ouster, criticizing the move as ‘reckless’ and ‘dangerous.’

In the op-ed, he wrote that Kennedy ‘has profited from and built a career on sowing mistrust in vaccines,’ adding that the secretary is now ‘using his authority to launch a full-blown war on science, on public health and on truth itself.’ 

He also said it will become harder for Americans to obtain ‘lifesaving vaccines’ with Kennedy leading HHS.

‘The danger here is that diseases that have been virtually wiped out because of safe and effective vaccines will resurface and cause enormous harm,’ Sanders wrote, stressing that the U.S. needs to be better prepared in the case of another pandemic.

‘Secretary Kennedy is putting Americans’ lives in danger, and he must resign,’ Sanders wrote. ‘In his place, President Trump must listen to doctors and scientists and nominate a health secretary and a C.D.C. director who will protect the health and well-being of the American people, not carry out dangerous policies based on conspiracy theories.’

Fox News Digital reached out to HHS for comment.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Dr. Sohan Dasgupta, appointed earlier this year as the political head of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), told Fox News Digital he is stepping down after a four-month sprint, declaring his mission to preserve and reposition the U.S. agency as a strategic foreign policy tool as ‘accomplished.’

Created by Congress in 2004, MCC delivers five-year infrastructure and energy compacts to developing nations that meet strict governance standards. Unlike traditional aid, its investments are structured to drive long-term economic growth and open markets for U.S. companies.

Since its creation under President George W. Bush, MCC has often been grouped with other U.S. aid programs. 

Career staff have long emphasized development goals like poverty reduction, education, and infrastructure, but unlike USAID, MCC was established as a corporate body with a fiduciary duty to ensure effectiveness.

A White House official, speaking on background to Fox News Digital, argued the agency too often presented itself as aid rather than investment before President Donald Trump took office.

Dasgupta pushed staff to adopt a different lens, pressing them to evaluate projects based on the return on investment for the United States, the degree of strategic alignment with partner countries, and whether MCC compacts could be used to strengthen U.S. leverage in negotiations.

A Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) report this spring argued that MCC is not a traditional aid agency but an ‘investment’ tool uniquely suited for an ‘America First’ agenda. 

The authors warned shuttering it would hand China ‘diplomatic and economic wins’ while leaving half-built projects abroad, and noted Trump-era partner selections, from Nepal to Côte d’Ivoire to the Pacific Islands, were strategically chosen to counter Chinese influence. 

‘The United States and the world are safer, stronger, and more prosperous with the MCC model than without it,’ the report concluded.

MCC’s current portfolio under Trump includes some of its largest-ever compacts: a $500 million deal in Nepal funding nearly 200 miles of transmission lines, a $480 million compact in Sierra Leone expanding electricity access and a $202 million program in Kosovo focused on grid-scale battery storage. Other investments include $536 million in Côte d’Ivoire, $537 million in Mozambique and a water compact in Mongolia.

Dasgupta told Fox News Digital that his role was to press MCC staff to think in terms of U.S. national security and economic benefits. ‘Reforming MCC into a vital national security and foreign policy asset’ was how he described his ‘mission accomplished’ moment.

A May 9 email from the White House Liaison to MCC staff, obtained by Fox News Digital, shows Dasgupta was appointed as a Schedule C Senior Advisor ‘assuming political leadership for the agency.’

MCC’s Fiscal Year 2026 Candidate Country Report, released this month, lists Kosovo, Nepal, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire, Mozambique, Mongolia, Solomon Islands, Fiji and Tonga among its eligible partner nations.

‘Service has many forms. My goal was to carry out particular projects and missions, then make way for others,’ Dasgupta said.

On China, he added: ‘Critical minerals and rare earth elements are a vital part of American strength … MCC has really understood that.’

Kosovo’s ambassador to the U.S., Ilir Dugolli, praised Dasgupta’s responsiveness. ‘We worked closely soon after he arrived at MCC … I respect him enormously for the way he handled his portfolio and how professional he was,’ Dugolli told Fox News Digital.

On energy security, Dugolli said: ‘Kosovo fully aligns with U.S. foreign policy … Batteries are extremely important, especially after last year’s terrorist attack on the Iber-Lepenc canal. The compact is the single most critical investment for our country’s energy security and economic resilience.’

Dasgupta’s departure also comes as the Trump administration pursues cuts to traditional U.S. foreign aid programs and seeks to reframe America’s global engagement under its ‘America First’ policy. 

While agencies such as USAID have faced reductions and restructuring, Dasgupta argues the MCC has been preserved as a leaner, investment-driven tool aligned with the administration’s emphasis on strategic deals and competition with China.

Analysts estimate China controls about 70% of global rare earth mining and nearly 90% of processing capacity, according to the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. 

Between 2023 and 2025, China imposed export restrictions on strategic minerals, according to CSIS. Dasgupta argues MCC’s work in allied nations can help diversify supply chains and strengthen resilience, though MCC has not publicly described critical minerals as a formal focus of its work.

‘Quick wins’ like Kosovo’s battery project and Nepal’s power lines, Dasgupta said, show how American aid can advance prosperity abroad while reinforcing security at home.

With his departure, MCC continues compacts in dozens of countries worldwide. 

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

President Donald Trump has attacked the Senate for blocking his preferred nominees from being confirmed to key positions, but lawmakers and people familiar with the process say the Senate is not necessarily to blame.

Trump has faulted the Senate’s ‘blue slip’ tradition, an unwritten rule requiring nominees for judge, U.S. attorney and U.S. marshal to obtain home state senators’ approval prior to being confirmed.

He said blue state senators will only greenlight ‘Democrats or maybe weak Republicans.’ The president called on Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to abolish the practice, and he threatened to sue over it.

But Grassley and other Republicans are unbudging in their position that blue slips are an indispensable part of the confirmation process. Blue slips have been used for more than a century. Past presidents have gotten many nominees confirmed under the system, suggesting other factors are contributing to Trump’s struggle to secure blue slips from Democrats.

Trump threatens to sue over ‘gentlemen’s agreement’

Trump and his allies escalated attacks on the blue slip process this week, accusing Grassley of blocking nominees by maintaining it.

‘This is because of an old and outdated ‘custom’ known as a BLUE SLIP, that Senator Chuck Grassley, of the Great State of Iowa, refuses to overturn,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The president threatened to sue over what he said was a ‘gentlemen’s agreement,’ though it is unclear whom the government would sue and on what grounds.

‘It’s not based on law, and I think it’s unconstitutional, and I’ll probably be filing a suit on that pretty soon,’ Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

Asked about the possible lawsuit and why Trump’s nominees in blue states are struggling with confirmation, the White House told Fox News Digital in a statement the holdup must be addressed.

‘Senate Democrats have led a campaign of historic obstruction against President Trump and his nominees,’ White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said. ‘The left’s partisan, obstructionist agenda is only hurting the American people and it must end.’

‘Troubling’ pattern of circumventing Senate

Trump appointed his former personal defense lawyer Alina Habba as ‘interim’ U.S. attorney, which carries a 120-day term limit that federal judges have the ability to extend under federal vacancy laws if no one has been confirmed by the Senate to the position by then.

Judges have opted to extend Trump’s nominees, like in Jay Clayton’s case in the Southern District of New York. But in an unusual move, the federal judges of New Jersey rejected Habba.

The judges selected someone else, whom Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi promptly fired. Trump and Bondi then used a series of legal maneuvers to reinstall Habba to another temporary term, but a federal judge ruled the moves unconstitutional. The Trump administration is appealing that decision in a case that could now make its way to the Supreme Court and force the justices to weigh in on what has become a pattern of Trump end-running around the Senate.

John Sarcone in the Northern District of New York faced a situation similar to Habba’s, and he is now serving as ‘acting’ U.S. attorney. Bill Essayli in the Central District of California, who has taken on a vocal pro-Trump stance amid high-profile deportation cases in his district, has also transitioned from ‘interim’ to ‘acting’ U.S. attorney. Acting U.S. attorneys also carry a temporary term of 210 days. It is unclear how Trump will proceed once those terms expire.

Carl Tobias, University of Richmond law professor, said the workarounds defy the spirit of the Constitution, which says nominees must be confirmed ‘with the advice and consent’ of the Senate.

‘It’s good to have that scrutiny from the Judiciary Committee and then on the floor, and so hopefully they could return to something like that, but I’m not sure that’s going to happen, and so I think it is troubling,’ Tobias told Fox News Digital.

How to get a blue slip from the other party

The administration must engage with the Senate during the nomination process, including by consulting early on with home state senators about possible nominees.

Former President Joe Biden secured blue slips from opposing parties for 49 nominees, including 27 U.S. attorneys, while Trump’s first administration was able to secure confirmations for nearly all the U.S. attorneys the president nominated.

The blue slip, to senators, is a crucial negotiating tool, one that Article III Project founder Mike Davis said is not going away, despite Trump’s intensifying objections to it. Davis, a staunch Trump supporter, served as counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee and oversaw nominations under Grassley in the prior Trump administration.

‘It’s not going away. Why would it? Why would senators give up their power? They’re not going to do it,’ Davis told Fox News Digital, adding that blue slips to the Senate are ‘the sacred china that’s never going to get broken.’

The vetting process

Nominees must also provide the Senate Judiciary Committee with a questionnaire, an FBI background check and financial disclosures. A source familiar with the process told Fox News Digital the committee did not receive Habba’s paperwork to begin vetting her. 

Habba has said she could not begin the process because Democratic Sens. Cory Booker and Andy Kim of New Jersey, would not give blue slip approval. It is unclear if and when the Trump administration approached the pair of senators about Habba. 

Habba, like Trump, blamed Grassley.

‘The blue slip TRADITION prevents a nominee from getting to the point of making that case to the committee and Senate floor. You know who can get rid of it? YOU @ChuckGrassley,’ Habba wrote on X.

She told Grassley ‘this is a time for leadership, not deflection’ and that the chairman should not be ‘doing the dirty work of Thom Tillis, Corey Booker and Andy Kim.’

Booker’s and Kim’s offices did not respond to a request for comment.

Grassley defends bipartisanship

Grassley went on a tear on social media this week, defending his decision to maintain blue slips, which the committee chair has discretion over.

‘U.S. Atty/district judge nominee without a blue slip does not hv the votes to get confirmed on the Senate floor & they don’t hv the votes to get out of cmte,’ the 91-year-old senator wrote. ‘As chairman I set Pres Trump noms up for SUCCESS NOT FAILURE.’

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who is among several Republicans who will not vote for a nominee who has not been approved by home state senators, pointed to a statement on social media when asked for comment by Fox News Digital.

‘Chairman Grassley is a principled conservative who wants to keep radical liberals off the bench. Getting rid of the blue slip is a terrible, short-sighted ploy that paves the path for Democrats to ram through extremist liberal judges in red states over the long-term,’ Tillis wrote on X.

Are Democrats to blame?

Trump has thus far secured opposing party blue slips for four nominees. Davis said Trump is facing a unique level of obstruction from Democrats.

‘Every White House does what it can to engage the opposition party, but Democrats have made it clear they’re not interested in working with President Trump, so it’s understandable that his focus has been elsewhere for now,’ Davis said.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for instance, has refused to give a blue slip to Clayton, the former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman. But Clayton’s ability to win the vote of the federal judges in the Southern District of New York has allowed him to serve as U.S. attorney without confirmation.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member, has further complicated the confirmation process by putting a hold on U.S. attorney nominees, which drastically slows, but does not fully block, the process.

Vice President JD Vance, then a senator, did the same for Biden’s nominees toward the end of the last administration.

Trump’s fight with the upper chamber is likely to evolve, especially as higher courts weigh in on Habba’s nomination, which is currently invalid, according to the district court judge’s decision this month. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has set a briefing schedule in the case that stretches through October, but eventually the Supreme Court could also chime in on whether Trump’s manner of sidestepping the Senate is constitutional. 

A controversial pro-Palestinian gathering in Detroit is drawing scrutiny for featuring speakers with extremist views—including two former Israeli prisoners released in a Hamas deal—alongside Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., a prominent anti-Israel congresswoman.

The second annual ‘People’s Conference for Palestine’ conference, which is being organized by a dozen different pro-Palestinian groups, will begin Friday afternoon and will end on Sunday.

Rep. Tlaib will speak alongside several individuals accused of espousing antisemitic rhetoric, including a professor who has compared Jews to Nazis, a journalist who quipped about Hamas kidnapping ‘several dozen hipsters’ at ‘some sort of rave’ on Oct. 7, 2023, and a high-profile activist who once said Israel is ‘built on the idea that Jews are supreme to everyone else’ and lost her position on the board of a major philanthropic organization amid antisemitism complaints.

Tlaib, herself, has been no stranger to criticism about her anti-Israel views either. She was censured in 2023 by her colleagues in Congress over alleged inflammatory rhetoric about the Israel-Hamas war. The censure followed several comments from Tlaib that drew backlash, including her use of the phrase ‘From the river to the sea,’ a slogan that many Israel supporters consider a call for the destruction of Israel. 

Tlaib also came under fire in 2023 for being part of a secret Facebook group for many years that glorified terrorists following the attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The congresswoman will be joined at the conference by two former prisoners held by Israel who gained their freedom through an Israeli prisoner swap with Hamas. One of those individuals, Hussam Shaheen, was sentenced by Israeli authorities to almost 30 years in prison during the early 2000s for murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

The other former prisoner, Omar Assaf, was formerly an official of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP). The DFLP is not a U.S.-designated terror group, but it has been targeted by U.S. sanctions.

Other attendees of this weekend’s conference include Raja Abdulhaq, who is listed on the conference’s website as the co-founder of the Quds News Network (QNN), which was suspended from Twitter in 2019 for alleged ties to terrorism, a company spokesperson reportedly told the Times of Israel. Subsequently, other major social media platforms, like Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, all took steps to restrict QNN’s presence on their platforms. 

Wesam Ahmed, another speaker, is listed as a ‘human rights advocate’ with Al-Haq, an entity accused by the Israeli government of having ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

Meanwhile, Michigan-area activist and former candidate for Congress, Huwaida Arraf, is also slated to speak. Arraf is known for being a co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), which has previously been investigated by the FBI for possible ties to terrorists. In 2021, Arraf also penned an article which promoted using violent tactics against Israelis. 

‘The Palestinian resistance must take on a variety of characteristics — both nonviolent and violent,’ she wrote at the time. ‘But most importantly it must develop a strategy involving both aspects.’

However, when reached for comment, Arraf shot back at criticism that she may be antisemitic, arguing any accusations of such are ‘meant to smear and silence Palestinians and anyone who dares to speak up for their rights.’ 

‘My record is clear,’ she added. ‘I have spent my life opposing all forms of racism, discrimination, and oppression. Conflating criticism of a government with hatred of a people is dishonest and dangerous—it weaponizes antisemitism instead of confronting it.’

A Michigan high school principal was forced to apologize to students and parents in 2023 after Arraf went off script at a ‘diversity assembly’ and reportedly attacked Israel.

Multiple university professors accused of antisemitism will also be at the event with Tlaib. One of them, Hatem Bazian, came under fire by his university, the University of California – Berkley, in 2017 after he shared an anti-Israel cartoon that drew widespread backlash for comparing Jews to Nazis, among other tropes.

‘Mom, look! I is chosen! I can now kill, rape, smuggle organs & steal the land of Palestinians yay #Ashke-Nazi,’ read the caption of a political cartoon shared by Bazian, the chairman of American Muslims for Palestine and the co-founder of Students for Justice in Palestine.

The caption was layered over an image of an orthodox Jewish individual who was juxtaposed next to an image of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un wearing a kippah and other traditional Jewish garb. That photo was also layered with its own caption: ‘Donald Trump: Now my nukes are legal & I can annex South Korea & you need to start paying me 34 billion a year in welfare.’

In 2015, Bazian, whose SJP group has fueled anti-Israel riots on college campuses, raised alarm bells when he called for an ‘intifada in this country that changes fundamentally the political dynamics in here,’ which is widely interpreted as calling for violence against Jews. He went on to say, ‘They’re gonna say some Palestinian being too radical – well, you haven’t seen radicalism yet.’

Another speaker at the event, journalist Eugene Puryear, has been slammed for trivializing Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attacks that killed over a thousand innocent Israelis.

‘As you might have seen, there was some sort of rave or desert party where they were having a great time, until the resistance came in electrified hang gliders and took at least several dozen hipsters,’ Puryear said on Oct. 8, one day after the attack, according to a report from the Anti-Defamation League.

Linda Sarsour, who had to walk-back her remarks after stating Israel ‘is built on the idea that Jews are supreme to everyone else,’ and lost her seat on the board of the Women’s March amid allegations of antisemitism, will make an appearance as well on Friday afternoon. Sarsour previously denied the allegations of antisemitism that came during her time with the Women’s March.

‘Ask them this, how can you be against white supremacy in America and the idea of being in a state based on race and class, but then you support a state like Israel that is based on supremacy, that is built on the idea that Jews are supreme to everyone else,’ Sarsour asked a crowd in 2019, according to Israeli news outlet Haaretz.

Mahmoud Khalil, the former Columbia University student who the Trump administration tried to deport for allegedly inciting anti-Israel violence on his campus, will also be in attendance.

In addition to the speakers, the organizers added special programming geared for kids. ‘We’re proud to introduce a two-day Children’s Program for ages 6–12, featuring engaging activities and an educational curriculum that explores Palestinian history, culture, and resistance,’ the conference’s website says.

Fox News Digital reached out to the conference for comment on its list of speakers, but did not immediately receive a response. Fox News Digital also reached out to several of the speakers for comment but, with the exception of Arraf, did not immediately hear back.

Fox News’ Cameron Cawthorne and Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report

Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, has signed a new congressional map into law, securing an additional five Republican-leaning U.S. House districts ahead of competitive midterm elections expected in 2026. 

Abbott’s signature on Friday marks the culmination of a partisan redistricting debate that has captivated the country’s attention and inspired an eye-for-an-eye effort by California Democrats. 

‘Today, I signed the One Big Beautiful Map into law,’ Abbott said on X. ‘This map ensures fairer representation in Congress. Texas will be more RED in Congress.’

The Republican-controlled Texas House and Senate passed the new map through their respective chambers last week, following weeks of Lone Star State Democrats breaking quorum and fleeing the state to avoid a redistricting vote. 

And Republicans in the state were not shy about the reason why they wanted to tweak the map. 

Sen. Phil King, R-Texas, who carried the map in the Senate, contended that while the map created more competitive districts, he believed they would be won by Republicans during the 2026 midterm election cycle. 

‘[House Bill 4], I believe, should elect more Republicans to the U.S. Congress, but I’m here to tell you, there are no guarantees,’ he said.

Texas Democrats aren’t shy about their plans to challenge the map in court, either. 

Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder lauded state Democrats for their attempts to block the process and charged that Texas Republicans ‘have effectively surrendered Texas to Washington, D.C.’

‘This isn’t over — we’ll see these clowns in court,’ Scudder said. ‘We aren’t done fighting against these racially discriminatory maps, and fully expect the letter of the law to prevail over these sycophantic Republican politicians who think the rules don’t apply to them.’

Abbott pushed for the creation of a new map to adhere to President Donald Trump’s desire to not see a repeat of the 2018 election cycle, when Democrats handily regained the majority in the House and acted as a foil to the president’s legislative goals toward the end of his first term. 

The Texas map seeks to maintain the Republican majority in the U.S. House next year. Republicans managed to pass Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ through Congress this year, fulfilling many of his 2024 campaign promises, including immigration and green energy reform and tax cuts. Democrats are already using the megabill as fodder for their 2026 campaigns, particularly on Medicaid cuts. 

Repeating a similar legislative achievement for Trump would face even more hurdles if Democrats win control of the House. 

But Abbott and the Texas GOP’s effort could be in vain, given that California Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Democrats passed their own new map, which added five new Democratic-leaning seats in a bid to cancel out Trump’s demands. 

However, the new California map is not yet official, and must be approved by voters in November to be enacted. 

‘The People of California will be able to cast their vote for a Congressional map. Direct democracy that gives us a fighting chance to STOP Donald Trump’s election rigging,’ Newsom said on X. 

While Republicans control a supermajority in deep-red Texas, Democrats were still needed to create a quorum in the House to actually move the process along.

Dozens of Texas Democrats fled the state to stall the process, creating a national media frenzy and generating support from Democratic donors, including groups linked to George Soros and Beto O’Rourke, to help pay for their fines, travel and lodging.

But Texas Republicans Attorney General Ken Paxton and House Speaker Dustin Burrows sought nationwide civil arrest warrants for the Texas House Democrats who broke quorum, and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, requested the FBI track them down and the DOJ launch an investigation into the political action committees funding their escape.

Democratic leaders announced early last week they would return for the second special session following California’s plan to redraw its maps to soften the blow from the Lone Star State, ending the blockade and allowing Republicans to charge ahead. 

Texas House Democrats accused the GOP of crafting a map that was illegal and racially discriminatory, and they tried and failed on the House floor to add amendments to the bill that would have halted the process. Despite Democrats’ best efforts, Texas House Republicans shot down a dozen amendments to the bill and passed it last Wednesday evening.

‘Members, it breaks my heart to see how this illegal and rigged mid-decade redistricting scheme is dividing our state and our country,’ Rep. Chris Turner, a Democrat, said. ‘This is Texas, it’s not Washington D.C. The impulses of outside politicians and their billionaire backers shouldn’t dictate what we do in this chamber, in this House.’

Rep. Todd Hunter, a Republican who wrote the bill for the new map, countered that four of the five new districts were ‘majority-minority Hispanic,’ noting that each of the new districts now trended Republican. Still, he had no qualms as to why Republicans were pursuing changes to the congressional maps. 

‘The underlying goal of this plan is straightforward, [to] improve Republican political performance,’ he said. 

The Democrats’ blockade ended last week, when Abbott called for a second special session after their demands for California to also begin a redistricting cycle were met in an effort to nullify the map Texas Republicans were creating.

White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff met with Ukrainian officials in New York City Friday for ‘very productive and constructive’ talks ahead of Kyiv’s emergency U.N. Security Council meeting, Fox News Digital has learned.

Witkoff met with Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s office of the president and chief of staff, and Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s ambassador extraordinary.

Senior administration officials familiar with the meeting told Fox News Digital that Yermak and Kyslytsya gave Witkoff a status update on the war with Russia and Moscow’s most recent attacks.

Russia launched a large-scale attack on Kyiv Wednesday night, killing at least 17 people, wounding 48 others and damaging buildings, officials in Ukraine said. 

The Ukrainian officials invited Witkoff to visit Ukraine in the future, a senior official told Fox News Digital.

Witkoff is continuing talks with Ukrainian officials, who say they are making progress.

The meeting, according to Trump administration officials, was a status update and a reaffirmation of the goal of getting both Ukraine and Russia to meet to ultimately reach an agreement to end the war.

Witkoff’s diplomatic approach in the highly sensitive talks has been met with praise by Trump Cabinet officials and foreign officials alike. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio also touted Witkoff’s work, saying he is ‘a key member of President Trump’s team and plays an indispensable role in advancing the president’s priorities.’

Rubio told Fox News Digital that Witkoff’s ‘unique perspective and innovative approach open new opportunities for diplomacy that were previously unavailable.’ 

‘It’s been remarkable to see him in action and a privilege to call him a colleague,’ Rubio told Fox News Digital.

National Security Advisor to the United Kingdom Jonathan Powell also praised Witkoff’s style.

Powell reflected on his more than 30 years of experience in peace negotiations, telling Fox News Digital that ‘there is a lot of snobbery in diplomacy — that peace can only be made in grand chandelier rooms, with a delegation of tens of officials and decades of diplomatic experience.’

‘But in my experience, the people who are actually successful at making peace operate on their own and concentrate on building trust between key leaders on either side and moving quietly to cut a deal,’ Powell said. ‘Steve Witkoff is exactly that sort of person.’

Powell told Fox News Digital that Witkoff’s experience of ‘making deals in a completely different field,’ along with his ‘charm and optimism, unburdened by the tens of reasons why an initiative cannot work, and a steely focus on getting to a lasting agreement.

‘In the court of this year, Steve has been able to open doors that no one else could and make peace possible in a series of different conflicts which would otherwise have remained insoluble.’

And Jared Kushner, a former senior adviser to Trump during his first administration, told Fox News Digital that the Trump administration’s ‘small, focused teams with the right leadership can achieve great results.’

‘Coming from the deal world, managing several complex deals at the same time is not uncommon,’ Kushner said, touting Witkoff’s ‘commitment, creativity and determination to solve some of the world’s most complex problems.’

‘Steve is quick to seek out advice and expertise when he is assessing a situation and evolves his perspectives as the facts change,’ Kushner said.

Reports this week, however, quoted anonymous sources who said Witkoff didn’t have enough experience to handle the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Vice President JD Vance, though, told Fox News Digital that Witkoff has ‘made more progress toward ending the bloodshed in Ukraine than all his critics combined.’

‘He’s a natural diplomat, an experienced negotiator and a true humanitarian,’ Vance said.

Vance blasted those who have criticized Witkoff for simply being ‘threatened.’ 

‘These smears are coming from lifelong bureaucrats who are threatened by Steve’s success and who are basically opposed to a productive peace process,’ Vance said.

Meanwhile, Witkoff’s meeting with officials in New York City comes just hours after Ukraine requested an emergency open briefing at the U.N. Security Council following Russia’s overnight aerial attacks on Kyiv and other cities across Ukraine. 

Council members Denmark, France, Greece, the Republic of Korea, Slovenia and the United Kingdom supported the meeting request. 

Reports say Russia used nearly 600 drones and more than 30 ballistic and cruise missiles in the attack this week. 

Russia’s continued attacks come after Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska earlier in August. Putin proposed Ukraine cede some territory in exchange for peace. 

Days later, Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several European heads of state at the White House, and he urged Ukraine to accept a land swap deal with Russia. Trump has argued that it is the most efficient way to end the war. 

Trump hosted Zelenskyy along with French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Finnish President Alexander Stubb. 

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also attended the meeting at the White House. 

Trump is coordinating the next steps in brokering an end to the war and is encouraging Putin and Zelenskyy to meet. 

Trump has said that after Putin and Zelenskyy meet, he will host a ‘trilat,’ which will be a meeting between Putin, Zelenskyy and Trump. 

‘After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two Presidents, plus myself,’ Trump said last week. ‘Again, this was a very good, early step for a War that has been going on for almost four years. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, are coordinating with Russia and Ukraine.’ 

But after the latest attack, Zelenskyy blasted Putin, saying Russia ‘chooses ballistics instead of the negotiating table. It chooses to continue killing instead of ending the war.

‘And this means that Russia still does not fear the consequences,’ Zelenskyy added. ‘Russia still takes advantage of the fact that at least part of the world turns a blind eye to murdered children and seeks excuses for Putin.’ 

Zelenskyy added that it is ‘definitely time for new, tough sanctions against Russia for everything it is doing.

‘All deadlines have already been broken, dozens of opportunities for diplomacy ruined,’ he said. ‘Russia must feel accountable for every strike, for every day of this war. Eternal memory to all victims of Russia.’

Bipartisan anger is brewing over the drama that unfolded at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), with the top members of the Senate’s healthcare panel forming a united front in the midst of the turmoil.

Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Bill Cassidy, R-La., and the panel’s ranking member, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., dove head first into the issues stemming from the firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez, which spurred a string of departures from the agency.

Monarez was abruptly fired from her position by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), less than a month after being confirmed by the Senate. Her removal, which her lawyers rejected, appeared to stem from disagreements over vaccines with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a vaccine skeptic.

Cassidy was the deciding vote during Kennedy’s confirmation hearing earlier this year.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the president and Kennedy were ‘committed to restoring trust and transparency and credibility to the CDC.’ 

‘We’re going to make sure that folks that are in positions of leadership there are aligned with that mission,’ she said. 

Cassidy agreed with that sentiment. 

‘The president and secretary are right,’ he told Fox News Digital. ‘We need radical transparency. We need to protect the health of our children. The two go together. I am committed to the president’s vision, which is why the HELP Committee will conduct oversight.’

Monarez has since refused to leave the post, with her lawyers arguing that she had neither resigned nor been fired and had not received notification from the president of her removal.

Following news of her ouster, a string of top officials at the CDC announced their resignations, too, including National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Daniel Jernigan, Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases Director Demetre Daskalakis and Director of Public Health Data, Science, Technology Jennifer Layden.

In response to their resignations, Cassidy demanded that the federal government’s vaccine advisory panel, which was filled with Kennedy’s handpicked replacements after he recently booted the original panel members, postpone its scheduled meeting in September.

His demand marks the second time this year that Cassidy called on the panel to halt its meeting.

Cassidy argued Thursday that there were ‘serious allegations made about the meeting agenda, membership, and lack of scientific process being followed for the now announced September [Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices] meeting.’

‘These decisions directly impact children’s health, and the meeting should not occur until significant oversight has been conducted,’ Cassidy said in a statement. ‘If the meeting proceeds, any recommendations made should be rejected as lacking legitimacy given the seriousness of the allegations and the current turmoil in CDC leadership.’

Daskalakis posted his reason for resigning on X, where he charged that he was ‘unable to serve in an environment that treats CDC as a tool to generate policies and materials that do not reflect scientific reality and are designed to hurt rather than to improve the public’s health.’

Meanwhile, Sanders demanded a congressional investigation be opened into the Trump administration’s decision to fire Monarez.

‘We need leaders at the CDC and HHS who are committed to improving public health and have the courage to stand up for science, not officials who have a history of spreading bogus conspiracy theories and disinformation,’ Sanders said Thursday.

HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.