House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and House GOP leaders urged their fellow Republicans to stay united ahead of a likely government shutdown during a lawmaker-only phone call on Monday, Fox News Digital has learned.

‘Realistically, the way [Democrats have] painted themselves into a corner, I don’t think they’ll be willing to yield. There’s going to be some shutdown at least on October 1st, for a few days at least,’ Johnson said on the call, Fox News Digital was told. ‘I think that’s probably a good bet.’

House GOP leaders spent roughly an hour rallying their conference to stay on-message ahead of a possible government shutdown, which will occur if the Senate does not pass a short-term federal funding bill before midnight Wednesday. 

Johnson urged Republicans to ‘stay completely united,’ Fox News Digital was told, while arguing that Democrats have ‘no credible argument’ against rejecting the GOP spending bill.

He asked House Republicans to keep a low profile before they are due to return to Capitol Hill next week, including forgoing any House floor speeches and political events, Fox News Digital was told.

His comments on a shutdown being likely were in response to one House GOP lawmaker asking whether to pull out of a planned event this week.

Democrats and Republicans are at odds over how to avert a potential shutdown, with the former warning they will not vote for the latter’s bill without significant concessions on healthcare reform. 

Republicans, in turn, have pointed out that the funding levels are roughly the same as those Democrats supported under former President Joe Biden at the end of fiscal year (FY) 2024, and have accused Democrats of making unreasonable or partisan demands for a seven-week funding bill.

The measure, a stopgap bill keeping government spending levels mostly flat until Nov. 21, is aimed at giving the House and Senate more time to set funding priorities for FY 2026, which begins on Oct. 1.

It passed the House largely along party lines earlier this month. But in the Senate, where at least several Democrats are needed to meet a 60-vote threshold to advance the bill, its fate is more uncertain.

‘If you want to win the shutdown, we have to stay on offense,’ House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., said on the call. 

He emphasized that Republicans ‘did our job’ in passing the funding bill.

‘We need to keep emphasizing that. And if we do, we’re going to win this battle,’ Emmer said, Fox News Digital was told.

House GOP Conference Chair Lisa McClain, R-Mich., urged Republicans to keep the messaging focus on federal funding, rather than entering into a debate on healthcare, Fox News Digital was told.

Democrats are demanding legislation that reverses some of the Republicans’ Medicaid cuts in their ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill,’ and an extension of COVID-19 pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies.

Republicans, who have accused Democrats of trying to restore barriers on illegal immigrants getting Medicaid, have said the left’s demands would add about $1.5 trillion in spending.

It comes as the top four leaders in the House and Senate are expected to meet with President Donald Trump on Monday afternoon to discuss government funding in a last-ditch effort to avert a shutdown.

The United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS) has come under fire for potentially prioritizing cultural sensitivity over significant health concerns after it published a report last week questioning a major issue of public debate — should first-cousin marriages be banned?

Debate over the issue heightened earlier this year after U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would not ban the practice outright, despite known risks to future generations, as children born from first cousins are at increased risk for diseases like sickle cell disease and cystic fibrosis.

Starmer, along with members of his Labour government, has argued that education should be prioritized instead of overreaching government mandates.

The article, which was posted to the NHS’s Genomics Education Program’s website and titled, ‘Should the UK government ban first-cousin marriage,’ had been removed by Monday morning, and Fox News Digital could not gain direct access to the report, nor did the NHS immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s questions. 

According to U.K.-based media outlets, the article caused some uproar after it suggested there were certain ‘benefits’ to first-cousin marriages, including ‘stronger extended family support systems and economic advantages,’ the Telegraph reported. 

The NHS report also noted that inter-family marriages have ‘long been the subject of scientific discussion’ due to the increased risk of inherited diseases, and that first-cousin marriages have been legal in the U.K. since the 1500s, when King Henry VIII married Catherine Howard, his ex-wife’s cousin.

First cousin marriages are also not federally banned in the U.S., where the practice is still permitted in 20 states.

The article also noted that there are risks of genetic disorders related to other external factors like alcohol use during pregnancy and smoking. The age of the parents can also impact certain disorders. 

The report pointed out that ‘none of [these factors] are banned in the U.K.’

‘Genetic counseling, awareness-raising initiatives and public health campaigns are all important tools to help families make informed decisions without stigmatizing certain communities and cultural traditions,’ the article added, according to the Telegraph.

The article, first posted last week, drew rebuke from conservative Tories like Member of Parliament Richard Holden, who accused the Labour government, headed by Starmer, of ‘taking the knee to damaging and oppressive cultural practices.’

‘The Conservatives want to see an end to cousin marriage as a backdoor to immigration too, but Labour are deaf to these sensible demands,’ he told the Daily Mail.

Similarly, Conservative Member of Parliament Claire Coutinho took to X on Monday to say, ‘The NHS puts conditions on IVF by age, BMI and history of conception. The NHS tells you (a lot) not to smoke or drink during pregnancy. But the NHS won’t say a word against cousin marriage.’

The Daily Mail report also noted that the NHS article said in first-cousin marriages the increased risk of being born with a genetic condition was ‘small.’

‘In the general population, a child’s chance of being born with a genetic condition is around two to three percent; this increases to four to six percent in children of first cousins. Hence, most children of first cousins are healthy,’ the article said, according to the Daily Mail.

The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, who oversees the NHS, did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s questions for this report.

Proponents of the ban in the U.K. tend to be conservative Tories, while Labor officials have argued the ban insensitively targets certain cultures, like British Pakistanis, where in-family marriages are more common. 

Starmer’s cabinet office directed Fox News Digital’s questions to the Department of Health and Social Care, who did not immediately provide comment for this report. 

Holden also could not be immediately reached for this report. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized to Qatar for striking its territory during a meeting with President Donald Trump, the White House said Monday.

Israel’s military targeted senior Hamas leadership in Qatar with an airstrike earlier this month that also killed a Qatari security official.

Trump distanced himself from Netanyahu’s decision to strike a top ally in the Middle East, writing on Truth Social at the time it ‘does not advance Israel or America’s goals.’

Qatar has been a key host of discussions aimed at hashing out a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. It also hosts about10,000 U.S. troops. 

During a trilateral call with Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Netanyahu expressed ‘deep regret that Israel’s missile strike against Hamas targets in Qatar unintentionally killed a Qatari serviceman,’ according to a White House readout.

‘He further expressed regret that, in targeting Hamas leadership during hostage negotiations, Israel violated Qatari sovereignty and affirmed that Israel will not conduct such an attack again in the future.’

Al Thani welcomed the assurances, according to the readout, and Trump ‘expressed his desire to put Israeli-Qatar relations on a positive track after years of mutual grievances and miscommunications.’

‘They really had a heart-to-heart conversation,’ Trump said in a news conference after his meeting with Netanyahu. ‘It was a great conversation, and I thought it was productive.’

He said that the U.S., Israel and Qatar agreed to launch a formal trilateral mechanism to begin dialogue ‘to enhance mutual security, correct misperceptions, and avoid future misgivings.’

Trump praised the emir as a ‘fantastic person’ and noted his role as a mediator in the peace process. He added that he hoped Qatar could join the Abraham Accords, a series of normalization deals between Middle Eastern nations and Israel that Trump brokered during his first administration.

It came as Trump unveiled a 20-point peace plan to end the war in Gaza.

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 Israel pulling back from the territory and ceasing military operations.

The plan explained that within 72 hours of Israel accepting the agreement, Hamas will release remaining hostages in its captivity — whether they are alive or deceased.

Upon the release of the remaining hostages, Israel will then release ‘250 life-sentence prisoners plus 1,700 Gazans who were detained after Oct. 7, 2023,’ according to the fifth point of the plan.

‘Once all hostages are returned, Hamas members who commit to peaceful co-existence and to decommission their weapons will be given amnesty. Members of Hamas who wish to leave Gaza will be provided safe passage to receiving countries,’ the sixth point of the plan read.

Gaza will not be controlled by Hamas or the Palestinian Authority, but by ‘those committed to peace,’ according to Netanyahu.

Hamas has not yet accepted the agreement, with Trump threatening the terrorist group to accept the plan or likely face further bloodshed.

‘Israel would have my full backing to finish the job of destroying the threat of Hamas,’ Trump said Monday during a press conference, warning Hamas to accept the deal.

President Donald Trump is flexing new leverage in the war in Ukraine — allowing the nation to use U.S. weapons to strike deep into Russia, weighing whether to provide Kyiv with Tomahawk cruise missiles and vowing Ukraine can take back all its land — while pressing China and India to slash purchases of Russian oil.

Ukraine supporters are cheering the shift, noting that after months of frustration over the grinding conflict, Trump appears to be changing tactics. From a combative February meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to his declaration last week that Ukraine could reclaim all of its original territory, the president is signaling a harder line on Moscow.

On ‘Fox News Sunday,’ Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg revealed that Trump had authorized long-range Ukrainian strikes inside Russia. Vice President JD Vance added that the administration is weighing whether to send Tomahawk missiles, a capability the Biden White House had denied. The weapons would be funded by European partners.

‘We’re certainly looking at a number of requests from the Europeans,’ Vance said. ‘It’s something the president’s going to make the final determination on.’

The U.S.-made Tomahawk has a range of about 1,500 miles, meaning Kyiv could theoretically target Moscow if Trump approves the transfer. Russia quickly issued warnings, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov questioning whether Ukrainians could operate such systems without American assistance.

‘Who can launch these missiles, even if they end up on the territory of the Kyiv regime?’ Peskov asked. ‘Can they be launched only by Ukrainians, or must it still be done by American personnel? Who provides the targeting? A very deep analysis is needed here.’

He dismissed the weapons as strategically meaningless. ‘There is no panacea that can change the situation on the fronts. There are no magic weapons, whether Tomahawk or others, that can alter the dynamics,’ Peskov said.

Still, Trump’s stance marks one of his most striking reversals. Last week, he suggested Ukraine could not only hold its ground but also return to its original borders, calling that ‘very much an option,’ while urging NATO nations to shoot down Russian drones and jets that cross into their airspace.

He added that Russia has been ‘fighting aimlessly for three and a half years in a war that should have taken a Real Military Power less than a week to win. This is not distinguishing Russia.’

This month, Russian drones entered Polish and Romanian territory. Missile-carrying MiG-29 jets crossed into Estonian territory.

Eastern European officials say Moscow’s provocations are meant to test NATO unity. ‘Part of these provocations are to see: will there be solidarity? Will there be a clear decision within NATO to increase defense?’ Romanian foreign minister Oana Țoiu told Fox News.

The tougher tone follows Trump’s August summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska, which produced few breakthroughs. Since then, Trump has ratcheted up pressure, urging Europe to accelerate its energy break with Moscow and coordinating a new sanctions package with U.S. allies.

‘Inexcusably, even NATO countries have not cut off much Russian energy and Russian energy products,’ Trump told the United Nations General Assembly. ‘China and India are the primary funders of the ongoing war by continuing to purchase Russian oil.’

The president has already imposed a 50% tariff on Indian goods, citing New Delhi’s reliance on Russian fuel. Officials suggest additional measures are under consideration if India and China do not curb their energy ties with Moscow.

The partisan messaging war over a looming government shutdown is heating up with a new memo sent to House Republicans by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

In a memo titled, ‘Debunking the Democrats’ Shutdown Delusion,’ sent to House GOP offices on Monday, obtained by Fox News Digital, Johnson is urging fellow House Republicans to keep the heat on Democrats in the government funding fight by arguing against their most often-used points in the ongoing battle.

‘Republicans have acted responsibly by advancing a clean, nonpartisan 24-page continuing resolution that keeps funding at current levels through November 21 with no partisan policy riders. It averts a government shutdown and ensures essential services and benefits continue uninterrupted for the American people,’ the memo said.

‘Meanwhile, Democrats are doubling down on false narratives as the threat of a Democrat-led government shutdown looms. Democrats — who once claimed that shutdowns would be ‘dangerous,’ ‘disastrous,’ and ‘self-inflicted harm’ to seniors, veterans, servicemembers, families, and the economy — are now actively trying to force one over policies completely unrelated to government funding.’

The memo first quoted Democrats’ attack that Republicans are working to end healthcare for millions of Americans, urging GOP lawmakers to fight back with ‘the current funding bill is a simple short-term funding extension with no policy changes and healthcare programs are fully funded at the current levels.’

‘Democrats want to hold September government funding hostage over an unrelated December policy fight of their own making. Policy debates can happen separately, and Democrats don’t need to shut down the government to do it,’ the memo said.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and other Democrats are pushing for any government funding bill to include an extension of COVID-19 pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of 2025.

Democrats also released their own alternative funding bill that would have repealed Medicaid reforms in President Donald Trump’s big, beautiful bill – all points which Republicans have panned as nonstarters.

Republican leaders have signaled openness to discussing Obamacare extensions but have argued against including them in a seven-week short-term funding bill.

The memo also urges GOP lawmakers to criticize Democrats’ proposal, saying it gives ‘free healthcare for illegal aliens,’ ‘$500 million in taxpayer funding to prop up liberal news outlets,’ ‘a $50 billion cut in investments for improving rural health care,’ and ‘billions in funding for DEI and climate projects in foreign countries.’

On Democratic accusations that Republicans are using federal workers as ‘pawns’ in a government shutdown battle, the memo said, ‘If Democrats choose to force a shutdown, the Trump administration must be ready to responsibly manage the situation, including making tough personnel decisions to prioritize operations.’

‘But this disruption is entirely avoidable should Democrats support the responsible solution is on the table. If Democrats reject it, they alone will bear the blame for using federal workers as pawns in their political games,’ it said.

The memo also encouraged Republicans to point out that their short-term funding bill passed the House earlier this month with nearly entirely GOP votes, and that Democrats in the Senate were responsible for scuttling it earlier this month.

It comes after Johnson urged House Republicans on a conference call earlier to stay united on federal funding, arguing Democrats had ‘no credible argument’ in the fight.

Senate Republicans are expected to put the bill on the floor again sometime this week. If it fails to pass by midnight on Oct. 1, however, a partial government shutdown is all but certain.

Republican and Democratic congressional leaders left a meeting with President Donald Trump with no deal to avert a government shutdown as the deadline fast approaches. 

Leaders met with Trump on Monday for roughly an hour to negotiate a path forward to avert a partial government shutdown, but it appeared neither side was willing to budge from their position. 

Vice President JD Vance said after the meeting, ‘I think we’re headed into a shutdown because the Democrats won’t do the right thing. I hope they change their mind.’

‘If you look at the original they did with this negotiation, it was a $1.5 trillion spending package, basically saying the American people want to give massive amounts of money, hundreds of billions of dollars to illegal aliens for their health care, while Americans are struggling to pay their health care bills,’ Vance said. ‘That was their initial foray into this negotiation. We thought it was absurd.’

Democrats, however, have pushed back on assertions that they’re looking to salvage healthcare for anyone but the American people.

‘There was a frank and direct discussion with the President of the United States and Republican leaders. But significant and meaningful differences remain,’ Jeffries said. ‘Democrats are fighting to protect the health care of the American people, and we are not going to support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to gut the health care of every day America, period.’

Congress has until midnight Oct. 1 to pass a short-term funding extension, or continuing resolution (CR), to avert a partial government shutdown. The House already passed a funding extension, but the bill was blocked in the Senate earlier this month. 

Republicans and the White House want to move forward with their ‘clean,’ short-term funding extension until Nov. 21, while Democrats have offered a counter-proposal that includes a permanent extension of expiring Obamacare tax credits and other wishlist items that are a bridge too far for the GOP. 

Vance appeared alongside Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought in a show of Republican unity after the meeting, but made clear both sides are still far apart.

Thune, holding up a copy of the funding extension, panned Jeffries and Schumer’s accusation that the bill was partisan in nature. 

Congressional Republicans argue that the House GOP’s is everything that Democrats pushed when they controlled the Senate: a ‘clean,’ short-term extension to Nov. 21 without partisan policy riders or spending, save for millions in new spending for increased security for lawmakers. 

‘To me, this is purely a hostage-taking exercise on the part of the Democrats,’ Thune said. ‘We are willing to sit down and work with them on some of the issues they want to talk about, whether it’s an extension of premium tax credits, with reforms, we’re happy to have that conversation. But as of right now, this is a hijacking.’

Neither Schumer nor Jeffries took questions after their remarks, but appeared slightly more optimistic than their GOP counterparts after the meeting concluded.

‘I think for the first time, the president heard our objections and heard why we needed a bipartisan bill,’ Schumer said. ‘Their bill has not one iota of Democratic input. That is never how we’ve done this before.’

Vance said he was ‘highly skeptical’ that it was Trump’s first time hearing the issue and said there was a bipartisan path forward on healthcare – but panned Democrats’ push to include an extension of COVID-19 pandemic-era Affordable Care Act (ACA) extensions in the bill.

‘We want to work across the aisle to make sure that people have access to good healthcare,’ he said, but added, ‘We are not going to let Democrats shut down the government and take a hostage unless we give them everything that they want. That’s not how the people’s government has ever worked.’

The meeting in the Oval Office comes after Trump canceled a previously scheduled confab last week with just Schumer and Jeffries. At the time, the president railed against their demands on his social media platform Truth Social and contended that congressional Democrats were pushing ‘radical Left policies that nobody voted for’ in their counter-CR. 

Democrats’ demands center on an extension to expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies, though their counter-proposal also included language to repeal the healthcare section of the GOP’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ and a clawback of canceled NPR and PBS funding. 

Senate Republicans have argued that Democrats’ desires are unserious, and Thune has publicly said that Republicans would be willing to have discussions on the ACA subsidies, which are set to sunset at the end of this year, after the government is funded. 

Schumer insisted Democrats needed it addressed immediately, however, in a press conference back on Capitol Hill after the meeting.

‘We think when they say later, they mean never. We have to do it now, first because of the timing issue and second, because now is the time we can get it done,’ he said.

The White House is also leveraging the threat of mass firings should the government shut down that go beyond the standard furloughing of nonessential employees. Still, Schumer and Senate Democrats have not buckled. 

The Senate is expected to vote again on the bill on Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth has blocked a new wave of terminations at Voice of America, offering harsh words for Kari Lake and saying the Trump administration’s conduct in his case would support civil contempt proceedings, if only the plaintiffs had asked.

In the 19-page ruling, Judge Lamberth halted the mass reduction in force at the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) and issued a warning that cuts would ‘cement’ VOA’s failure to meet legal obligations to provide reliable news.

Lamberth’s list of failures included statutory violations involving VOA shutting down mandated language services despite clear congressional directives.

He stated that VOA acknowledged its ‘radio presence’ had shrunk to a single 30-minute daily program in Dari and Pashto, leaving gaps in coverage for nations like North Korea and China.

Kari Lake was called out for admitting under oath that she hadn’t ‘given it a lot of thought’ whether Africa qualifies as a ‘significant region of the world’ under the law and confirmed VOA produces no programming for South America.

And Lamberth accused the Trump administration of misleading the court, going as far as to call it incredible to suggest the RIF was ‘uncertain’ while evidence showed it was already in motion.

The RIF notices covered both VOA and USAGM employees, and Lamberth rejected the government’s attempt to carve out non-VOA staff.

He accused Lake and her team of ‘thumbing their noses at Congress’s commands’ and showing ‘brazen disinterest’ in statutory duties — strong language worth including.

The contempt warning wasn’t just about tone; it was also tied to their failure to produce required documents about future RIFs, despite court orders.

Overall, the order keeps VOA’s workforce intact through Oct. 14, when Lake will be forced to work with her team to file a plan showing how they will restore the legally required programming.

The judge warned that their ‘disrespect’ for other rulings would have been enough to trigger a contempt trial.

‘Equity is allergic to rigidity,’ Lamberth wrote, pointing out the court’s power to stop executive overreach.