A Senate Republican who has routinely broken from the GOP and President Donald Trump announced that she wouldn’t support efforts to pass voter ID legislation. 

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said in a post on X on Tuesday that she would oppose forthcoming legislation that would enact more stringent election integrity laws backed by both Trump and conservatives in the upper chamber. Her opposition underscores a reality many in the Senate already acknowledge: without extraordinary steps such as nuking the filibuster or support from Democrats (a non-starter), the effort is effectively dead on arrival.

Murkowski panned a pair of bills — the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility Act, dubbed the SAVE America Act, and the Make Elections Great Again (MEGA) Act — two voter ID and election integrity proposals making their way through the House. 

She noted that when congressional Democrats ‘attempted to advance sweeping election reform legislation in 2021, Republicans were unanimous in opposition because it would have federalized elections, something we have long opposed.’

‘Now, I’m seeing proposals such as the SAVE Act and MEGA that would effectively do just that. Once again, I do not support these efforts,’ Murkowski said.  

Congressional Democrats under former President Joe Biden tried and failed to enact two election reform bills, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the For the People Act. 

Congressional Republicans strongly opposed those efforts, and argued at the time that the bills would effectively nationalize elections and give Democrats control of the election system across the country.

Conservatives’ bid to reshape the election landscape also runs into the Constitution, which delegates election authorities to state and local officials and gives the federal government little input. 

‘Not only does the U.S. Constitution clearly provide states the authority to regulate the ‘times, places, and manner’ of holding federal elections, but one-size-fits-all mandates from Washington, D.C., seldom work in places like Alaska,’ Murkowski said.  

‘Election Day is fast approaching,’ she continued. ‘Imposing new federal requirements now, when states are deep into their preparations, would negatively impact election integrity by forcing election officials to scramble to adhere to new policies, likely without the necessary resources. Ensuring public trust in our elections is at the core of our democracy, but federal overreach is not how we achieve this.’

Her pushback comes as Trump has called on the GOP to nationalize elections. House Republicans are gearing up to vote on the SAVE America Act and a cohort of Senate Republicans are eying ways to get the bill onto the Senate floor.

Several Senate Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., have come out against Trump’s call to nationalize elections. But public opposition to the voter ID efforts among Republicans is few and far between.

But given the political reality of the Senate, where the 60-vote filibuster threshold is an impossible bar to overcome without Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Democrats’ support, the bill will likely die.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he plans to discuss Iran and Gaza with U.S. President Donald Trump during their upcoming visit.

The foreign figure, who is traveling to the U.S. to meet with Trump, indicated that the two nations share a close bond, and that he and Trump are close as well.

‘I am now leaving for the United States for my seventh trip to meet with President Trump since he was elected for a second term. This, of course, does not include his unforgettable visit to Israel and his speech in the Knesset,’ Netanyahu noted, according to the Israeli government.

‘I think these reflect the unique closeness of the extraordinary relationship that we have with the United States, that I personally have with the President, that the State of Israel has with the United States — unprecedented in our history,’ he said.

‘On this trip we will discuss a range of issues: Gaza, the region, but of course, first and foremost, the negotiations with Iran. I will present to the President our outlook regarding the principles of these negotiations — the essential principles which, in my opinion, are important not only to Israel, but to everyone around the world who wants peace and security in the Middle East,’ Netanyahu said.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly declared, ‘President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu have a great relationship and Israel has had no better friend in its history than President Trump. We continue to work closely with our ally Israel to implement President Trump’s historic Gaza peace agreement and to strengthen regional security in the Middle East.’ 

Trump issued a Truth Social post last month warning that the U.S. will attack Iran if the Islamic Republic does not negotiate a nuclear deal.

‘Iran will quickly ‘Come to the Table’ and negotiate a fair and equitable deal – NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS – one that is good for all parties,’ Trump noted in the post. 

‘As I told Iran once before, MAKE A DEAL! They didn’t, and there was ’Operation Midnight Hammer,’ a major destruction of Iran. The next attack will be far worse! Don’t make that happen again,’ he warned.

Emboldened congressional Democrats are once again expanding their battleground map for this year’s midterm elections, when Republicans will be defending their razor-thin majority in the House.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) on Tuesday added five more offensive opportunities in Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, South Carolina and Virginia to their list of what they consider are vulnerable Republican-held House districts.

That brings the total number of districts Democrats are hoping to flip to 44. The DCCC notes that all five of the new districts they’re adding to their list of ‘offensive targets’ were carried by President Donald Trump by 13 points or fewer in the 2024 elections.

Republicans currently control the House by a 218-214 majority, with two right-tilting districts and one left-leaning seat currently vacant. Democrats need a net gain of just three seats in the midterms to win back the majority for the first time in four years.

The move by the DCCC comes as Democrats are energized, despite the party’s polling woes. Democrats, thanks to their laser focus on affordability amid persistent inflation, scored decisive victories in the 2025 elections and have won or over performed in a slew of scheduled and special ballot box contests since Trump returned to the White House over a year ago.

Republicans, meanwhile, are facing traditional political headwinds in which the party in power in the nation’s capital normally suffers setbacks in the midterm elections. And the GOP is also dealing with Trump’s continued underwater approval ratings and national polls — including the latest Fox News survey — that indicate many Americans feel things are worse off than they were a year ago and remain pessimistic about the economy.

‘Democrats are on offense, and our map reflects the fact that everyday Americans are tired of Republicans’ broken promises and ready for change in Congress,’ DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene emphasized in a statement. ‘Healthcare, housing, groceries, energy bills — they are all going up, and it’s directly because of Republican policies that favor the wealthiest few while leaving hardworking families behind.’

And DelBene predicted, ‘Going into the midterms, Democrats have the winning message, top-tier candidates, and the public on our side, paving the way for a new Democratic House Majority under the leadership of a Speaker Hakeem Jeffries.’

But the rival National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) scoffed at the move by the DCCC.

‘National Democrats are daydreaming while the ground collapses beneath them. Democrats are getting demolished in the money race, their incumbents are hanging by a thread, and their disastrous primaries are producing unelectable far-left socialists. The battleground favors Republicans,’ NRCC Spokesman Mike Marinella argued in a statement to Fox News Digital.

The NRCC is currently targeting what it considers 29 vulnerable House Democrats in the midterms.

The new districts being targeted by the Democrats are Colorado’s 5th Congressional District, where Republican Rep. Jeff Crank won re-election in 2024 by 14 points. They also include Minnesota’s 1st CD and Montana’s 1st CD, where GOP Reps. Brad Finstad and Ryan Zinke are seeking re-election, and Virginia’s 5th CD, where Republican Rep. John McGuire is running for another term.

The fifth district the DCCC is adding to their target list is the open seat race in South Carolina’s 1st CD, where Republican Rep. Nancy Mace is running for governor rather than seeking re-election.

The top two congressional Democrats have, for now, rejected President Donald Trump and Republicans’ offer to avert a shutdown as the deadline rapidly approaches.

For several hours Monday night, both Republicans and Democrats were near-radio silent about the nature of the counter-offer from the White House. That was, in part, because some lawmakers had no idea what was in it.

But the silence appeared to spell yet another positive step toward averting the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Until Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., trashed the offer Monday night.

‘Republicans shared an outline of a counterproposal, which included neither details nor legislative text,’ the duo said in a joint statement.

‘The initial GOP response is both incomplete and insufficient in terms of addressing the concerns Americans have about [Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s] lawless conduct,’ they continued. ‘Democrats await additional detail and text.’

While not the death knell for negotiations to fund DHS or to agree to a short-term funding extension, it does slow some of the optimistic momentum that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said was building over the weekend.

Democrats’ prime objective is reining in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), following the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good. They finally turned over their legislative proposals to rein in DHS and ICE to Republicans on Saturday.

The proposal they submitted included items that are a bridge too far for Republicans, including requiring ICE agents to get judicial warrants, unmask and have identification ready — some in the GOP warn doing so would lead to more agents being doxxed, when a person’s private information is made public, like their address.

The White House’s counter-offer was in response to Democrats’ list of demands and has been kept under heavy lock and key.

Before Schumer and Jeffries’ rebellion, Republicans were already mulling turning to another short-term funding extension, known as a continuing resolution (CR), for DHS. That’s because after the House passed the Trump-Schumer funding deal last week, lawmakers had only eight days to figure out how to fund the trickiest of all federal agencies.

Now, the Friday deadline is quickly bearing down on Congress, and lawmakers are set to leave Washington, D.C., on Thursday for a weeklong recess. Many will head to Germany for the Munich Security Conference.

Thune said that he would likely tee up another CR on Tuesday, and at the time was optimistic that negotiations were moving in a direction that could lead some Democrats to support the move.

‘We will have to vote on something, obviously, if there’s additional time that’s needed, and hopefully Democrats will be amenable to doing another — an extension,’ Thune said.

A damning new report was released Tuesday morning ahead of a House Ways & Means Committee hearing aimed at exposing foreign actors sending money to U.S. nonprofits.

The hearing, which is titled, ‘Foreign Influence in American Non-profits: Unmasking Threats from Beijing and Beyond,’ will begin around 10:00 a.m. EST.

Six foreign entities have funneled more than $2.65 billion into American politics, according to a new report by conservative watchdog Americans for Public Trust (APT), which highlights a loophole that APT says allows foreign nationals to funnel money to influence American politics ‘virtually unchecked.’   

Foreign nationals are prohibited from donating directly to political campaigns, but money supporting U.S. candidates for office or their viewpoints can also come from 501(c)(3) and (c)(4) nonprofits.   

‘Foreign donors can currently fund U.S.-based advocacy groups – most often 501(c)(3)s and 501(c)(4)s – virtually unchecked,’ the report alleges. It adds that while the money APT uncovered is ‘highly concerning’ solely on its own, there is ‘undoubtedly even more overseas funding sources backing and influencing U.S. advocacy efforts.’

The six entities highlighted in APT’s report come from Switzerland, Denmark and the United Kingdom. The largest donor identified in the report was Switzerland-based Oak Foundation, established by British billionaire retail mogul Alan Parker, which has given around $753 million to U.S.-based advocacy groups. 

Through the Oak Foundation, Parker has supported left-wing environmental groups like Greenpeace, the Environmental Law Institute, the World Resources Institute and the World Wildlife Fund, according to the Capital Research Center’s Influence Watch, which cited the group’s grant database that now appears to be removed. 

Influence Watch added that through its grants, the Oak Foundation has positioned itself as a major supporter of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which China critics argue is part of a geopolitical strategy disguised as infrastructure investment. 

APT’s report also points out that the Swiss-based Oak Foundation has poured tens of millions into the Arabella network of left-wing advocacy groups, including $67 million to the New Venture Fund, $12 million to the Windward Fund and $2.8 million to the Hopewell Fund. The left-wing Tides Foundation has also received money from the Oak Foundation.

The left-wing Arabella network received funding from the Copenhagen-based KR Foundation and the Swiss-based Laudes Foundation as well, according to APT, which found these two groups have passed a combined $55.6 million to U.S. advocacy groups. The KR Foundation was founded by the descendants of Villum Kann Rasmussen, a Danish civil engineer and businessman who founded the VKR Group, while the Laudes Foundation was established by the Brenninkmeijer family, a German-Dutch business dynasty.          

Entities founded by Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss came in second on APT’s list of six foreign donor organizations. The Wyss Foundation and the Berger Action Fund have reportedly passed more than $673 million to U.S.-based advocacy groups. 

‘The groups funded by Wyss utilize their immense resources to advance a progressive agenda, mold policy debates and decisions, and influence American elections. His foreign funding network focuses on policy priorities such as radical environmentalism, championing sweeping changes to election laws, and directly engaging in campaign activities, including voter mobilization efforts and political attack ads,’ APT’s report states. ‘Wyss’ foreign money has found its way to prominent left-wing organizations including Fund for a Better Future, the League of Conservation Voters, the National Redistricting Action Fund, Planned Parenthood, and Indivisible.’

The remaining two foreign entities mentioned in APT’s report, the U.K.-based Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) and the Quadrature Climate Foundation, have allegedly passed hundreds of millions of dollars to U.S.-based groups, respectively, similar to Parker’s and Wyss’ groups. 

CIFF has passed approximately $638.2 million to U.S. advocacy groups, while Quadrature Climate Foundation has passed over around $532.5 million, according to APT.

CIFF, backed by British billionaire Christopher Hohn, has engaged in ‘aggressive left-wing advocacy’ around climate change and social justice, including a group wanting to ban gas stoves, according to APT. Among the funding is also more than $10 million to two Arabella-managed nonprofits, according to the report.

APT also accuses CIFF of fostering ‘alarming ties to groups in China linked to the Chinese Communist Party,’ pointing out its CEO is part of a member organization overseen by the CCP and holds a position with ‘the Belt and Road International Green Development Coalition.’

Meanwhile, the Quadrature Climate Foundation, which also donates to the Arabella network, has been described as sending its grants to ‘some of the world’s most influential campaign groups and scientific institutions’ in an effort to steer ‘both research and lobbying on the green transition.’ It is the philanthropic arm of the London-based hedge fund Quadrature Capital, founded by billionaires Greg Skinner and Suneil Setiya.  

Quadrature Climate Foundation’s largest recipient, according to APT, was ClimateWorks Foundation, which got $147 million from them. 25 million dollars of that money went ‘to support the acceleration of electric vehicles,’ while another $6 million was reportedly earmarked for financial regulation efforts aimed at mitigating climate change risks.

‘For years, foreign organizations and megadonors have quietly poured billions of dollars into the U.S. political sphere with little to no accountability,’ APT complained in its report. ‘Foreign funding has infiltrated nearly every sector of the U.S. political sphere.’

A Tuesday Senate hearing is set to expose billions in fraud in Minnesota as well as foreign backing for anti-ICE agitators across the country, Sen. Josh Hawley’s office told Fox News Digital.

The hearing before the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Disaster Management, which Hawley chairs, will feature testimony from a Minnesota state senator and representatives of third-party watchdog groups. Systemic fraud backed by transnational groups has stolen billions from child nutrition, FEMA assistance, housing, Medicaid and substance abuse services, the testimony is expected to say.

‘American taxpayers are getting robbed blind—billions stolen in Minnesota, and hundreds of billions siphoned out of the country by transnational criminals every year—all while foreign actors coordinate chaos on our streets,’ Hawley told Fox News in a statement.

‘Enough is enough. It’s time to root out the dark money and shut down the foreign influence,’ he added.

Minnesota State Sen. Mark Koran’s testimony will highlight the role Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison played in allowing fraud to fester and spread across the state in what he calls the ‘largest expansion and fastest acceleration of fraud this country has ever seen.’

Witnesses are expected to say that senior officials were not only aware of the fraud but have also taken steps to hide it from public scrutiny by backdating audit records and cracking down on whistleblowers.

A Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) whistleblower told Fox News that she was the victim of a ‘smear campaign’ after raising red flags about fraud in the state since 2019.

Federal prosecutors estimate that up to $9 billion was stolen through a network of fraudulent fronts posing as daycare centers, food programs and health clinics. The majority of those charged, so far, in the ongoing investigation are part of Minnesota’s Somali population.

In addition to Koran, lawmakers will hear testimony from Seamus Bruner, the vice president of the Government Accountability Institute; Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, the acting vice president of Policy & Government Affairs for the Project on Government Oversight, and Haywood Talcove, the CEO of LexisNexis Risk Solutions, Government.

Talcove’s testimony will focus on transnational groups that he says are exploiting federal assistance programs and using stolen funds support ‘organized crime, drug trafficking, human exploitation, and, in some cases, terrorist-affiliated or hostile foreign actors.’

Bruner’s testimony will also focus on foreign influence, linking the funding streams to foreign actors, including individuals with ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

President Donald Trump’s administration is poised to walk back an Obama-era greenhouse gas finding that serves as a lynchpin for justifying climate regulations across the country on Wednesday.

The 2009 ‘endangerment finding’ identifies six greenhouse gases that the Obama administration said pose ‘a threat to public health and welfare.’ That harm finding was then used to justify sweeping climate regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), such as raising fuel economy standards and limiting power plant emissions, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin hailed the move as cutting through government red tape in an interview with the Journal.

‘This amounts to the largest act of deregulation in the history of the United States,’ Zeldin said.

The Journal reports that the final rule will be made public later this week and is set to eliminate requirements to measure, report, certify and comply with federal greenhouse-gas emission standards for motor vehicles. The rollback does not yet affect power plants or oil and gas facilities.

‘More energy drives human flourishing,’ Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told the outlet. ‘Energy abundance is the thing that we have to focus on, not regulating certain forms of energy out.’

Trump is reportedly expected to hold an event at the White House on Wednesday with Zeldin and Energy Secretary Chris Wright. There they will announce a new initiative for the Department of War to purchase electricity from coal-powered plants.

The Washington Coal Club is also set to name Trump the ‘Undisputed Champion of Coal’ during the event, according to the Journal.

Trump has been consistently critical of global warming claims and climate regulation throughout both of his terms in office, famously withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement when he first took office in 2017.

Trump more recently used the wall of winter storms across the U.S. as a talking point against ‘climate insurrectionists.’

‘Record Cold Wave expected to hit 40 States. Rarely seen anything like it before,’ Trump wrote on social media last month. ‘Could the Environmental Insurrectionists please explain — WHATEVER HAPPENED TO GLOBAL WARMING???’

The Republican-led House Committee on Ways and Means is set to hold a hearing on Tuesday morning digging into foreign influence in American nonprofits, with several NGOs and far-left funding networks expected to be on the hot seat. 

At 10 a.m. on Tuesday, House Committee on Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith will oversee a hearing, ‘Foreign Influence in American Non-profits: Unmasking Threats from Beijing and Beyond.’ The hearing will be broadcast online at the committee’s website.

Witnesses at the hearing will include Capital Research Center president Scott Walter, Americans for Public Trust Executive director Caitlin Sutherland, Narravance CEO Adam Sohn, Dubinsky Consulting founder Bruce Dubinsky and Public Citizen co-founder Robert Weissman.

In a press release, the committee said the hearing will focus on the ‘ways foreign actors have funneled millions of dollars through networks of tax-exempt organizations to create, support, and fuel disruption and illegal activity across the country.’

The hearing is expected to examine a network of nonprofits, including organizations funded by Neville Roy Singham, an American-born tech tycoon and self-styled Marxist-Leninist, living in Shanghai. Singham has funded nonprofit groups, including the People’s Forum, CodePink, BreakThrough BT Media, the ANSWER Coalition and the Party for Socialism and Liberation, which have worked closely with Democratic Socialists of America in dispatching socialist, Marxist-Leninist and communist foot soldiers into the streets to disrupt federal immigration law enforcement agents and stoke chaos.

‘For too long, foreign actors have gotten away with abusing our tax-exempt sector to [sow] division and chaos in our country,’ Smith posted on X on Tuesday morning. ‘Today, we’re putting them on notice. Going to be a late night in China for Shanghai Singham!’

Over the past year, Fox News Digital has documented a pattern of coordinated protests by socialist, communist and Marxist groups, revealing a synchronized ecosystem of funding, media amplification, ideological framing and street-level mobilization that aligns with the strategic interests of hostile foreign governments, including the People’s Republic of China.

‘Tax-exempt status is a privilege not a right,’ Smith told Fox News Digital. ‘Nonprofits must remain accountable and refuse to act as instruments of hostile foreign governments.’

The Ways and Means Committee ‘continues to investigate how foreign money and foreign-linked networks are funneled through tax-exempt entities to sow discord and unrest in our society,’ he said. ‘That’s why we’re demanding answers from Tricontinental and BreakThrough about their funding streams, activities and communications with CCP-linked individuals, including Neville Roy Singham.’

Hours before the hearing, Fox News Digital reported that Smith escalated his investigation into Singham, who has allegedly been ‘sowing chaos and spreading Chinese propaganda, possibly in coordination with a foreign government.’

In separate letters, Smith demanded records from BreakThrough and Tricontinental, warning that both tax-exempt organizations may be operating outside their lawful purpose as possible unregistered foreign agents, while helping to fuel domestic unrest under the guise of journalism and academic research.

Congressional investigators say the Singham network sits at the center of a malign foreign influence operation that allegedly exploits U.S. nonprofit laws to inject anti-American propaganda into domestic protest movements and sow discord from within the United States.

The letters describe a full-spectrum operation, with funding aligned with foreign interests flowing into tax-exempt nonprofits that produce ideological research, media narratives and social media messaging, which are then deployed onto U.S. streets through tightly choreographed protests.

‘If the evidence shows these groups are acting as conduits for CCP-aligned propaganda or functioning like foreign agents while enjoying U.S. tax benefits, their tax-exempt status should be revoked immediately,’ Smith said. ‘We’re going to follow the money and demand accountability to put a stop to Beijing’s exploitation of our tax-exempt sector.’

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his country would not negotiate on its ballistic missile program, rejecting a core U.S. demand and further dimming prospects for a breakthrough deal.

He again warned in an interview with Al Jazeera that Tehran, Iran, would target U.S. bases in the Middle East if provoked, calling Iran’s missile program ‘never negotiable.’

The warnings came as U.S. and Iranian negotiators met in early February in Oman, even as Washington continued to build up military forces across the region — a posture U.S. officials say is meant to deter further escalation but which analysts argue also underscores how far apart the two sides remain.

Despite the imbalance in military power, analysts say Iran believes it can withstand U.S. pressure by signaling greater resolve — and by betting that Washington’s appetite for war is limited.

While the U.S. possesses overwhelming military capabilities, Defense Priorities analyst Rosemary Kelanic said Iran is relying on the logic of asymmetric conflict.

‘One country is much stronger, but the weaker country cares more,’ Kelanic said. ‘And historically, the country that cares more often wins by outlasting the stronger one.’

‘Iran is trying to signal resolve as strongly as it can, but it likely doubts U.S. resolve — because from Tehran’s perspective, the stakes for Iran are existential, while the stakes for the United States are not,’ she added.

Behnam Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said Tehran’s primary leverage is its ability to threaten wider regional instability, even if it cannot win a prolonged conflict.

‘The Islamic Republic’s leverage is the threat of a region-wide war,’ Taleblu said, noting that while U.S. and Israeli defenses could intercept most attacks, ‘something will get hit.’

Iran buying time

Analysts across the spectrum agree that Iran is using negotiations less as a path to compromise than as a way to delay decisive action.

Oren Kessler, analyst at global consulting firm Wikistrat, said Iran is using talks to stabilize its position internally while avoiding concessions on core security issues.

‘Both sides want a deal, but their red lines are very hard for the other side to overcome,’ Kesler said. ‘The talks are going well in the sense that they’re happening, but they’re not really going anywhere.’

Taleblu echoed that assessment, arguing that Tehran is treating diplomacy as a shield rather than a solution.

‘The regime is treating negotiations as a lifeline rather than a way to resolve the core problem,’ he said.

Taleblu added that Iran’s leadership sees talks as a way to deter a strike in the short term, weaken domestic opposition in the medium term, and eventually secure sanctions relief to stabilize its economy.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has insisted that limits on Iran’s ballistic missiles must be part of any agreement to avoid military action.

‘At the end of the day, the United States is prepared to engage, and has always been prepared to engage with Iran,’ Rubio said in early February. ‘In order for talks to actually lead to something meaningful, they will have to include certain things, and that includes the range of their ballistic missiles. That includes their sponsorship of terrorist organizations across the region. That includes the nuclear program. And that includes the treatment of their own people.’

Anti-government protests beginning at the start of 2026 led to a brutal crackdown in Iran. The regime has admitted to 3,117 deaths linked to the demonstrations, though human rights groups and Iranian resistance organizations peg the death toll as much higher. 

The U.S. also has demanded that Iran give up all enriched uranium stockpiles, which can be used for civilian energy at low levels but for nuclear weapons at higher concentrations.

Araghchi told Al Jazeera that Iran is willing to negotiate on nuclear issues but insisted enrichment is an ‘inalienable right’ that ‘must continue.’

‘We are ready to reach a reassuring agreement on enrichment,’ he said. ‘The Iranian nuclear case will only be resolved through negotiations.’

Iran’s atomic chief said Monday that Tehran would consider diluting its 60% enriched uranium — a level close to weapons-grade — but only in exchange for the lifting of all sanctions.

As negotiations unfolded, the U.S. continued to expand its military footprint in the Middle East.

In late January, the U.S. dispatched a carrier strike group centered on the USS Abraham Lincoln to the North Arabian Sea, accompanied by multiple destroyers and other naval assets. Additional F-15E strike aircraft and air defense systems have also been repositioned at bases across the region, alongside thousands of U.S. troops.

Taleblu said the administration may be using diplomacy to buy time of its own.

‘The charitable interpretation is that the president is buying time — moving assets, strengthening missile defense, and preparing military options,’ he said. ‘The less charitable interpretation is that the United States is taking Iran’s threats as highly credible and still chasing the optics of a deal.’

In 2025, five rounds of talks similarly stalled over U.S. demands that Iran abandon enrichment entirely — talks that ultimately collapsed into Operation Midnight Hammer, a U.S.-led bombing campaign against Iranian nuclear facilities.

The Senate is scrambling to avoid a third government shutdown under President Donald Trump, and after negotiations seemingly appeared to hit a brick wall, lawmakers are cautiously optimistic that a deal could be made. 

Senate Republicans received Senate Democrats’ ‘partisan wishlist’ of demands over the weekend, sources familiar with negotiations told Fox News Digital. The White House sent over its own counter-proposal, but several lawmakers weren’t clear what was in package as of Monday night. 

Some, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., wouldn’t say, but noted that congressional Democrats and the White House were ‘trading papers,’ and signaled that the back and forth activity was a good sign of negotiations moving forward. 

But lawmakers aren’t out of the woods yet, a reality that Thune warned of since Senate Democrats demanded a two-week funding extension for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Congress has until Friday to avert a shutdown and little time to actually move a short-term patch from one side of the building to the other. 

Republicans are mulling another short-term extension, known as a continuing resolution (CR), to avert a partial shutdown. Thune said whether Democrats would sign off depended on how well background negotiations were going, but hinted that so far, things were moving toward a solution. 

‘I think, based on what I’m familiar with about the discussion so far, I think there is, but we’ll know more when the proposal comes back,’ Thune said. ‘Let’s have a chance to evaluate it.’ 

Thune later said that he planned to tee up another CR on Tuesday, but noted that the length would ‘have to be negotiated. But let’s see what the next day brings and we’ll go from there.’

Democrats’ prime objective is reining in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), following the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good. 

The proposal they submitted included items that are a bridge too far for Republicans, including requiring ICE agents to get judicial warrants, de-mask and have identification ready — some in the GOP warn doing so would lead to more agents being doxxed, or when a person’s private information is made public, like their address. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., warned that the ‘clock is ticking’ for Republicans to respond. 

‘We have sent you our proposals, and they are exceedingly reasonable,’ Schumer said on the Senate floor. ‘I hope our colleagues on the other side, many of whom, at least here in the Senate, recognize that things need to change, show they’re ready to act in a meaningful way.’

Prior to Democrats finally handing over the legislative version of their demands on Saturday, Republicans publicly questioned if they actually wanted to have serious negotiations. That changed over the weekend. 

A White House official told Fox News that ‘President Trump has been consistent, he wants the government open and the Administration has been working with both parties to ensure the American people don’t have to endure another drawn-out, senseless, and hurtful shutdown.’

Meanwhile, the scope and scale of a possible third closure would be limited to just the DHS, but would really only have an effect on FEMA, TSA, the Coast Guard and other priorities under the agency’s umbrella. That’s because ICE and immigration operations are flush with billions from Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill.’ 

‘To say that the security of Americans is not paramount, I think, would be a huge mistake for the Democrats, and I certainly hope that they’ll continue to operate in good faith,’ Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., and the chair of the Homeland Security spending panel, said.

‘Because you do realize, ICE and [Customs and Border Patrol] would continue to be funded,’ she continued. 

Things are also about to get complicated quickly in the upper chamber. Lawmakers are set to leave Washington, D.C., for a weeklong recess this Thursday, and many are headed overseas to the Munich Security Conference. 

That starts on the day of the deadline and lasts through the weekend. Thune warned that it was possible he would cancel the upcoming recess, especially if there was little progress toward avoiding a DHS shutdown. 

Still, Senate Democrats believe that the ball is in the GOP’s court and are waiting for their counterparts to act. 

‘I mean, I think they’re pretty reasonable,’ Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and the top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations panel, said.

‘I mean, we did not ask for the moon,’ he continued. ‘We asked for targeted but impactful changes in the way that ICE is terrorizing American cities. So obviously we’re willing to negotiate.’