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President Donald Trump has drawn his line. Now the clock is running.

After publicly giving Iran roughly 10 days to 15 days to reach a nuclear agreement, Trump used his State of the Union address to make clear the deadline is backed by force. 

‘I will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror … to have a nuclear weapon,’ he told lawmakers Tuesday night.

The president first outlined the short timeline Feb. 19, saying the world would know within ‘probably 10 days’ whether Tehran was prepared to strike what he called a meaningful deal. 

‘I would think that would be enough time — 10, 15 days, pretty much maximum,’ Trump said, warning that absent an agreement, ‘it’s going to be unfortunate for them.’

On Tuesday, he reinforced the pressure from the House chamber, telling Congress negotiations are underway, but Iran has not met his core condition. 

‘We are in negotiations with them,’ Trump said. ‘They want to make a deal, but we haven’t heard those secret words: ‘We will never have a nuclear weapon.”

He also pointed back to the 2025 U.S. strike on Iranian nuclear infrastructure, describing Operation Midnight Hammer as having ‘obliterated Iran’s nuclear weapons program.’ 

After that operation, he said, Tehran was warned ‘to make no future attempts to rebuild its weapons program,’ adding that Iran is now ‘starting it all over again.’

The combination of a defined diplomatic window and a public reminder of U.S. military action marks a sharper phase in the standoff, as talks in Geneva unfold under mounting pressure.

Trump has not detailed what specific action would follow if Iran refuses his terms. But he told reporters in mid-February that if a meaningful agreement does not materialize, ‘bad things will happen,’ and acknowledged he is considering further steps.

With the State of the Union complete and the president’s timeline already in motion, the coming days are likely to determine whether the administration secures a nuclear concession — or shifts toward a more confrontational path in the Middle East.

The diplomatic ultimatum is underscored by the largest assembly of U.S. naval power in the Middle East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. 

The world’s most advanced aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, arrived at Souda Bay, Crete, Monday. The Ford joined the USS Abraham Lincoln, which has been conducting 24-hour flight operations in the Arabian Sea since late January.

Between the two strike groups, the U.S. now commands a fleet of 14 major warships, including nine Arleigh Burke-class destroyers armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Meanwhile 12 U.S. F-22 Raptor stealth fighters touched down at Ovda Airbase in southern Israel. 

As national security analyst Joe Funderburke noted in the Small Wars Journal, ‘The F-22 is not a simple show-of-force aircraft. It is designed to suppress enemy air defenses and protect penetrating strike platforms like the B-2 Spirit bomber, the same combination used to devastate Iran’s deeply buried nuclear facilities at Fordow and Natanz nine months ago.’

The president’s reminder of Operation Midnight Hammer — which utilized B-2 bombers to drop 30,000-pound ‘bunker buster’ munitions — serves as the tactical blueprint for what follows the current deadline. 

While the 2025 operation was a ‘surgical’ surprise strike, the current buildup suggests a far broader mission set, potentially due to Iran’s threat of an aggressive response. 

Iran’s response to Operation Midnight Hammer was measured and the U.S. had warning. This time, Iran has vowed a more forceful response and says any U.S. troops operating in the Middle East could be open targets. 

Amid his sharper diplomatic timeline, Trump also asserted that Iranian authorities had killed some 32,000 protesters in weeks of demonstrations that began in early January — a number far above independent estimates and Tehran’s own death toll. 

‘Just over the last couple of months with the protests, they’ve killed at least, it looks like, 32,000 protesters — 32,000 protesters in their own country,’ the president said. ‘They shot them and hung them.’ 

Administration officials have signaled that any agreement would require Iran to halt all uranium enrichment and provide verifiable guarantees that its program cannot be reconstituted — terms Iran repeatedly has objected to.

Both Washington and Iran appear to believe the other is bluffing. 

Trump has framed the timeline as a final opportunity for diplomacy backed by overwhelming force. Iranian leaders, meanwhile, have publicly dismissed U.S. threats and warned that any strike would trigger retaliation against American forces and regional allies.

Still, U.S. negotiators will meet with Iranian envoys once again in Geneva Thursday.

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Thursday that his country could ‘completely destroy’ South Korea if it feels threatened, escalating rhetoric while ruling out renewed talks.

Speaking at North Korea’s week-long Ninth Congress of the ruling Workers’ Party in Pyongyang, Kim labeled South Korea the ‘most hostile enemy’ and said ‘the conciliatory attitude that South Korea’s current government advocates on the surface is clumsily deceptive and crude,’ according to state media Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Kim said North Korea ‘can initiate arbitrary action’ if South Korea engages in ‘obnoxious behavior’ directed at his country, dismissing recent efforts by Seoul to improve relations.

‘South Korea’s complete collapse cannot be ruled out,’ Kim said, according to KCNA.

During the congress, Kim outlined sweeping five-year policy goals centered on expanding North Korea’s nuclear arsenal. The country is believed to possess around 50 warheads and enough fissile material to produce up to 40 more, according to an estimate last year from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

The North Korean leader said the country’s ‘international status has risen extraordinarily.’

‘It is our party’s firm will to further expand and strengthen our national nuclear power, and thoroughly exercise its status as a nuclear state,’ Kim said, according to KCNA. ‘We will focus on projects to increase the number of nuclear weapons and expand nuclear operational means.’

Kim laid out plans for North Korea to develop more advanced intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of underwater launches, along with artificial intelligence-driven weapons systems and unmanned drones, KCNA reported.

Kim, who met with President Donald Trump three times during Trump’s first term, signaled he may be open to future negotiations with Washington but placed responsibility squarely on the United States.

‘Whether it’s peaceful coexistence or permanent confrontation, we are ready for either, and the choice is not ours to make,’ he said.

Kim said that if the U.S ‘withdraws its policy of confrontation’ with North Korea and acknowledges the country’s ‘current status,’ there would be ‘no reason why we cannot get along well with the U.S.’

Following the congress, Kim’s teenage daughter attended a military parade in Pyongyang on Wednesday, according to KCNA. Ju Ae, believed to be 13 or 14, was photographed standing beside her father and senior military leaders.

Her appearance comes after South Korean media reported that Kim recently gave her a leadership role in the regime’s powerful ‘Missile Administration,’ which oversees Pyongyang’s nuclear forces.

Fox News Digital’s Emma Bussey, along with Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin were involved in a heated back and forth during a Senate hearing Tuesday that sparked immediate reactions across social media.

‘Everybody we bring up here, you guys chastised for trying to make changes,’ Mullin said during a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing Wednesday. The committee was discussing issues with Obamacare during a hearing on the nomination of Casey Means as U.S. surgeon general.

‘God forbid we change and try to fix our broken system,’ Mullin continued. ‘Anyway, I ranted too long.’

As Mullin was attempting to return to the topic, he was cut off by Sanders, who said, ‘Yes, you did.’

Mullin responded, ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t ask your opinion on that, and if I cared about your opinion I would ask you. But I don’t care about your opinion. You’re part of the system. You’re part of the problem. You’ve been sitting here longer than I’ve even been alive. This is your problem. You should have fixed this a long time ago. You’ve been railing on it for so long. What have you been doing?’

Sanders responded by sarcastically saying, ‘I decided not to run for surgeon general, You’re the nominee I’ve decided.’

‘That is definitely something we would never accept,’ Mullin said before moving on.

The exchange was quickly picked up by conservatives on social media, including from ‘Charlie Kirk Show’ executive producer Andrew Kolvet, who wrote in a post on X that ‘things did not end well for the octogenarian socialist’ after he took a ‘cheap shot’ at Mullin. 

‘That’s what his commie supporters can’t figure out,’ comedian Tim Young posted on X. ‘Bernie has been in office so long that he should have solved their problems by now.’

‘Finally,’ journalist Anna Matson posted on X. ‘Someone put Bernie Sanders in his place. He’s all talk and no action. He’s been in office longer than I’ve been alive and he has nothing to show for it.’

‘Swamp being DRAINED,’ political and sports commentator Dan Dakich posted on X.

‘HOLY SMOKES,’ conservative journalist Eric Daughterty posted on X. ‘Sen. Markwayne Mullin just PUMMELED Bernie Sanders to his FACE.’

Senate clashes involving Sanders and Mullin have been increasingly common in recent years, including a viral moment in 2023 when Mullin and Teamsters President Sean O’Brien almost came to blows during an exchange Sanders was in the middle of. 

In December, the two clashed on the Senate floor, also over Obamacare, in an exchange that Mullin posted on X in which he referred to Sanders as ‘The Grinch’ and said the Vermont senator ‘blocked our bipartisan bill, the Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act, to give kids fighting cancer more treatment options.’

Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Mullin and Sanders for comment.

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Russian-operated shadow tankers carrying millions of dollars in sanctioned oil are transiting the English Channel, raising warnings of a potential military confrontation in NATO waters, according to reports.

The movements came amid heightened tensions between Russia and NATO, with the Royal Navy stepping up surveillance of U.S.- and allied-sanctioned vessels in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

Sky News reported Wednesday that as many as 800 shadow tankers had passed through the channel, and continue to bankroll Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

Several Russia-linked oil tankers — including the Rigel, Hyperion and Kousai — have been tracked by VesselFinder and are known to be under Western sanctions.

The outlet reported that three of the vessels were monitored this month as they transited loaded with sanctioned crude.

The Rigel, an 885-foot Suezmax-class tanker sailing under a Cameroonian flag, left the Russian port of Primorsk on Feb. 2, with up to one million barrels of oil, a cargo valued at around $55 million.

Sanctioned by the U.K., the EU and Canada, it is barred from using port facilities in those jurisdictions but is still permitted ‘innocent passage’ under maritime law.

The Kousai, sailing under a Sierra Leonean flag, left Ust-Luga on Feb. 2, and was warned by authorities to provide proof of insurance within 24 hours.

The Hyperion, also sanctioned by the U.S., switched flags after delivering oil to Venezuela, to obscure ownership and evade enforcement, according to reports.

Security experts warned of an increased risk of geopolitical escalation in the region.

]Professor Michael Clarke told Sky News that there may come a point when Britain and its allies ‘get much tougher with these Russian ships,’ adding that a ‘militarized confrontation at sea’ this year is a real possibility, in the Channel or the North Sea.

A U.K. Ministry of Defense (MoD) spokesperson said: ‘Deterring, disrupting and degrading the Russian shadow fleet is a priority for this government.

‘Alongside our allies, we are stepping up our response to shadow vessels — and as the Secretary of State set out, we will continue to do so,’ the spokesperson said.

The MoD said it has requested proof of insurance from more than 600 suspected vessels since October 2024.

The U.S. has also taken a firm stance, seizing at least seven tankers linked to sanctioned oil trades since December 2025, including several in the Caribbean.

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Prominent figures from across the media, business and political landscapes showed up as guests to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday evening.

Notable attendees included Erika Kirk, the widowed wife of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, David Ellison, the media mogul and CEO of Paramount, and Kevin O’Leary, the Shark Tank media personality and businessman.

Several of the more notable attendees were highlighted by Trump during his address.

Kirk received a mention from the president as he condemned political violence of all kinds in his address.

‘We must all come together to reaffirm that America is one nation under God, and we must totally reject political violence of any kind,’ Trump said.

Charlie Kirk, who was just 31-years-old at the time of his death, was killed by a gunman on Sept. 10, 2025, while conducting a political debate event at Utah Valley University.

The U.S. men’s hockey team also made an appearance on Tuesday, receiving praise from Trump fresh off their gold medal victory in the 2026 Winter Olympic Games.

‘Congratulations to team U.S.A.,’ Trump said as the players streamed into the chamber during the address.

Trump also highlighted guests brought by others, like First Lady Melania Trump. She invited 10-year-old Everest Nevraumont, a youth advocate for education through artificial intelligence.

‘I challenge keeping America’s next generation positioned to succeed and strongly succeed in the future,’ Trump said.

Trump also used guests like Enrique Márquez, a former political prisoner of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, to remind audiences of his international achievements under his second administration.

In early 2026, the U.S. stormed Venezuela’s capitol city and captured Maduro, giving Trump newfound leverage in negotiations over the country’s future.

‘We’re working closely with the new president of Venezuela to unleash extraordinary economic gains for both of our countries,’ Trump said.

The White House reunited Márquez with his family at the State of the Union. 

Trump also awarded the Purple Heart to Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe and deceased Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, two National Guard members who were critically injured and fatally shot by a gunman who ambushed them while on duty last year in Washington, D.C.

‘I’m going to ask a highly respected General James Seward to present Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe and the great family of Sarah Beckstrom, with the award created by our late, great president, George Washington himself,’ Trump, who invited her parents as his State of the Union guests, said. ‘It’s called the Purple Heart. We love you all.’

As Trump spoke, Major General James ‘Jim’ D. Seward, Adjutant General of the West Virginia National Guard, presented Specialist Beckstrom’s medal to her parents and pinned the Purple Heart on Staff Sergeant Wolfe in the viewing gallery above.

Guests like O’Leary and Ellison did not receive a shoutout from the president, but mingled with multiple lawmakers.

O’Leary, primarily known for his television presence on ABC’s Shark Tank, owns companies like O’Leary Ventures and O’Leary Fine Wines. 

In recent years, O’Leary has surfaced as a political commentator, giving his thoughts on the effectiveness of political party messaging, voter sentiments and more.

Ellison is the current chairman and CEO of Paramount Skydance Corporation keeps a relatively low political profile but, in the past, has made several high-dollar donations to many Democratic candidates despite now calling himself a friend of President Trump.

Trump has boasted publicly about a personal relationship with Ellison.

Most recently, Ellison has made headlines for his attempt to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery — a move that would solidify Ellison and Paramount as titans in the media world.

He was seen walking into the House of Representatives on Tuesday alongside Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who invited him.

‘Honored to have David Ellison as my guest to POTUS’ State of the Union address this evening,’ Graham said in a post to X.

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The FBI subpoenaed Kash Patel and Susie Wiles’ phone records in 2022 and 2023, when both were private citizens, as part of a federal probe into Donald Trump, Fox News has confirmed.

Patel is the current FBI director, and Wiles is White House chief of staff.

At least a handful of FBI employees were fired Wednesday, Fox News has been told. Names were not given due to privacy reasons.

Reuters first disclosed the subpoenas, which were issued during the Biden administration, while special counsel Jack Smith was investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.

Smith ended up charging Trump in 2023 with multiple felony offenses related to alleged efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 election and Trump’s handling of the documents after he left office.

A federal judge later dismissed the election interference case after Smith moved to drop it following Trump’s re-election, citing a Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president. 

Smith also dropped the Justice Department’s appeal of a separate ruling that dismissed the classified documents case. Trump has denied any wrongdoing in both matters.

In a statement to Fox News Wednesday, Patel called the move to seize the phone records ‘outrageous and deeply alarming.’ 

‘It is outrageous and deeply alarming that the previous FBI leadership secretly subpoenaed my own phone records — along with those of now White House chief of staff Susie Wiles — using flimsy pretexts and burying the entire process in prohibited case files designed to evade all oversight,’ he said.

The FBI had found the phone records in files labeled as ‘Prohibited,’ Reuters reported.

Patel also said he recently ended the FBI’s ability to categorize files as ‘Prohibited.’

Smith testified last year that records of members’ calls helped investigators verify the timeline of events surrounding the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

He said prosecutors ‘followed all legal requirements in getting those records’ and told a House panel the records obtained from lawmakers did not include the content of conversations, Reuters reported.

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

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Vice President JD Vance announced Wednesday that the Trump administration is temporarily halting Medicaid funding to the state of Minnesota, giving Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz 60 days to clean up how the state doles out funding. 

‘We have decided to temporarily halt certain amounts of Medicaid funding that are going to the state of Minnesota in order to ensure that the state of Minnesota takes its obligations seriously to be good stewards of the American people’s tax money,’ Vance said Wednesday in a press event attended by Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Mehmet Oz. 

The announcement comes after President Donald Trump railed against fraud in the Gopher State Tuesday evening in his State of the Union address. 

The administration and Congress have zeroed in on rampant abuse of federal taxpayers’ funds since December 2025, when details of Minnesota’s fraud surrounding social programs and welfare programs stretching back to the COVID-19 pandemic first came under the national spotlight. Investigators have since estimated the Minnesota scheme could top $9 billion. 

Trump pointed to his vice president as leading the administration’s ‘war on fraud’ amid his State of the Union remarks. 

Vance explained Wednesday that ‘we are stopping the federal payments that will go to the state government until the state government takes its obligations seriously to stop the fraud that’s being perpetrated against the American taxpayer.’

The vice president continued that officials have verified that a program in Minnesota intended to provide after-school care to autistic children actually benefited fraudsters. 

‘A lot of people are getting rich off the generosity of American taxpayers,’ Vance said. ‘But more fundamentally, and more importantly than that, it means that there are kids in Minnesota who deserve these services, who need these services, and they’re not going to those kids. They’re going to fraudsters in Minneapolis. That is unacceptable. And that’s the sort of thing that we’re cutting off with this action today.’ 

Oz added that it is that the pause marks ‘the largest action against fraud that we’ve ever taken’ at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, before launching into how the administration is deferring funds to the state.

‘It’s going to be $259 million of deferred payments for Medicaid to Minnesota, which we’re announcing as I speak, to Governor Walz and his team,’ Oz said. ‘That’s based on an audit of the last three months of 2025. Restated: a quarter billion dollars is not going to be paid this month to Minnesota for its Medicaid claims.’ 

‘We have notified the state and said that we will give them the money, but we’re going to hold it and only release it after they propose and act on a comprehensive corrective action plan to solve the problem,’ Oz said. ‘If Minnesota fails to clean up the systems, the state will rack up $1 billion of deferred payments this year.’

Walz has 60 days to respond to a letter Oz and the administration sent to Walz on the matter, Oz said. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Walz’s office Wednesday afternoon for comment and has yet to receive a reply. 

Oz continued that he believes Walz will take the matter seriously, and noted fraud is not exclusive to Minnesota, but also other states. 

‘These schemes disproportionately involve immigrant communities,’ Oz continued. ‘They’re insulated, they’re able to … organize efforts, and sometimes they don’t understand what’s going on.’ 

Vance added that the administration does not want to make this move, but it is needed due to Minnesota being ‘careless with federal tax dollars.’

‘All we need the governor and the administration of Minnesota to do is something quite simple, which is to show that before you give Medicaid funds to somebody, you’re taking seriously whether they provided the services that they say that they’re providing,’ the vice president said, calling the fraud a ‘disgrace.’

Trump spotlighted the fraud in his State of the Union address Tuesday, underscoring that while Minnesota has taken the spotlight, schemes run deep in other states as well. 

‘When it comes to the corruption that is plundering — it really, it’s plundering America — there’s been no more stunning example than Minnesota, where members of the Somali community have pillaged an estimated $19 billion from the American taxpayer,’ Trump said. ‘Oh, we have all the information.’ 

‘And in actuality, the number is much higher than that, and California, Massachusetts, Maine and many other states are even worse. This is the kind of corruption that shreds the fabric of a nation, and we are working on it like you wouldn’t believe,’ he continued, before naming Vance as the administration leader taking on fraud. 

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he can win the Republican Senate primary even without President Donald Trump’s endorsement.

‘He makes his own decisions,’ Paxton told Fox News Digital. ‘I’m perfectly fine right now. We’re going to win this election either way. And I’m happy with where we’re at, and you’re going to see next Tuesday that we’re going to come out in front.’

Paxton, who was invited by Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, to attend Trump’s State of the Union address, is one of seven challengers vying to unseat longtime Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who is running for a fifth term in the upper chamber.

Early voting has already begun in the Lone Star State, and primary election day is March 3.

Even without a coveted nod from the president, Paxton acknowledged that cutting through the densely packed field would be difficult without the race going to a runoff, but not impossible.

‘It’s hard to win outright, but you know anything’s possible,’ Paxton said. ‘If anybody’s going to do it, it is going to be me.’

Much of the attention has been paid to the three-way fight between Paxton, Cornyn and Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas — a brawl that Trump has chosen to keep at arm’s length. He told reporters last week that he supports all three.

Cornyn is Paxton’s primary target in the crowded field. The two have engaged in a mudslinging back-and-forth on the road and in ads, dumping millions into toppling one another.

When asked about Cornyn’s attacks against him, Paxton said, ‘He’s not a polite man.’

Paxton accused the lawmaker of being ineffective during his 24-year run in the Senate and dubbed him ‘Fake John Cornyn,’ accusing him of selling voters one thing on the trail and doing another in office.

‘He’s been in office since I was in college, and I’m 63,’ Paxton said. ‘And he’s been up here for 24 years. And I don’t care what he says. He’s a deceptive guy, a misleading guy. You know why? Because he doesn’t have a single thing to run on.’

Cornyn wondered if Paxton had ‘been sleeping under a rock somewhere’ when asked about his opponent’s challenges to his record.

‘My Senate office is generally recognized as the most effective office in the Senate, and that’s because we produced important legislation to the state, for the state and for the nation,’ Cornyn told Fox News Digital. ‘And the fact he’s unaware of it just does not speak well to his intelligence or his knowledge.’

Despite Paxton’s confidence that the race would be decided next week, Cornyn believed there would be a runoff between the two.

‘We’ll be rid of him after May 26,’ Cornyn said.

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Hillary Clinton is claiming that Republican voter legislation will make it harder for married women to vote — an assertion GOP lawmakers and officials already say they’ve debunked.

‘You didn’t have to listen to Trump’s rambling speech last night to know that Republicans are trying to make it harder for millions of Americans to vote—especially married women,’ Clinton posted on X Wednesday. ‘They’ve already made it clear. Time to fight back.’ 

Clinton was referring to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night. 

The president called on Congress to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, which would tighten election rules and require voters to present a photo ID at the polls and proof of U.S. citizenship.

The president said the legislation is critical in order to stop ‘illegal aliens and other unpermitted persons from voting.’

Congressional Democrats have panned the SAVE Act as a tool of voter suppression — saying it’s a bill that allows the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to monitor Americans’ voter information and create barriers for married women to vote, among several other claims.

The bill would require proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, mandate states to actively verify and remove noncitizens from voter rolls, expand information sharing with federal agencies, including DHS, to verify citizenship, and create new criminal penalties for registering noncitizens to vote.

But Clinton isn’t alone — other House Democrats earlier in February also similarly claimed that the legislation would leave married women unable to vote unless they changed their birth certificates to match other government-issued ID.

ButRepublicans say they’ve already addressed the claim and debunked it. 

‘This is absolute nonsense, and we specifically allow for a provision to make sure that no one can possibly be left behind,’ Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who led both the SAVE Act and SAVE America Act in the House, said, while arguing Democrats were ‘really reaching’ for criticism.

‘If a woman tried to register to vote with different names on her birth certificate and driver’s license,’ Roy said, ‘we literally put in the statute that all you have to do is sign an affidavit under penalty of perjury that, ‘I am that person. This is my birth certificate… and this is my driver’s license that is reflecting my married name.’’

The bill does list a birth certificate as one way voters can confirm their identity. It does not specify a last-name match requirement.

Voters can use ‘a certified birth certificate issued by a state in which the applicant was born… (that) includes the full name, date of birth and place of birth of the applicant’ to supplement other forms of identification.

Among other forms of valid paperwork, voters can also display a passport, a REAL ID or a military identification card to prove their citizenship.

Conservative legal group The Federalist Society presented a breakdown of the bill, which explicitly says that Americans who have changed their names — because of marriage or otherwise — are ‘not prevented from voting.’ 

‘The bipartisan federal Election Assistance Commission (EAC) is commanded by the SAVE Act to establish guidelines for states to accept supplementary documents — for instance, a marriage license — to prove citizenship when a voter’s birth certificate and current name do not match,’ the group’s page reads. ‘Those on the Left who claim that the SAVE Act will disenfranchise millions of married women are simply wrong; they ought to read the bill’s text and see that it provides mechanisms to ensure that this does not happen.’

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Democratic events protesting President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address prompted sharp pushback from conservatives on social media and from Arkansas’ Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who said the events painted a sharp contrast between the two parties.

Democrats held several counterprogramming events to Trump’s State of the Union speech on Tuesday, including an event called ‘State of the Swamp,’ where far-left activists, including the Portland Frog Brigade, took to the stage dressed in animal costumes.

‘The difference today isn’t between right vs left,’ Sanders posted on X in response to a video of activists dressed up in frog costumes alongside Democratic Rep. Maxine Dexter. ‘It’s normal vs crazy.’

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Sanders added, ‘Last night, President Trump laid out a vision of a stronger, safer, more prosperous America — and the best counterargument the Democrats could provide were unhinged heckles, refusing to stand to celebrate the accomplishments of patriotic Americans, and a bizarre dress-up show.’

At another point in the event, an activist dressed in a giraffe costume took the stage criticizing ICE and calling Trump ‘pumpkin spice Satan.’ 

‘They always want to dress in animal costumes… WTF,’ Red State’s Jennifer Van Laar posted on X.

Spanberger praises

‘This is what Democrats are doing instead of attending President Trump’s State of the Union speech,’ a Republican National Committee account posted on X. ‘Democrats are literally hanging out with deranged Leftists dressed in giraffe costumes bragging about getting arrested by ICE.’

‘Who is advising the Democrats and how do we make sure they never quit?’ conservative commentator Riley Gaines posted on X.

‘These people are weird,’ Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, posted on X.

‘They don’t just hate America… they’re mentally ill,’ comedian Tim Young posted on X.

Dozens of Democrats boycotted Trump’s speech, with many attending events like State of the Swamp or the People’s State of the Union, which was held in the frigid temperatures outside the Capitol.

‘Not one more dime to the Department of Homeland Security until they start following the law in this country,’ Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., told a crowd of protesters gathered outside.

The event, organized by MoveOn and co-hosted by the Midas Touch Network, featured a number of House and Senate Democratic lawmakers who opted to skip Trump’s address, which they said would be filled with ‘lie after lie’ and ignore what they described as a country ‘in crisis.’

Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.

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