Russia has reportedly agreed to abide by the limits of a nuclear arms pact it reached with the U.S. years ago after the agreement expired last week — as long as Washington does the same.

The New START Treaty’s expiration, which occurred on Feb. 5, leaves the nations with the two largest atomic arsenals with no restrictions for the first time in more than a half-century, The Associated Press reported. The expiration has fueled fears of a possible unconstrained nuclear arms race.

In September, President Vladimir Putin said Russia would abide by the nuclear arms deal for another year after its expiration date as long as the U.S. followed suit, the AP reported. However, President Donald Trump has said he wanted China to be part of a new pact, something that Beijing has rejected, according to the AP.

‘Rather than extend ‘NEW START’ (A badly negotiated deal by the United States that, aside from everything else, is being grossly violated), we should have our Nuclear Experts work on a new, improved, and modernized Treaty that can last long into the future,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social upon the treaty’s expiration.

In response to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the now-expired treaty, the White House pointed to the president’s Truth Social post.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke to lawmakers about the treaty, saying Moscow would ‘act in a responsible and balanced way on the basis of analysis of the U.S. military policies,’ the AP reported.

Lavrov added that ‘we have reason to believe that the United States is in no hurry to abandon these limits and that they will be observed for the foreseeable future.’

‘We will closely monitor how things are actually unfolding,’ Lavrov said. ‘If our American colleagues’ intention to maintain some kind of cooperation on this is confirmed, we will work actively on a new agreement and consider the issues that have remained outside strategic stability agreements.’

The New START Treaty was signed in 2010 by President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, and was entered into force on Feb. 5, 2011. 

The treaty gave the U.S. and Russia until Feb. 5, 2018, to meet the central limits on strategic offensive arms. The treaty caps each side at 700 deployed ICBMs, SLBMs and nuclear-capable heavy bombers; 1,550 deployed warheads; and 800 deployed and non-deployed launchers and bombers. The parties were then obligated to maintain the limits as long as the treaty remained in force, which it did until last week.

The expiration of the treaty comes just after a meeting involving U.S. and Russian officials in Abu Dhabi. Axios previously reported that the two nations were closing in on a deal to observe the treaty for at least six months after its expiration. The outlet added that during the six-month period there would be negotiations for a new deal.

The State Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Israel formally joined the Board of Peace on Wednesday ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House.

Netanyahu signed the document in the presence of Secretary of State Marco Rubio shortly before his scheduled talk with Trump, marking a diplomatic step as the two leaders prepare to discuss regional security and ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

The prime minister said on X that while the talks would cover several issues, including Gaza, they would ‘first and foremost’ center on negotiations with Iran.

Leaders from 17 countries participated in the initial Gaza Board of Peace charter signing ceremony in Davos, Switzerland, in late January, including presidents and other senior government officials from Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Central and Southeast Asia.

Netanyahu was not present at the ceremony, where world leaders signed the founding charter alongside Trump, who was seated at the center of the stage.

His office, however, said he would accept Trump’s invitation to join the Peace Board, following earlier concerns he had raised about the makeup of the Gaza executive board, particularly the roles of Qatar and Turkey.

A handful of other countries were also invited by the White House to join, including Russia, Belarus, France, Germany, Vietnam, Finland, Ukraine, Ireland, Greece and China, among others. Poland and Italy on Wednesday said they would not join.

Netanyahu’s visit to Washington comes as the U.S. expands its military presence in the Middle East while talks with Iran remain ongoing.

Trump has deployed the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group and the USS Michael Murphy, a guided-missile destroyer, as his envoys meet with Iranian officials in Oman.

Other U.S. naval assets, including the USS Bulkeley, USS Roosevelt, USS Delbert D. Black, USS McFaul, USS Mitscher, USS Spruance and USS Frank E. Petersen Jr., are positioned across key waterways surrounding Iran, from the eastern Mediterranean and Red Sea to the Persian Gulf, and Arabian Sea.

Senate Democrats aren’t budging on their Homeland Security demands, and appear ready to again thrust the government into a partial shutdown as Republicans scramble to keep the lights on.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced that he and Senate Democrats were prepared to reject a short-term funding extension, known as a continuing resolution (CR), for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) just days ahead of the funding deadline.

‘We’re 3 days away from a DHS shutdown, and Republicans have not gotten serious about negotiating a solution that reins in [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] and stops the violence,’ Schumer said on X. ‘Democrats will not support a CR to extend the status quo.’

Congress has until Friday at midnight to fund the agency, and as the days go by, the odds of doing so are becoming increasingly slim.

Schumer’s edict comes as both sides of the aisle continue negotiations behind the scenes on a compromise bill to fund the agency.

Senate Democrats unveiled the legislative text of their 10-point proposal over the weekend, and for a time, Republicans were optimistic that talks were moving in a positive direction.

Now, Schumer and his caucus are at an impasse with Republicans and the White House. While President Donald Trump and his administration presented a counteroffer earlier this week, Democrats say it’s not enough.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., teed up the original DHS funding bill for another vote on Tuesday. That bill could be modified to be a CR, and Republicans are leaning toward a four-week extension to keep the agency open.

And he noted that the legislative text from the White House could be coming on Wednesday.

‘There’s going to be the legislative text coming over from the White House today,’ Thune told reporters. ‘But I think it’s, like I said, the White House is operating in good faith.’

Still, Democrats have dubbed the GOP’s counter, which has been kept under strict lock and key, ‘sophomoric talking points.’ However, several items from their proposal, like requiring Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to obtain judicial warrants, demask, and have identification, are red lines for the White House and Republicans.

Whether the GOP can siphon off enough votes to avert a partial shutdown remains an open question, given the unified front Schumer and his caucus are presenting. And they will have a math problem of their own to contend with in trying to break the 60-vote filibuster.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday, ‘will be working from home this week,’ his office said in a statement.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said she received a criminal referral from the House Judiciary Committee alleging former CIA Director John Brennan lied to Congress, confirming the receipt during a hearing before the panel on Wednesday.

Bondi’s was responding to committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who directly asked the attorney general if Brennan would be indicted. The DOJ has for months been investigating Brennan and several others over the origins of the 2016 Trump-Russia probe.

‘What I can confirm is that we have received a referral from you, Chairman Jordan, to investigate John Brennan,’ Bondi said.

‘His attorneys have made some public statements, but the department is still bound, of course, by our longstanding policy of not discussing matters,’ Bondi said. ‘What I will say today I can’t confirm nor deny whether there’s a pending investigation, but what I will say [is] that no one is above the law. Weaponization has ended.

Jordan’s referral to the DOJ, sent in October, centered on Brennan’s testimony about the Steele dossier, a salacious document containing unverified, negative claims about Trump, and its role in an Obama-era Intelligence Community Assessment on Russia’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 election.

The referral followed CIA Director John Ratcliffe also asking the DOJ to prosecute Brennan over broader conspiracy allegations.

A grand jury subpoenaed Brennan and former FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, among others, as part of the DOJ’s investigation, Fox News Digital reported in November. The subpoenas originated from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, leading Brennan’s lawyers to accuse the DOJ of forum shopping for Republican-friendly judges.

Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., chimed in after Bondi answered, alluding to comments Trump has made about targeting his pollical enemies.

‘If we want to know whether Mr. Brennan will be indicted, you should just ask the president,’ Goldman said.

Fox News asked Trump last summer about Brennan after reports first surfaced that the FBI was investigating him and several others involved in what Republicans have widely viewed as a politically motivated effort to undermine Trump’s 2016 election campaign and victory. Trump said at the time that ‘whatever happens, happens.’

‘I think they’re very dishonest people. I think they’re crooked as hell. And, maybe they have to pay a price for that,’ Trump said at the time.

Legendary boxer Mike Tyson found himself in a new arena on Wednesday as he stood with Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, partnering with the Trump administration to fight obesity.

‘I had a sister that died at 25 from obesity. And where I come from, Brownsville, Brooklyn, is the most violent, poverty-stricken neighborhood in the city of New York and ultra-processed food was just the norm,’ Tyson said. ‘We didn’t have much money, but we had food stamps, and food stamps can buy you the candy, the sugar and all that soda and all that rotten stuff.’

Kennedy and Rollins were providing updates on the rollout of the government’s new dietary guidelines, which were unveiled in January. During the event on Wednesday, several speakers, including Tyson, spoke about the dangers of ultra-processed food and the need to get Americans to shift their diets toward real food.

‘We were able to reduce hundreds of pages of dietary guidelines… to about six pages, but it’s just three words: Eat real food,’ Kennedy said to the crowd as he closed the event. ‘I ask you all to start doing that today if you’re not already doing it.’

Tyson said that when he went to work with a trainer in upstate New York, he was given the tools to keep his health in check. While he admits that he can ‘fool around’ and get ‘lazy,’ leading to gaining 20-40 pounds, he says the tools he learned have allowed him to lose weight fast.

‘This is the biggest fight of my life,’ Tyson added. ‘I want to be a hero in this particular field because it affects my life.’

The event comes just days after the airing of an ad during the Super Bowl in which Tyson speaks about the importance of tackling the U.S.’s reliance on processed food. In the ad, Tyson also speaks about his sister, Denise, who died at the age of 25 from an obesity-linked heart attack.

The legendary boxer posted the video on his Facebook page, and said it was ‘the most important fight of my life.’

‘The most important fight of my life isn’t in the ring. I’m not fighting for a belt. I’m fighting for our health. Processed foods are killing us. We have been lied to, and we need to eat real food again,’ Tyson wrote.

Kennedy’s focus, even during his own 2024 presidential campaign, has been the rise of chronic illness in the U.S., which he believes is linked to an increased consumption of ultra-processed foods. The guidelines that he and Rollins unveiled in January effectively flip the already outdated food pyramid, moving protein, dairy, health fats, fruits and vegetables to the wide top of the inverted triangle, while relegating whole grains to the narrow bottom.

‘Better health begins on your plate — not in your medicine cabinet. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030 put real, whole, nutrient-dense foods back where they belong: at the center of health,’ the government website on the guidelines, RealFood.gov, reads.

The protein target in the new guidelines is ‘1.2–1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day.’ Additionally, the guidance recommends Americans consume three servings of vegetables and two servings of fruits every day. Meanwhile, it is recommended that Americans eat two to four servings of whole grains daily, although it specifies that refined carbohydrates are not recommended.

Iran dominated the agenda in Wednesday’s White House meeting between President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with both leaders signaling that diplomacy with Tehran remains uncertain and that coordination will continue if talks fail.

In a post on Truth Social following the meeting, Trump said he pushed for continued negotiations but left open other options.

‘There was nothing definitive reached other than I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a deal can be consummated. If it can, I let the Prime Minister know that will be a preference. If it cannot, we will just have to see what the outcome will be… Last time Iran decided that they were better off not making a deal, and they were hit with Midnight Hammer — That did not work well for them.’

Netanyahu’s office said the leaders discussed Iran, Gaza and broader regional developments and agreed to maintain close coordination, adding that the prime minister emphasized Israel’s security needs in the context of negotiations.

Earlier in the day, Netanyahu formally joined the U.S.-backed Board of Peace, signing onto the initiative ahead of the meeting after weeks of hesitation. The move places Israel inside a forum that includes Western partners as well as Turkey and Qatar, whose involvement in Gaza has drawn criticism in Jerusalem.

Experts say the decision reflects strategic calculations tied to both Gaza and Iran.

Dr. Dan Diker, president of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, said Netanyahu’s participation is directly linked to cooperation with Washington and to shaping postwar arrangements in Gaza.

‘It is in Israel’s interest for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to join the Board of Peace. He needs a place at that table even alongside adversarial powers such as Muslim Brotherhood-aligned countries Qatar and Turkey. Netanyahu’s membership in the Board of Peace is an important element in his cooperation with President Trump to help implement the 20-point plan, with deradicalization, disarming Hamas and demilitarization as the first three non-negotiable actions.’

Diker said the decision is also tied to Iran. ‘More strategic reason that Netanyahu’s membership on the Board of Peace is important is that it represents an element of cooperation to counter the Iranian regime. Netanyahu is likely counting on action against the Iranian regime from the Iranian people themselves and from the United States in the coming weeks. In exchange, Netanyahu continues to cooperate in implementing the 20-point plan in Gaza as part of a quid pro quo.’

Blaise Misztal, vice president for policy at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, described Israel’s move as a pragmatic choice shaped by the incomplete implementation of the Gaza deal and the broader regional threat environment.

‘The implementation of the Gaza peace deal leaves much to be desired. Hamas, despite being given 72 hours to release all hostages, took over 100 days to do so; Hamas has still not disarmed; there is neither an International Stabilization Force nor any countries jumping at the chance to join it; and the Board of Peace comprises countries that have shown themselves enemies of peace with Israel.’

He said Israel ultimately chose engagement over isolation. ‘Proceeding with the deal — including joining the Board of Peace — is Israel’s least bad option. Israel has a better chance of countering or balancing Turkish and Qatari influence on the Board of Peace by being in the room with them, rather than outside it.’

Misztal also linked the timing to Iran. ‘With the United States having a real chance to disarm, or even topple, the Iranian regime and the risk that Tehran might yet lash out at Israel, there is no interest in doing anything that would risk restarting the war in Gaza.’

The House of Representatives passed a massive election integrity overhaul bill on Wednesday despite opposition from the vast majority of Democrats.

The House passed Rep. Chip Roy’s SAVE America Act, legislation that’s aimed at keeping non-citizens from voting in U.S. federal elections. 

It is an updated version of the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, also led by Roy, R-Texas, which passed the House in April 2025 but was never taken up in the Senate.

Whereas the SAVE Act would create a new federal proof of citizenship mandate in the voter registration process and impose requirements for states to keep their rolls clear of ineligible voters, the updated bill would also require photo ID to vote in any federal elections.

It would also require information-sharing between state election officials and federal authorities in verifying citizenship on current voter rolls and enable the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to pursue immigration cases if non-citizens were found to be listed as eligible to vote.

Democrats have attacked the bill as tantamount to voter suppression, while Republicans argue that it’s necessary after the influx of millions of illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. during the four years of the Biden administration.

‘If we want to rebuild confidence again in American elections, we need to pass the SAVE Act,’ Rep. Mike Haridopolos, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital. ‘What better way to eliminate that distrust than to make sure that whoever votes in an American citizen who is truly eligible to vote?’

House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., accused Republicans of trying to make it harder for women to vote. She argued that the legislation would make it more difficult for married women to cast ballots if their surname is different from their maiden name on their birth certificate.

‘Republicans aren’t worried about non-citizens voting. They’re afraid of actual American citizens voting. Why? Because they’re losing among women,’ Clark said during debate on the House floor. ‘This is a minefield of red tape that you have put in front of women and American citizens and their right to vote.’

But House GOP Policy Committee Chairman Kevin Hern, R-Okla., emphasized that it was about keeping illegal immigrants from voting in U.S. elections.

‘This really is about feeding the narrative that Democrats want illegally from all over the world to come here to support them,’ Hern said of Democrats’ opposition.

If implemented, the bill could see new requirements imposed on voters in this year’s November midterm elections.

But it would have to pass the Senate, where current rules dictate that at least several Democrats are needed to meet the 60-vote threshold to overcome a filibuster.

The House of Representatives passed legislation on Wednesday aimed at reversing President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada after several Republicans joined Democrats for a rare rebuke of the GOP commander-in-chief.

Democrats successfully got a vote on a measure to reverse Trump’s national emergency at the northern border using a mechanism for forcing votes over the objections of House majority leadership, called a privileged resolution.

Trump signed an executive order in February 2025 implementing an additional 25% tariff on most goods from Canada and Mexico. Energy from Canada was subject to an additional 15% tariff.

At the time, the White House said it was punishment for those countries’ unwillingness to do more to stop the flow of illegal immigrants and illicit drugs into the U.S.

Opponents of Trump’s tariff strategy have criticized his moves against Canada in particular, arguing it was unjustly harming one of the U.S.’s closest allies and trading partners to the detriment of Americans themselves.

‘In the last year, tariffs have cost American families nearly $1,700. And that cost is expected to increase in 2026,’ Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., who is leading the legislation, said during debate on Wednesday.

‘And since these tariffs were imposed, U.S. exports to Canada have fallen by more than 21%. When I go home, my constituents aren’t telling me that they have an extra $1,700 to spare. They’re asking me to lower grocery prices, lower the price of healthcare, and make life more affordable.’

Meeks also said, ‘Canada is our friend. Canada is our ally. Canadians have fought alongside Americans, whether it was in World War II or the war in Afghanistan, where 165 Canadians gave their lives after our country was attacked. There is no national emergency, there is no national security threat underpinning these threats.’

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., argued the text of the resolution itself would end a national emergency related to fentanyl.

‘The gentleman over here, 5,000 people per year die in his state alone from fentanyl,’ Mast said of Meeks. ‘So if he wants to beg the question of who’s going to pay the price of him trying to end an emergency, that actually, for the first time, has Canada dealing with fentanyl because of the pressure being put on them — who’s going to pay the price? It’s going to be 5,000 more of his state’s residents. That’s who’s going to pay the price.’

He said the resolution was ‘not a debate about tariffs’ but rather Democrats trying to ‘ignore that there is a fentanyl crisis.’

The resolution was filed by Democrats months ago but was put on hold by an active measure by House GOP leaders that blocked the House from reversing Trump’s emergency declarations.

The president has used emergency declarations to bypass Congress on the subject of tariffs, a move that has drawn mixed reviews from Capitol Hill.

But that measure expired last month, and House GOP leaders’ bid to extend it through July 31 crashed and burned on Tuesday night when three Republicans joined Democrats to oppose it.

‘It is time for Congress to make its voice heard on tariffs,’ Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., one of the Republicans who voted in opposition to the Trump policy both on Tuesday and Wednesday, told Fox News Digital.

The legislation now heads to the Senate, which has voted in the past to restrict Trump’s tariff authority.

Even if it succeeds there, however, it’s likely to be hit with a veto from the president.

President Donald Trump is threatening to back election challengers against the six House Republicans who joined Democrats in voting to reverse his tariffs on Canada.

The president sent out an ominous warning to GOP lawmakers in the House and Senate just before his agenda suffered a blow on Capitol Hill Wednesday evening.

‘Any Republican, in the House or the Senate, that votes against TARIFFS will seriously suffer the consequences come Election time, and that includes Primaries!’ Trump posted on Truth Social.

He argued that the trade deficit was reduced significantly while U.S. financial markets hit significant high points because of his tariff policies.

‘In addition, TARIFFS have given us Great National Security because the mere mention of the word has Countries agreeing to our strongest wishes,’ Trump continued. 

‘TARIFFS have given us Economic and National Security, and no Republican should be responsible for destroying this privilege.’

Democrats successfully got a vote on a measure to reverse Trump’s national emergency at the northern border using a mechanism for forcing votes over the objections of House majority leadership called a privileged resolution.

The six Republicans who voted in favor of the measure are Reps. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., Don Bacon, R-Neb., Jeff Hurd, R-Colo., and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa. 

One Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, voted with the majority of Republicans on the matter. It passed 219-211.

It’s not clear how much impact Trump’s threat will have, however.

Both Newhouse and Bacon are not running for re-election in the 2026 midterms, and Trump is already endorsing a primary challenger against Massie.

Kiley, whose district was severely impacted by California Democrats’ new congressional map, has not yet said whether he will run for re-election or where he will do it.

Fitzpatrick and Hurd are both well-liked incumbents in their districts, which are top targets for Democrats come November.

Trump signed an executive order in February 2025, enacting an additional 25% tariff on most goods from Canada and Mexico. Energy from Canada was subject to an additional 15% tariff.

At the time, the White House said it was punishment for those countries’ unwillingness to do more to stop the flow of illegal immigrants and illicit drugs into the U.S.

Opponents of Trump’s tariff strategy have criticized his moves against Canada in particular, arguing it was unjustly harming one of the closest allies of the U.S. and trading partners to the detriment of Americans themselves.

But Republicans who voted against the legislation pointed out that Trump said the fentanyl crisis was the reason for issuing the emergency in the first place, and said the drug was still killing Americans.

The legislation now heads to the Senate, where Republicans have voted to rebuke Trump’s tariff strategy in the past despite similar warnings from the president.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced she was ending the work of a task force that sought to reform the U.S. intelligence community, including rooting out what she described as the politicization of intelligence gathering, after less than a year since its creation.

Gabbard established the group in April, when it was also tasked with probing ways to reduce spending on intelligence and whether reports on high-profile topics such as COVID-19 should be declassified.

In a statement on Wednesday, Gabbard said the task force’s work was always intended to be temporary after she was tapped to oversee coordination of the 18 U.S. intelligence agencies.

‘In less than one year, we’ve brought a historic level of transparency to the intelligence community,’ Gabbard said in her statement. ‘My commitment to transparency, truth, and eliminating politicization and weaponization within the intelligence community remains central to all that we do.’

The number of officers assigned to the task force, as well as their identities, are classified, according to Gabbard’s office.

The officers will now return to other intelligence agencies to continue the work the group started, her office added.

The group sparked criticism against Gabbard after its creation, with Democrats and some intelligence insiders raising questions about whether it would be used to undermine intelligence agencies and bring them under tighter control of President Donald Trump.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-VA, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said last year that the group appeared to be a ‘pass for a witch hunt’ designed to target intelligence officers deemed disloyal to Trump.

‘This seems to be just a pass for a witch hunt and that’s going to further undermine our national security,’ Warner told Reuters at the time.

Gabbard has implemented significant changes to the country’s intelligence gathering in the last year, including by using agencies to back up Trump’s claims about alleged interference in the 2016 and 2020 elections.

In August, she revealed plans to cut her office’s workforce and slash more than $700 million from its annual budget. She also fired two top intelligence officials in May after concluding that they opposed Trump.

Since Gabbard took over as director, the federal government has revoked the security clearances of dozens of former and current officials, including high-profile political opponents of the president, which critics have panned as being a punishment for siding against Trump rather than posing security risks.

Gabbard’s presence for a recent FBI search of a Georgia election office in connection to the 2020 election has led to criticism from Democrats who argue she is blurring the traditional lines between foreign intelligence collection and domestic law enforcement.

The CIA has also released additional information about its investigations into the origins of COVID-19, such as an assessment released last year that affirmed the position that it most likely originated in a lab in China.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.