Category: fox-news/politics/senate

The Speaker’s Lobby: What Congress’ December script means for healthcare next year

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

This December on Capitol Hill appears to follow a familiar script.

There’s a deadline for Congress to act on (insert issue here). And if lawmakers don’t move by Jan. 1, then (insert consequence here). So, everyone on Capitol Hill clamors over pathways to finish (given issue). Lawmakers and staff are at the end of their wits. Everyone is worried about Congress successfully fixing the problem and getting everyone home for the holidays.

There’s always the concern that Congress will emerge as The Grinch, pilfering Whoville of Christmas toys.

But lawmakers often wind up toiling with the diligence and efficiency of Santa’s elves, plowing through late-night, overnight and weekend sessions, usually finishing (insert issue here) in the St. Nick of time.

THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THURSDAY'S BIG SENATE VOTES ON HEALTHCARE

This pattern is always the same. With few variations.

This parliamentary dance of the sugar plum fairies frequently centers on deadlines for government funding, the debt ceiling and tax policy. Such was the case when the Senate passed the first version of Obamacare on Christmas Eve morning in 2009. Republicans skated on thin ice to finish their tax reform package in December 2017.

Lawmakers moved expeditiously to approve a defense policy bill in late 2020, then made sure they had just enough time on the calendar to override President Trump’s veto of the legislation before the very end of the 116th Congress in early January 2021.

The deadlines sometimes veer into the political. There was a crush to finish articles of impeachment on the House floor for both presidents Clinton and Trump in December 1998 and December 2019, respectively.

And, so, after everyone got this fall’s government shutdown worked out of their systems, lawmakers were far from prepared to address its root cause. Democrats refused to fund the government unless Congress addressed spiking healthcare premiums. Those premiums shoot up on Jan. 1. And no one has built enough consensus to pass a bill before the end of the year.

Yet.

But it’s only mid-December. And everyone knows that the congressional Christmas legislative spirit can be slow to take hold. Some of that holiday magic may have officially arrived Thursday afternoon after the Senate incinerated competing Republican and Democratic healthcare plans.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., pushed a three-year extension of the current Obamacare subsidies with no built-in reforms.

"This is going to require that Democrats come off a position they know is an untenable one and sit down in a serious way and work with Republicans," Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said of the Democratic proposal.

Thune characterized the Democrats’ gambit as "a political messaging exercise."

MODERATE REPUBLICANS STAGE OBAMACARE REBELLION AS HEALTH COST FRUSTRATIONS ERUPT IN HOUSE

Republicans even mulled not putting forth a healthcare plan at all. It was the group of Senate Democrats who ultimately helped break a filibuster to reopen the government last month that demanded a healthcare-related vote (not a fix, but a vote) in December. So, that’s all Thune would commit to.

"If Republicans just vote no on a Democrat proposal, we'll let the premiums go up and Republicans don't offer anything. What message is that going to send?" asked Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. "I know what people in Missouri will think. They'll look at that, and they'll say, ‘Well, you guys don't do anything. You've just let my premiums go up.’"

It may yet come to that.

So, there’s a holiday healthcare affordability crisis.

"People are looking now at exactly what's ahead for them, and they're very, very frightened," said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee.

But most Senate Republicans coalesced around a plan drafted by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Michael Crapo, R-Idaho, and Senate Health Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy, R-La. The bill would not renew Obamacare subsidies. Instead, it would allow people to deposit money into a healthcare savings account and shop around for coverage.

"Our plan will reduce premiums by 1% and save taxpayers money," boasted Crapo. "In contrast, the Democrats' temporary COVID bonuses do not lower costs or premiums at all."

With skyrocketing prices, Republicans are desperate to do something, even if it’s a figgy pudding leaf, as they face competitive races next year.

COLLINS, MORENO UNVEIL OBAMACARE PLAN AS REPUBLICANS SEARCH FOR SOLUTION TO EXPIRING SUBSIDIES

"It has nothing to do with me. It has everything to do with people in Ohio and across America who need to be able to afford access to healthcare," said Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio.

Gov. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, appointed Husted to succeed Vice President Vance after he left the Senate. So, 2026 will be Husted’s first time on the ballot for the Senate.

There was some chatter that Republicans might allow for a limited extension of the Obamacare aid so long as Democrats agreed to abortion restrictions in exchange.

"Off the table. They know it damn well," thundered Schumer.

So, the competing plans needed 60 yeas to clear a procedural hurdle. But that also meant that both plans were destined to fail without solving the problem before the end of the year.

"We have to have something viable to vote on before we get out of here," lamented Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C.

That’s why some Christmas congressional calendar magic often compels lawmakers to find a last-minute solution.

"Every legislator up here would like to be home for Christmas," said Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan. "That pressure is what forces us to come together."

CONGRESS FACES HOLIDAY CRUNCH AS HEALTH CARE FIX COLLIDES WITH SHRINKING CALENDAR

We’ll know soon if everyone buckles down to harness soaring premiums after days of political posturing.

"This should have been done in July or August. So, we are up against a deadline," said Hawley.

And procrastination by lawmakers may yet do them in.

"Healthcare is unbelievably complicated," said Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D. "You're not going to reform it and bring down costs overnight."

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is now promising a separate, still unwritten healthcare bill for the floor in the coming days.

"You're going to see a package come together that will be on the floor next week that will actually reduce premiums for 100% of Americans," said Johnson.

But it’s unclear if Congress can pass anything.

"I think there's a fear of working with Democrats. There's a fear (of) taking action without the blessing of the President," said Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev.

GOP WRESTLES WITH OBAMACARE FIX AS TRUMP LOOMS OVER SUBSIDY FIGHT

That’s why it’s possible Congress could skip town for the holidays without solving the problem.

"It will be used like a sledgehammer on us a year from now," said Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb.

Not a great message for Republicans — especially on affordability — before the midterms.

"If there's no vote, that'll run contrary to what the majority of the House wants and what the vast majority of the American people want," said Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif.

That political concern may be just enough to force the sides to find some Christmas magic and address the issue before the holidays.

That’s one Yuletide script in Congress.

But there’s a script to not fixing things, too.

If Congress leaves town, every communications director on Capitol Hill will author a press release accusing the other side of channeling Ebenezer Scrooge, declaring "Bah humbug!" or dumping a lump of coal in the stockings of voters on Christmas.

That’s the script.

And every year, it sleighs me.

Court says Boasberg didn’t know Arctic Frost subpoenas hit lawmakers, Grassley calls that ‘deeply troubling’

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FIRST ON FOX: A top federal court official defended Judge James Boasberg’s gag orders that hid subpoenas related to the FBI's Arctic Frost investigation, saying this week that the chief judge in Washington would likely have been unaware that the subpoenas' intended targets were members of Congress.

The administrative office for the federal courts indicated that the chief judge in D.C. routinely blindly signed gag orders when the Department of Justice requested them, including during Arctic Frost, the investigation that led to former special counsel Jack Smith bringing election charges against President Donald Trump.

The administrative office's director, Robert Conrad Jr., provided the explanation on behalf of Boasberg to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, in a letter first obtained by Fox News Digital.

REPUBLICANS FEUD OVER 'ARCTIC FROST' ACCOUNTABILITY MEASURE, BUT CRITICS OFFER NO CLEAR ALTERNATIVE

The letter came in response to Grassley, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, demanding an explanation from Boasberg about why he authorized the one-year gag orders, which barred phone companies from telling Republican Congress members that their records were subpoenaed by Smith in 2023.

Conrad said he could not address those specific subpoenas and gag orders, in part because some of the material was sealed, but that he could help the lawmakers "understand relevant practices" in place during Arctic Frost.

The DOJ’s requests for gag orders, also known as non-disclosure orders, "typically do not attach the related subpoena; rather they identify the subject accounts only by a signifier — e.g., a phone number," Conrad wrote. "As a result, [non-disclosure order] applications would not reveal whether a particular phone number belonged to a member of Congress."

Grassley reacted to the latest correspondence from the court by faulting the Biden DOJ for seeking the gag orders from Boasberg without notifying the judge that they pertained to Congress members.

Grassley noted that the DOJ's Public Integrity Section gave Smith's team the green light to subpoena lawmakers' phone records but had also told the prosecutors to be wary of concerns lawmakers could raise about the Constitution's speech or debate clause, which gives Congress members added protections in prosecutorial matters.

"Smith went ahead with the congressional subpoenas anyway, and it appears he and his team didn’t apprise the court of member involvement," Grassley told Fox News Digital. "Smith’s apparent lack of candor is deeply troubling, and he needs to answer for his conduct."

The DOJ revised its policy in response to an inspector general report in 2024 so that prosecutors were required to notify the court if they were seeking a gag order against a Congress member so that judges could take that into consideration when deciding whether to authorize the orders. Smith's subpoenas pre-dated that policy shift.

The subpoenas, and the gag orders that kept them concealed, have drawn enormous criticism from the targeted lawmakers, who alleged that the Biden DOJ improperly spied on them over their alleged involvement in attempting to overturn the 2020 election and that Boasberg was complicit in allowing it. Among the top critics is Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who was set to lead a since-postponed hearing Wednesday examining the case for impeaching Boasberg. Impeachment of judges is exceedingly rare and typically has only occurred in response to crimes like corruption and bribery.

TRUMP FOE BOASBERG HIT WITH ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT

Johnson said he remained unsatisfied with Boasberg after the letter from the administrative office.

"Judge Boasberg’s refusal to answer questions from Congress about his approval of unlawful gag orders is an affront to transparency and an obvious attempt to deflect any responsibility for his awareness of or involvement in Jack Smith’s partisan dragnet," Johnson told Fox News Digital. "Judge Boasberg must immediately lift the seal that is apparently preventing him from addressing Congress’ questions and provide the public a full explanation for his actions."

Public documents reveal that as chief judge of the D.C. federal court, Boasberg authorized numerous gag orders that blocked phone companies from telling about a dozen House and Senate lawmakers that Smith had subpoenaed their phone data.

Smith had sought a narrow set of their records, which included details about when calls and messages were placed and with whom the Congress members were communicating. The records did not include the contents of calls and messages. Smith has defended the subpoenas, saying they were in line with department policy and "entirely proper."

Republicans feud over ‘Arctic Frost’ accountability measure, but critics offer no clear alternative

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A new provision allowing senators to sue the Justice Department over secretly subpoenaed phone data has sparked a fierce GOP intraparty clash — with supporters insisting it’s a long-overdue check on political overreach and critics warning it smacks of self-interest, even as they offer no clear plan to stop future abuses by the executive branch.

The provision, added quietly to the bill reopening the government, gave senators an explicit ability to file $500,000 lawsuits against the federal government for damages if they unwittingly had their phone data subpoenaed. It came in response to subpoenas made public by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, that showed former special counsel Jack Smith sought phone records for 10 Republican senators in 2022 as part of the FBI’s sweeping Arctic Frost investigation into President Donald Trump's alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. 

The revelation led Republicans to decry the subpoenas as illegal and intrusive and Arctic Frost as "worse" than the Watergate scandal.

Critics, including some House GOP members, argue that the measure amounts to a means of self-enrichment. Supporters say it is necessary to give senators recourse when the executive branch oversteps its constitutional bounds and reaches into congressional communications. 

GOP UNITY SHATTERED BY CONTROVERSIAL MEASURE IN GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN BILL

As is normal for prosecutors when conducting nonpublic inquiries, Smith sought gag orders for his subpoenas, and those orders were authorized by a judge, in this case U.S. District Chief Judge James Boasberg. 

Boasberg has become a controversial figure due to his role in Arctic Frost; his refusal in 2021 to sentence former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith to prison time after he pleaded guilty to doctoring an email asking to extend surveillance permissions against a former Trump advisor; and after he issued a temporary restraining order in March blocking Trump's use of a 1798 wartime law to deport hundreds of Venezuelan nationals. As part of the latter case, Boasberg is considering whether to hold the Trump administration in contempt.

Attorney Rob Luther, a professor at George Mason University law school, said senators have added protections, including under the speech or debate clause of the Constitution, that could mean the gag orders were unlawful. Senators need to know about the subpoenas so they can contest them, he said.

The speech or debate clause immunizes members of Congress from facing legal action or prosecution for things they say or do as part of their official legislative work.

Luther said the gag orders, which blocked Verizon and AT&T from telling the senators their records were subpoenaed for one year, was "an infringement on the separation of powers, on their independence as a branch, and their ability to conduct their business in a free and open forum."

Smith recently addressed the outcry over the subpoenas, saying his investigative steps against members of Congress were "entirely proper, lawful, and consistent with established Department of Justice policy." He said that he sought toll records, that is, phone data that does not include the contents of calls and messages, which is routine.

MAJOR PHONE CARRIERS REVEAL JACK SMITH'S SUBPOENAS FOR REPUBLICAN SENATORS' RECORDS

Still, an existing law states that court orders cannot block phone companies from notifying senators about the Department of Justice seeking their records.

The new provision in the funding bill revised that law to clarify that senators could file civil lawsuits against the DOJ as a remedy. The law includes a carve-out for cases where the lawmakers are the targets of an investigation, such as in the case of former Democrat Sen. Bob Menendez, who is now serving time in prison for corruption.

"These people are representing the people's interests," Luther said. "They're getting information from a lot of different sources, and people spying on who's feeding them information is a chill on the democratic process, so I'm not real sure there should be any covert investigations of phone records of elected officials, at least not under this statute."

The measure has received extra scrutiny due to some Republican House lawmakers joining Democrats in their outrage over the provision.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said Congress plans to soon vote to strip it from the funding bill. Other House Republicans complained about being caught off guard by the provision. They did not oppose finding some other way to deter future undisclosed subpoenas but said awarding senators taxpayer-funded damages was not the solution.

The provision's inclusion caused Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., to vote against the broader bill to open the government, telling reporters, "I'm not voting to send Lindsey Graham half a million dollars."

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has embraced the measure even as some of his Senate colleagues have distanced themselves from it. He said in a statement to Fox News Digital on Tuesday that he needs to be able to sue, and plans to do so, because Smith obtained his phone data.

Graham said Arctic Frost "was an extreme violation of separation of powers and a coordinated effort to try to prevent Donald Trump from the greatest political comeback in history."

"The goal is to make sure that, in the future, the cost of using subpoenas as political weapons is far too high. If not, the government will continue down this road," Graham said. "To those who suggest the government can’t be sued when it violates your rights, I couldn’t disagree more. A government that can violate your rights without accountability is a threat to your freedom."

The South Carolina Republican said he is also planning to introduce legislation to address subpoenas Smith sent targeting dozens of other Republican-aligned people and entities.

The first Trump administration subpoenaed phone records of Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., and then-Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and dozens of congressional staffers from both parties as part of a leak investigation.

Former DOJ inspector general Michael Horowitz warned in a report about the leak probe that lawmakers’ records should only be subpoenaed in limited circumstances because it "risks chilling Congress’s ability to conduct oversight of the executive branch."

The use of subpoenas to obtain records of Congress members and aides "may implicate separate and important constitutional considerations," Horowitz wrote, noting the "separation of powers, including the Supreme Court's recognition of Congress’s right to oversee the executive branch, and the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause in connection with Members of Congress and congressional staff."

One source familiar said the new provision was the brainchild of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who also had his phone records subpoenaed. Asked for comment, Cruz’s office pointed to the senator remarking to Politico that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., added it to the funding bill.

"Leader Thune inserted that in the bill to provide real teeth to the prohibition on the Department of Justice targeting senators," Cruz said.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., another target of Smith's, said she supported repealing the provision. Blackburn signaled that she was more interested in a court finding the Biden DOJ infringed on Congress' work than any monetary award.

"If the Senate votes on the bill to undo the Arctic Frost provision in the government funding bill, I will support the effort to reverse it," she said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "This fight is not about the money; it is about holding the left accountable for the worst weaponization of government in our nation’s history."

Graham's warnings of an imminent lawsuit signal that even if the new provision is retroactively stripped from the funding bill, the constitutional questions about the subpoenas and gag orders could still land in the courts and force the judiciary to confront them head on.

The senators are also planning a hearing in December that zeroes in on Boasberg's role in the subpoenas. Several Trump allies have called for his impeachment, which the House would need to initiate. A federal judge's impeachment is exceedingly rare and typically has come as a response to bribery or other criminal behavior.

Liz Elkind and Alex Miller contributed to this report.

Boasberg’s role in ‘Arctic Frost’ probe sparks fury from GOP senators, despite local rules

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Republican senators issued a torrent of criticism against U.S. District Judge James Boasberg this week after it was revealed that he had signed off on subpoenas and gag orders issued as part of former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation — though a cursory review of court rules suggests it is far less provocative than lawmakers have claimed.

Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., were among the Republicans who blasted Boasberg as an "activist" judge, and Cruz, for his part, suggested Boasberg should be impeached. 

"My assumption," Cruz fumed, is "that Judge Boasberg printed these things out like the placemats at Denny's — one after the other."

MAJOR PHONE CARRIERS REVEAL JACK SMITH'S SUBPOENAS FOR REPUBLICAN SENATORS' RECORDS

At issue were subpoenas and gag orders issued by former special counsel Jack Smith's team as part of its probe into President Donald Trump's actions in the wake of the 2020 election. 

The redacted documents were made public this week by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.

They included subpoenas of phone records for 10 senators and one House lawmaker, and gag orders sent to Verizon and AT&T instructing them not to notify lawmakers of the subpoena. (Verizon complied, AT&T did not.) 

Both the subpoenas and gag orders were signed by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, according to the newly released documents — a detail that prompted fresh criticism and indignation from some of the Republicans in question, including Cruz, who blasted the investigation in question as "worse than Watergate" and a gross violation of prosecutorial powers.

Blackburn blasted Boasberg as an "activist" judge. Some lawmakers further argued for his impeachment as a result of his involvement. 

In fact, his role in the process is far from surprising. 

WHO IS JAMES BOASBERG, THE US JUDGE AT THE CENTER OF TRUMP'S DEPORTATION EFFORTS?

Local rules for the federal court system in D.C. explicitly state the chief judge "must hear and determine all proceedings before the grand jury." The subpoenas and gag orders signed by Boasberg were signed in May 2023 — roughly two months into his tenure as the chief judge for the federal court.

It's unclear whether Sens. Cruz or Blackburn were aware of this rule, and they did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. 

But it's also not the first time Judge Boasberg previously noted his oversight of these matters as the chief judge for D.C. — including in the special counsel probe in question. 

Boasberg explained the rule in question in June 2023, when he granted, in part, a request from media outlets to unseal a tranche of redacted documents related to the subpoena and testimony of former Vice President Mike Pence in the same probe. (He explained in a lengthy public memo that he did so because the press movant were seeking record that Pence himself had discussed publicly.) 

Still, the controversy comes as Boasberg has found himself squarely in Trump’s crosshairs, after he issued a temporary restraining order in March blocking Trump’s use of a 1798 wartime law to deport hundreds of Venezuelan nationals to a maximum security prison in El Salvador.

Until that point, however, Boasberg had largely avoided making headlines. 

JACK SMITH DEFENDS SUBPOENAING REPUBLICAN SENATORS’ PHONE RECORDS: ‘ENTIRELY PROPER’

A graduate of Yale, Oxford University and Yale Law School, Boasberg clerked for the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals before joining the Justice Department as a federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C.

He was tapped in 2002 by then-President George W. Bush to serve on the D.C. Superior Court, where he served until 2011, when he was nominated by President Barack Obama to the federal bench in D.C. in 2011. 

His confirmation vote soared through the Senate with a 96-0 vote of approval, including with the support of Sen. Grassley and other Republicans named in the subpoena. 

Boasberg in 2014 was appointed by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to a seven-year term on the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, or FISA Court, comprised of 11 federal judges hand-selected by the chief justice. 

Former special counsel Jack Smith, for his part, has since defended his decision to subpoena the Republican lawmakers' phone records, which Fox News Digital reported includes phone records for a four-day period surrounding the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. 

They did not include the contents of phone calls or messages, which would require a warrant, but they did include "[call] detail records for inbound and outbound calls, text messages, direct connect, and voicemail messages" and phone number, subscriber, and payment information.

 His lawyers told Senate lawmakers in a letter earlier this month that the decision to do so was "entirely proper" and is consistent with Justice Department policy.

Fox News's Ashley Oliver contributed to this report. 

Trump-foe Adam Schiff dismisses Tulsi Gabbard’s declassified Russia collusion intelligence as ‘dishonest’

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Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., is throwing cold water on Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard's assertion about the Obama administration's role in pushing the Trump-Russia collusion narrative during the 2016 presidential election. 

Gabbard has declassified documents, including a House Intelligence Committee memo, alleging that former President Barack Obama and his national security team "manufactured an Intelligence Community Assessment they knew was false."

"I think what Gabbard and her staff are doing is dishonest and misstated, and I'll leave it at that," Schiff told Fox News Digital on Capitol Hill. 

But White House Spokesman Davis Ingle was quick to fire back in a statement to Fox News Digital. "Pencil neck, watermelon head Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff was one of the chief propagandists behind the Russia collusion hoax," he said. "He’s now trying to desperately cover his tracks as this entire lie is being exposed to the world." 

DNI GABBARD CLAIMS ‘DEEP STATE ACTORS’ DIDN’T WANT TRUMP-RUSSIA INFORMATION TO 'SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY'

Schiff was elected to the Senate last year but served in the House while Congress investigated whether Trump colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election. 

NEW RUSSIAGATE EVIDENCE 'DIRECTLY POINT TO' OBAMA, DOJ WILL DECIDE 'CRIMINAL IMPLICATIONS': GABBARD

And as a ranking member and then chair of the House Intelligence Committee, Schiff was directly involved in the congressional investigation and became a leading Democratic voice accusing Trump's 2016 presidential campaign of colluding with Russia. 

"Should Obama and his team be held responsible in some way for pushing the Russia collusion narrative that was proven false to take down Trump?" Fox News Digital asked Schiff. 

"Well, if you read the well-reported intelligence community report, you know they documented Russia's efforts to help denigrate Hillary Clinton, which gave a boost to the Trump campaign," Schiff responded. 

Schiff was referring to an Intelligence Community Assessment report from 2017 that asserted that Russia's goals were to undermine faith in the U.S. democratic process and to "denigrate" former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and that Russian President Vladimir Putin "developed a clear preference" for Trump. 

Gabbard's office alleged in a press release outlining the unearthed documents that Putin did not favor a candidate in 2016. It also said, "There is irrefutable evidence detailing how President Obama and his national security team directed the creation of an Intelligence Community Assessment that they knew was false."

When asked if he should apologize, Schiff told Fox News Digital, "It's been proven accurate."

And as he walked away, Schiff seemed to nod in agreement and say, "Yes," when asked if everything he had said about the Russia collusion was accurate. 

The Justice Department, however, has formed a "strike force" to assess the evidence publicized by Gabbard into the Obama administration's role in the Trump–Russia collusion narrative.

Trump and Schiff have long been political foes, as the president often evoked Schiff's nickname on the presidential campaign trail in 2024 while Trump weaved through a range of topics, including what he has come to refer to as the "Russia, Russia, Russia hoax."

"Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff is in BIG TROUBLE!" Trump said on Truth Social on Sunday. "He falsified Loan Documents. He once said my son would go to prison on a SCAM that Schiff, along with other Crooked Dems, illegally ‘manufactured’ in order to stage an actual coup." 

"My son did nothing wrong, knew nothing about the fictional story," he added. "It was an American Tragedy! Now Shifty should pay the price of prison for a real crime, not one made up by the corrupt accusers!" 

The U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) sent a letter to the Department of Justice in May alleging that Schiff has "falsified bank documents and property records to acquire more favorable loan terms, impacting payments from 2003-2019 for a Potomac, Maryland-based property."

"Since I led his first impeachment, Trump has repeatedly called for me to be arrested for treason," Schiff said after Trump first accused Schiff of mortgage fraud. "So in a way, I guess this is a bit of a letdown. And this baseless attempt at political retribution won’t stop me from holding him accountable. Not by a long shot." 

Fox News Digital's Brooke Singman, Emma Colton, Danielle Wallace, and Peter Doocy contributed to this report. 

Republican senator calls caucusing with Democrats an ‘interesting hypothetical’

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Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, called the prospect of caucusing with Democrats an "interesting hypothetical," but she fell short of fully committing to doing so if the Democrats pick up three seats in the 2027 midterms. 

"It’s an interesting hypothetical," Murkowski said on the "GD Politics" podcast with Galen Druke. "You started off with the right hook here, is if this would help Alaskans." 

The senator is promoting her new book, a memoir titled, "Far From Home." She was repeatedly asked if she would caucus with Democrats if the party divide in the upper chamber of Congress becomes 50-50 after the next election. 

"That’s why this book is kind of scary, because now people know what motivates me, and it’s this love for Alaska and what I can do," she said. "So, that’s my primary goal. I have to figure out how I can be most effective for the people that I serve."

SENATE GOP AIMS TO APPROVE MAJOR LEGISLATION NEXT WEEK AS TRUMP TOUTS PARTY UNITY

Murkowski said the "problem" she had with Druke’s hypothetical was that "as challenged as we may be on the Republican side, I don’t see the Democrats being much better." 

She said the Democrats also have policies that she inherently disagrees with. 

"I can’t be somebody that I’m not," Murkowski said, describing how she received pressure to run as a Libertarian after narrowly losing the GOP Senate primary in 2010. She went on to win as a write-in candidate in a historic victory, launching her Senate career. "I can’t now say that I want this job so much that I’m going to pretend to be somebody that I’m not. That’s not who I am."  

Druke, arguing that Murkowski would not have to become a Democrat to caucus with them, asked, "Is there world in which by becoming unaligned or an independent that you could help Alaskans, you’d consider it?"  

"There may be that possibility," she said, noting that the Alaska legislature currently features a coalition with members of both parties.

"This is one of the things that I think is good and healthy for us, and this is one of the reasons people are not surprised that I don’t neatly toe the line with party initiatives, because we’ve kind of embraced a governing style that says if you’ve got good ideas, and you can work with her over there, it doesn’t make any difference if you’re a Republican or Democrat," Murkowski said. "We can govern together for the good of the state." 

"If Democrats won three seats in the next election and offered you a way to pass bills that benefit Alaskans if you caucused with them, you’d consider it?" Druke pressed. 

REPUBLICAN SEN MURKOWSKI PREPARED TO 'TAKE THE CRITICISM' OVER DOGE PUSHBACK

Murkowski said in response that a coalition is "not foreign to Alaskans," but it is at the federal level in the U.S. Senate.

"I’m evading your answer, of course, because it is so, extremely hypothetical, but you can tell that the construct that we’re working with right now, I don’t think is the best construct," Murkowski said, adding: "Is it something that’s worthy of exploration?" 

Murkowski joked that Druke was trying to "make news" and said the rank-choice voting system in Alaska means candidates are more likely to get elected if they are not viewed as wholly partisan.

"It is a different way of looking at addressing our problems rather than just saying it’s red and it’s blue," she added. 

Druke hammered the senator again, saying, "Was that a yes? There’s some openness to it?" 

"There’s some openness to exploring something different than the status quo," she said. 

Murkowski, one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict President Donald Trump during his second impeachment trial after the Jan. 6 riot, recently called the July 4 deadline that GOP leadership wants to pass Trump’s "big, beautiful bill" by "arbitrary."  

"I don't want us to be able to say we met the date, but our policies are less than we would want," Murkowski told Axios. "Why are we afraid of a conference? Oh my gosh." 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., are hesitant about going to conference with the upcoming debt ceiling "X date" approaching and the party lines so tight. 

Murkowski, a critic of Trump’s foreign policy, particularly on Ukraine, told the Washington Post that she was in a "lonely position" in the Senate, and sometimes feels "afraid" to speak up among Republican colleagues out of fear of retaliation. 

"We used to be called the world’s greatest deliberative body," she told the Post in a recent interview promoting her book. "I think we’re still called it, but now I wonder if it’s in air quotes."

GOP Georgia Senate candidate targets vulnerable Jon Ossoff in ad depicting transgender ‘fan’

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FIRST ON FOX: House Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., is taking aim at Georgia's senior senator in a new ad highlighting the vulnerable Democrat's stance on transgender student athletes.

Carter, who is running for Senate, is releasing a 30-second advertisement titled, "Ossoff Fan," which features a purported transgender woman complaining about Carter's own Republican stances. It opens by showing a transgender woman, played by a stubble-chinned biological male wearing a wig and a dress, sitting in a living room beside a dumbbell watching Carter on Fox News.

"He's been MAGA from the beginning," the person says on the phone. "He's been loyal to Trump, defended him during impeachment."

The person on the other line says, "And Buddy helped Trump at the border with deportations."

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The transgender person picks up a trophy and says, "And preventing people like me from competing in women's sports. Buddy Carter even believes there's only two genders." 

"Now Buddy wants to help Trump in the Senate and beat Jon Ossoff," the individual says. "It's just not fair." Meanwhile, the voice on the phone quips, "After all Ossoff has done for us!"

The ad ends with the transgender person picking up a sign with pink lettering that says, "Ossoff for Senate," putting on a pair of wedge sandals, and stomping to their car.

The short but punchy advertisement signals that Republicans still believe the debate surrounding transgender inclusion is a potent issue for turning out voters in favor of the GOP. It proved to be a key issue in the 2024 general election, with moderate Democrats spending weeks after the fact decrying their own party's intolerance to differing views.

Ossoff is a first-term lawmaker who was the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in the Peach State in roughly two decades. Republicans now view Ossoff’s seat as one of the most viable flip opportunities in the upcoming 2026 midterm cycle, when the GOP hopes to keep and expand upon its thin majority in the upper chamber. 

Carter was the first Republican to jump into the contest after Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who was considered a heavy favorite to run against Ossoff, opted to forgo a Senate bid. Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King is also running in the race as a Republican.

Ossoff joined with all other Democratic senators to filibuster the bill from Sens. Tommy Tuberville and Katie Britt, both Alabama Republicans, in March, effectively killing the legislation after it advanced out of the House earlier this year. 

Their bill, called the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, is designed to bar transgender athletes from participating in federally funded school athletics at all levels, from elementary school to college.

It would amend Title IX to make it a violation for any school athletic program that receives federal funding to allow a biological male to participate in sports or activities that are meant for women or girls, and defines a person’s sex by their reproductive biology and genetics at birth. 

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The measure is similar to an executive order from President Donald Trump in February that argued that the participation of biological men in women's and girls' sports was "demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls, and denies women and girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports."

The Carter campaign’s ad is also not the first time in the early days of the looming midterm cycle that the vulnerable senator has been targeted for his vote against the measure. 

One Nation, a nonprofit advocacy group closely aligned with Senate Republican leadership, ran an ad last month that accused Ossoff of "running point for the radical left" with his vote to block the men in women’s sports bill. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Ossoff's campaign for comment on Carter's ad but did not hear back by press time.

Senator joins group of far-left lawmakers who think Trump has — again — committed impeachable offenses

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Sen. John Ossoff of Georgia has become the latest Democrat in Congress to signal that President Donald Trump deserves to be impeached, even though he has only been in the White House this term for less than 100 days. 

During a town hall Friday in Cobb County, Georgia, Ossoff took questions from the audience, including from a fired-up local mother who questioned Ossoff about why there has not been a more concerted effort to impeach Trump. 

"Why are there no calls for impeachment?" Ossoff was asked. "Do something more!"

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Ossoff told the woman at the top of his response that "there is no doubt" Trump has exceeded the standard for impeachment.

"I saw just 48 hours ago, [Trump] is granting audiences to people who buy his meme coin," Ossoff said. "There is no question that that rises to the level of an impeachable offense. And the reality is that that's just one of many [examples] — defying a federal court order, for example. So, I agree with you."

Ossoff's remarks make him the latest Democratic lawmaker in Congress who has either explicitly called for Trump's impeachment or signaled their willingness to support such a move just 100 days into his presidency. While most Democrats have been willing to publicly admit the country is facing a constitutional crisis under Trump, most of them have refrained from going so far as to use the "I" word. 

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Some though, such as progressive Sen. Al Green, D-Texas, have not shied away from supporting calls for impeachment. He was the first congressional lawmaker to call for it just weeks into the president's second term. Green's calls have been supported by other Democrats, such as Reps. Suzanne Bonamici and Maxine Dexter of Oregon; Sam Liccardo and Maxine Waters of California; Ilhan Omar of Minnesota; Shri Thanedar of Michigan; and Hank Johnson of Georgia, all of whom have gone publicly on the record regarding their support, according to NBC News. 

"Right now, it's 218 to 215, so if you can find me two Republicans, I'll go to work tomorrow," Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., who led impeachment efforts against Trump during his first term, told a reporter when asked about the matter.

Trent England, a presidential elections expert and founder of the nonprofit Save Our States, bashed Democratic lawmakers for "claiming to be all about democracy," but when they don't get what they want, "suddenly democracy is not what they're all about."

"It really undercuts Democrats' message about elections when as soon as they get an election result they don't like, they're out challenging it through impeachment. Especially when Democrats claimed after 2016 that part of their issue with Trump was that he only won the Electoral College," England added. "Well, now he's won a resounding popular vote, in addition to winning the Electoral College. And, yet, they're still out there trying to impeach him at the very beginning of his administration."

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England also opined that the calls for impeachment were an easy way for Democrats to help boost their fundraising efforts. 

"Efforts like this show how a lot of members of Congress are really operating as personal fundraising machines, as opposed to legislators," England said. "They're not trying to get things done. They know that using platforms like Act Blue, they can fly the impeachment flag and raise a lot of money from left-wing donors without ever believing that any of this is going to have any effect."

The first-term Democratic senator is facing re-election later this year, as his term ends early next year. Ossoff's office declined to comment for this story. 

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In a statement to Fox News Digital, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Tim Scott said Ossoff's push for impeachment illustrates "the desperation of his re-election campaign." 

"Not even 100 days into President Donald J. Trump's terms, and Ossoff is already pushing impeachment," Scott said. "His obsession makes clear just how out of touch he is with Georgia voters. The desperation in his re-election campaign is already showing."

Dick Durbin, No. 2 Senate Democrat, won’t seek re-election

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Sen. Dick Durbin, D- Ill., the Senate Democratic whip and the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, has announced he will not seek re-election in 2026. 

Durbin, 80, who was first elected to the Senate in 1996, made the announcement in a video message on X Wednesday.

"The decision of whether to run for re-election has not been easy," Durbin said. 

"I truly love the job of being a United States Senator. But in my heart, I know it’s time to pass the torch. So, I am announcing today that I will not be seeking re-election at the end of my term."

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Durbin was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1982 and served seven terms before succeeding his mentor, Paul Simon, in the Senate in 1996.

His retirement is expected to set off a flurry of activity among a scrum of would-be successors, both Democratic and Republican. 

Durbin represents Illinois, a solidly Democratic state, and Democrats are very confident that they’ll hold the seat in next year’s midterm elections with the GOP only capturing one Illinois Senate seat in the last 40 years. 

But President Donald Trump did make gains in Illinois in last year’s election, losing the state by 11 points, an improvement from his 17-point defeat in the 2020 election. Democrats will face an uphill battle to try to reclaim the Senate, where Republicans hold a 53-47 majority.

National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) communications director Johanna Rodriguez said that Democrats like Durbin are leaving office because of losing policies.

"Senate Democrats continue to jump ship as their party’s brand tanks because they prioritize criminal illegal aliens over the Americans who elected them," Rodriguez said.

Among the Democrats considering a 2026 run to succeed Durbin in the Senate are Reps. Robin Kelly, Raja Krishnamoorthi and Lauren Underwood, as well as Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and state Sen. Robert Peters.

Durbin's career to date was hailed by former President Barack Obama, who he said played a pivotal role in his own career and is "one of the finest" senators in the country.

"Dick Durbin has always fought the good fight on behalf of working families and his integrity shines through in everything he does," Obama wrote. "It’s also true that I would not have been a United States Senator – and certainly would not have been President – had it not been for Dick’s support. He has been a great and loyal friend, and Michelle and I wish him and Loretta all the best in their next chapter."

Durbin led the drive to ban smoking on airplanes as a junior member of Congress, which helped to usher in the smoke-free movement with legislation signed by President Ronald Reagan in 1988.

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He played a key role in helping to pass the First Step Act in 2018. The bipartisan criminal justice reform legislation was signed by President Trump and reduced mandatory minimums for certain nonviolent drug offenses, created early release incentives and improved prison conditions. 

Durbin is a longtime advocate for immigration reform and co-authored the DREAM (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) Act, which would provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. Although the act did not pass, Durbin's advocacy contributed to the establishment of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which provides those immigrants with temporary protection from deportation and work authorization.

He also advocates for stricter gun laws and supported the Affordable Care Act, also referred to as Obamacare. Durbin voted to convict Trump in impeachment trials held by the Senate in 2020 and 2021, although Trump was acquitted in both.

Meanwhile, Durbin's fellow Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth shared Obama's sentiments. 

"Dick Durbin is, and will always be, a giant of the United States Senate. He has dedicated his life to making our state—as well as our nation—stronger, and we are all better for it," Duckworth said. 

Duckworth also recalled meeting Durbin for the first time weeks after she lost both legs when her Black Hawk helicopter was shot down in Iraq in 2004, noting his empathy and mentorship during her recovery.

"When Dick looked at me, he saw past the wounds, saw past the wheelchair," Duckworth said. "He saw a soldier in search of her next mission. And he recognized well before I did that just because I would no longer be flying Black Hawks for the Army didn’t mean that I couldn’t find a new way to serve my nation."

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

‘Watermelon head’: Trump trolls Democratic Sen Schiff

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Sen. Adam Schiff fired back late Tuesday after President Donald Trump mocked the California Democrat during a black-tie Republican dinner in Washington, D.C.

"The President of the United States seems oddly focused on me," Schiff posted after footage of Trump's jokes made the rounds.

"Shouldn't he be focused on the economy he's crashing?" he wrote.

During the event hosted by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) – the House Republicans' campaign arm – Trump wove in a few insults about the Boston-born Angeleno's appearance into a verbal indictment of his role in the 2016 Russia collusion investigation.

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"Adam ‘Schifty’ Schiff – can you believe this guy?" Trump said. "He's got the smallest neck I've ever seen – and the biggest head: We call him Watermelon-Head." Trump went on to ruminate about how Schiff's "big fat face" could "stand on a neck" the size of the president's finger. 

"It's the weirdest thing – it's a mystery; no one can understand it."

Trump went on to call Schiff "one of the most dishonest human beings I've ever seen," and wondered aloud how people like Schiff could be able to run for office.

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"He was in charge of the fake witch hunt – with 'Russia, Russia, Russia' – it was a made-up story," he said, playing off the "Brady Bunch" line "Marsha, Marsha, Marsha."

In 2020, Schiff managed the House's impeachment probe into Trump, leading off his opening remarks that January by comparing former Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton's 1792 warning to then-President George Washington about future American leaders who would rise to the executive "despotic in [their] ordinary demeanor."

"When a man unprincipled in private life desperate in his fortune, bold in his temper, possessed of considerable talents, having the advantage of military habits… known to have scoffed in private at the principles of liberty—when such a man is seen to mount the hobby horse of popularity—to join in the cry of danger to liberty—to take every opportunity of embarrassing the General Government & bringing it under suspicion—to flatter and fall in with all the nonsense of the zealots of the day—It may justly be suspected that his object is to throw things into confusion that he may ‘ride the storm and direct the whirlwind," Schiff said at the time.

Since then, he and Trump have often traded criticisms, with Trump also referring to him in the past as a "structural marvel," with an appearance like a "finger on a basketball."

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In October, Trump compared Schiff to the "enemy from within" and called him a "sleazebag" on FOX Business before lamenting that the Democrat would likely defeat former MLB star Steve Garvey for California's open U.S. Senate seat.

For his part, Schiff has also clapped back at Republicans for their criticisms – responding in July to a report that now-Vice President JD Vance had lamented campaign name-calling after Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called the GOP ticket "weird."

"Shifty Schiff, pencil neck and watermelon head, would like a word, JD," Schiff responded at the time on Facebook.

Fox News Digital reached out to Schiff for additional comment but did not immediately hear back.