Author

admin

Browsing

Turkish police detained at least 30 people in central Istanbul on Sunday as they tried to take part in a Pride March, which authorities had banned as part of a years-long clampdown on LGBTQ+ events, an opposition politician said.

Footage obtained by Reuters showed police scuffling with a group of activists holding rainbow flags in the city center before rounding them up and loading them into police vans.

Kezban Konukcu, a lawmaker from the pro-Kurdish DEM Party who attended the march, told Reuters that at least 30 people had been taken into custody.

Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Istanbul governor’s office had earlier deemed the march unlawful and said groups promoting the event were operating “illegally.”

Authorities have banned Pride marches in Turkey’s largest city since 2015, citing public safety and security concerns.

President Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted AK Party has adopted increasingly harsh rhetoric against the LGBTQ+ community over the past decade.

In January, Erdogan declared 2025 the “Year of the Family,” describing Turkey’s declining birth rate as an existential threat and accusing the LGBTQ+ movement of undermining traditional values.

“The primary goal of the gender neutralization policies, in which LGBT is used as a battering ram, is the family and the sanctity of the family institution,” Erdogan said in January.

Rights groups have condemned Turkey’s stance. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have warned that government rhetoric and actions are fueling a hostile environment for LGBTQ+ people, contributing to rising discrimination and violence.

Despite the bans, small groups of activists continue to mark Pride Week each year. Organizers say the increasingly aggressive police response reflects broader crackdowns on dissent and freedom of assembly in Turkey.

This post appeared first on cnn.com

Hong Kong pro-democracy political party League of Social Democrats announced on Sunday it had disbanded due to immense political pressure, the latest casualty in a years-long crackdown that has already quieted much of the city’s once-vocal opposition.

Following massive anti-government protests in 2019, many leading activists were prosecuted or jailed under a 2020 national security law imposed by Beijing. Dozens of civil society groups dissolved. Media outlets critical of the government shuttered.

The League of Social Democrats was the only pro-democracy party that still staged small street protests from time to time and held street booth activities to carry on its advocacy despite the risks.

Its chairperson, Chan Po-ying, said the disbandment decision was made after careful deliberation, especially taking into account the consequences to its members and comrades. Chan refused to elaborate on the pressure but said she was proud to say that the party had still contributed to the city’s pro-democracy movement in these few years.

“We have stayed true to our original aspirations and haven’t let down to the trust placed in us by those who went to prison,” she said. “While we are now forced to disband and feel an ache in our conscience, we have no other choice,” she said.

Protests became rare under Beijing’s grip

Hong Kong, a former British colony, will mark the 28th anniversary of returning to Chinese rule on July 1. The city used to hold annual pro-democracy protests that day and other various demonstrations demanding better policies.

But those were ceased after most organizing groups were disbanded and the leading activists were jailed. Critics say the drastic political changes under the security law reflect that the freedoms Beijing promised to keep intact in 1997 are shrinking.

The Beijing and Hong Kong governments insist the law is necessary for the city’s stability. A Chinese official overseeing Hong Kong affairs in 2023 said protests are not the only way for people to express their views, signaling Beijing’s stance toward demonstrations in the city.

In April, Hong Kong’s biggest pro-democracy party, the Democratic Party, also voted to give its leadership the mandate to move toward a potential disbandment. Party veterans told The Associated Press that some members were warned of consequences if the party didn’t shut down. A final vote is expected at a later date.

Chan said she believed the “one country, two systems” principle, which Beijing uses to govern Hong Kong, has already ended, pointing to the Chinese government’s imposition of the security law and introducing the idea of “soft resistance,” a term officials use to refer to underlying security risks.

“One country, two systems has already (become) one country, one system,” she said.

A party known for confrontational tactics

Founded in 2006, the League of Social Democrats was a left-wing political party that opposed what it called collusion between government and business, upheld the principle that people have a say and was firmly committed to the interests of underprivileged residents.

It was widely known for its more aggressive tactics when fighting for change. Its members have thrown bananas, eggs and luncheon meat at officials or pro-Beijing lawmakers as a protest gesture. Its party platform said the group advocated non-violent resistance but would not avoid physical confrontations – a stance that set it apart from older, traditional pro-democracy groups.

It once had three lawmakers in office. Its longest-serving lawmaker, Leung Kwok-hung – Chan’s husband – was disqualified from the legislature due to his manner of taking his oath in office in 2017.

Members arrested and jailed over activism

On the streets, the group’s activism led to the arrests and jailing of its members from time to time.

Last year, Leung and prominent LGBTQ+ activist Jimmy Sham, a former party leader, were sentenced to nearly seven years and more than four years over their roles in an unofficial primary election under the sweeping security law. Sham was freed from prison last month.

In recent years, the party has had limited political influence, no longer holding any seats in the legislature or local district councils. Even a bank ceased to provide bank account services to the group.

But it continued to stage small protests from time to time, despite sometimes those activities leading to arrests. On June 12, Chan and other members were fined after being found guilty over their street booth activities.

Undeterred by their convictions, they kept pressing on and protested against the ruling outside the court.

Chan wiped away tears during Sunday’s press conference and chanted slogans with other members at the end.

She said she doesn’t believe that democracy will come in the near future.

“Moving forward is not at all easy,” she said. “I hope everyone can become like an ember, a flying spark – still carrying light, keeping that light alive, no matter how small it may be.”

This post appeared first on cnn.com

China on Sunday announced it is immediately resuming seafood products imported from some Japanese regions, ending a nearly two-year overall ban imposed due to worries over Japan’s release of treated wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

In a notice on Sunday, China Customs said seafood products from 10 prefectures – Fukushima, Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Miyagi, Niigata, Nagano, Saitama, Tokyo and Chiba – will still be banned from entering the country.

Products from other regions will need health certificates, radioactive substance detection qualification certificates and production area certificates issued by the Japanese government for Chinese customs declarations, the notice said.

Chinese customs authorities said Sunday’s decision was made after no abnormality was detected following long-term international and independent Chinese sampling and monitoring of discharged wastewater.

China banned all imports of Japanese seafood in August 2023, shortly after Tokyo began releasing the treated Fukushima wastewater, prompting a diplomatic and economic backlash.

Sunday’s notice said China will strictly supervise Japanese seafood imports and will take measures if it finds any violations of relevant Chinese laws, regulations and food safety standards.

This post appeared first on cnn.com

Nearly all the universal injunctions blocking President Donald Trump’s agenda were issued by just five of the nation’s 94 federal district courts, a statistic that the administration said lays bare the Left’s strategy of lawfare.

Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi spoke at a news conference Friday just after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision that district judges, the lowest-level jurists in the federal system, cannot impose nationwide injunctions. Bondi noted that out of 40 nationwide injunctions issued since Trump retook the White House, 35 came out of five districts perceived as liberal.

‘Active liberal… judges have used these injunctions to block virtually all of President Trump’s policies,’ Bondi said. ‘No longer. No longer.’

Nationwide injunctions are court orders that prevent the federal government from implementing a policy or law. They have a cascading effect impacting the entire country, not just the parties involved in the court case, and have been used against the Trump administration at a vastly higher rate than previous administrations. 

Trump’s first administration faced 64 injunctions out of the total 127 nationwide injunctions issued since 1963, Fox News Digital previously reported. There were 32 injunctions issued against the Bush, Obama and Biden administrations collectively since 2001, meaning the first Trump administration was on the receiving end of double the amount of nationwide injunctions than his two predecessors and successor combined, according to an April 2024 edition of the Harvard Law Review. 

Bondi pointed to the five district courts – Maryland, Washington, D.C., Massachusetts, California and Washington state – calling it ‘crazy’ that such an overwhelming number of nationwide injunctions originated in those jurisdictions. Conservatives have accused the Left of bringing their cases in liberal judicial districts stocked with Democratic-appointed judges.

Fox News Digital looked at the five district courts and how judges in them have issued sweeping injunctions that have hampered Trump’s federal policies. 

U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland

The Supreme Court agreed this year to take up three consolidated cases involving nationwide injunctions handed down by federal district judges in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington state related to Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order. 

The U.S. District Court for Maryland was one of the courts nationwide that issued an injunction against Trump’s January executive order to end the practice of granting birthright citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants. Maryland U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman issued the injunction in February following a lawsuit brought by five pregnant illegal immigrant women in the state, which was followed by other district judges in Washington state and Massachusetts ordering injunctions of their own. 

The Maryland district court also issued a separate preliminary injunction against the Trump administration’s executive orders ending federal support for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs in February. 

The court recently came under fire from the Trump administration when the Department of Justice filed lawsuits against each of the 15 federal judges on the Maryland federal bench earlier this month for automatically issuing injunctions for certain immigration cases. The injunctions have prevented the Department of Homeland Security from deporting or changing the legal status of the immigrant in question for two business days.

‘President Trump’s executive authority has been undermined since the first hours of his presidency by an endless barrage of injunctions designed to halt his agenda,’ Bondi said in a press release of the state’s automatic injunction practices.  ‘The American people elected President Trump to carry out his policy agenda: this pattern of judicial overreach undermines the democratic process and cannot be allowed to stand.’

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Judges on the bench for the Northern District of California have issued at least six significant injunctions hampering policies put forth by the Trump administration this year. The Northern California district court includes counties such as San Francisco, Sonoma and Santa Clara. 

Back in March, Judge William Alsup, for example, granted a preliminary injunction ordering federal agencies to reinstate probationary employees fired under the Trump administration’s efforts to slim down the size of the federal government. Judge Susan Illston granted a temporary pause in May to the Trump administration’s federal reductions in force initiatives, and Judge William Orrick granted a separate injunction in April that prevented the Trump administration from withholding federal funds from areas deemed sanctuaries for illegal immigrants. 

Federal judges on the Northern California bench also issued injunctions to block the enforcement of Trump administration polices related to organizations that promote DEI and LGBTQ programs and to prevent the administration from terminating the legal visa status of international students. 

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has issued at least six signigicant injunctions against the Trump administration this year, including Judge James Boasberg’s March injunction preventing the Trump administration from deporting violent illegal immigrant gang members under the Alien Enemies Act – which received widespread backlash among conservatives.  

‘People are shocked by what is going on with the Court System. I was elected for many reasons, but a principal one was LAW AND ORDER, a big part of which is QUICKLY removing a vast Criminal Network of individuals, who came into our Country through the Crooked Joe Biden Open Borders Policy! These are dangerous and violent people, who kill, maim and, in many other ways, harm the people of our Country,’ Trump posted to Truth Social in March following Boasberg extending his restraining order against the use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport illegal immigrants with alleged ties to gangs, such as Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua (TdA).

Federal Judge Loren AliKhan issued a preliminary injunction in January barring the Trump administration’s freeze on federal grant disbursements through various federal agencies; Judge Paul Friedman blocked the Trump administration from targeting foreign service workers’ collective bargaining rights in May; and Judge Ana Reyes granted a nationwide injunction in March barring the Pentagon from enforcing Trump’s executive order banning transgender individuals from serving in the U.S. military. 

Judges on the court have also issued injunctions targeting the Trump administration’s plans to dismantle the federally-funded state media network Voice of America, and another that blocked the Bureau of Prisons from implementing a Trump executive order restricting transgender healthcare and accommodations for federal inmates. 

U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts has issued at least four significant injunctions against the Trump administration this year, including the nationwide preliminary injunction barring Trump’s executive order ending the practice of granting birthright citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants. 

Other injunctions issued this year include Judge Julia Kobick this month blocked Trump’s presidential action requiring passports to reflect a person’s biological sex and not their gender identity, and another that involved the Trump administration’s efforts to end a Biden-era parole program for hundreds of thousands of migrants from Afghanistan, Latin America and Ukraine.

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

Ahead of the Supreme Court’s ruling limiting the scope of nationwide injunctions, judges on the District Court for the Western District of Washington issued a handful of injunctions targeting Trump policies, including joining courts in Maryland and Massachusetts earlier this year blocking Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants. 

Judge Jamal Whitehead issued a preliminary injunction in February halting Trump’s January executive order suspending the U.S. Refugee Assistance Program. While another federal judge on the bench in March granted a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking Trump’s executive order barring transgender individuals from serving in the military.

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington includes counties such as King – home to Seattle – Snohomish and Clark. The two courts for the Western District of Washington and the Northern District of California are both in the 9th Circuit. 

Trump celebrated the Supreme Court’s ruling restricting the scope of federal judges’ powers to grant nationwide injunctions as ‘a monumental victory for the Constitution.’

‘The Supreme Court has delivered a monumental victory for the Constitution, the separation of powers, and the rule of law in striking down the excessive use of nationwide injunctions… I was elected on a historic mandate, but in recent months, we’ve seen a handful of radical left judges effectively try to overrule the rightful powers of the president to stop the American people from getting the policies that they voted for in record numbers. It was a grave threat to democracy,’ Trump said on Friday. 

SCOTUS’ ruling followed the Trump administration filing an emergency appeal with the highest court in March, when the then-acting solicitor general, Sarah Harris, sounded the alarm that nationwide injunctions had hit ‘epidemic proportions’ under the second Trump administration. She noted that the federal government faced 14 universal injunctions in the first three years of the Biden administration, compared to 15 leveled against the Trump admin in one month alone. 

Universal injunctions were also a sticking point for officials in the first Trump administration, who railed against the flow of injunctions ordered against the 45th president’s policies and laws, including the former chiefs of the Department of Justice. 

‘Courts issued an average of only 1.5 nationwide injunctions per year against the Reagan, Clinton and George W. Bush administrations, and 2.5 per year against the Obama administration,’ former Assistant Attorney General Beth Williams said in February 2019.  

‘In President Trump’s first year in office, however, judges issued a whopping 20 nationwide injunctions – an eight-fold increase. This matches the entire eight-year total of such injunctions issued against President Obama during his two terms. We are now at 30, matching the total number of injunctions issued against the first 42 presidents combined.’

Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller, Breanne Deppisch and Ashley Oliver contributed to this report. 

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

A first-term House Republican and military veteran is eyeing a bid for Sen. Thom Tillis’ North Carolina Senate seat after the GOP lawmaker announced he would not run for re-election, a source close to the congressman told Fox News Digital.

Rep. Pat Harrigan, R-N.C., a former Army Special Forces Officer who was deployed to Afghanistan, was elected to represent North Carolina’s 10th congressional district in November 2024.

It comes after President Donald Trump pledged to find a primary challenger for Tillis over the senator’s decision to vote ‘no’ on a key procedural hurdle to advance the commander-in-chief’s ‘big, beautiful bill.’

Harrigan was elected to replace former House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry, R-N.C.

He’s among the first to express interest in Tillis’ seat in what could shape up into a crowded Republican primary race ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Rep. Tim Moore, R-N.C., another first-term House Republican, is also considering a bid for Tillis’ Senate seat, a source familiar with his plans told Fox News Digital.

Moore is the former speaker of the North Carolina state House of Representatives.

Tillis revealed he would not run for re-election in a bombshell statement on Sunday afternoon, criticizing the current political environment.

‘Too many elected officials are motivated by pure raw politics who really don’t give a damn about the people they promised to represent on the campaign trail. After they get elected, they don’t bother to do the hard work to research the policies they seek to implement and understand the consequences those policies could have on that young adult living in a trailer park, struggling to make ends meet,’ Tillis said.

‘As many of my colleagues have noticed over the last year, and at times even joked about, I haven’t exactly been excited about running for another term. That is true since the choice is between spending another six years navigating the political theatre and partisan gridlock in Washington or spending that time with the love of my life Susan, our two children, three beautiful grandchildren, and the rest of our extended family back home.’

The statement came on the second continuous day that senators are wrestling with the ‘one big, beautiful bill,’ a vast piece of legislation advancing Trump’s agenda on tax, immigration, energy, defense, and the national debt.

Tillis said he had objections to the bill’s spending cuts targeting Medicaid, arguing they would be damaging to rural communities and hospitals in North Carolina.

The senate voted 51-49 to begin debate on the legislation late on Saturday. Tillis and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., were the only two Republicans to vote ‘no.’

Trump posted on Saturday, ‘Numerous people have come forward wanting to run in the primary against ‘Senator Thom’ Tillis. I will be meeting with them over the coming weeks, looking for someone who will properly represent the Great People of North Carolina and, so importantly, the United States of America. Thank you for your attention to this matter!’

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

Sen. Thom Tillis, one of the two Republicans to vote against advancing President Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill,’ plans to retire from the Senate at the end of his term.

The North Carolina Republican announced on Sunday that he would not seek reelection in the 2026 cycle. Tillis would have been among the most vulnerable Republicans running next year and faced threats from Trump to face a challenger after his vote against the president’s agenda Saturday night.

The lawmaker voted against advancing the bill and is likely to vote against final passage, because deep Medicaid cuts inside the colossal bill brought on changes to the Medicaid provider tax rate.

Tillis railed against the slow death of bipartisanship in Washington in a statement.

‘In Washington over the last few years, it’s become increasingly evident that leaders who are willing to embrace bipartisanship, compromise, and demonstrate independent thinking are becoming an endangered species,’ he said.

Tillis gave a shout-out to former Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema for their unwillingness to not ‘cave to their party bosses to nuke the filibuster for the sake of political expediency.’

‘They ultimately retired, and their presence in the Senate chamber has been sorely missed every day since,’ he said.

‘It underscores the greatest form of hypocrisy in American politics. When people see independent thinking on the other side, they cheer,’ he continued. ‘But when those very same people see independent thinking coming from their side, they scorn, ostracize, and even censure them.’

He said that the choice broke down to spending time with his family, or spending another six years in Washington navigating ‘the political theater and partisan gridlock.’

‘It’s not a hard choice, and I will not be seeking re-election,’ he said.

However, Tillis did give himself wiggle room to rebuke Trump over the next 18 months, as he did earlier this year when he refused to support Ed Martin, the president’s pick to serve as the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. The decision scuttled Martin’s nomination. 

‘I look forward to having the pure freedom to call the balls and strikes as I see fit,’ he said. 

His decision to retire tees up what will likely be a competitive race in North Carolina, and one that Democrats will look to pounce on quickly.

Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesperson Maeve Coyle said in a statement shortly after Tillis’ decision that his choice ‘not to run for re-election is another blow to Republicans’ chances as they face a midterm backlash that puts their majority at risk.’ 

‘Even Tillis admits the GOP plan to slash Medicaid and spike costs for families is toxic – and in 2026, Democrats will flip North Carolina’s Senate seat,’ she said.  

However, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Tim Scott, R-S.C., contended that Trump would remain a huge factor in the upcoming midterm cycle given that he has won North Carolina three times and that the state has been represented by two Republican senators for over a decade. 

‘That streak will continue in 2026 when North Carolinians elect a conservative leader committed to advancing an agenda of opportunity, prosperity, and security,’ he said. 

It also comes after Trump spent much of Saturday evening blasting Tillis as a ‘grandstander’ and vowing to interview potential primary challengers, while Vice President JD Vance, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and his leadership team worked over holdout fiscal hawks.

‘Numerous people have come forward wanting to run in the Primary against ‘Senator Thom’ Tillis,’ Trump said on Truth Social. ‘I will be meeting with them over the coming weeks, looking for someone who will properly represent the Great People of North Carolina and, so importantly, the United States of America. Thank you for your attention to this matter!’

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

President Donald Trump declared last week that Iran’s underground nuclear facilities bombed by the U.S. were ‘obliterated,’ while adding the U.S. and Israeli strikes delivered ‘monumental damage to all nuclear sites in Iran.’ 

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed that message in a briefing, saying the ‘CIA can confirm that a body of credible intelligence indicates Iran’s nuclear program has been severely damaged by recent targeted strikes.’

Israeli intelligence sources told Fox News Digital that strikes on Natanz, Fordow and Esfahan caused severe and possibly irreversible damage to Iran’s known enrichment infrastructure. ‘We hit the heart of their capabilities,’ one official said. 

But despite the overwhelming success of the mission, questions remain about what survived – and what might come next. Analysts warn that while Iran’s declared facilities have been largely destroyed, covert elements of the program may still exist, and enriched uranium stockpiles could resurface.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director Rafael Grossi said in an interview with CBS on Saturday that although ‘it’s clear that what happened in particular in Fordow, Natanz, [and] Isfahan—where Iran used to have, and still has to some degree, capabilities in terms of treatment, conversion, and enrichment of uranium—has been destroyed to an important degree,’ the threat remains. 

Nuclear experts say that while Iran’s nuclear progress has been dealt a historic blow, the regime may still retain the technical know-how and residual capabilities to reconstitute its program over time – especially if it chooses to go dark.

A detailed assessment released Tuesday by the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) found that Israel’s Operation Rising Lion, followed by U.S. bunker-busting strikes, ‘effectively destroyed Iran’s centrifuge enrichment program.’ But authors David Albright and Spencer Faragasso cautioned that ‘residuals such as stocks of 60%, 20%, and 3-5% enriched uranium and centrifuges manufactured but not yet installed… pose a threat as they can be used in the future to produce weapon-grade uranium’.

Jonathan Ruhe, director of foreign policy at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), echoed that concern in an interview with Fox News Digital.

‘The threat now is certainly much reduced,’ Ruhe said. ‘But the threat from here on out is going to be much more difficult to detect because Iran could try to rebuild covertly. They don’t need much space or time to enrich 60% to 90%. And the IAEA has said for years that Iran likely retains some secret capability.’

Ruhe added that while Israeli intelligence was likely aware of attempts to move uranium before the strikes, ‘any planning assumption going forward must consider Iran’s residual capacity – even if it’s diminished.’

John Spencer, chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute, said critics who argue the program wasn’t completely destroyed are missing the bigger picture.

‘Can everything be rebuilt eventually? Sure. But there’s no question the program was rolled back – years, if not more,’ Spencer told Fox News Digital. ‘People fixate on how many pounds of uranium are missing. But building a bomb requires much more than material. You need the conversion, the metallurgy, the delivery system – all of which were hit.’

Dr. Or Rabinowitz, a nuclear proliferation scholar at Hebrew University and visiting associate professor at Stanford, noted that many unknowns remain.

‘There’s no verified answer yet to what happened to the 60% enriched uranium – or to the other feedstocks at 20% or 3.5%,’ Rabinowitz said. ‘If Iran has access to advanced centrifuges, they could in theory enrich back to weapons-grade – but we don’t know how many centrifuges survived or in what condition they are.’

She also explained that even if Iran retains the material, converting uranium gas into metal for a bomb requires a specialized facility. ‘From what we know, that conversion facility in Isfahan was bombed. Without it, Iran faces a significant bottleneck,’ she said. But she warned that nuclear weapons technology is not insurmountable: ‘This is 1940s science. If North Korea could do it, Iran could too – eventually.’

According to the ISIS report, ‘extensive damage’ was confirmed at nearly all major Iranian nuclear and missile facilities, including the destruction of uranium metal conversion plants, fuel fabrication centers, and the IR-40 Arak heavy water reactor. The report noted that the Israeli and U.S. strikes ‘rendered the Fordow site inoperable,’ citing high-resolution satellite imagery of deep bunker penetrations.

Rabinowitz also emphasized that the intelligence picture is still developing in real time. ‘The Israelis and the Americans are now hard at work to generate the most accurate intelligence picture they can,’ she said. ‘Without having my own sources in the Mossad, I can guarantee the Israelis are monitoring internal Iranian communications, trying to figure out what the Iranians have figured out. As they learn more, so will Israel and the U.S.’

As debate continues over whether the strikes were enough to permanently disable Iran’s nuclear ambitions, analysts agree on one point: Iran’s assumption that it could push forward without consequence is gone.

During a press conference on Friday. Trump was asked if he would bomb Iran’s nuclear program again if it was restarted. He told reporters, ‘Sure without question.’

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

An unelected Senate parliamentarian should not be deciding what stays and what doesn’t in the so-called ‘Big, Beautiful Bill,’ Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., told Fox News Channel in an interview that earned President Trump’s approval.

Conservatives were furious on Thursday morning after learning Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled several key reforms and tweaks to Medicaid in the Senate GOP’s version of President Trump’s bill did not pass muster with Senate Rules. One senator, Roger Marshall, of Kansas, called for MacDonough to be replaced.

Steube was a guest on FOX Report on Sunday morning, when host Jon Scott asked him where he stood on whether the parliamentarian should have been overruled or even fired. He agreed with Marshall.

‘Yeah, I had called for her to be fired,’ Steube said. ‘I don’t think that one person who’s unelected, who got appointed over a decade ago, should be the one deciding what stays in and what doesn’t.’

Lawmakers across the U.S. were elected by their constituents to make those decisions; not the parliamentarians, he said.

At the moment, Republicans hold majorities in the House and the Senate. MacDonough was appointed by the late Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who was a Democrat.

Steube questioned why current Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., would not replace MacDonough with a Republican appointee.

‘We’ve certainly called for that,’ Steube said. ‘Thune has said he’s not going to do that, so they’re going to move forward.’

Scott noted that MacDonough has said she is supposed to be call balls and strikes, not make political decisions. When Scott asked Steube if he thought MacDonough was working for the Democrats, the lawmaker noted she was appointed by one.

‘What House lawmakers that have been elected by the people passed by a majority of the House of Representatives and sent over to the Senate are now getting struck by one person who was appointed by Harry Reid,’ Steube said. ‘I certainly don’t think that’s what the American people voted for.

Trump later posted about Steube’s interview on Truth Social.

‘Great Congressman Greg Steube is 100% correct,’ the president wrote. ‘An unelected Senate Staffer (Parliamentarian), should not be allowed to hurt the Republicans Bill. Wants many fantastic things out. NO!’

Fox News Digital’s Alex Miller contributed to this report.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

Former Senator Jeff Flake, one of President Donald Trump’s most vocal critics during his first administration, reacted to Sen. Thom Tillis’ retirement plans on Sunday.

Tillis, who was one of the most vulnerable Republicans in the 2026 cycle, had faced threats from Trump to endorse a challenger after Tillis voted against the president’s ‘big, beautiful bill,’ on Saturday night.

In an X post, Flake speculated that Tillis could have won re-election, but only if he took certain positions.

‘He could win again, but only by taking positions he doesn’t believe in,’ Flake, who served as U.S. ambassador to Turkey during the Biden administration, said.

‘It’s an honor to serve in the Senate — but not at any cost,’ he added.

Tillis said on Sunday that he plans to retire at the end of his term in 2026. In a statement, the North Carolina Republican referenced ‘the greatest form of hypocrisy in American politics.’

‘When people see independent thinking on the other side, they cheer,’ Tillis said. ‘But when those very same people see independent thinking coming from their side, they scorn, ostracize, and even censure.’

‘In Washington over the last few years, it’s become increasingly evident that leaders who are willing to embrace bipartisanship, compromise, and demonstrate independent thinking are becoming an endangered species,’ he added.

Tillis added that the choice broke down to either spending time with his family or navigating ‘the political theater and partisan gridlock,’ in Washington, D.C.

‘It’s not a hard choice, and I will not be seeking re-election,’ he said.

Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., also reacted to Tillis’ announcement with a criticism of Trump.

‘I do not agree with N.C. Senator Thom Tillis on much. But he’s right on this,’ Sanders’ post began.

He added, ‘Trump’s Republican Party does not allow for independent thought. The Republican Party today is a cult. Either you do as Trump wants, or you’re out. Pathetic.’

On Saturday evening, Trump blasted Tillis as a ‘grandstander’ and expressed interest in interviewing potential primary challengers.

‘Numerous people have come forward wanting to run in the Primary against ‘Senator Thom’ Tillis,’ Trump said on Truth Social. 

‘I will be meeting with them over the coming weeks, looking for someone who will properly represent the Great People of North Carolina and, so importantly, the United States of America. Thank you for your attention to this matter!’ he added.

Fox News Digital’s Alex Miller contributed to this report.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

Senate Republicans and Democrats remain divided on the Medicaid issue hours after President Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ passed a key Senate vote Saturday night.

Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., both appeared on ‘Fox News Sunday’ to discuss Trump’s legislation in the wake of the 51-49 vote.

Banks argued that the Medicaid reforms would only affect certain people.

‘The Medicaid reforms would affect able-bodied Americans, those who are sitting at home who can work, who don’t work, who don’t have a sick kid or a sick mom, they shouldn’t receive Medicaid without working,’ he said. ‘And on top of that, the bill would take Medicaid away from illegal immigrants.’

Coons conceded there are states that are using their state funding to provide healthcare ‘for people who are undocumented,’ though argued that Trump’s $900 billion cuts to the program ‘are not about throwing people off of Medicaid who are not here legally.’

‘They are about imposing more and more requirements on the beneficiaries of Medicaid,’ the Democrat said.

Banks argued that taxes for everyday Americans will go up if the bill doesn’t get passed.

‘If we don’t pass this bill, everyone’s taxes on average will go up $2,000 a household, and that’s not fair to the regular Americans who work hard every day,’ he said.

Lingering concerns in both chambers about Medicaid — specifically the Medicaid provider tax rate and the effect of direct payments to states — energy tax credits, the state and local tax (SALT) deduction and others proved to be pain points that threatened the bill’s survival.

Coons, however, said that Americans who don’t believe the Democrats’ standpoint should listen to Sen. Tom Tillis, R-N.C., who, along with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., voted against the bill.

‘Don’t believe me. Listen to Senator Tom Tillis,’ Coons said. ‘He’s been saying loudly this bill is a bad deal for the middle class. It’ll raise healthcare costs and throw millions off of needed health care.’

On Sunday morning, Trump slammed both Tillis and Paul on social media. 

Hours later, Tillis announced he would not seek reelection.

Following the vote, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., demanded that the text of the behemoth bill be read aloud before debates begin. After 14 hours, Senate clerks were still about 120 pages short of finishing reading aloud the 940-page text.

Once the reading is finished, the two parties will each get about 10 hours to debate on the bill. 

The timeline puts a likely Senate vote-a-rama on the bill in the early morning hours of Monday. A final passage vote could happen between late morning and late Monday night.

Fox News Digital’s Alex Miller and Fox News’ Tyler Olson contributed to this report.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS