Senate Republicans are marching forward with a massive funding package to avert a partial government shutdown, despite Senate Democrats doubling down on their resistance to the Homeland Security funding bill.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., on Tuesday teed up a key test vote for the six-bill package for Thursday. The move allows Senate Republicans time to hash out a deal with Senate Democrats, who are demanding several restrictions on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Republicans are eager to find a middle ground that doesn’t involve modifying the current funding package, given that doing so would almost guarantee a government shutdown and jeopardize funding to several other federal agencies, including the Pentagon.

But Democrats aren’t willing to budge, for now, until the DHS bill is stripped and sidelined.

Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she spoke with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem on Monday, but wouldn’t reveal details of the conversation.

Collins, whose home state is also a target of Noem’s and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), noted that there were already bipartisan restrictions and reforms baked into the current DHS funding bill, like $20 million for body cams and numerous reporting requirements that, if not met, would halt money flowing to immigration operations.

But more could be done if needed.

‘I think there might be a way to add some further reforms or procedural protections, but those discussions are ongoing and really involve [Thune],’ Collins said.

Senate Democrats’ rapid unity against the bill came on the heels of the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by a Border Patrol agent in Minneapolis over the weekend. Roughly two weeks before that, Renee Nicole Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent in her vehicle.

‘I understand how this has changed the conversation, but I still think if there are things the Democrats want in the Homeland bill or addressed in the context of the situation, that they ought to make those clear and known and see to what degree the administration may be able to address them,’ Thune said. ‘So I would prefer that there be a way that we keep the package together.’

But Senate Democrats appear ready to reject any executive action taken by the administration or President Donald Trump on the matter. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., argued on the Senate floor that the five other funding bills were got go, but that the ‘Senate must not pass the DHS budget as currently written.’ 

‘And it must be reworked to rein in and overhaul ICE to ensure the public’s safety,’ Schumer said. ‘The fix should come from Congress. The public can’t trust the administration to do the right thing on its own.’

Even if Senate Democrats are successful in their gambit and halt the DHS funding bill, the agency is still flush with billions in taxpayer dollars following Republicans’ passage of President Donald Trump’s signature ‘big, beautiful bill’ last year.

Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., said during a virtual press conference that given that reality, Democrats ‘have to try no matter what.’

‘Look, if [Noem] doesn’t need the money, then she doesn’t need the money, but we can still have some legitimate restrictions on how these people are conducting themselves,’ Gallego said.

The other reality is that lawmakers are fast running out of time to concoct a solution by the Jan. 30 deadline.

Thursday’s vote, if successful, would tee up several hours of debate on the funding package in the Senate, eating away at valuable time and pushing final passage of the spending bills right to the midnight deadline.

The pressure created by the deadline and Democrats’ sudden reversal from just days before has Republicans scrambling.

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., who chairs the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Committee, is set to be a key figure in any deal that emerges, given that she helped bring an end to the previous shutdown last year.

She told reporters that a ‘government shutdown does not help anyone,’ but noted that what the path forward will be ‘is yet to be determined.’

‘We’re really going to have to put our heads together and figure out how we can make meaningful adjustments that would allow us to move these bills,’ Britt said. ‘And so that’s what we are looking for.’

A Minnesota fraud scandal is a ‘canary in the coal mine’ for how easily swindles can seep into government systems — including election administration — Republican election attorney Justin Riemer told Fox News Digital. 

‘What you’ve seen happen in Minnesota and now similar fraudulent schemes in other states, this should be very much a canary in the coal mine for other governmental processes,’ Riemer told Fox News Digital in a Zoom interview in January. ‘Which would include our voter registration and election processes. And it’s not somehow immune to the type of corruption that we’ve seen in Minnesota and in other places.’

Riemer leads Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections (RITE), a legal nonprofit that fights court efforts from a ‘well-funded network of activists’ working to ‘undermine elections and democracy.’ He previewed that RITE is readying an investigation into Minnesota’s election system to see if it has potentially faced fraud similar to the sweeping multiyear, COVID-19-era schemes currently under scrutiny. 

Riemer framed Minnesota as an early test case for broader concerns he believes are building ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, particularly around noncitizen registration and voting safeguards. 

‘They’ve definitely opened up opportunities for noncitizens to register. And honestly, there’s times where noncitizens are being unwittingly registered,’ Riemer said, before pointing to an instance that unfolded in 2025 in the Last Frontier State — Alaska. 

 ‘It’s happened in Alaska, actually, where you have two noncitizens who, by no fault of their own, were registered through some sloppy state automatic voter registration process, which essentially sucks in anyone that goes to the DMV into the registration system without any sort of voluntary registration on the part of the noncitizen,’ he said. 

The election attorney argued that the fastest-moving battles are increasingly being fought in court — including disputes over voter roll maintenance, documentary proof of citizenship requirements and ballot deadlines.

‘Look at what the Supreme Court is reviewing right now,’ Riemer said, pointing to litigation challenging whether states can accept ballots that arrive after Election Day. He also cited ongoing legal fights involving state efforts to remove noncitizens from voter rolls and require documentary proof of citizenship.

‘There are also various cases winding their way through the courts on state efforts to remove noncitizens and to require documentary proof of citizenship,’ he continued. ‘So I think a lot of the action you’re going to see is going to be in the courts.’

RITE says its mission is to defend state election laws in court and prevent what it calls efforts to dilute the votes of eligible citizens.

Riemer told Fox Digital that Democratic-aligned legal groups are a major force opposing stricter election rules, describing them as heavily funded and aggressive in litigation.

‘The boogeyman is the left-wing lawyers and interest groups that are funded by basically unlimited amounts of money that sue a state for doing anything that increases the integrity of their elections,’ he said. ‘They claim that some of these laws disenfranchise or suppress the vote. But they have a very hard time proving that in court. But I would point to the left-wing lawyers and to the donors who fund them with essentially unlimited amounts of money to file ridiculous and frivolous lawsuits.’

RITE points to recent court wins it says strengthened election safeguards, including a federal ruling in Maryland requiring public access to certain voter-roll maintenance records under the National Voter Registration Act. The group also assisted in cases in Colorado and Pennsylvania that preserved mail-ballot authentication requirements, including signature verification and envelope-signature and dating rules.

‘RITE is out there fighting to stop these things from happening,’ he said. ‘We’re out there fighting in the courts to try and make sure that states, especially those who are unwilling, are being forced to perform more checks at the front end, because the registration process is really where it all begins. And states need to be doing more than they are.’ 

On the national level, President Donald Trump’s administration has made it easier for states to verify voter eligibility, notching some wins in the Republicans’ election integrity battle ahead of the midterms. 

‘The Trump administration has really emphasized election integrity as a priority,’ he said. ‘And one of the big things I would point to is what they have done to allow states to verify the citizenship of those who are registering to vote. They’ve opened up databases at the Department of Homeland Security that state election officials can use to determine whether or not voters on their registration lists are actually citizens or otherwise eligible to vote. That’s been key.’ 

The Minnesota fraud case unfolding in the Twin Cities has continued since December 2025, when it hit the nation’s radar in earnest that officials were uncovering hundreds of millions of dollars in state-administered funds allegedly lost to fraud that could exceed $9 billion. 

The investigations have been underscored by federal immigration law enforcement presence in the Twin Cities, which has led to violent protests and two fatal shootings of Americans by federal police officials. 

President Donald Trump credits Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the one for training him to become a diplomat, comments that come as Rubio has increasingly secured more responsibility and influence over the president during the second Trump administration. 

Trump described Rubio’s guidance as he described his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping and shared an anecdote about how Xi requested that Trump stop referring to COVID-19 virus as the ‘China virus.’ According to Trump, Xi requested that the president use a different name – an ask that Trump said he chose to respect.

‘I decided to do that because why should we have a problem over that?’ Trump said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday. 

‘You were a true diplomat, huh?’ said Børge Brende, the president and CEO of the World Economic Forum.

‘I became a diplomat for the first time. Well, you know, taught me that? Marco Rubio. He said, ‘Let me teach you about diplomacy,’’ Trump said. 

Trump has entrusted Rubio with a portfolio of responsibilities, and in addition to leading the State Department, Rubio also is serving as the national security advisor and head of the National Archives for the Trump administration. Rubio is the only person to oversee the White House’s National Security Council and lead the State Department since Henry Kissinger since the Nixon administration. 

‘He’s just really smart, really effective, and he’s succeeded at everything he’s done,’ Matthew Kroenig, a former Pentagon official and current vice president at the Atlantic Council think tank, told Fox News Digital. ‘He doesn’t see his job as containing Trump. He understands who the boss is and channels those instincts into constructive directions.’

Rubio, who is the son of Cuban immigrants and previously served as a U.S. Senator representing Florida, has emerged as a key architect steering the Trump administration’s foreign policy agenda – gaining even more visibility after the U.S. launched strikes in Venezuela and captured dictator Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 3. 

Rubio, who historically has espoused more hawkish foreign policy positions, had long supported overthrowing Maduro. The first Trump administration sought to oust the Venezuelan strongman by imposing sanctions on Venezuela and backing opposition leader Juan Guaidó. 

In 2019, Rubio predicted Maduro’s fall — even though he was uncertain about the timeline. 

‘He’s picked a battle he can’t win,’ Rubio said in an interview with The New York Times about Maduro. ‘It’s just a matter of time. The only thing we don’t know is how long it will take — and whether it will be peaceful or bloody.’

Following Maduro’s capture, Trump announced that the U.S. would ‘run’ Venezuela until a peaceful transition could occur. The move to ouster Maduro has attracted scrutiny, mostly from Democrats, who have called into question the legality of the operation in Venezuela, which was conducted without Congress’ approval. 

Even so, Rubio has said that Congressional approval was not required since the operation was not an ‘invasion.’ 

Trump speculated in Switzerland that Rubio would be remembered as ‘the best’ Secretary of State, and noted that every single member of the Senate voted to confirm Rubio for his post in January 2025.

 ‘Hey, any guy that gets approved by 100% of the votes – you think of it, he got liberal Democrats and radical right Republicans to approve him,’ Trump said Wednesday. ‘He’s the only one…At first I wasn’t happy about it. I said, ‘Wait a minute, I don’t like that.’ And now it turns out that the Democrats probably wish they didn’t do that. And Marco has been fantastic.’ 

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Rubio for comment. 

Fox News’ Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump’s administration marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Tuesday, reflecting on the genocide committed by Nazi Germany during World War II.

‘Today, we pay respect to the blessed memories of the millions of Jewish people, who were murdered at the hands of the Nazi Regime and its collaborators during the Holocaust— as well as the Slavs and the Roma, people with disabilities, religious leaders, persons targeted based on their sexual orientation, and political prisoners who were also targeted for systematic slaughter,’ Trump said in a statement.

‘On January 27, 1945, 81 years ago today, Allied forces liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Nazi Regime’s largest concentration and death camp in World War II, where over one million people were marched to their senseless deaths,’ the presidential message  released by the White House noted.

Trump noted that since returning to the presidency last year he has sought to use the federal government to battle antisemitism.

‘After I took office as the 47th President of the United States, I proudly made it this administration’s priority directing the Federal Government to use all appropriate legal tools to combat the scourge of antisemitism. My Administration will remain a steadfast and unequivocal champion for Jewish Americans and the God-given right of every American to practice their faith freely, openly, and without fear,’ he asserted.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio also addressed the grim historical record in a statement on Tuesday. 

‘Today, the United States joins countries around the world in remembering the six million Jews who were systematically murdered in the Holocaust, as well as the millions of others the Nazis marked for persecution and mass murder. As we commemorate the liberation of the Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, we reaffirm a solemn and moral truth: all human beings are valuable and endowed by their Creator with inherent dignity and certain unalienable rights,’ he said in the statement.

‘This enduring commitment, expressed in our annual commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, reflects our resolve, in the words of President Trump, to ‘build a society that always values the sanctity of every human life and the dignity of every faith.’ The United States will always counter antisemitism worldwide, champion justice for Holocaust survivors and heirs, and defend the integrity of Holocaust memory,’ he noted.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz earned backlash for remarks he made on Sunday likening the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration to the tragic life of Anne Frank, a Jewish teenager who authored a diary detailing her experience in hiding during World War II. 

‘We have got children in Minnesota hiding in their houses, afraid to go outside. Many of us grew up reading that story of Anne Frank. Somebody’s gonna write that children’s story about Minnesota,’ Walz said.

He made the comments on Sunday after an adult U.S. citizen, Alex Pretti, was fatally shot by a federal agent in the state on Saturday.

Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, the State Department special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, staunchly objected to the Anne Frank comparison.

‘Ignorance like this cheapens the horror of the Holocaust. Anne Frank was in Amsterdam legally and abided by Dutch law. She was hauled off to a death camp because of her race and religion. Her story has nothing to do with the illegal immigration, fraud, and lawlessness plaguing Minnesota today,’ Kaploun wrote in a Monday post on X. ‘Our brave law enforcement should be commended, not tarred with this historically illiterate and antisemitic comparison.’

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum declared in a post on Monday, ‘Anne Frank was targeted and murdered solely because she was Jewish. Leaders making false equivalencies to her experience for political purposes is never acceptable. Despite tensions in Minneapolis, exploiting the Holocaust is deeply offensive, especially as antisemitism surges.’

China has publicly condemned U.S. pressure on Cuba, accusing Washington of violating international law and calling for an end to sanctions and the decades-long embargo. 

The comments echo Beijing’s long-standing pattern of backing smaller communist governments it says face foreign threats, including Cuba and Venezuela.

‘China is deeply concerned about and strongly condemns the U.S. moves, and urges the U.S. to stop depriving the Cuban people of their rights to subsistence and development, stop disrupting regional peace and stability, stop its violations of international law, and immediately lift its blockade and sanctions against Cuba,’ the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on X on Tuesday morning.

The post was shared by China’s embassy in the U.S.

Beijing has routinely criticized U.S. sanctions policy, framing economic pressure on communist governments as a threat to regional stability.

There is no naval blockade currently in place, though U.S. officials have said it remains an option.

The escalation follows the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro earlier this month, a move that significantly disrupted Cuba’s access to Venezuelan oil and triggered outrage from Havana.

The operation and its fallout marked a dramatic escalation in U.S.–Cuba tensions, with President Donald Trump declaring that Cuba would no longer receive oil or money from Venezuela — a move that severed Havana’s longtime energy and financial lifeline.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said his administration was not negotiating with Washington, despite Trump’s threats to push Cuba into a deal now that Venezuelan oil will no longer be supplied.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration is actively seeking Cuban officials willing to strike a deal that could facilitate regime change by the end of 2026.

In June, Trump signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum tightening U.S. policy toward Cuba, reinforcing sanctions and travel bans, restricting financial dealings with Cuban military-linked entities, and enforcing the economic embargo.

Fox News’ Nicole McManus contributed to this report.

A Minnesota fraud scandal is a ‘canary in the coal mine’ for how easily swindles can seep into government systems — including election administration — Republican election attorney Justin Riemer told Fox News Digital. 

‘What you’ve seen happen in Minnesota and now similar fraudulent schemes in other states, this should be very much a canary in the coal mine for other governmental processes,’ Riemer told Fox News Digital in a Zoom interview in January. ‘Which would include our voter registration and election processes. And it’s not somehow immune to the type of corruption that we’ve seen in Minnesota and in other places.’

Riemer leads Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections (RITE), a legal nonprofit that fights court efforts from a ‘well-funded network of activists’ working to ‘undermine elections and democracy.’ He previewed that RITE is readying an investigation into Minnesota’s election system and if it has potentially faced fraud similar fraud to the sweeping multiyear, COVID-19-era schemes currently under scrutiny. 

Riemer framed Minnesota as an early test case for broader concerns he believes are building ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, particularly around noncitizen registration and voting safeguards. 

‘They’ve definitely opened up opportunities for noncitizens to register. And honestly, there’s times where noncitizens are being unwittingly registered,’ Riemer said, before pointing to an instance that unfolded in 2025 in the Last Frontier State — Alaska. 

 ‘It’s happened in Alaska, actually, where you have two noncitizens who, by no fault of their own, were registered through some sloppy state automatic voter registration process, which essentially sucks in anyone that goes to the DMV into the registration system without any sort of voluntary registration on the part of the noncitizen,’ he said. 

The election attorney argued that the fastest-moving battles are increasingly being fought in court — including disputes over voter roll maintenance, documentary proof of citizenship requirements and ballot deadlines.

‘Look at what the Supreme Court is reviewing right now,’ Riemer said, pointing to litigation challenging whether states can accept ballots that arrive after Election Day. He also cited ongoing legal fights involving state efforts to remove noncitizens from voter rolls and require documentary proof of citizenship.

‘There are also various cases winding their way through the courts on state efforts to remove noncitizens and to require documentary proof of citizenship,’ he continued. ‘So I think a lot of the action you’re going to see is going to be in the courts.’

RITE says its mission is to defend state election laws in court and prevent what it calls efforts to dilute the votes of eligible citizens.

Riemer told Fox Digital that Democratic-aligned legal groups are a major force opposing stricter election rules, describing them as heavily funded and aggressive in litigation.

‘The boogeyman is the left-wing lawyers and interest groups that are funded by basically unlimited amounts of money that sue a state for doing anything that increases the integrity of their elections,’ he said. ‘They claim that some of these laws disenfranchise or suppress the vote. But they have a very hard time proving that in court. But I would point to the left-wing lawyers and to the donors who fund them with essentially unlimited amounts of money to file ridiculous and frivolous lawsuits.’

RITE points to recent court wins it says strengthened election safeguards, including a federal ruling in Maryland requiring public access to certain voter-roll maintenance records under the National Voter Registration Act. The group also assisted in cases in Colorado and Pennsylvania that preserved mail-ballot authentication requirements, including signature verification and envelope-signature and dating rules.

‘RITE is out there fighting to stop these things from happening,’ he said. ‘We’re out there fighting in the courts to try and make sure that states, especially those who are unwilling, are being forced to perform more checks at the front end, because the registration process is really where it all begins. And states need to be doing more than they are.’ 

On the national level, President Donald Trump’s administration has made it easier for states to verify voter eligibility, notching some wins in the Republicans’ election integrity battle ahead of the midterms. 

‘The Trump administration has really emphasized election integrity as a priority,’ he said. ‘And one of the big things I would point to is what they have done to allow states to verify the citizenship of those who are registering to vote. They’ve opened up databases at the Department of Homeland Security that state election officials can use to determine whether or not voters on their registration lists are actually citizens or otherwise eligible to vote. That’s been key.’ 

The Minnesota fraud case unfolding in the Twin Cities has continued since December 2025, when it hit the nation’s radar in earnest that officials were uncovering hundreds of millions of dollars in state-administered funds allegedly lost to fraud that could exceed $9 billion. 

The investigations have been underscored by federal immigration law enforcement presence in the Twin Cities, which has led to violent protests and two fatal shootings of Americans by federal police officials. 

House Freedom Caucus leaders are drawing battle lines in the federal funding fight as the threat of a partial government shutdown grows by the day.

Senate Democrats are threatening to sink a massive government spending bill — which would impact the Department of War, Department of Transportation, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and other offices — over its provisions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

If the legislation, which passed the House last week, fails to clear the Senate by the end of the day Friday, large swaths of the government could be forced to pause or reduce operations until an agreement is reached.

But leaders within the conservative House Freedom Caucus are warning they will not accept changes to ICE funding that’s included in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) portion of the package.

In a letter sent to President Donald Trump on Tuesday, the Freedom Caucus Board of Directors urged him to ‘ensure the Department of Homeland Security is funded fully along with all remaining appropriations bills — and not allow Democrats to strip its funding out to pass other appropriations separately.’

‘We cannot support giving Democrats the ability to control the funding of our Department of Homeland Security,’ the letter said.

Conservatives are also calling on Trump to ‘use all tools necessary,’ including invoking the Insurrection Act, to quell the unrest in Minneapolis.

‘All Americans have the right to protest — including their right to speech and to bear arms consistent with our laws — but there is no right to thwart federal, state, or local law enforcement and the state of order among our citizens. The coordinated effort to stop law enforcement by politicians in Minnesota and around the country has caused chaos and led to the tragic deaths of two Americans in Minnesota. It must end,’ the letter said.

Ongoing demonstrations in the Midwestern city — both over Trump’s immigration crackdown and the federal law enforcement-involved killing of two U.S. citizens there — have spurred Democrats in Congress to demand further restrictions on ICE before they could support any DHS funding bill.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and other Democrats are threatening to vote against the entire spending package unless it’s stripped of the DHS portion — meaning it would have to go back to the House for another vote.

But the Freedom Caucus’ letter is a clear signal that such a move is virtually guaranteed to fail in the House, where nearly all GOP votes will be needed to advance the package again.

In fact, the conservatives are pushing Trump to explore other options to provide funding to other critical government agencies if Democrats dig their heels in.

‘The House has passed an appropriations package negotiated and agreed to by Senate Democrats. The package will not come back through the House without funding for the Department of Homeland Security,’ the letter said.

‘If Democrats insist on reneging and shutting down the government, endangering Americans to side with criminal illegal aliens, the Freedom Caucus stands ready to take all steps necessary to fund government unilaterally — by supporting (a) changing the Senate rules to end the ‘fake’ filibuster threshold, (b) moving an emergency reconciliation bill to fund the departments of Homeland Security and War, and (c) efforts by the Executive Branch to transfer funding with maximum flexibility.’

Senate leaders have already signaled they’re against changing the filibuster threshold to make it so that a simple majority, not 60 votes, is needed to advance legislation.

It’s a stance that has caused some friction with Trump, who called on the Senate GOP to invoke the so-called ‘nuclear option’ to end the filibuster during the prior 43-day government shutdown.

Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday that the administration was opposed to Democrats’ demand to split off DHS funding.

At the same time, Trump has been having discussions with Democratic leaders in Minnesota in a bid to quell the chaos.

President Donald Trump confirmed on Tuesday he has no plans to ask Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem to step down from her role.

Trump was asked about Noem’s status during a gaggle with reporters outside the White House. He told the press that he still thinks Noem is doing a ‘great job.’

‘Is Kristi Noem going to step down?’ a reporter asked.

‘No,’ Trump responded bluntly.

He later said he believes she is doing a ‘very good job,’ citing her role in closing down the border.

His statement comes as Noem is facing widespread criticism after federal agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minnesota this month.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., called on Trump to fire her directly on Tuesday. In a post on X, the senator accused Noem of ‘betraying’ the department’s central mission.

‘I make a direct appeal to immediately fire Sec. Noem,’ Fetterman wrote. 

‘Americans have died. She is betraying DHS’s core mission and trashing your border security legacy. DO NOT make the mistake President Biden made for not firing a grossly incompetent DHS Secretary,’ he said.

Unlike other Democratic senators, Fetterman typically takes a more pragmatic stance toward Trump and the broader GOP on issues including immigration and border security. In recent weeks, Fetterman had encouraged his party to avoid calls to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

 As the Trump administration has been having federal authorities crack down on illegal immigrants around the U.S., the fatal shootings of U.S. citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota have caused an uproar.

‘Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti should still be alive. My family grieves for theirs,’ Fetterman said in a statement on Monday.

‘The operation in Minneapolis should stand down and immediately end. It has become an ungovernable and dangerous urban theatre for civilians and law enforcement that is incompatible with the American spirit,’ he noted.

Fox News’ Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.

Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton said she would not support Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N,Y., if elected, drawing a clear contrast with her rivals during a debate Monday among the leading Democratic candidates for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat.

Asked directly whether they would support Schumer as Senate leader, the candidates offered varying levels of support.

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., said he was undecided and would ‘hear his pitch.’

‘I haven’t decided,’ he told the moderators at the debate, which was hosted by WBEZ, the Chicago Sun-Times, the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics and International House ahead of the March 2026 Democratic primary. 

Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., said her support would depend on who might run against Schumer.

Stratton, however, delivered a firm rejection, saying she has already made her position public.

‘No, and I’ve already said that I will not support Chuck Schumer as leader in the Senate, and I’m the only person on this stage that has said so,’ she said.

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

The exchange comes amid broader Democratic frustration with Senate leadership, following the longest government shutdown in U.S. history that began last October.

Frustration with senior leadership has been voiced publicly by several lawmakers, including Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who recently said Schumer should be replaced.

‘Senator Schumer is no longer effective and should be replaced. If you can’t lead the fight to stop healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for Americans, what will you fight for?’ Khanna wrote on X on Nov. 9.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., voiced similar criticism, saying he’s ‘out of touch’ with the American people. 

‘The Democratic Party needs leaders who fight and deliver for working people. Schumer should step down,’ she said.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte warned European leaders that they need the U.S. in order to defend themselves, comments that come as tensions between the U.S. and Europe have escalated amid President Donald Trump’s push to acquire Greenland. 

‘If anyone thinks here again that the European Union, or Europe as a whole, can defend itself without the U.S., keep on dreaming. You can’t. We can’t. We need each other,’ Rutte said Monday in Brussels to the European Parliament. 

Without U.S. support, European nations would be required to massively ramp up their defense spending to 10% of their GDP. NATO allies pledged to spend 5% of their GDP on defense last year on defense by 2035. Likewise, Europe would be forced to spend billions of dollars to create a new nuclear deterrent, absent the U.S. 

‘In that scenario, you will lose the ultimate guarantor of our freedom, which is the U.S. nuclear umbrella. So hey, good luck,’ Rutte said.

Rutte’s comments come amid frustration from European allies as Trump has doubled down on his quest to acquire Greenland, and as several European leaders, including Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares, have suggested the European Union create its own joint army. 

Trump originally threatened to impose a 10% tariff on all goods from NATO countries that would increase to 25% in June until a deal was reached for the U.S. to secure Greenland, after NATO members dispatched troops to the Danish territory. 

However, Trump backed down from these tariff threats after the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and announced in a post on social media Wednesday that the U.S. and NATO had established a ‘framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region.’ 

Likewise, Trump pledged not to use military force to seize the island. 

It’s unclear what the deal entails, and Trump told reporters Thursday on Air Force One that the deal was still being negotiated.

Although Greenland has said it wants independence from Copenhagen, Denmark, and doesn’t want to join the U.S., Trump historically has voiced a desire to seize Greenland for the U.S. since his first administration.

Meanwhile, Greenland has said that it prefers to remain aligned with Denmark, despite the complicated history the two countries share due to Denmark’s treatment of Indigenous people on the island. 

‘If we have to choose between the USA and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark,’ Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen told reporters Jan. 13, according to translated remarks. ‘We choose NATO, the Kingdom of Denmark and the EU.’ 

Still, Rutte said that Trump was correct to stay vigilant about security in the Arctic as Russia and China have both increased their presence there in recent years. 

‘I think he’s right. There is an issue with the Arctic region,’ Rutte said. ‘There is an issue of collective security, because these sea lanes are opening up, and because the Chinese and the Russians are more and more active.’