U.S. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth on Tuesday lauded South Korea’s plans to boost its military spending and take on a larger role in defending itself from North Korea’s aggression.

The U.S. has wanted South Korea to increase its conventional defense capabilities so that Washington can center its attention on China.

Hegseth spoke to reporters after annual security talks with South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back in Seoul, where he said he was ‘greatly encouraged’ by Seoul’s commitment to raising defense spending and making greater investments in its own military capabilities.

He said the two allies agreed that the investments would boost South Korea’s ability to lead its conventional deterrence against its northern foe.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, in a speech to parliament Tuesday, asked lawmakers to approve an 8.2% increase in defense spending next year. The president said the increase in spending would help modernize the military’s weapons systems and reduce its reliance on the U.S.

Hegseth noted defense cooperation on repairing and maintaining U.S. warships in South Korea, stressing that the activities harness South Korea’s shipbuilding capabilities and ‘ensure our most lethal capabilities remain ready to respond to any crisis.’

‘We face, as we both acknowledge, a dangerous security environment, but our alliance is stronger than ever,’ Hegseth said.

Hegseth said the South Korea-U.S. alliance is primarily meant to respond to potential North Korean aggression, but other regional threats must also be addressed.

‘There’s no doubt flexibility for regional contingencies is something we would take a look at, but we are focused on standing by our allies here and ensuring the threat of the [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] is not a threat to the Republic of Korea and certainly continue to extend nuclear deterrence as we have before,’ he said.

In recent years, the U.S. and South Korea have discussed how to integrate U.S. nuclear weapons and South Korean conventional weapons.

South Korea has no nuclear weapons, and Ahn denied speculation that it could eventually seek its own nuclear weapons program or that it is pushing for redeployment of U.S. tactical weapon weapons that were removed from South Korea in the 1990s.

Earlier Tuesday, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the country detected North Korea test-firing around 10 rounds of artillery toward its western waters on Monday, shortly before Hegseth arrived at an inter-Korean border village with Ahn to begin his two-day visit to South Korea.

Hegseth visited the Demilitarized Zone on the border with North Korea earlier in the week.

Iranian hackers taunted former National Security Advisor John Bolton about files allegedly obtained from his email account that they said were classified, wishing ‘good luck’ to ‘Mr. Mustache’ as they threatened to leak the materials, an unsealed search warrant affidavit reviewed by Fox News Digital revealed.

Bolton pleaded not guilty in October to eight counts of transmission of national defense information and ten counts of retention of national defense information. He had been indicted on 18 counts related to the improper handling of classified materials. 

It was July 2021 when Bolton’s assistant contacted the FBI via email to alert the agency that Iran had obtained access to Bolton’s email account, according to the affidavit. Bolton’s team had notified the FBI that it would be deleting Bolton’s emails so the hackers could not obtain any additional sensitive information. 

Weeks later, Bolton’s assistant contacted the FBI again to say he had received threatening emails that were believed to be related to the hack of Bolton’s AOL account.

‘The e-mail, the subject of which was ‘Re:New PW,’ as forwarded to the FBI, stated: ‘I do not think you would be interested in the FBI being aware of the leaked content of John’s email (some of which have been attached), especially after the recent acquittal. This could be the biggest scandal since Hillary’s emails were leaked, but this time on the GOP side! Contact me before it’s too late,’’ according to the warrant.

In August 2021, Bolton’s assistant flagged another email from the same account that threatened to leak portions of Bolton’s manuscript found in his email.

‘OK John…as you want (apparently), we’ll disseminate the expurgated sections of your book by reference to your leaked email,’ the email said. ‘Good luck Mr. Mustache!’

The affidavit in support of the search warrant from a raid on Bolton’s home in September was unsealed and obtained by Fox News Digital. 

The affidavit supporting the search warrant revealed additional details about the case against Bolton.

‘CLASSIFIED INFORMATION’

According to the unsealed warrant, staff from the White House National Security Council visited Bolton’s home Sept. 10, 2019, to retrieve classified information and any government property after his termination as national security advisor.

The government had created a sensitive compartmented information facility, also known as a SCIF, in Bolton’s home Sept. 17, 2018. That SCIF was decertified Oct. 16, 2019, according to the warrant.

‘Based on my education, training and experience, I know that the installation of a SCIF within the TARGET RESIDENCE indicated that Bolton anticipated storing classified materials within the TARGET RESIDENCE during his tenure as APNSA,’ the affidavit states. 

‘Once he was no longer APNSA, effective Sept. 10, 2019, his need-to-know expired, and any authorization for having access to the classified documents in the TARGET RESIDENCE was subsequently revoked.’

It was December 2019 when Bolton submitted a draft of his manuscript of ‘The Room Where It Happened,’ his memoir, to Ellen Knight, the National Security Council senior director for records, access and information security management.

Knight acknowledged receipt of the manuscript, according to the warrant, and notified Bolton that ‘based on a preliminary review, the manuscript appeared to contain significant amounts of classified information, to include information classified at the TOP SECRET level.’

Knight suggested Bolton modify and resubmit the manuscript due to the ‘large volume of classified information contained’ in it.

‘Knight indicated that, in all her experience, she had never seen that level of classified material and specificity of detail in a manuscript submitted for review,’ the affidavit said. ‘There were quotes from foreign leaders from negotiations with the President and details of foreign military actions which had not yet been publicly acknowledged by the foreign governments.

‘Based on her experience in reviewing manuscripts for pre-publication review and the level of detail contained in Bolton’s submission, Knight surmised that Bolton either had an incredible memory or had to be writing from notes he would have taken as APNSA. Knight explained that any such notes were likely classified, fall under the PRA, and should have been turned over by Bolton at the conclusion of his government service,’ the affidavit read. 

But on Dec. 13, 2019, Bolton’s team confirmed he had cleared classified documents and did not possess any additional classified documents at his home.

The affidavit, though, revealed that in February 2020, Bolton’s assistant wrote an email to the National Security Council to notify it that Bolton was reinstalling a SCIF in his home and needed the contact information for someone at the National Security Council who could accredit the SCIF. That was unusual, according to the warrant, given Bolton was no longer an employee of the U.S. government. 

The National Security Council director of security responded the same day, telling Bolton and his team that installing an accredited SCIF in his home was ‘not a viable option.’ 

It was more than a year later that Bolton’s AOL email account was hacked by a foreign entity, believed to be Iran.

Meanwhile, while Bolton attempted, and failed, to get a second SCIF accredited in his home, Bolton continued to refer to ‘the archives’ in emails to himself and to two other individuals, whose identities remain redacted.

The warrant states that Bolton would designate ‘certain information’ for ‘the archive,’ which the warrant states is likely a physical space within his home.

‘POLITICAL REASONS’ 

The probe into Bolton’s alleged retention of classified documents was first launched years ago but later shut down by the Biden administration ‘for political reasons,’ according to a senior U.S. official.

The Justice Department during Trump’s first administration argued that Bolton’s 2020 memoir contained classified material and sought to block its publication. A federal judge ultimately allowed the book to be published.

Justice Department lawyers argued the book contained classified national security information covering areas like U.S. intelligence sources and methods, foreign policy deliberations and conversations with foreign leaders.

In June 2021, the Biden Justice Department abandoned both a criminal inquiry and civil lawsuit against Bolton over the memoir, ending the legal battle at that time.

Bolton’s attorney said at the time that a senior career official in charge of the National Security Council’s pre-publication review process conducted a four-month review of the book and, after requiring a number of revisions, concluded that it contained no classified information.

The book contained a damning account of the Trump White House, alleging that Trump once ‘pleaded’ with Chinese President Xi Jinping to aid his re-election campaign, among other missteps.

Trump ousted Bolton from his first administration in 2019 because the pair ‘disagreed strongly’ on policy. 

Bolton has both praised and criticized Trump since leaving his first administration. 

He criticized Trump’s handling of classified documents, which led to an FBI raid on the former president’s Mar-a-Lago home in 2022 and a subsequent federal indictment but insisted that ‘the legal process play out.’

Trump initially was indicted on 37 felony counts, later expanded to 40, but the case was ultimately dismissed in July 2024.

In 2022, Bolton said Trump lacked the competence and character to be president.

However, Bolton strongly backed Trump’s military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June, calling it ‘a decisive action,’ ‘the right thing to do’ and praising its potential to generate ‘huge change in the Middle East.’

Trump, meanwhile, often has criticized Bolton for pushing U.S. involvement in wars in the Middle East. Bolton served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush from August 2005 to December 2006.

Trump revoked Bolton’s Secret Service detail Jan. 21, the day after Trump’s inauguration as the 47th president, and Bolton said the move showed that Trump was coming after him.

‘I think it is a retribution presidency,’ Bolton told ABC earlier in 2025, responding to Trump’s move to revoke his security clearance.

Bolton has faced threats from Iran going back years, including an alleged plot to assassinate him in 2021 and the Department of Justice subsequently charging a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for the plot in 2022.

The Iranian threats against Bolton were likely sparked by the January 2020 U.S. strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Quds Force, the Department of Justice reported in 2022. 

Bolton pleaded not guilty to 18 counts in October.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy Sullivan explained the charges to Bolton and asked if he understood them and the potential penalties of up to ten years per count and a maximum fine of $250,000 per count. 

‘I do your honor,’ Bolton said during his arraignment at the federal courthouse in Greenbelt, Maryland. 

‘From on or about April 9, 2018, through at least on or about August 22, 2025, BOLTON abused his position as National Security Advisor by sharing more than a thousand pages of information about his day-to-day activities as the National Security Advisor — including information relating to the national defense which was classified up to the TOP SECRET/SCI level — with two unauthorized individuals, namely Individuals 1 and 2,’ the indictment states. 

‘BOLTON also unlawfully retained documents, writings, and notes relating to the national defense, including information classified up to the TOP SECRET/SCI level, in his home in Montgomery County, Maryland.’

The documents Bolton allegedly transmitted were sent to two individuals unauthorized to view classified documents, the indictment said.

Those documents, according to the indictment, revealed intelligence about future attacks by an adversarial group in another country, a liaison partner sharing sensitive information with the U.S. intelligence community, intelligence that a foreign adversary was planning a missile launch in the future and a covert action in a foreign country that was related to sensitive intergovernmental actions, among other information.

‘The FBI’s investigation revealed that John Bolton allegedly transmitted top-secret information using personal online accounts and retained said documents in his house in direct violation of federal law,’ said FBI Director Kash Patel. 

‘The case was based on meticulous work from dedicated career professionals at the FBI who followed the facts without fear or favor. Weaponization of justice will not be tolerated, and this FBI will stop at nothing to bring to justice anyone who threatens our national security.’

Bolton did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

President Donald Trump has nominated Elon Musk ally Jared Isaacman to serve as NASA administrator again, after yanking his nomination for the role earlier in 2025. 

Trump originally tapped Isaacman, a commercial astronaut and founder and CEO of payment processing company Shift4 Payments, for the post, but Trump rescinded his nomination in May amid tension between the president and Musk.

‘Jared’s passion for Space, astronaut experience, and dedication to pushing the boundaries of exploration, unlocking the mysteries of the universe, and advancing the new Space economy, make him ideally suited to lead NASA into a bold new Era,’ Trump said in a social media post Tuesday.

Trump originally said when he revoked Isaacman’s nomination for the position that the move came after ‘a thorough review of prior associations.’

Furthermore, Trump said he would select a ‘new Nominee who will be Mission aligned, and put America First in Space.’

Isaacman’s ties to Musk include being an investor in SpaceX, and leading two private spaceflight missions with SpaceX, including Inspiration4. The 2021 Inspiration4 mission marked the first time an all-civilian crew orbited Earth.

Isaacman initially discussed his pulled nomination in an episode of the ‘All-In Podcast,’ hosted by four venture capitalists and covers business, technology and society, in an episode that dropped in June. At the time, Isaacman said he received a call from the White House May 30 notifying him his nomination wouldn’t advance because the White House had ‘decided to go in a different direction.’ 

Isaacman said he suspected his ties to Musk were part of the decision, and said the call came the same day Musk’s tenure heading up the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) finished.  

‘I don’t need to play dumb on this,’ Isaacman said in the podcast. ‘I don’t think that the timing was much of a coincidence, that there were other changes going on the same day.’

Trump and Musk sparred earlier in 2025 due to disagreements about the president’s massive tax and spending package, known as the ‘big, beautiful bill,’ which Trump signed into law in July. 

While Musk said at the time he opposed the bill because of reports it would increase the federal deficit, Trump said Musk didn’t back the measure because of provisions included to cut an electric vehicle tax credit that benefits companies like Musk’s Tesla.

However, the two appear to have moved on, and both were seen shaking hands and talking during conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s funeral in September. 

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy has been serving as the acting NASA administrator since July. 

The nation’s largest food aid program will only resume in full when ‘Radical Left Democrats’ open the government, President Donald Trump wrote Tuesday on social media.

Trump posted about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) on his Truth Social platform, saying that the benefits, meant to be a lifeline for low-income households, were given out too freely under former President Joe Biden, sending costs skyrocketing.

‘SNAP BENEFITS, which increased by Billions and Billions of Dollars (MANY FOLD!) during Crooked Joe Biden’s disastrous term in office (Due to the fact that they were haphazardly ‘handed’ to anyone for the asking, as opposed to just those in need, which is the purpose of SNAP!), will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!’ the president’s post read.

Trump’s post comes as funding for the program was set to expire over the weekend as the government shutdown entered its second month.

On Monday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., signaled that the expiration of funding may not be enough to persuade Democrats to end the government shutdown.

When asked if Democrats voting for the GOP federal funding bill would be the most prudent way to fix that, he said, ‘No.’

The Trump administration told a federal judge on Monday that it will partially resume SNAP benefits for the month of November despite the ongoing government shutdown, though when the payments will be distributed — and how much beneficiaries will receive — remains to be seen.

A senior Trump administration official told the court in a sworn declaration that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will allocate $4.65 billion of its $5 billion contingency fund to keep the SNAP program funded for the month of November.

SNAP supports more than 40 million Americans and has come under recent attention over how expansive the program has become and to the administration’s push to ensure illegal immigrants aren’t among its recipients.

The program was among the first that Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins targeted for review, citing concerns about eligibility and oversight.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., recently pushed new legislation seeking special funding for farmers and food assistance programs amid the government shutdown. The legislation would reinstate federal funding for the Farm Service Agency and SNAP.

‘We need to start forcing Democrats to make some tough votes. We need to start holding their feet to the fire,’ Hawley said in an interview with Fox News Digital last month. ‘I mean, do they really not want people to be able to eat? This situation is ridiculous.’

Fox News Digital reached out to Hawley’s office for comment on Trump’s most recent post about SNAP but did not immediately hear back.

Fox News Digital’s Amanda Macias, Elizabeth Elkind, Breanne Deppisch and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

Senate Democrats blocked Republicans’ attempt to reopen the government for a 14th time, all but ensuring that the government shutdown becomes the longest in U.S. history.

The move to again reject the House-passed continuing resolution (CR) comes as winds of optimism and exhaustion have swept through the upper chamber. Lawmakers are engaging in more bipartisan talks, and more believe that an off-ramp is in sight.

Still, Tuesday morning’s vote against the CR came as the shutdown matched the previous 35-day record set in 2019, and it all but ensured that it would surpass that unfortunate milestone later on in the evening.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his Democratic caucus are still largely entrenched in their position that unless an ironclad deal on expiring Obamacare subsidies is struck, they won’t reopen the government.

During a speech on the Senate floor, Schumer squarely placed the blame for the healthcare issue on Republicans and President Donald Trump as Americans got notices of increased premiums over the weekend. 

‘The only plan Republicans have for healthcare seems to be to eliminate it, and then to tell working people to go figure it out on their own,’ he said. ‘That’s not a healthcare plan. That’s cruel.’ 

However, his caucus’ resolve showed signs of weakening on Monday, when a group of nearly a dozen Senate Democrats met behind closed doors to discuss a way out.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said he was optimistic about the shutdown coming to an end soon, but he wasn’t confident that it would be by the end of this week.

He noted that Republicans have made a plethora of options available to Senate Democrats, including guaranteeing a vote on the expiring subsidies, or ‘whatever their Obamacare bill is,’ after the government reopens. When asked if he believed lawmakers were close to reaching an end, he said, ‘I hope close.’ 

‘But the pressures, the cross pressures that everybody’s feeling, are great,’ Thune said. ‘But I think there are people who realize this has gone on long enough and that there’s been enough pain inflicted on the American people, and it’s time to end it. So we’ll see whether that’s, you know, sufficient numbers are there.’

Then there’s the reality that the current end date of Nov. 21 for the House-passed CR doesn’t give lawmakers enough time to advance funding bills, which has been a primary objective for Thune and others. And, many don’t want to reopen the government just to see it close back down a few weeks later.

Lawmakers are mulling extending the current CR, either by amending it or with a new bill, which would give them enough time to finish spending bills and avoid a colossal, year-end omnibus spending bill. Some are eyeing January, while others would prefer an extension into December. A trio of spending bills, known as a minibus, could also be tied to the revamped extension.

Those talks are happening parallel to discussions on Obamacare, but neither side has so far made a move to fully construct an off-ramp out of the shutdown.

When asked if he believed that the shutdown could end this week, Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., who has routinely engaged in bipartisan talks since the shutdown began, said, ‘I don’t know, I hope so.’

‘Bottom line is they can stop all this with one vote and get back into it and get back to work on a bipartisan basis,’ he said. ‘Again, that’s what we’re hoping.’

Both sides recognize that changing the subsidies, either through reforms or impacting the rates, will be difficult given that insurers already released rates and guidance over the weekend in line with the start of open enrollment.

Still, lawmakers are discussing a path forward on the subsidies. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who has been involved in bipartisan talks, said that her proposal for the subsidies would extend them for two years.

She noted that it would be, ‘Really, really hard to do any reforms right now,’ because the insurance rates had been released, and that her proposal was one of many in the mix.

Ultimately, it’ll come down to the right blend of ideas to build an off-ramp for the subsidies. Murkowski said that changing the income cap, which was eliminated when the subsidies were enhanced under former President Joe Biden, and changes to the low-cost premium contribution were just a couple ideas on the table.

‘There’s no highly brand-new thing that anybody’s really talking about,’ she said. ‘It’s just what’s the right concoction?’

But some Senate Democrats are frustrated that Trump has not gotten more involved and argue that unless he gives an explicit greenlight, any deal crafted on the Hill doesn’t matter.

Trump has agreed to meet with Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., only after the government reopens. And over the weekend, he demanded that Senate Republicans nuke the 60-vote filibuster threshold, something that is unlikely to happen any time soon, if ever.

‘At no point since Oct. 1 has Donald Trump agreed to sit down with Democratic leaders,’ Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., said. ‘So, he can talk all he wants about the filibuster, but until he actually puts some skin in the game and sits down and talks to us, like, that is all meaningless to me. And I honestly, like, don’t care about him pontificating this stuff on social media. Like, if he’s got time to tweet, he’s got time to just come and talk to us.’

As the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas continues to play out, the USAID Office of the Inspector General (USAID OIG) pursues its investigation into allegations of U.S. taxpayer dollars being diverted to foreign terrorist organizations.

A U.S. diplomatic official briefed on USAID OIG’s ongoing investigations told Fox News Digital that the OIG’s office ‘received and continues to receive reports directly from aid workers and other parties on the ground that counters the sanitized narrative that Hamas was never involved in the theft of American funded aid.’ The official reported that reports are still being ‘sent in by whistleblowers and aid workers who are fed up with the U.N.’s failure to identify Hamas as the culprit.’

USAID OIG issued its first warnings about the possible diversion of American aid to Gaza in Nov. 2023, noting that it was an ‘investigative priority to ensure that assistance does not fall into the hands of foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs), including, but not limited to, Hamas.’

In a July 30 update, USAID OIG reported that it was ‘investigating credible allegations of Hamas interference, diversion, and theft of humanitarian aid in Gaza, as well as allegations of smuggling contraband into Gaza through humanitarian aid shipments.’

The United Nations has admitted that most of the aid it sent into Gaza after May 2025 was diverted by armed actors and hungry Gazans. Yet the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has stated that Hamas was not responsible for widespread aid diversion.

In July, Reuters reported that a USAID analysis found little evidence of Hamas theft of Gaza aid, something the State Department and the White House disputed. Anna Kelly, a White House spokesperson, told Reuters that it ‘was likely produced by a deep state operative,’ seeking to discredit President Donald Trump’s ‘humanitarian agenda.’

Over half of USAID programming is obligated to U.N. organizations. However, the USAID OIG reported in July 2024 that since October 2023, it had received ’17 reports of alleged misconduct from five USAID-funded implementers,’ only two of which were submitted by U.N. organizations.

The OIG also noted that U.N. organizations were exempt from USAID’s partner vetting process, which ‘creates risk to USAID’s programs.’

The diplomatic source also reported seeing U.N. duplicity over food deliveries into Gaza firsthand. The source attended Joint Coordination Board meetings where officials from the Israel Defense Forces, U.S. Army, U.S. aid organizations, the U.N. and the International Committee of the Red Cross had ‘robust, extensive, and productive’ discussions about aid deliveries and appeared to share ‘a sense of mission.’

‘It was shocking then to read press releases by those same U.N. agencies, the very next day totally body-slamming the government of Israel for failing to coordinate delivery of aid,’ the official said.

Much of the USAID OIG’s effort since the outbreak of war following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks has concerned Hamas’ infiltration of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

The office concluded an investigation in April 2025 that found three UNRWA members were connected with the Oct. 7 attack and another 14 were affiliates of Hamas.

UNRWA previously fired nine employees for their association with the attacks, according to reports.

In July, USAID OIG reported being ‘unable to obtain from UNRWA’ the names of the personnel it fired.

The diplomatic source said that the USAID OIG investigators ‘opened an independent investigation, obtaining information that UNRWA refused to provide through other sources and methods,’ with the goal of ensuring ‘that UNRWA officials associated with Hamas do not recirculate to other U.S. taxpayer-funded organizations operating in Gaza,’ the official said.

Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., has begun an investigation into UNRWA staff participation in the Oct. 7 attacks, which led to over 1,200 Israelis and 32 Americans being killed and 251 people taken hostage.

In an open letter to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres dated Oct. 27, Comer requested unredacted copies of a U.N. Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) report into UNRWA participation in the deadly attack and asked for correspondence and other details about staff who were investigated for their possible roles.

Comer noted that the U.S. provides 22% of the U.N.’s general budget, 40% of its humanitarian budget and 25% of its peacekeeping budget, in addition to providing $343 million in 2022 and $422 million in 2023 to UNRWA. ‘The requested documents and communications are required for verification that no U.N. entity or NGO receiving American taxpayer funds employs individuals affiliated with or supporting terrorist entities,’ Comer said.

Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for Guterres, told Fox News Digital that the U.N. has been ‘sharing information with the United States government on matters raised in the letter. We are presently considering the committee’s request and intend to respond with relevant information.’ Dujarric said he would ‘not say anything more publicly at this time.’

William Deere, director of the UNRWA Representative Office in Washington, D.C., told Fox News Digital that ‘the United Nations provided the USAID IG with an unredacted copy of the U.N. Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) investigation report months ago. To suggest information is being withheld from the U.S. is simply disingenuous. Following the government of Israel’s initial allegations in January of 2024 of potential UNRWA staff misconduct, Commissioner-General Lazzarini immediately terminated the appointments of the named staff ‘in the interest of the Agency,’ to protect UNRWA’s ability to deliver humanitarian assistance.’

Deere claimed that, ‘regrettably, since that time the government of Israel has failed to provide the United States, the United Nations, or UNRWA with the information and evidence that would substantiate its claims against UNRWA employees. Significantly, the government of Israel has also failed to take action against any of the named individuals in their own judicial system. The record is clear, UNRWA investigates every claim brought to it of potential employee misconduct, as evidenced by the multiple requests the agency has made to the Israeli government for the information in these cases.’

The U.S. diplomatic official familiar with UNRWA’s investigation disputes the U.N.’s assertion that members of Hamas do not remain on UNRWA’s payroll, saying that ‘Perhaps ‘some’ of the Oct. 7 terrorists were removed, but UNRWA continues to employ Hamas members, there is no question. They are a subsidiary of Hamas.’

A report on Monday by the Washington Free Beacon said a confidential copy of the U.N. Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) report on UNRWA members’ participation in the Oct. 7 attack claimed to show that OIOS dismissed the evidence provided by Israeli intelligence of intercepted calls between Hamas personnel and UNRWA staff as ‘likely authentic’ but ‘insufficient’ proof of cooperation to support the firing of 10 additional UNRWA employees. Additionally, the report said that the U.N. ‘did not investigate ties to Hamas outside participation in the Oct. 7 attacks.’

Foundation for Defense of Democracies Senior Advisor Richard Goldberg told Fox News Digital that ‘UNRWA was Hamas in Gaza. It remains a terror and radicalization threat elsewhere. When Israel banned UNRWA in Gaza, it was quickly replaced by other U.N. agencies and NGOs. UNRWA proved neither indispensable nor irreplaceable — a lie repeated by many.’

‘We also need to dismantle the entire agency in the context of deradicalization,’ Goldberg said. ‘Oct. 7 will keep happening again and again so long as UNRWA exists. The Trump plan will fail where UNRWA is present. Arab countries are making peace with Israel. UNRWA is still waging the war of 1948.’

USAID OIG confirmed that its ‘investigations of UNRWA officials affiliated with Hamas are active and ongoing, and intended to prevent the recirculation of terrorists to other U.S.-funded organizations operating in Gaza.’

In response to questions about whether the State Department had utilized the USAID OIG report on UNRWA members’ participation in Oct. 7 attacks, a spokesperson told Fox News Digital that ‘As a general matter, the department does not comment on internal or investigative reports, nor on actions that may be under consideration. UNRWA was complicit in Oct. 7 and is unfit for purpose. Our policy is that it will not play a role in Gaza again.’

While President Donald Trump is pressuring Senate Republicans to nix the filibuster, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said during an interview on Fox News Radio’s ‘Guy Benson Show’ that ‘there just simply aren’t the votes’ to eliminate the ’60-vote threshold.’

While Republicans hold the majority in the upper chamber, the procedural hurdle serves as a check on the majority party’s power due to the threshold required to advance matters towards a vote in the chamber.

Thune suggested that there is likely no more than 10 to 12 of the 53 GOP senators who would vote to eliminate the filibuster.

The senator said it had been an ‘important tool’ for Republicans when they had the minority, noting that last year they ‘blocked a whole host of terrible Democrat policies’ due to ‘the 60-vote threshold.’

While Thune suggested that Democrats would vote to eliminate the filibuster if they have the majority, he warned that if Republicans ‘do their dirty work for them,’ Republicans will ‘own all the crap’ Democrats would later do.

President Donald Trump is pushing Republicans to end the procedural hurdle.

‘The Democrats are far more likely to win the Midterms, and the next Presidential Election, if we don’t do the Termination of the Filibuster (The Nuclear Option!), because it will be impossible for Republicans to get Common Sense Policies done with these Crazed Democrat Lunatics being able to block everything by withholding their votes. FOR THREE YEARS, NOTHING WILL BE PASSED, AND REPUBLICANS WILL BE BLAMED. Elections, including the Midterms, will be rightfully brutal,’ the president declared in a portion of a lengthy Truth Social post.

‘TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER NOW, END THE RIDICULOUS SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATELY, AND THEN, MOST IMPORTANTLY, PASS EVERY WONDERFUL REPUBLICAN POLICY THAT WE HAVE DREAMT OF, FOR YEARS, BUT NEVER GOTTEN. WE WILL BE THE PARTY THAT CANNOT BE BEATEN – THE SMART PARTY!!!’ he declared.

The Department of Justice on Monday urged a federal court to reject former FBI Director James Comey’s bid to dismiss his case, arguing that his claims of selective prosecution are unfounded.

The DOJ, in its 48-page filing, also denied that President Donald Trump’s September Truth Social post calling on U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute prominent political adversaries, including Comey, Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and New York Attorney General Letitia James, had any influence on the decision to bring charges.

‘These posts reflect the President’s view that the defendant has committed crimes that should be met with prosecution. They may even suggest that the President disfavors the defendant. But they are not direct evidence of a vindictive motive,’ prosecutors argued.

‘The defendant spins a tale that requires leaps of logic and a big dose of cynicism, then he calls the President’s post a direct admission,’ they continued. ‘There is no direct admission of discriminatory purpose. To the contrary, the only direct admission from the President is that DOJ officials decided whether to prosecute, not him.’

Trump wrote in a Sept. 20 post on his Truth Social platform that ‘nothing is being done’ to Comey, Schiff or James.

‘They’re all guilty as hell,’ he said. ‘They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!’

The Wall Street Journal reported that the public Truth Social post was intended as a private message to Bondi.

Comey was indicted by a federal grand jury in late September on charges of false statements and obstructing a congressional proceeding. He pleaded not guilty.

His legal team filed a motion on Oct. 20 to dismiss the indictment on grounds of vindictive and selective prosecution. They also argued that Lindsey Halligan, the interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, was unlawfully appointed.

Halligan, Trump’s former personal attorney, was appointed by the president after Erik Siebert, the former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, resigned. Siebert reportedly resigned amid mounting pressure from the White House to bring charges against Comey and James.

‘The official who purported to secure and sign the indictment was invalidly appointed to her position as interim U.S. Attorney. Because of that fundamental constitutional and statutory defect, the indictment is a nullity and must be dismissed,’ Comey’s legal team wrote.

The Justice Department maintains that Halligan’s appointment as interim U.S. attorney was lawful, arguing that it was in line with federal statute and the Constitution’s Appointments Clause.

Comey’s trial is scheduled to begin in January 2026.

What if Sen. Bernie Sanders is right and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is wrong?

What if the AI revolution causes mass layoffs of American workers, as the Vermont senator warned in a recent Fox News op-ed? And what if Powell is wrong that the softening labor market is due primarily to supply issues — lower immigration and a lower labor participation rate — rather than AI-produced ‘efficiencies’?

What will be the response of policymakers? What should it be?

AI will soon become a political battleground. Democratic socialist Sanders, ever the class warrior, has already questioned whether AI will help all Americans or only ‘a handful of billionaires.’ Like the trade deals that sent millions of jobs overseas, Sanders worries that the massive investment flowing into AI could result in up to 100 million Americans losing their jobs over the next decade. He could be right; imagine the repercussions.

Young people are already losing faith in capitalism and cozying up to socialism. Two-thirds of Democrats now view socialism more positively than capitalism. Nothing could undermine our capitalist system faster than widespread job losses stemming from a tech breakthrough cheered by the investor class.

This is the critical issue of our day — one getting scant attention, even from self-described ‘data-driven’ Powell, who is perennially looking backward rather than forward. In his latest press conference, Powell answered one question about employment by saying, ‘The supply of workers has dropped very, very sharply due to mainly immigration, but also lower labor force participation. So, and that means there’s less need for new jobs, because there’s — there isn’t this flow into the pool of labor where people need jobs.’ Excuse me, what?

The economy is growing, yet hiring is declining. Though the government shutdown has blocked the usual monthly labor reports, plenty of data suggests the job market is weakening. Companies are increasingly citing AI investment as a factor in lower headcounts.

Corporate America is spending tens of billions of dollars on AI, promising shareholders great gains in productivity. But where will that productivity come from, other than reducing headcounts? Certainly, people armed with artificial intelligence can deliver information and analyses more rapidly, making themselves and their organizations more productive. But ultimately, it will also make some people redundant and slow new hiring. The impact on America’s labor market will be profound — and is largely being ignored.

Amazon recently announced it was laying off 14,000 employees. A top human resources official at the firm sent a note titled ‘Staying nimble and continuing to strengthen our organizations.’ She wrote that ‘the world is changing quickly. This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the Internet, and it’s enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before.’

What kinds of workers are at risk? Factory workers and truck drivers, for sure, who are already being replaced by robots and AI — but also white-collar employees. Fortune notes that the Amazon layoffs ‘show it’s coming for middle management first.’ The world’s largest retailer employs about 1.5 million people; 14,000 is a drop in the bucket. But the trend is worrisome — and for those 14,000 people, devastating.

Amazon is not alone. UPS recently announced it has cut 48,000 jobs this year — 14,000 management positions and 34,000 in operations. UPS started the year with about 500,000 employees. Target also made headlines recently, saying it will cut 8% of its corporate workforce — its first significant layoffs in a decade.

Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas cites market and economic conditions as the main reason for most corporate layoffs to date but also points to AI. That makes sense. After all, the economy is growing briskly — second-quarter real GDP growth was 3.8%, and it looks like we’ll see robust expansion for the third quarter as well.

There has never been a faster adoption of new technology. Already, an estimated one-third of Americans use AI; ChatGPT receives 5.4 billion visits per month. Global AI revenues are expected to total $391 billion this year and could reach $3.5 trillion by 2033. These estimates may be optimistic, but top tech firms are investing about $400 billion this year alone to expand capacity, according to The Wall Street Journal. They clearly believe the projections.

Bernie Sanders aside, no one should want to halt the AI revolution. Artificial intelligence promises extraordinary advances in medicine and other sciences — and could radically improve education for America’s children.

It’s also largely American companies that will benefit from the explosion in AI spending, reaping the profits and influence that come with global dominance of a new technology. Rising productivity will spur hiring in certain industries and boost real wages. It will also allow for the retirement of the 20-plus million baby boomers still working.

But there may well be a period of adjustment when layoffs exceed job creation. Unemployment may rise, fueling anger at the innovations producing more out-of-work Americans and resentment toward the companies behind the disruptions.

Lawmakers and financial leaders need to be prepared for this possibility — one that could deepen voters’ growing affection for socialism and rejection of capitalism. That would be a disaster for a country that has outperformed every other nation on Earth, producing unprecedented opportunity and wealth.

Otherwise, it will be Bernie Sanders and his left-wing colleagues dictating the response. Sanders advocates a 32-hour workweek with no loss in pay, giving workers significantly more power and imposing a ‘robot tax’ on big tech companies. Such measures would slow American competitiveness and growth, as they have in Europe.

We cannot allow that to happen.

President Donald Trump publicly endorsed Andrew Cuomo on Monday while threatening to withhold federal funding from New York City if Zohran Mamdani, who he labeled a ‘Communist’, wins the mayoral election.

In a lengthy post on Truth Social, he also warned that the city would face ‘total economic and social disaster’ under Mamdani’s leadership.

‘If Communist Candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the Election for Mayor of New York City, it is highly unlikely that I will be contributing Federal Funds, other than the very minimum as required, to my beloved first home, because of the fact that, as a Communist, this once great City has ZERO chance of success, or even survival!’ he wrote in the post.

‘It can only get worse with a Communist at the helm, and I don’t want to send, as President, good money after bad. It is my obligation to run the Nation, and it is my strong conviction that New York City will be a Complete and Total Economic and Social Disaster should Mamdani win,’ he added before claiming a win for Mamdani would be a ‘Complete and Total Economic and Social Disaster.’

The president’s post also marked his latest attempt to guide New Yorkers at the polls.

‘A vote for Curtis Sliwa (who looks much better without the beret!) is a vote for Mamdani,’ Trump added.

‘Whether you personally like Andrew Cuomo or not, you really have no choice. You must vote for him, and hope he does a fantastic job. He is capable of it, Mamdani is not!’

Speaking at a press event in New York on the eve of the election, Mamdani responded to the president’s Truth Social post.

‘The MAGA movement’s embrace of Andrew Cuomo is reflective of Donald Trump’s understanding that this would be the best mayor for him,’ he said.

‘Not the best mayor for New York City, not the best mayor for New Yorkers, but the best mayor for Donald Trump and his administration.’

Mamdani also responded to Elon Musk supporting Cuomo on Monday, saying ‘the reason that the President of the United States of America, the reason that one of the wealthiest men in the world are both trying to get involved at the last minute, is that they know we will accomplish everything we have run on.’

The socialist mayoral candidate spoke out about Trump’s threat to withhold federal funding from the city, and labeled it unlawful.

‘It is not the law,’ Mamdani told reporters. ‘And too often we treat everything that comes out of Donald Trump’s mouth as if it is already legal, just by virtue of who is saying it.’