U.S. forces destroyed 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels near the Strait of Hormuz Tuesday, U.S. Central Command said, in what officials described as a move to prevent Iran from disrupting one of the world’s most critical maritime choke points.

The strikes come as oil traffic through the strait remains at a near standstill, threatening a corridor that carries roughly 20 million barrels per day — about one-fifth of global consumption — and squeezing Gulf exporters like Iraq and Kuwait that rely on the narrow passage to ship their primary source of revenue.

Prior to taking out the mining vessels, Trump demanded Iran remove them ‘IMMEDIATELY!’ warning that if it doesn’t, ‘the Military consequences to Iran will be at a level never seen before.’

U.S. officials have long warned that Iran maintains a significant naval mine inventory and has rehearsed tactics designed to threaten commercial shipping in the Gulf. The destruction of the vessels appears aimed at stopping any potential deployment before mines could be laid in shipping lanes.

The Strait of Hormuz, bordered by Iran to the north and Oman and the United Arab Emirates to the south, is a critical artery for global energy markets. Even the threat of mining operations can further disrupt traffic and spike insurance and shipping costs.

It was not immediately clear whether any mines had already been placed in the water before the U.S. action. Citing intelligence sources, CNN reported Iran had laid a few dozen mines in the strait in recent days and had the capability to place hundreds more. 

Since Friday, seven vessels, including four tankers and three bulk carriers, have passed through the strait, according to data from trade intelligence platform Kpler.

The U.S. Navy has been weighing escorts for commercial ships through the strait. 

‘We’re looking at a range of options there and will figure out how to solve problems as they come to us,’ Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine told Fox News Tuesday. 

The world is watching to see whether the Navy will step in to try to free up shipping. Immediately after an inaccurate and since-deleted post from Energy Secretary Chris Wright claiming the Navy had escorted a tanker, oil prices fell nearly 12%.

European allies are moving in as well: France sent two frigates to join a European Union-led escort mission for ships through the strait, though their arrival timeline is unclear.

While U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has claimed the U.S. and Israel have ‘total air dominance’ over Iran’s skies, that doesn’t mean the threat from missiles and drones is entirely eliminated yet. 

The Navy won’t escort tankers until Iran’s missile and drone threat is eliminated, retired Gen. Jack Keane told FOX Business. 

‘Makes no sense in terms of the risk when we’re going to finish them off entirely in a few weeks,’ he said.  

Recognizing the squeeze on prices around the globe, Trump announced Monday the U.S. would remove oil-related sanctions. 

‘We are also waiving certain oil-related sanctions to reduce prices,’ he said during a press conference. ‘So in some countries, we’re going to take those sanctions off until this straightens out. Then, who knows, maybe we won’t have to put them on.’

The United States currently maintains sanctions affecting oil Iran, Venezuela, Russia, Syria and North Korea. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to detail what that relief would look like. A 30-day waiver was already recently issued for Russian oil stranded at sea to reach India.

A naval mine costing only a few thousand dollars can cripple or even sink a $2 billion U.S. destroyer. 

The danger is not theoretical: In 1988, USS Samuel B. Roberts nearly sank after striking an Iranian mine in the Persian Gulf. 

Mine-laying operations are often conducted covertly at night using small vessels such as fishing dhows or fast-attack craft, allowing mines to be deployed with little warning and potentially devastating consequences.

A group of House Republicans is urging the Trump administration to choke off Russia’s profits from one of its largest energy companies as global oil prices spike.

It comes as the U.S. and Israel’s conflict with Iran, one of Russia’s closest allies and another major energy producer, is threatening to spiral the market out of control both overseas and here at home.

Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, who chairs the Republican Study Committee, is leading five fellow GOP lawmakers in a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent regarding Lukoil — which accounts for roughly 2% of the world’s oil output.

Western sanctions have forced Lukoil to announce it would sell certain international assets as countries like the U.S. and U.K. attempt to whittle down Russia’s control over global energy.

‘The U.S. government has a significant role — in fact, a responsibility — in determining the ultimate fate of these oil and gas assets. We encourage you to exercise the utmost caution to ensure we do not inadvertently squander this opportunity and relinquish our leverage to U.S. adversaries,’ the Republicans wrote.

They warned against a situation where ‘transaction loopholes or back-room deals with Lukoil’s senior management’ could allow Lukoil assets to ‘slip back into Russia’s hands as tensions subside or U.S. sanctions are lifted.’

The six Republicans on the letter, all from Texas, are also lobbying the administration to ease a pathway for Lone Star State companies to acquire those assets.

‘President Trump has created a once-in-a-generation opportunity not only to defund Russia’s war machine but also for leading American energy companies — including at least two headquartered in the great State of Texas — to acquire the LIG portfolio, permanently removing globally significant oil and gas assets from Russian control, enhancing energy security, affordability, and reliability, and strengthening President Trump’s America First agenda,’ they argued.

‘[W]e encourage the Department of the Treasury — in concert with the White House and Departments of Energy, State, and War — to scrutinize every detail of the various proposals to ensure that any sale of LIG’s assets ‘completely severs’ ties with the Russian parent company, paving the way for American energy companies to meet this moment with the urgency and precision it so deserves.’

The push comes at a particularly consequential time on the world stage as Iran continues to retaliate against U.S. allies in the Middle East.

Earlier this month, the U.S. and Israel began a joint operation launching strikes against Iran that targeted its military and nuclear assets as well as top leadership ranks.

Russia, which has been wreaking havoc on European energy markets with its invasion of Ukraine since February 2022, has reportedly been aiding Iran against the U.S. operation.

The Washington Post reported that Moscow was providing intelligence to Tehran to help it target U.S. forces in the region. It’s a particularly significant development in the wake of eight U.S. service members’ deaths since the conflict began.

Pfluger cited the conflict in the new letter, but did not mention Russia’s alleged role in aiding Iran.

‘American energy dominance is critical to our national security, and as the events of the last several days in Iran and the broader Middle East region have highlighted, our ability to promote peace through strength is enabled by our role in facilitating the stable and secure supply of energy to world markets,’ the letter said.

‘In this increasingly complex geopolitical era, we believe America’s energy companies, and not those of our adversaries, should continue leading the way.’

Meanwhile, AAA reported that the average national gas price in the U.S. rose by 27 cents to $3.25 as of March 5 since the Iran conflict began.

As of March 11, AAA’s calculations put the national gas price average at nearly $3.58.

In a sharp break from his long-standing defense of the Senate filibuster, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, urged Republicans Wednesday to enact ‘whatever changes’ necessary to send a Trump-backed voter ID bill to President Donald Trump’s desk before November’s midterm elections.

Cornyn, who is locked in a fierce runoff against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, is pressing Senate Republicans to pass the SAVE (Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility) America Act — even if it means scrapping the chamber’s 60-vote legislative filibuster.

His appeal marks a significant reversal for the Texas Republican, who long argued the filibuster served as a safeguard against Democrats advancing sweeping left-wing priorities with a simple majority.

‘For many years, I believed that if the U.S. Senate scrapped the filibuster, Texas and our nation would stand to lose more than we would gain,’ Cornyn wrote in a New York Post op-ed Wednesday morning. ‘But when the reality on the ground changes, leaders must take stock and adapt.’

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is expected to put the SAVE America Act to a vote in the Senate next week, but the measure could fail on the floor given widespread opposition from Democrats. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is also facing a weeks-long shutdown over Democrats’ refusal to fund the agency absent vast reforms to immigration enforcement.

Under Senate rules, both pieces of legislation would have to overcome the 60-vote threshold — meaning buy-in from some Democrats — to survive a key procedural vote before final passage.

‘Today, Democrats are weaponizing the Senate’s rules to block the SAVE America Act, defund the Department of Homeland Security and hurt the American people — all to spite President Donald Trump,’ Cornyn wrote.

‘After careful consideration, I support whatever changes to Senate rules that may prove necessary for us to get the SAVE America Act and Homeland Security funding past the Democrats’ obstruction, through the Senate and on the president’s desk for his signature,’ Cornyn added.

Trump has repeatedly called on the Senate to pass the voter ID bill, calling it the ‘number one priority’ during an address to House Republicans on Monday.

The House-passed legislation would require proof-of-citizenship to vote in federal elections, impose voter ID requirements and require states to remove noncitizens from voter rolls. Trump has asked Republicans to add provisions that crack down on mail-in ballots, prohibit biological males’ participation in women’s sports and ban child sex-change procedures. 

Trump has also threatened not to sign any legislation into law until the SAVE America Act clears the Senate. The White House later clarified that DHS funding was not included in the president’s ultimatum.

‘We can either unilaterally disarm, or we can stand and fight,’ Cornyn wrote. ‘The answer is clear: We need to stand, fight and win.

Both Cornyn and Paxton are vying for Trump’s endorsement ahead of the late May runoff election that will decide who will face Democratic candidate James Talarico, a Texas state senator, in the November general election. Trump said last week that he would ‘soon’ back a candidate, but he has yet to issue an endorsement. Cornyn, who has served in the upper chamber since 2002, is seeking his fifth Senate term.

Paxton said last week that he would consider exiting the race if the Senate were to circumvent the filibuster and pass the SAVE America Act.

‘The SAVE America Act is the most important bill the U.S. Senate could ever pass, and I’m committed to helping President Trump get it done,’ Paxton wrote. 

Despite Cornyn’s new openness to filibuster reform, the SAVE America Act still faces an uphill battle in the Senate. The bill passed the House last month in a vote mostly along party lines.

Thune, a supporter of the SAVE America Act, has repeatedly said that the votes do not exist to scrap the 60-vote filibuster and advance the voter ID measure.

The majority leader has also warned against using the talking filibuster — a little-used maneuver preferred by some conservatives — arguing that approach would have unintended consequences and risks jamming the Senate floor for an indefinite period.

‘The votes aren’t there for a talking filibuster,’ Thune said Tuesday.

‘I’m the person who has to deliver sometimes the not-so-good news that the math doesn’t add up, but those are the facts and there’s no getting around it,’ he continued.

About 60% of Texas Republicans voted last Tuesday to end John Cornyn’s career in the Senate, but it wasn’t really Cornyn they were rejecting. It was the feckless, do-nothing GOP Senate leadership that makes ‘Waiting for Godot’ look like a ‘Fast and Furious.’

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wound up in a virtual tie with Cornyn, and headed to a runoff precisely because Republican voters, not just in Texas, but across the country, are incandescently angry at the GOP-controlled Senate’s inability to do, well, much of anything.

This righteous fury is why Paxton’s political play in the face of a runoff was so brilliant. He said that if the Senate would pass the Save America Act, and its voter ID provisions, he would drop out, saving President Donald Trump from having to swoop in with a decisive endorsement.

For Cornyn, and more importantly for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., this occasioned a crisis, a much-needed one, in fact, as GOP voters stare across the desk at Senate leadership, like the Bobs in ‘Office Space,’ asking, if they can’t pass a bill with massive public support, what would they say they do there?

Thune responded Monday to growing public calls to pass the Save America Act in the stupidest, most infuriating way possible, by asserting that voters aren’t really angry, and the furor is all just a campaign by paid influencers.

The fact that Thune has not apologized for this yet is incredible. It is as condescending to working-class voters as anything a politician has ever said.

Does Thune think that 60% of Republicans in Texas voting against the Senate status quo is a sign that they think he’s doing a great job?

It is not.

All across the country, Republican voters tell me that they are apoplectic about the Senate. Yes, they understand the arcane 60-vote filibuster stuff. They just don’t care. They want and need action from a body that refuses to act.

And it isn’t just Paxton who knows in his bones how vitally GOP voters need a win on the Save America Act, it is also Trump, who has shown a rare amount of patience with Thune’s ineptitude and incalcitrance. At least so far.

Even Cornyn has come around, if only in the face of his own potential political demise, penning a column in the New York Post calling for the filibuster to be abandoned and the act to be passed.

But Thune, with his long, sad face and low mournful voice like Eeyore the donkey, just keeps saying, ‘We don’t have the votes to break the filibuster.’

Ok, John, then how about this: Any Republican senator who refuses to vote to break the filibuster loses their committee assignments, gets no money from the party and is promised a primary.

The most dangerous thing I heard from GOP voters in Texas, and I heard it from plenty, is that they are starting to think their vote just doesn’t matter, that nothing can change anyway. And right now, who would argue with them?

I don’t know who Thune surrounds himself with who told him that the anger I see everywhere from Republican voters is just a paid influencer campaign, but I would urge him to go talk to some actual voters instead of his K Street cronies.

It was an ominous sign that more Democrats than Republicans voted in last week’s deep-red Texas primary, but not a surprise, because the demoralized aren’t eager voters. And if the Save America Act dies on the vine, even fewer will feel compelled to cast a ballot.

In the final moments of ‘Waiting for Godot,’ Vladimir says, ‘Well? Shall we go?’ To which Estragon replies, ‘Yes, let’s go.’ And then the famous stage direction, (They do not move.).

There is no direct evidence to show that Samuel Beckett was inspired by Senate Republican leadership when he wrote this, but he could have been, because it is the same old scene, over and over.

If nothing else, Thune needs to look GOP voters in the eye and say, directly, ‘We hear you. We know you are angry. We see it in the primary results and we will listen to what you want and try to do better.’

Right now, Thune and Senate Republicans are like the inattentive husband who doesn’t know the divorce papers have already been filed. It may not be too late to work it out with voters, but it’s getting pretty close.

President Donald Trump took a bow Tuesday night for his 5-0 record for his endorsed candidates in the Republican elections held in Mississippi and Georgia.

‘March 10th election update: 5 wins, 0 losses,’ an election night image posted to Truth Social blared. ‘President Trump endorsements 100%.’

The image hailed a 4-0 record in Mississippi (Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss.; Reps. Mike Ezell, R-Miss.; Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss.; Rep. Trent Kelly, R-Miss.) and 1-0 in Georgia, albeit with a bullet.

‘President Trump’s endorsed candidates keep winning because Republican voters trust his leadership and want America First champions in Congress,’ RNC spokeswoman Emma Hall told Fox News Digital in a statement. ‘From cutting taxes to securing the border, every Republican candidate in the country is proudly running on President Trump’s record and competing for his endorsement because it remains the single most decisive factor in GOP primaries.’

In one of the marquee matchups, an all-party special election for an open House seat, Republican Clay Fuller earned an April 7 runoff against Democrat Shawn Harris for the seat vacated by former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., in Georgia’s ‘solid red’ 14th Congressional District.

‘Clay Fuller is going to be a fantastic Congressman in representing the Great State of Georgia,’ Trump wrote Wednesday morning on Truth Social.

‘Now we have to be careful and finish it off. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!’

While Fuller did not earn the special election victory, and Harris won the most votes (37.3%) in a 17-candidate field that included nine Republicans, Harris only had to outdistance two Democrats. Fuller trailed Harris by only 3,000 votes at 34.9%. Republican Colton Moore finished third and out of the running at 11.6%, while no other candidate reached 5%.

‘I think the Republican Party is going to unite around us because they know that the Democrat is too dangerous,’ Fuller said Tuesday night. ‘We can’t have a Democrat representing Georgia 14. That would be a tragedy for our community, a tragedy for Georgia 14 and a tragedy for the MAGA movement.’

The total number of votes cast across all candidates in this election result thus far is 115,823, and Republicans outdistanced Democrat votes by nearly 20 points. GOP candidates garnered a total of 59.7%, while Democrats had 39.8% and independents had less than 1%.

‘Congratulations to Clay Fuller, of Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, on getting such a high percentage of the vote with 12 Republicans running,’ Trump wrote Tuesday night on Truth Social. ‘We want to make the next vote ‘TOO BIG TO RIG.’ Clay will be a GREAT Congressman — HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!’

Fuller was a White House fellow in the first Trump administration and is a lieutenant colonel in the Georgia Air National Guard. He finished fourth in the 2020 Republican primary that Greene won. He credited Trump’s nod for propelling him to the runoff.

‘They want to know who President Trump was endorsing in this race,’ Fuller said. ‘And that’s why they came out in droves to support him, because they want an America First fighter on Capitol Hill fighting for his policies that are going to make a difference for our community.’

Harris said he is not worried about further Trump intervention.

‘If Donald Trump wants to come and do what he wants to do, that’s his business,’ he said.

The House GOP majority is a narrow 218-214 right now, making the Fuller-Harris April 7 runoff an important one for upcoming 2026 votes. There are two other vacancies awaiting special elections this year, including blue-state seats formerly held by New Jersey Democrat Gov. Mikie Sherrill, who resigned from the House in November, and the late Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., who died Jan. 6.

Illinois is next up on the GOP primary schedule on Tuesday, March 17, when three Trump-endorsed candidates are incumbents: Reps. Mike Bost, R-Ill., Mary Miller, R-Ill., and Darin LaHood, R-Ill.

The next big GOP primary challenge forged by Trump is frequent MAGA foil Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., on May 19. Trump-backed Ed Gallrein is vying for that seat.

‘I predict that ‘Representative’ Thomas Massie will go down as the WORST Republican Congressman in the long and fabled history of the United States Congress, even worse than Crazy Liz Chaney, Cryin’ Adam Kinzinger, and Marjorie ‘Traitor’ Brown (Remember, Green turns to Brown under stress!),’ Trump wrote Wednesday morning on Truth Social.

‘They are all misfits and losers, but Massie, who is running against a great American Patriot in the Kentucky Primary, will hopefully lose BIG. I LOVE KENTUCKY!!!’

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Republicans sharply criticized former President Joe Biden over rising prices at the gas pump, but a spike in energy prices amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict in Iran threatens to scramble the party’s affordability messaging.

The Iran conflict has led to a surge in gas prices for Americans, leading to an average 50 cents a gallon increase since Operation Epic Fury began on Feb. 28.

The average price of gas reached $3.54 per gallon on Tuesday, according to AAA. Diesel prices have also risen to $4.72 per gallon. The increases have been mostly fueled by volatility in oil prices, which rose above $100 per barrel on Monday as the Strait of Hormuz remained effectively shuttered.

The president characterized the gas price hike amid the Iran conflict as ‘a very small price to pay’ in a Truth Social post Sunday.

That statement represented a sharp break with Trump’s typical messaging touting low gas prices prior to Operation Epic Fury.

‘Gasoline, which reached a peak of over $6 a gallon in some states under my predecessor — it was quite honestly a disaster — is now below $2.30 a gallon in most states. And in some places, $1.99 a gallon,’ President Donald Trump said during his Feb. 27 State of the Union address. ‘And when I visited the great state of Iowa just a few weeks ago, I even saw $1.85 a gallon for gasoline.’

The surge in gas and diesel prices threatens to undermine the economic message of President Trump and congressional Republicans, who have touted low gas prices as a major win in the lead-up to November’s midterm elections. Cost of living issues are expected to be a key concern among voters as both parties claim to be laser-focused on making everyday life more affordable.

During the 2024 presidential contest, Trump frequently campaigned on ending Biden’s ‘war on American energy’ and pledged to reverse a surge in gas prices that occurred under his predecessor’s tenure.

Gas prices averaged $3.45 per gallon across all fuel grades during Biden’s four-year term, surging to a record high of more than $5 per gallon in June 2022 after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

‘Starting on Day 1, we will drive down prices and make America affordable again,’ Trump said during a speech at the Republican National Committee convention in July 2024. ‘People can’t live like this.’

Democrats have seized on rising prices at the pump amid the conflict in Iran.

‘I wish the administration thought about this before they started this unnecessary war,’ Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, who caucuses with Democrats, said Monday when asked about the gas price hike.

‘Donald Trump’s war has sent gas prices skyrocketing through the roof,’ Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote on social media Monday. ‘What contempt. What cluelessness.’

Schumer has called on the president to release oil from America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve to combat supply bottlenecks in the Middle East. The top Democrat notably opposed a Trump-led effort to replenish the stockpile in his first term when oil prices were much lower.

Republicans have voiced confidence that the rise in gas prices would be temporary. GOP lawmakers have frequently cited their efforts to roll back Biden-era energy regulations and boost domestic production as evidence that their policies are working to lower energy prices.

‘It’s going to be probably volatile for a period of time. I think what’s going to be key is ensuring we can get safe access to the Strait of Hormuz,’ Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., said Monday, adding that he was confident the disruption would be short-lived.

Daines, who abruptly suspended his re-election campaign last week, highlighted that average gas prices were under $3 per gallon prior to Trump’s State of the Union speech. 

‘That’s an important win for the American people,’ the retiring Montana lawmaker said. ‘Something you’re reminded of usually weekly when you’re gassing up your vehicle.’

Some Republicans and Trump administration officials are also arguing that a defeated Iran will ultimately spur lower gas prices, even if there is pain in the short run.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt characterized the recent increase in oil and gas prices as ‘temporary’ during a briefing Tuesday.

‘Once the national security objectives of Operation Epic Fury are fully achieved, Americans will see oil and gas prices drop rapidly, potentially even lower than they were prior to the start of the operation,’ Leavitt said.

‘At the end of the day, we’re going to destroy this regime, and their ability to disrupt oil is going to be less, and we’re going to have more production, not less,’ Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told reporters Monday. ‘Once you take the largest state sponsor of terrorism off the planet, who depends on oil for their revenue, that’s a more stable world.’

Nearly seven in 10 Americans — including 44% of Republicans — expect gas prices to keep increasing in the coming months, according to a Reuters-Ipsos poll released Monday.

Trump has threatened Iran with unprecedented force if the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz is further restricted.

‘Death, Fire, and Fury will reign upon them — But I hope, and pray, that it does not happen!’ Trump wrote Monday on Truth Social.

Jeremy Carl, President Donald Trump’s nominee for assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs, withdrew his nomination Tuesday after facing bipartisan criticism over past comments about race, religion and Israel.

Carl, a conservative commentator and senior fellow at the Claremont Institute, wrote on X that he lacked the unanimous Republican support needed to advance his nomination out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was nominated to the State Department role by President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

‘I am withdrawing my nomination for consideration as Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs,’ he wrote Tuesday afternoon. ‘I am tremendously grateful to President Trump for nominating me and then (upon expiration of my original nomination) renominating me for this role, and I am also grateful to Secretary Rubio and his team for their continued support throughout this long and time-consuming process.’

Republicans hold a 12-10 majority on the panel, meaning a single GOP defection would result in a tie vote and block the nomination from moving to the full Senate.

‘Unfortunately, at this time this unanimous support was not forthcoming,’ Carl wrote, adding that he did not want the administration to ‘waste valuable time and energy’ attempting to change the outcome.

During his confirmation hearing last month, senators pressed Carl on previous remarks concerning ‘white identity,’ immigration and Israel. Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, specifically pressed him on an October 2024 podcast, in which Carl said, ‘the United States spends too much time and energy on Israel, often to the detriment of our own national interests.’ Curtis challenged Carl on what American interests were harmed, and asked if he recognized the benefits that the U.S. gains from the relationship with Israel. Carl dodged the questions, but did say that he wishes that ‘the UN would stop being antisemitic all the time.’

Curtis also cited the same podcast, in which the host accused Jews of claiming a ‘special victim status’ over the Holocaust, and said, ‘Israel is not a victim, but instead a perpetrator,’ to which Carl responded, ‘Right, right. Yeah, no, I mean, I think that’s true.’ Carl at first said that he would have to review the question, but when Curtis noted that he gave Carl’s exact words, Carl admitted, ‘I’m sure that they’re accurate.’

Curtis said afterward that Carl was not the ‘right person to represent our nation’s best interests in international forums.’

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., questioned Carl about his references to ‘white identity’ and what he believed was being ‘erased.’ Carl responded that he was concerned about the erosion of what he described as a majority American culture due to mass immigration, saying he stood by those comments. Murphy later called him a ‘legit white nationalist’ on social media.

Carl rejected that characterization, saying he is ‘not a White nationalist’ and that his remarks referred to a broadly shared American culture that people of all backgrounds could embrace.

‘Unfortunately, for senior positions such as this one, the support of the President and Secretary of State is very important but not sufficient,’ Carl added on X. ‘We also needed the unanimous support of every GOP Senator on the Committee on Foreign Relations, given the unanimous opposition of Senate Democrats to my candidacy, and unfortunately, at this time this unanimous support was not forthcoming.’

The position Carl was nominated to oversees U.S. engagement at the United Nations and other multilateral organizations. He previously served as a deputy assistant interior secretary during Trump’s first term.

‘I remain extremely confident in President Trump, Secretary Rubio, and the rest of the outstanding team at State (a group of leaders that includes many close friends),’ Carl concluded on X. ‘I know they will continue to pursue a foreign policy that puts America first, and that they will work to ensure America is able to exercise its power and influence in the world like never before.’

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and the State Department for comment and has not heard back.

Reuters contributed to this report.

A top Senate Republican wants answers on why the Biden administration drained the nation’s oil stockpile but did little to replenish it.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., charged that decisions under President Joe Biden to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) could have a ripple effect as the U.S. continues its war with Iran and as the Iranian government continues its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz.

Cotton, in a letter first obtained by Fox News Digital to Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright, charged that the Biden administration released 180 million barrels from the nation’s reserves in 2022 ‘to suppress gas prices ahead of the midterm elections.’

‘That decision drained the reserve to a 40-year low,’ Cotton wrote. ‘The decision to drain the SPR was not a response to a supply emergency; it was a deliberate political act designed to protect Democrats from the consequences of their own failed energy policies.’

Biden tapped the reserve twice — once in 2021 to relieve soaring fuel prices as the nation still grappled with the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and again the following year to combat increased energy costs at the onset of the war between Russia and Ukraine.

The SPR has capacity for over 700 million barrels of crude oil, but currently, the reserve has far less following the drawdown under the previous administration.

At the end of Biden’s term, the reserve had about 415 million barrels of crude on hand, according to data from the Department of Energy.

Cotton said that it wasn’t ‘the first time Democrats undermined the reserve’ and noted that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and congressional Democrats blocked President Donald Trump’s bid to refill the SPR in 2020, when barrels were cheap, with $3 billion from a colossal COVID-19 stimulus package moving through Congress.

He also said that in 2021, Biden signed an executive order that halted new oil and gas leases on federal lands and offshore, which Cotton charged ‘constrained domestic production while the administration was draining the reserve.’

Cotton demanded that Wright answer how blocking the $3 billion oil purchase and halting oil and gas leases impacted the nation’s overall domestic supplies that could have been used to replenish the SPR.

Meanwhile, congressional Democrats are demanding that Trump tap into the SPR after oil prices spiked to four-year highs over the weekend as the war in Iran intensifies.

Schumer said that the reserve ‘exists for moments exactly like this.’

‘The Strait of Hormuz is the world’s most important oil transit choke point, with roughly 20% of global petroleum liquids consumption moving through it in recent years,’ Cotton said. ‘That is precisely why the SPR must be treated as a strategic national security asset, not a political tool.’

Three years ago, I came to the United States as a graduate student with the intention of studying public and international affairs at Columbia University, with a focus on public service. Like many who come here from across the world, I had a vision of the United States as the land of the free, a place where freedom of speech was cherished and where I could study freely. I thought it was a place where I could stand up for what I believed in without fear of retaliation from the government.

On March 8, 2025, that vision shattered. Multiple plainclothes ICE agents in unmarked cars grabbed me, without a warrant, from the lobby of my apartment building in New York and threw me on a plane to a federal detention center in Louisiana. As a green card holder with a U.S. citizen wife — who was 8 months pregnant at the time — I couldn’t believe what was happening. I had been targeted by the government because of my lawful speech in support of Palestinian rights, for protesting the use of my tax dollars and tuition fees to support the Israeli occupation.

Throughout my 104 days in federal detention, during which I missed the birth of my first child, I considered myself a political prisoner. The government had deprived me of my liberty, not because I had broken any laws, but because it didn’t like what I had to say.

Once I challenged my detention and Secretary Rubio’s determination that my political views posed a foreign policy threat, the government scrambled to add new accusations. They alleged, baselessly, that I had committed fraud on my green card application. Claims invented not out of evidence, but out of retaliation. Recent evidence in federal court revealed that DHS itself acknowledged, a day before my arrest, that there were no issues with the information I provided on my green card application because everything was complete, true, and correct. Yet I was arrested anyway.

I was not alone. Other students and scholars with valid immigration status were similarly targeted for detention and deportation despite having committed no crime. They were pulled off streets by masked agents, targeted outside of their homes, and tricked into arrests during citizenship appointments. What happened to us is exactly what the First Amendment is designed to prevent: the government deciding which speech is acceptable and which is not. Once that protection is weakened, everyone is at risk.

The Supreme Court recognized eighty years ago that the First Amendment protects all of us in the United States — citizens and noncitizens alike — from government persecution for our beliefs. If we allow that boundary to be violated for noncitizens, or when the government claims a foreign policy concern, a precedent is created that can be used against all of us. Even citizens. Even people who disagree with me vehemently about Palestine.

The government has argued that federal courts must let people sit in immigration detention for months or years before reviewing allegations of constitutional violations. They have argued that Pro-Palestine speech constitutes a foreign policy threat. They have argued that I deserve to be deported because they dislike my ideas. If they can do this to a lawful permanent resident with a U.S. citizen wife and newborn U.S. citizen child, there’s no telling who else they will come for.

The government isn’t allowed to control how we can speak and think. Attorneys representing me in my case, and others like me in similar cases, argued this point in court and secured our release from detention. But my case is still ongoing, and the executive branch’s immigration agency may soon order my deportation. So, I ask Americans directly: do you want to live in a country where you can be snatched off the street by plainclothes agents for your thoughts?

In Assad’s Syria, where I grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp, that was routine. Since the beginning of 2025, the United States, a country whose Constitution protects freedom of speech, has seen an increase in these actions that I once associated with Assad: abductions by plainclothes officers without warrants, forced detention of people who express views the government doesn’t like, and the targeted silencing of dissent.

I will continue to use my platform to advocate for human rights in Palestine. But I ask each and every person reading this to use their voice to defend our First Amendment rights. The right to speak our minds, no matter who holds power, is the foundation of our democracy, and it is in peril. Whatever you may think of me or my views, that foundation belongs to all of us.

As a physician and a mother, I have seen firsthand how Washington’s decisions ripple into the exam room and around the kitchen table. At a time when healthcare debates often divide, it is worth recognizing leaders who safeguard freedom while tackling real health needs. The Trump administration is doing exactly that: protecting access, preserving choice and confronting public-health challenges while trusting families and their physicians to decide what is best.

President Donald Trump is proving that when Washington listens to everyday Americans and acts with urgency, real change is possible. For too long, the crushing cost of prescription drugs has forced families to make an impossible choice between filling a prescription and paying their bills.

Lowering drug prices has been a cornerstone of his presidency, and he has taken meaningful steps to deliver by expanding generics and biosimilars, implementing historic price transparency rules, capping insulin costs for seniors, advancing TrumpRX to increase competition to increase competition and direct access, and pursuing a ‘Most Favored Nation’ policy, so Americans are no longer paying more for medications than patients in other developed countries.

These policies represent an important shift toward putting patients, not middlemen, first. It’s a strong and necessary start, but sustaining this momentum by increasing competition and expanding access will be critical to finally bringing lasting relief to Americans.

This is not the first time Trump has revolutionized healthcare access. He set the tone during his first term with Operation Warp Speed, a milestone in American biomedical history, after COVID-19 paralyzed the world six years ago this month. By pairing private‑sector innovation with decisive federal coordination, it accelerated effective vaccine development and distribution; proving speed and rigor can coexist when government clears paths instead of creating bottlenecks. Just as important, it expanded options for patients and families, reinforcing a simple principle: access first, always.

What followed, however, is where public trust began to erode. Not because of Operation Warp Speed, but because its success was taken over by bureaucratic overreach. I watched in real time as public trust in health institutions collapsed, common sense was dismissed, legitimate debate was shut down and universal COVID vaccine mandates were imposed. Patients did not turn away from the vaccine recommendations because of the science; they turned away because of coercion despite evolving science and varying risk levels.

When personal autonomy gave way to mandates, they undermined confidence in both institutions and vaccines themselves. The result wasn’t the product of Trump’s leadership and scientific progress; it was the consequence of power being prioritized over personal choice.

Today, this administration is again pursuing strong public‑health outcomes without treating Americans as bystanders. Trust should be built where it matters most: in the home and in the doctor’s office. Parents want choice. Doctors want access. Parents overwhelmingly trust their own physicians. Doctors who know a child’s history and needs should remain the most trusted voices and, increasingly, America’s health agencies are speaking that same language.

The recent shift in tone from top health leaders is significant and worth recognizing. Acting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Jay Bhattacharya is urging Americans to get the measles vaccine as cases rise and the U.S. risks losing its hard-won elimination status. He called the decision ‘deeply personal’ while making clear that ‘measles is preventable and vaccination remains the most effective way to protect yourself and those around you.’

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz echoed that in February: ‘There will never be a barrier to Americans getting access to the measles vaccine. It is part of the core schedule.’ This is what responsible public health communication looks like: honest, direct, and rooted in science, without coercion.

President Donald Trump is proving that when Washington listens to everyday Americans and acts with urgency, real change is possible.

The challenge now is sustaining this posture. Keeping vaccines available, affordable and accessible is not a concession to one side of the political debate, it’s broadly popular across the spectrum and conservatives are no exception. Skepticism of mandates and top-down health edicts does not translate into a desire to see vaccines become harder to get or more expensive to access. Americans want the freedom to make their own choices alongside their doctors and that freedom is only meaningful when access is guaranteed.

At the same time, the message must be clear: removing mandates does not mean vaccines are no longer recommended, or they have somehow been deemed unsafe. Vaccines remain one of the most effective tools in modern medicine. When vaccination rates fall, history and modern-day show that preventable disease and mortality rise.

Trump understands this, and his agencies need to hold the line: speak honestly about what the science says, respect personal decision-making and ensure that no American faces a barrier to a vaccine they want. That’s a winning posture politically — and more importantly, it’s the right thing to do.