Conservatives on social media joined White House accounts in blasting Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders over an exchange where he pressed a town hall audience member on who is to blame for the government shutdown. 

‘How do you think this shutdown reflects on Chuck Schumer’s leadership?’ Sanders was asked by an audience member, Rohan Naval, during a CNN town hall on Wednesday night.

Sanders responded by saying the shutdown ‘reflects more on Mike Johnson’s leadership’ along with the leadership of President Donald Trump, which prompted a smirk from the audience member.

‘Well, tell me how do you feel?’ Sanders said. ‘You tell me, you think it’s a good idea to give $1 trillion in tax breaks to the richest people in the country and then make massive cuts to healthcare for working-class people?’

Naval, an intern at Americans for Tax Reform, responded, ‘I think Chuck Schumer has voted for a continuing resolution 13 times in the last four years, and he has the opportunity to vote for one again, but he’s refusing to come to the table.’

The exchange quickly made waves on social media, with White House accounts and conservatives praising Naval’s response to the Vermont senator. 

‘Crazy Bernie just got wrecked on national television,’ the White House Rapid Response team posted on X. 

‘Bingo,’ GOP Rep. Ken Calvert posted on X. ‘The Schumer Shutdown is all about politics.’

‘Bernie Sanders got embarrassed HARD,’ Florida’s Voice News assistant director Eric Daugherty posted on X.

‘LOL this kid just rekt Crazy Bernie,’ White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson posted on X.

‘Bernie got COOKED,’ Townhall.com posted on X. ‘This guy just calmly smacked Bernie Sanders down in a single sentence. BRUTAL.’

‘Bernie Sanders gets owned by a man who calls out Chuck Schumer for repeatedly voting for continuing resolutions and now suddenly not,’ conservative influencer Paul A. Szypula posted on X. ‘The only reason Schumer isn’t funding the government is because he’s afraid of losing his Senate seat to brainless AOC.’

After Naval’s response, Sanders replied, ‘Look, here’s what I have said. There are 53 Republican senators, correct? They need 60. It means you have to talk to the other side. Mike Johnson is not talking. John Thune is not talking. President Trump is not talking. That is the problem.’

On Thursday, Senate Democrats for a 10th time blocked Republicans’ attempts to reopen the government.

Sen. John Thune is determined to continue on the same course of action to keep bringing the House-passed continuing resolution (CR), which would reopen the government until Nov. 21, up for a vote again and again.

Though some in the GOP are mulling a new end date for the CR, that would require the House, which has been out of session for nearly a month, to come back and pass a new one.

While Thune and Republicans are adamant that their plan is the only pathway to ending the shutdown, now on Day 16, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and the Senate Democratic caucus still want to hammer out a deal on expiring Obamacare subsidies — and they want Trump to get directly involved in negotiations.

‘The bottom line is [Republicans] won’t even negotiate with us,’ Schumer said. ‘So that’s a premature question. But of course, I’m not going to negotiate in public. We need to address the crisis that has afflicted, and that’s the right word, the American people.’

Fox News Digital’s Alex Miller contributed to this report.

Senate Republicans’ plan to reignite the government funding process was torpedoed by Senate Democrats, who blocked a bill that would pay the troops as the federal government entered Day 16 of the shutdown.

The annual defense appropriations bill was blocked largely along party lines on Friday, with only a handful of Senate Democrats joining Republicans to advance the measure. While President Donald Trump made a temporary move to ensure that military service members were paid, that funding won’t last forever. 

The only Senate Democrats to cross the aisle were Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. Lawmakers are now headed home after a short week in Washington, D.C.

Had the bill advanced through its first procedural hurdle, lawmakers could have modified it to include other funding bills, a move that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., signaled he planned to make throughout the week.

However, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Democrats were unwilling to support the bill and argued that they wanted a guarantee on exactly which other spending bills would be added on to it down the line.

‘They need unanimous consent to add anything to the defense bill,’ Schumer said before the vote. ‘They don’t have it.’

Thune and Senate Republicans floated adding additional spending bills, like measures to fund Transportation, the Health and Human Services and Labor Departments, Housing and Urban Development, and Commerce, but first needed to blast through the procedural hurdle to do so.

‘If they want to stop the defense bill, I don’t think it’s very good optics for them, obviously,’ Thune said.

Part of Senate Democrats’ resistance to the bill is tied to the overall position against the House-passed continuing resolution (CR) to reopen the government, which they have so far blocked 10 times.

Like their argument with extending Obamacare subsidies, they demanded guarantees on what exactly Republicans would attach to the bill — a position that stemmed from an overall lack of trust between the parties that has ripped the partisan divide open even further this year.

‘We don’t have an agreement on anything,’ Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said. ‘So obviously we can’t. They’re still not negotiating.’

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., similarly argued that there was no bipartisan agreement on what exactly the package would look like.

‘We should be focused on fixing these healthcare premiums and getting the government back open,’ he said. ‘And, you know, just to bring up the one bill without the others is something we typically don’t do.’ 

Now that Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire, all eyes are on the next continuing global conflict: Russia and Ukraine. 

President Donald Trump isn’t wasting any time directing his attention to the war in Ukraine, and is scheduled to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House Friday as the president weighs arming Ukraine with Tomahawk cruise missiles. 

Likewise, Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday and said that high-level advisors for the U.S. and Russia will meet the following week. Subsequently, he said he and Putin would meet in Budapest, Hungary, ‘to see if we can bring this ‘inglorious’ War, between Russia and Ukraine, to an end.’

Additionally, Trump said he believes that the Middle East deal could provide momentum to resolve the conflict in Europe. 

‘I actually believe that the Success in the Middle East will help in our negotiation in attaining an end to the War with Russia/Ukraine…I believe great progress was made with today’s telephone conversation,’ Trump said in a Thursday social media post. 

While the new peace agreement in the Middle East shares some parallels with the conflict in Europe due to increased pressure on adversaries, the conflicts are too different for Gaza to serve as a clear blueprint for Ukraine and Russia, according to experts. 

Rather, what the Middle East deal really does is pave the way for Trump to devote more of his energy to negotiating an end to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Whereas other foreign policy priorities were previously vying for Trump’s attention, now Ukraine and Russia are at the top of the list. 

‘The U.S. president can turn his attention to only so many issues at one time,’ Peter Rough, a senior fellow and director of the Center on Europe and Eurasia at the Hudson Institute think tank, told Fox News Digital in a Tuesday email. ‘Now that he has a framework in place in the Middle East, President Trump can train his sights squarely on the war in Ukraine.’ 

There are a lot of differences between the two conflicts — including the relative power between the two adversaries involved in each of the conflicts, experts said.

‘In the Middle East, Hamas was weaker than our ally in Israel,’ Rough said. ‘The challenge in Europe is that Russia is a major (nuclear) power astride the Eurasian landmass. It is larger and more powerful than our partner, Ukraine. This is why it’s so essential that the U.S. and Europe support Ukraine against Russia. Absent such support, it’s hard to convince Russia to accept a deal.’ 

The peace deal in the Middle East included a provision to return the hostages that were still in captivity within 72 hours of Hamas signing off on the deal. It also called for Israeli forces to withdraw its troops and a complete disarmament of Hamas.

John Hardie, Russia program deputy director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said that another key difference between the conflicts is that Russia has refused to agree to a ceasefire unless Ukraine signs off on certain demands. Those demands previously have included barring Ukraine from ever joining NATO and concessions on some of the borders that previously belonged to Kyiv. 

‘In the Gaza war, Israel got some significant concessions in the ceasefire deal but also agreed to leave some major issues to be negotiated in a political process,’ Hardie said in a Tuesday email to Fox News Digital. ‘In Ukraine, by contrast, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has consistently refused to accept a ceasefire unless Kyiv first capitulates to non-starter demands even though Russia has virtually no prospect of imposing them by force.’ 

Meanwhile, Trump is ramping up pressure on Russia and told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday that he might send Ukraine Tomahawk cruise missiles should Russia refuse to ‘settle’ the conflict. Trump said he told Zelenskyy he may bring up the matter with Russia, because it is a ‘new step of aggression.’ 

The Tomahawk missiles can be fired from ships, submarines and ground assets to hit targets as far as 1,000 miles away, according to Raytheon, which manufactures the weapons. 

Moscow did not welcome the news, and Russia’s former president Dmitry Medvedev said in a post on Telegram that outfitting Ukraine with the missiles ‘could end badly for everyone … most of all, for Trump himself.’ 

Despite Russia’s claims that such a move from the U.S. would escalate tensions, equipping Ukraine with the missiles would actually put Kyiv on equal footing to fight back against Russia, according to Mick Ryan, a senior fellow for military studies at Australia’s Lowy Institute’s International Security Program. Ryan is an Australian army retired major general who also served as a strategist for the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Pentagon. 

‘Russia has employed missiles similar to Tomahawks since Day 1 of the full-scale invasion,’ Ryan said in a Monday X post. ‘This is NOT escalation. It is just leveling the playing field for a three-year-long Ukrainian long-range strike campaign that has now achieved critical mass and momentum.’ 

Zelenskyy said his Friday meeting with Trump would center around exerting more pressure on Russia in an attempt to secure peace through air defense and long-range capabilities. Additionally, Zelenskyy capitalized on the recent peace agreement in the Middle East, and said in a post on X Monday that ‘it is important not to lose the momentum in spreading peace.’ 

‘If I were Trump, I would focus my energies on supporting the Ukrainian military and pressuring Russia until Moscow signals it’s open to ending the war on more reasonable terms,’ Hardie said. 

Zelenskyy has visited the White House on multiple occasions since Trump took office again — including in February when he sparred with Trump and Vice President JD Vance over engaging in diplomacy with Russia to end the conflict.

The White House said that Russia should prioritize securing a deal swiftly, and that Trump believes he can deliver one. 

‘If they were smart, they would more urgently pursue a deal to end the war which has done significant damage to Russia’s reputation, stop the killing, and get their country back on the right track,’ a White House official said in a statement to Fox News Digital. ‘President Putin has repeatedly rejected generous proposals toward peace that would have benefited Russia. The President remains optimistic that he will be able to get both sides to stop the senseless killing.’

Kennedy Center President and Ambassador Richard Grenell slammed former President Joe Biden for avoiding Russian President Vladimir Putin as war raged between Russia and Ukraine, while praising President Donald Trump’s ‘common sense’ foreign policies.

‘You have a president who is really watching the situation, unlike the last president, Joe Biden, who literally didn’t talk to Vladimir Putin for three and a half years,’ he said. ‘President Trump doesn’t believe in that strategy. He wants to confront the issues. He wants to figure out ways to fix them.’

Trump plans to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday — just hours after Russian missiles and drones attacked Ukrainian cities. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy already had been scheduled to head to Washington to meet with Trump Friday, to discuss the war and strengthening his country’s defenses. 

Trump vowed from the campaign trail that he would facilitate negotiations for a peace deal to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, which has raged since 2022, but ongoing talks have yet to yield an agreement. 

In addition to Russia and Ukraine, Trump also has been active in efforts to bring peace to the Middle East. Trump secured a historic peace declaration as of Monday, when he traveled to Israel and Egypt to meet with foreign leaders stretching from the Middle East to Europe.

Grenell discussed Trump’s strategy for international conflicts during his second term in office while attending ‘The Sound of Music’ at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

‘Well, first of all, I’ve worked with President Trump for a long time, and the one thing about President Trump is that he’s filled with common sense, and he evaluates his decisions constantly,’ Grenell told Fox News Digital.

Grenell said Trump can make America stronger on the world stage with his ability and willingness to adapt to different international conflicts.

‘You see him adjust the policy,’ he said. ‘Something isn’t working, he’s not afraid to replace somebody or change the policy.’

Grenell described Trump as an ‘active president’ who is ready to make moves and advance U.S. interests.

‘I think that what we’re seeing on the global stage is someone who is an activist president, watching the situation, adjusting the policy so that it’s making America stronger, more prosperous, and solving problems around the world,’ Grenell said.

Senate Democrats for a 10th time blocked Republicans’ attempts to reopen the government and have ensured that the shutdown goes into next week.

That’s because after one final vote series later on Thursday, lawmakers will leave Washington, D.C., for another long weekend after just three short days on the Hill.

Neither Republicans nor Democrats are ready to flinch in their deeply entrenched positions, and talks between both sides, though largely informal exercises, have begun to fade.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is determined to continue on the same course of action to keep bringing the House-passed continuing resolution (CR), which would reopen the government until Nov. 21, up for a vote again and again.

Though some in the GOP are mulling a new end date for the CR, that would require the House, which has been out of session for nearly a month, to come back and pass a new one.

While Thune and Republicans are adamant that their plan is the only pathway to ending the shutdown, now on Day 16, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and the Senate Democratic caucus still want to hammer out a deal on expiring Obamacare subsidies — and they want President Donald Trump to get directly involved in negotiations.

‘We’re willing to have, as I said, conversations about all the other issues that they want to talk about,’ Thune said. ‘But that can’t happen while they are holding the federal government and all these federal employees and our troops and our air traffic controllers and our TSA agents and our border Patrol officials hostage. Open up the government.’

‘Every day that this goes on, the problems are compounded for federal workers and for ordinary Americans,’ he continued. ‘Chuck Schumer may think that every day gets better for them politically, but I can tell you that is not the experience of the American people.’

When asked if he would compromise on the Democrats’ demands as the shutdown dragged on, Schumer dodged and countered that he wouldn’t negotiate in the public eye.

‘The bottom line is [Republicans] won’t even negotiate with us,’ Schumer said. ‘So that’s a premature question. But of course, I’m not going to negotiate in public. We need to address the crisis that is afflicted, and that’s the right word, the American people.’

However, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., said that Republicans weren’t working on a subsidy proposal to show Democrats, and he noted that talks between the parties were ‘not really’ happening anymore.

When asked if it was possible to get an extension of the credits before the Nov. 1 open enrollment date, he said, ‘I don’t think there’s a way to do that.’

‘And I think if you don’t have it done by Christmas, it becomes a political issue,’ Mullin said. ‘But you could maybe push it to January, to February, if you wanted to, but we get bumped up against, you know, everybody’s primaries, from the Democrat primaries and Republican primaries, and it becomes a political issue, because, unfortunately, healthcare is political.’

Republicans are also trying to reignite the appropriations process in the Senate as the shutdown continues on. Thune teed up a procedural vote later Thursday on the Senate’s defense spending bill, which, among other things, would fund paychecks for the military.

Whether Democrats support the spending bill after spending months demanding a bipartisan government funding process remains an open question — many argued after their closed-door meeting on Wednesday that they didn’t know exactly what Republicans were going to put on the floor and considered a vote on it moot.

As with most of the past 10 attempts to send the House-passed CR to Trump’s desk, the same trio of Democratic caucus members, Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Angus King, I-Maine, voted with Senate Republicans.

Fetterman, who has consistently voted with the GOP every time, echoed his counterparts across the aisle and said that any outside issues aside from reopening the government could be dealt with after the lights were turned back on in Washington.

‘It was wrong to shut it down in March,’ he said. ‘I’m in the same position. It’s not going to change. Everything else we’re talking about,  open up the government first, and then we can figure out the rest.’

A former security guard at the U.S. Embassy in Norway was convicted of spying on behalf of Russia and Iran, a report said. 

The 28-year-old Norwegian, whose identity has not been made public, was sentenced Wednesday to three years and seven months, The Associated Press reported. 

A Norwegian police official reportedly told Reuters at the time of the suspect’s arrest last November that he was working at the U.S. Embassy in Oslo, Norway’s capital. 

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday from Fox News Digital. 

Prosecutors alleged that the man handed over details about the embassy’s diplomats, its floor plans and security routines, among other information, Norwegian state broadcaster NRK reported. The broadcaster added that American ties to Israel and the war in Gaza prompted the man to contact Russia and Iran. 

The suspect acknowledged the indictment’s facts but denied any criminal guilt, according to the AP.

The man’s defense attorneys said in a statement Thursday that the verdict raises questions about what is considered espionage under Norwegian law. 

‘He lied about having security clearance to agents from other countries and exaggerated his own role,’ attorney Inger Zadig of Elden Law Firm told the AP. ‘He had roughly the same level of access as a janitor at the embassy. The information he shared was worthless and neither separately nor collectively capable of harming individuals or the security interests of any state.’ 

The defendant was found guilty of five espionage-related charges and was acquitted of gross corruption. His defense attorneys are weighing whether to appeal the verdict. 

At the time of his arrest last November, the man had been studying for a bachelor’s degree in security and preparedness at Norway’s Arctic University, UiT. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.