The passage of the continuing resolution to keep the government open was a remarkable example of the revolutionary movement through which we are living.

Traditionally, a continuing resolution requires a bipartisan agreement to get through the Senate.

Republican leaders meet with Democratic leaders to discuss it. And the continuing resolution becomes far more expensive – and gains a lot more ideological language.

After the 2024 election, many supposed experts said that President Donald Trump would have a hard time getting legislation through the extraordinarily narrow House Republican majority – or past the Senate’s 60-vote threshold.

The House Republicans have been in turmoil for a decade. Speaker John Boehner retired early in October 2015. His successor, Speaker Paul Ryan announced he would not run again in the middle of 2018. There was a 40-seat defeat in that mid-term election. Then Speaker Kevin McCarthy worked for four years to regrow a Republican majority, but a small, embittered faction simply made his speakership unsustainable. It took 15 ballots for McCarthy to win the Speakership. Then, he was forced out by the same embittered dissidents on Oct. 3, 2023.

Finally, Speaker Mike Johnson emerged as the consensus candidate for Speaker after three high-profile members failed to win 218 votes. Since Johnson had not been in leadership, it represented an enormous jump in responsibility. This led many to believe he would not be able to control the office, which had ultimately forced out Boehner, Ryan, and McCarthy.

Speaker Johnson has turned out to be far more successful – and a lot more strategic – than anyone expected. He also decided early that he could only be effective as President Trump’s ally.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune was a House veteran who has served 20 years in the Senate. At 64, he is a generation younger than former Leader Mitch McConnell. Thune has proven to be a good partner for President Trump and Speaker Johnson. The three have worked hard to get on the same page and to work together to get things done.

If you had told any so-called expert on Jan. 20 that Republicans could get a seven-month continuing resolution to keep the government open for the rest of the fiscal year through the House with only Republican votes, he or she probably would not have believed you. If you had then told them the bill would be difficult for Senate Democrats to undermine, they would have thought you were dreaming. Finally, if you told them that Speaker Johnson, President Trump, and Majority Leader Thune would out-maneuver the Democrats and give them no choice but to pass the continuing resolution or close the government, the experts would have dismissed you out of hand.

Yet, with help from Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, President Trump executed what would have been called in chess a fork.

A fork is a setting where your opponent has two chess pieces at risk. Both cannot be saved. The only choice is which one to sacrifice.

The continuing resolution coming out of the House was entirely Republican. It cut spending. It shifted spending from domestic policies Republicans opposed to into immigration enforcement and defense. More importantly, it rewrote current law to give President Trump and Elon Musk greater flexibility to cut spending and waste.

The Democrats were furious that they were being cut out of the process. They were desperate to defeat the Republican effort, so they could then offer to work with them and develop a much more liberal and anti-change bill.

When the Democrats failed to stop Speaker Johnson, they had only two choices. Both were painful.

They could all vote no. If the Senate Democrats did this, the Republicans would not be able to get past the filibuster, and so the government would shut down. In this case, standing up to President Trump might have been a political victory for their base. But it wouldn’t play well with the rest of the country.

Then the Democrats realized President Trump could cut more programs and reshape the bureaucracy even more under a shutdown scenario than he could if they passed the bill, which they thought already granted him too much power.

So, the choice for the Democrats became to pass a bill that gave President Trump more authority to cut government – or stop the bill and give him even more authority.

President Trump, Speaker Johnson, and Majority Leader Thune played this round brilliantly and won a huge victory.

They also proved that they could pass tax cuts, deregulation, and the other priorities on which President Trump and the Republicans campaigned on in 2024.

This was a big victory with huge implications for the future.

The Department of the Navy is offering transgender sailors and Marines the option to voluntarily separate from the service by March 28. Otherwise, they risk being booted from the service — cutting the benefits they’re eligible for in half, according to a Thursday memo released by the Department of the Navy. 

The policy aligns with an executive order that President Donald Trump signed in January to bar transgender individuals from serving in the military, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s subsequent orders in February instructing each of the service branches to start separating transgender troops within 30 days. 

Acting Secretary of the Navy Terence Emmert said in the memo that the Department of the Navy recognizes male and female as the only two sexes, and that ‘an individual’s sex is immutable, unchanging during a person’s life.’

As a result, Emmert said that those who have a history or ‘exhibit symptoms consistent with’ gender dysphoria may no longer serve in the military and may voluntarily elect to depart the service by March 28. After that date, the Navy will remove sailors and Marines involuntarily from their respective services.

‘A history of cross-sex hormone therapy or sex reassignment or genital reconstruction surgery as treatment for gender dysphoria or in pursuit of a sex transition is disqualifying for applicants for military service, and incompatible with military service for military personnel,’ the memo said. 

Even so, the Navy said it will not go through medical records or health assessments to identify transgender service members, unless explicitly requested to do so. 

Transgender service members who don’t take the Navy up on its offer to voluntarily separate are not eligible for as many benefits post-separation. Those who voluntarily depart from the service will receive double the separation pay as those who are involuntarily removed, according to the Navy’s memo. 

For example, the Pentagon said on Feb. 28 that an E-5, a petty officer first class in the Navy, with 10 years of experience, would collect a total of $101,628 in voluntary separation pay, but only $50,814 if that service member were to opt for involuntary separation pay. 

Those with less than six years of service, or more than 20 years of service, are not eligible for voluntary separation pay. 

‘The Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) and Commandant of the Marine Corps (CMC) will maximize the use of all available command authorities to ensure impacted personnel are afforded dignity and respect,’ the Navy’s memo said. 

Some exceptions to the rule may apply. The memo said that the Secretary of the Navy may issue waivers for those seeking to remain or join the service on a ‘case-by-case basis,’ if there is proof that keeping or recruiting such individuals ‘directly supports warfighting capabilities.’ 

The Navy referred Fox News Digital to its press release on the order when reached for comment, and did not provide an answer as to how many sailors this order would likely impact. 

The Navy released its guidance the same day that a federal judge heard arguments for a lawsuit that LGBTQ legal rights advocacy group GLAD Law and the National Center for Lesbian Rights filed in February against the Trump administration, seeking a preliminary injunction pausing the ban while litigation is pending. 

U.S. District Court Judge Ana Reyes is expected to issue a final decision on the preliminary injunction by March 25. GLAD Law did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation and Lambda Legal also filed a separate lawsuit in February challenging the Trump administration’s order on behalf of six trans service members and asked a federal judge to block the order amid the legal proceedings. 

‘A dishonorable action from a dishonorable administration,’ the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and Lambda Legal said in a Feb. 27 statement. ‘This attack on those who have dedicated themselves to serving our country is not only morally reprehensible but fundamentally un-American. Forcing out thousands of transgender servicemembers, who have met every qualification to serve, does not enhance military excellence or make our country safer.’

The Human Rights Campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

Navy leaders have previously defended LGBTQ service members. For example, former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday defended a nonbinary Navy officer assigned to the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford featured in a video the Navy Judge Advocate General Corps shared on Instagram about participating in an LGBTQ spoken-word night during deployment.

The video attracted scrutiny from Republican lawmakers, who called into question the Navy’s war-fighting priorities. For example, then-Sen. Marco Rubio shared the video on X in April 2023, and said: ‘While China prepares for war this is what they have our @USNavy focused on.’ 

But Gilday, who retired in August 2023, told Republican lawmakers on the Senate Armed Services Committee in April 2023 that he was proud of the officer and that people from all different backgrounds serve in the Navy. 

As a result, Gilday said it is incumbent upon Navy leaders to ‘build a cohesive warfighting team that is going to follow the law, and the law requires that we be able to conduct prompt, sustained operations at sea.’

‘That level of trust that a commanding officer develops across that unit has to be grounded on dignity and respect,’ Gilday said in April 2023. ‘And so, if that officer can lawfully join the United States Navy, is willing to serve and willing to take the same oath that you and I took to put their life on the line, then I’m proud to serve beside them.’

President Donald Trump kicked off the week driving a red Tesla on the White House South Lawn and closed out the week addressing the Department of Justice.  

In his remarks Friday, Trump railed against former President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice and accused the agency of turning into the ‘department of injustice.’

‘Our predecessors turned this Department of Justice into the department of injustice,’ Trump said Friday at the Department of Justice. ‘But I stand before you today to declare that those days are over, and they are never going to come back.’ 

Trump has regularly condemned the Justice Department and the FBI since his first administration after multiple investigations and lawsuits filed against him. For example, the FBI investigated Trump and his 2016 campaign for alleged collusion with Russia. The probe determined there was no evidence the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to influence the outcome of the election.

Under the Biden administration, Trump faced more legal scrutiny when former Attorney General Merrick Garland tapped former special counsel Jack Smith in 2020 to conduct investigations into alleged efforts by Trump to overturn the 2020 election results and Trump’s alleged efforts to preserve classified materials at Mar-a-Lago after his first term as president.

‘They tried to turn America into a corrupt communist and Third World country, but, in the end, the thugs failed, and the truth won,’ Trump said. ‘Freedom won. Justice won. Democracy won. And, above all, the American people won.’

A spokesperson for Biden did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

Here are some other key moments from the week: 

Meeting with NATO secretary general 

Trump also met with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte Thursday, and the two discussed efforts to bolster NATO’s defense spending and the U.S. potentially acquiring Greenland. 

Trump has long advocated for NATO allies to boost defense spending to between 2% and 5% of gross domestic product. He also has called for European nations to pick up more responsibility for defending their continent. 

‘You’re starting to hear the British prime minister and others all committing to much higher defense spending,’ Rutte told reporters Thursday at the White House. ‘We’re not there. We need to do more, but I really want to work together with you … to make sure that we will have a NATO which is really reinvigorated under your leadership. And we are getting there.

‘When you look at Trump 47, what happened the last couple of weeks is really staggering.’

He made the remarks after an $841 billion proposal European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pitched March 4 for European Union nations to up their defense spending. 

Additionally, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed in February to boost his country’s defense spending to 2.5% of its gross domestic value. That is up from the 2.3% the U.K. currently spends and amounts to a nearly $17 billion increase.

Trump also expressed optimism during the meeting about the likelihood of the U.S. acquiring Greenland, even though the Danish territory has said it’s not interested in Trump’s offer. 

‘I think it’ll happen,’ Trump told reporters Thursday. ‘And I’m just thinking. I didn’t give it much thought before, but I’m sitting with a man that could be very instrumental. You know, Mark, we need that for international security, not just security, international.’

In response, Rutte said he didn’t want to ‘drag NATO’ into the discussions but said Arctic countries must work with the U.S. to preserve security in the region as Russian and Chinese vessels increase their activity there. 

USAID document ‘hysteria’ 

The White House shut down concerns Tuesday and Wednesday that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) ordered employees to destroy classified documents amid efforts by the Trump administration to close the agency. 

USAID acting Executive Secretary Erica Carr emailed employees, instructing them to begin shredding and burning documents, according to a motion that government labor unions filed in a federal court Tuesday. 

But the documents remain available on computer systems, and Carr’s directive coincides with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s impending move into the USAID building, according to White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly.

‘This was sent to roughly three dozen employees,’ Kelly said in an X post regarding Carr’s order Tuesday night. ‘The documents involved were old, mostly courtesy content (content from other agencies), and the originals still exist on classified computer systems. More fake news hysteria!’

All involved in purging the documents had a secret security clearance or higher and were not among the USAID employees on administrative leave, an administration official told Fox News Digital Wednesday. 

Those involved were familiar with the content they were handling and were specifically appointed by the agency to review and eliminate materials, the official said. 

Thousands of employees at USAID were either fired or placed on administrative leave in February, following recommendations from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to cut wasteful spending.

Tesla purchase 

Trump bought a red Tesla Tuesday and showed off the vehicle on the White House’s South Lawn with SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who heads DOGE. The event coincided with Tesla’s stock dipping earlier in the week, but the share price rose after the White House event.

Democrats were quick to pass judgment on the move, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee labeled the Trump administration the ‘most corrupt administration in American history.’ 

Syrian human rights activist Ribal al-Assad tore into Europe for lifting sanctions against the nation’s new ‘terrorist’ regime, which he warned is no better than his first cousin, ousted leader Bashar al-Assad. 

After days of bloodshed, Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, leader of the forces that overthrew Assad, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), on Thursday signed a temporary constitution putting the country under Islamist rule for at least five years.

But al-Sharaa’s government has gone on a ‘revenge killing spree,’ going after low-level officers who had been conscripted into Assad’s armed forces, along with Alawite and Christian minorities, among others, according to al-Assad.

‘They couldn’t have refused [military service]. Those who refused were put in jails,’ he said, adding that any high-level officers in Assad’s forces had fled the country. 

While much of Syria was happy to see the ouster of Bashar al-Assad, religious and ethnic minorities have remained skeptical of the new leadership once tied to al Qaeda. 

Ribal al-Assad insisted the new regime is ‘an Islamic caliphate. They want a theocracy. They want to replace a dictatorship with cult, as it happened in Iran 45 years ago.’

He said Christians were caught up alongside Alawites in the revenge spree because ‘Christians and Alawites live together. In my town, we have Christians who live there. We’ve always, lived … side by side, and they celebrate holidays together.’

In December, the Biden administration removed the longtime bounty on the head of HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa. 

Europe suspended a range of sanctions on the new Syrian government late last month, though the U.S. still has many other punitive financial measures in place. 

After 14 years of devastation of destruction of so much mass killing, you know, it’s really not normal for the international community to come, you know, and to have, for example, the Europeans lift sanctions … on this terrorist regime and say, ‘Oh, there are snapback sanctions in case this regime does something that with the sanctions will be reinstated,’ said al-Assad. 

‘What worse could [HTS] do for you to reinstate them?’

Al-Assad tore into the European Commission for inviting al-Sharaa to a donor conference to raise money for his government.

‘European countries [are going] to give him money, to give him more funds so he could encourage and reward him for the killing that he’s done, instead of saying, ‘We will not lift sanctions until we see a new program, a modern constitution, secular constitution that guarantees equality of all citizens and the rule of law.’

Government forces have crushed an insurgency that began last week by armed militia loyal to Assad. 

And rights groups say hundreds of civilians, largely belonging to the Alawite minority sect of Islam, which counts Assad as a member, died in the violence that erupted along Syria’s coast. 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) alleges close to 1,000 civilians were killed in the past week’s violence. 

Thousands of civilians who fled the sectarian violence are still sheltering at a Russian airbase along the Latakia province, according to Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova.

‘Our military sheltered more than 8,000, according to yesterday’s data, probably closer to 9,000 Syrians, mostly women and children,’ she said Thursday. 

Entire families, women and children included, were slaughtered as part of the past week’s sectarian killings, the United Nations said. 

Al-Sharaa claimed the government would investigate ‘the violations against civilians and identify those responsible for them.’

The U.N. Human Rights Office has counted 111 civilian killings but expects the figure to be much higher. 

‘In a number of extremely disturbing instances, entire families — including women, children and individuals hors de combat — were killed with predominantly Alawite cities and villages targeted in particular,’ U.N. human rights office spokesperson Thameen Al Kheetan said Tuesday.

‘Many of the cases documented were of summary executions. They appear to have been carried out on a sectarian basis.’

Abdulhamid Al-Awak, part of a committee tasked by al-Sharaa with drawing up the new constitution that will establish a transitional government for five years, told a news conference Thursday the constitution would require the head of state to be a Muslim and said Islamic law is the main source of jurisprudence.

But Al-Awak said the constitution would include protections for free expression and the media. 

‘There are many, many, many, many clauses in that constitution that are hilarious,’ said al-Assad. 

‘he transition period is for five years, but it can be extended indefinitely, you know, based on security and political conditions. You know, what does that mean?

‘The president, he could appoint one third of Parliament with full legislative powers. You know, this is again, this is crazy. All political parties at the moment are suspended. No opposition, no representation. Nothing.’

The document will ‘balance between social security and freedom’ during the rocky political situation, said Al-Awak.

The constitution also claims the state is ‘committed to combating all forms of violent extremism while respecting rights and freedoms’ and that ‘citizens are equal before the law in rights and duties, without discrimination based on race, religion, gender or lineage.’ 

It banned arms outside military control and cracked down on ‘glorifying the former Assad regime’ as a crime.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Council rejected the draft document Friday and called for it to be rewritten, arguing it did not go far enough in protecting Syria’s many ethnic communities. It argued the constitution ‘reproduced authoritarianism in a new form’ and said ‘any constitutional declaration must be the result of genuine national consensus, not a project imposed by one party,’ even after a breakthrough agreement on Monday with the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led authorities calling for a ceasefire and a merging of their armed forces. 

Al-Assad called on the U.S. to step in to help Syria establish a ‘genuine representative democracy.’ 

‘This is definitely not what the Syrian people were looking for, those who rose against the previous regime. This is not the regime that they want,’ he said. ‘And this is why we want the United States to help us move towards a genuine representative democracy.

‘How are you going to let an Islamist extremist-run regime on the Mediterranean, which will start recruiting thousands?

‘They could be in two hours and a half in Cyprus and then the Greek islands and Europe and from Europe to the U.S.. … You remember what al Qaeda has done when they were in Afghanistan. And Afghanistan is not on the Mediterranean.’

: China could face a crackdown on its influence in the U.S. on multiple fronts if a slate of new targeted bills is passed.

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., led the introduction of three bills aimed at curbing Chinese influence this week. The measures specifically take action on China’s acquisition of U.S. farmland, its predatory investment and its connections to U.S. education institutions. 

‘China continues to buy up American farm land, steal our patents and expand their authoritarian world view,’ Lankford told Fox News Digital. ‘America will demonstrate to the world our values and maintain our economic and military strength to assure the globe has the best opportunity for freedom. No one in China should doubt America’s resolve and commitment to liberty.’

The Countering Adversarial and Malicious Partnerships at Universities and Schools Act (CAMPUS) would prohibit joint research between U.S. universities and those in China connected to its military and bar federal funds from going to schools that partner with entities linked to it. 

The next bill, known as the Belt & Road Oversight Act, is designed to monitor China’s predatory lending practices and counter any economic coercion. The measure would establish officers at all worldwide embassies who would be charged with tracking its investments in critical infrastructure. 

The third bill would conduct oversight into any purchases of U.S. agricultural land that could pose a national security threat. Named the Security and Oversight of International Landholdings (SOIL) Act, the measure specifically bans any federal assistance for certain real estate holdings that are owned by foreign entities and expands disclosure requirements for land purchases made by any such entities.  

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., co-sponsored both the CAMPUS and SOIL Acts. 

The bills targeting China’s influence come after the country held recent nuclear talks with Russia and Iran in Beijing. 

Ahead of the meeting, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said the discussions would be about ‘developments related to the nuclear issue and the lifting of sanctions.’

The meeting was downplayed by President Trump earlier in the week. He suggested U.S. adversaries could be talking ‘de-escalation.’ 

‘Well, maybe they’re going to talk about non-nuclear problems. Maybe they’re going to be talking about the de-escalation of nuclear weapons,’ Trump said in the Oval Office. 

A group of President Donald Trump’s House GOP allies is leading a bill that would enshrine the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and its efficiency efforts in federal law, giving it some protection from various legal challenges over the next year and a half.

‘This creates a reporting structure that allows what DOGE is doing with the Cabinet to be relayed to Congress, which is our Article I authorities, which is really the idea of being good stewards of taxpayer funding,’ Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., who is leading the bill, told Fox News Digital in an interview.

The legislation more generally codifies Trump’s executive order directing Cabinet secretaries and heads of other executive offices to coordinate with DOGE on various government efficiency plans.

It would give Elon Musk and DOGE Acting Administrator Amy Gleason more standing to implement various cuts within the federal government, as part of Trump’s plan to cut federal waste.

‘What Elon has done is that he’s created kind of this algorithm that works in the background, that sifts through all of these different programs, 24 hours a day, to look at anomalies and how they’re being utilized, to go ahead and say, ‘Hey, is this something for analysis? Is this something that we need to take a look at?’’ Mills said. ‘That’s really what this is — it’s about modernizing and maximizing.’ 

The legislation is co-sponsored by House DOGE Caucus co-chair Aaron Bean, R-Fla., of which Mills is also a part.

Reps. Byron Donalds, R-Fla.; Barry Moore, R-Ala.; and Michael Rulli, R-Ohio, are also helping lead the bill.

If passed, such a bill would likely help shield DOGE from Democratic efforts to block it from gathering federal government data.

Musk and DOGE were recently ordered to turn over a broad array of records by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in response to a lawsuit by more than a dozen Democratic attorneys general.

An appeals court on Friday lifted a block on President Donald Trump’s executive orders ending federal support for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.

A panel of three judges ruled the orders can be enforced during a pending lawsuit, reversing a nationwide injunction from U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson in Baltimore, the Associated Press reported.

Two of the judges on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the orders ‘could raise concerns’ about First Amendment rights, but found Abelson’s ‘sweeping block went too far,’ according to the report.

Abelson, a Biden nominee, previously ruled the orders violated the First Amendment right to free speech and were unconstitutionally ‘vague,’ as they did not define DEI.

The ruling followed a lawsuit filed by the City of Baltimore, the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, the American Association of University Professors and the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, which alleged the executive orders were presidential overreach and anti-free speech. 

They argued the president’s power ‘is not limitless.’

Trump’s orders directed federal agencies to terminate all ‘equity-related’ grants or contracts, and required federal contractors to certify that they don’t promote DEI. 

The administration argued in court that the ban only affected DEI programs violating federal civil rights laws. 

‘What’s happening is an overcorrection and pulling back on DEI statements,’ attorney Aleshadye Getachew said in a hearing. 

While the president secured a win with the latest injunction, a similar federal lawsuit was filed in D.C. U.S. District Court on Wednesday challenging DEI executive orders including: ‘Ending Radical and Wasteful DEI Programs and Preferencing;’ ‘Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government;’ and ‘Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.’ 

The second complaint was filed by NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Lambda Legal on behalf of nonprofit advocacy organizations. 

White House spokesman Harrison Fields told the New York Times that ‘the radical leftists can either choose to swim against the tide and reject the overwhelming will of the people, or they can get on board and work with President Trump to advance his wildly popular agenda.’

Fox News Digital’s Brie Stimson, Danielle Wallace, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The leader of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has been killed, Iraq’s prime minister announced on Friday.

Abdallah Maki Mosleh al-Rifai, or ‘Abu Khadija,’ was killed in an operation by members of the Iraqi national intelligence service along with U.S.-led coalition forces, Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said in a statement.

The prime minister described al-Rifai as ‘one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world.’

U.S. President Donald Trump reacted to the news on his social media platform Truth Social, saying al-Rifai’s ‘miserable life was terminated.’

‘Today the fugitive leader of ISIS in Iraq was killed,’ Trump wrote Friday night. ‘He was relentlessly hunted down by our intrepid warfighters. His miserable life was terminated, along with another member of ISIS, in coordination with the Iraqi Government and the Kurdish Regional Government.’

‘PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH!’ the president added.

U.S. Central Command said in a statement that its forces, in cooperation with Iraqi Intelligence and security forces, conducted an airstrike in Al Anbar Province, Iraq, that killed the ‘Global ISIS #2 leader, Chief of Global Operations and the Delegated Committee Emir – Abdallah Makki Muslih al-Rifai, alias ‘Abu Khadijah,’ and one other ISIS operative.’

‘As the Emir of ISIS’ most senior decision-making body, Abu Khadijah maintained responsibility for operations, logistics, and planning conducted by ISIS globally, and directs a significant portion of finance for the group’s global organization,’ CENTCOM said.

After the strike, U.S. and Iraqi forces moved to the location of the strike and found both dead ISIS targets who were each wearing unexploded ‘suicide vests’ and who had multiple weapons, CENTCOM said.

U.S. and Iraqi forces were able to identify al-Rifai using DNA collected in a previous raid where he narrowly escaped.

‘Abu Khadijah was one of the most important ISIS members in the entire global ISIS organization. We will continue to kill terrorists and dismantle their organizations that threaten our homeland and U.S., allied and partner personnel in the region and beyond,’ Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, commander at CENTCOM, said in a statement.

Kennedy Center interim Director Richard Grenell is developing a ‘common sense’ plan to turn the center’s financials around and make it ‘prosperous again,’ as it grapples with $72 million of debt due to past leadership decisions.

‘The Kennedy Center is the premier arts institution in the United States,’ Grenell told Fox News Digital. ‘It deserves to have the public’s full support and a balance sheet that is solid.’

Sources familiar with the Kennedy Center’s current financials told Fox News Digital that it had been ‘budgeting to lose money.’

But Grenell brought in a new chief financial officer, Donna Arduin, who is tasked with improving what she has described as a ‘dire situation.’

‘The Kennedy Center’s previous business plan was made to leave the Center in the red and it did just that,’ Arduin told Fox News Digital. ‘The previous leadership were left with no other option than to pay employees’ salaries with monies supposed to be allocated for the debt reserves.’

Arduin told Fox News Digital that the ‘gross mismanagement created a dire situation that we were shocked to discover.’

In Fiscal Year 2025, the Kennedy Center is operating on a $234 million budget. Also, in FY25, the Kennedy Center had an operating deficit of $105.2 million dollars, which left a bottom-line deficit of $7.2 million dollars.

Sources familiar with the numbers told Fox News Digital that the gap was filled with Kennedy Center fundraising dollars–$91 million from annual fundraising, and $7 million from earnings on the endowments.

Sources familiar with the leadership team’s plans told Fox News Digital that the plan will focus on getting rid of debt, improving on ticket sales and fundraising, and growing the center’s endowments.

A source explained that the team will use the venue for profitable business events other than traditional shows and performances and will begin offering alternative programming.

‘There are a lot of opportunities and we are pursuing all of them,’ the source said.

The Kennedy Center has two affiliates—the National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington National Opera. The new leadership team is currently working on business plans with its affiliates to ensure the Kennedy Center has larger endowments and ‘greater sustainability.’

The official endowments combined total just $163 million, which new leadership told Fox News Digital is ‘not adequate for the size of this institution.’

Under the last leadership team, the Kennedy Center built ‘The REACH,’ an intimate theater at the Kennedy Center hosting concerts, comedy shows, and poetry readings. It also has a restaurant.

But sources familiar with the financials told Fox News Digital that former leadership took out a significant chunk of debt to build the venue—costing the center nearly $200 million.

‘There wasn’t a profitability plan for that,’ the source explained, noting that thus far, the space has been ‘underutilized,’ bringing in just $2 million per year.

‘America’s premier institution for the arts deserves better,’ Arduin said. ‘The new team has already written a responsible budget that will make us prosperous again.’

She added: ‘We are using common sense.’

President Trump in January fired the theater’s board of directors and announced he had been elected board chair by his new handpicked board. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Wall Street Journal in January: ‘The Kennedy Center learned the hard way that if you go woke, you will go broke. President Trump and the members of his newly-appointed board are devoted to rebuilding the Kennedy Center into a thriving and highly respected institution where all Americans, and visitors from around the world, can enjoy the arts with respect to America’s great history and traditions.’

Some groups who disagreed with the move decided to cancel shows at the center. 

Producers of Broadway’s ‘Hamilton’ pulled out of a planned run there next year.

‘Our show simply cannot, in good conscience, participate and be a part of this new culture that is being imposed on the Kennedy Center,’ producer Jeffrey Seller said earlier this month. 

The show was performed at the Kennedy Center during Trump’s first term in office. 

Grenell told Sean Hannity earlier this month that ‘everyone is welcome’ at the Kennedy Center. 

‘Look, the reality is, the Kennedy Center is open for business for everyone,’ Grenell told Hannity. ‘We just want an arts center that celebrates the arts — we want common-sense art.’ 

FBI Director Kash Patel on Friday revealed that the agency is investigating a recent spike in swatting incidents after several conservative media figures said they were targeted. 

‘I want to address the alarming rise in ‘Swatting’ incidents targeting media figures,’ Patel wrote Friday morning on his social media. ‘The FBI is aware of this dangerous trend, and my team and I are already taking action to investigate and hold those responsible accountable.’

The director stressed, ‘This isn’t about politics—weaponizing law enforcement against ANY American is not only morally reprehensible but also endangers lives, including those of our officers.’

Swatting is when a person attempts to send armed law enforcement to another person’s house over a fake incident, which has led to deadly consequences in the past. 

‘That will not be tolerated,’ Patel continued. ‘We are fully committed to working with local law enforcement to crack down on these crimes.’

He added that there would be more updates to come. 

Conservative podcaster Nick Sortor said Thursday on X that both his father and sister were swatted that same day. 

‘A dozen cops attempted to kick my dad’s door in at gunpoint,’ he wrote. ‘This is literal f—ing terrorism. And the FBI should treat it as such. Before calling in the swat, this dumbs— sent my sister an email calling me a Nazi, of course. So the motive is clear.’

Sortor said the person who called the police on his father claimed he was killing his ‘entire family, requiring them to intervene with deadly force.’ 

‘This is nothing short of attempted murder. They wanted the police to kill my father,’ he added. 

Conservative host Shawn Farash wrote on his X account that he and his wife were swatted Thursday night. 

‘We are totally safe,’ he assured his followers. ‘Thank you to everyone who checked in. We are going to do whatever is necessary to find out who is behind these coordinated attacks and hold them accountable to the fullest extent.’ 

An apparent swatting call at Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s home in December turned deadly following a car accident with police. 

Greene at the time said she had been swatted at least eight times before the fake bomb threat. 

In January, lawmakers introduced a bipartisan and bicameral bill to impose ‘strict penalties’ for people who make swatting calls, including up to 20 years in prison if someone is seriously injured or killed in an incident.

‘Having spent over 40 years in law enforcement, I’ve seen firsthand how swatting is a reckless and dangerous action that not only puts innocent lives at risk but wastes critical resources,’ Rep. Mike Ezell, R-Miss., said in a statement in January when introducing the bill in the House. 

‘Local and state law enforcement agencies are forced to divert their time, energy, and taxpayer dollars to respond to these false calls, taking them away from real emergencies. As someone who has been on the front lines, I understand the toll this takes on our officers and communities. That’s why I am proud to help introduce the Preserving Safe Communities by Ending Swatting Act — a vital step in protecting both our law enforcement officers and the communities they serve.’

Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, wrote on Friday that he was ‘proud’ to cosponsor the bill. 

‘Multiple conservative influencers and pundits have had their homes swatted in the past several days,’ he wrote. ‘This is an extremely dangerous form of political terrorism. It’s liable to get somebody killed, and it must end now.’