The longest government shutdown in history finally ended on Wednesday night after nearly every member of the House of Representatives raced to Washington to cast their vote.

The threat of air travel delays — fueled in no small part by the fiscal standoff — as well as bad weather in parts of the country forced some lawmakers to find more unconventional routes to ensure they arrived on time.

First-term Rep. Addison McDowell, R-N.C., for example, found himself carpooling more than five hours alongside House Rules Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, R-N.C. — a powerful GOP lawmaker more than 50 years his senior.

‘It dawned on me that, for a while there, I was one of the most powerful people in America, because I had the Rules chair, who — we couldn’t start the process of passing this bill until she got here,’ McDowell told Fox News Digital. ‘We had a one-seat majority, and there was two of us. So, you know, there was a lot of pressure to make sure she got here on time.’

Foxx’s committee was responsible for preparing federal funding legislation for a House-wide vote, which it did from just before 7 p.m. Tuesday until around 2 a.m. Wednesday.

‘She just kind of asked, ‘Hey, would you be willing to carpool?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, not a problem at all.’ I’ve got a truck, so I’ve got plenty of room. We could have taken the whole delegation up, just put all the guys in the back,’ McDowell joked.

He also knew that driving Foxx up earlier than most lawmakers had to be there came with sacrifices.

‘Neither of us got to participate in any Veterans Day events in our district, which was a real bummer. But we had an important job to do, and that was make sure our government services and our current troops are getting paid,’ he said.

McDowell said he spent the roughly five-and-a-half-hour drive asking Foxx questions about her work and her own life, which she happily answered.

And the senior House Republican told Fox News Digital that she appreciated the experience herself.

‘I have never had a chance to really sit down with him for a long period of time, so I really welcome the opportunity to get to know him better,’ Foxx said. ‘He told me a lot about experiences he’s had. We talked about things from my side, mostly policy issues, but I did tell him a little bit more about my background.’

Foxx said it was a combination of bad weather in the North Carolina mountains and concerns about flight delays that moved her to contact colleagues about driving up — until she found her schedule most aligned with McDowell’s, and she drove herself to meet him before the long ride.

‘I have to say he’s an excellent driver,’ Foxx said. ‘We stopped in Henderson, North Carolina, and got Chick-fil-A sandwiches — of course, what else would we get? We left there at 11 [a.m.] and we got here at about 4:40 [p.m.].’

Asked if she would do it all again, Foxx said, ‘In a heartbeat.’

Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, also opted to drive instead of fly — a trip that spanned more than 1,000 miles across 15 hours overnight.

Feenstra said he and two staffers ‘took turns driving’ through the night, stopping only for gas and arriving in Washington some time on Wednesday morning before the vote.

‘I had a lot of Veterans Day events. I wanted to make sure that I was in my district for that. And then, once that was completed at 5 last night, we headed this way,’ he said. ‘When that’s your only option, you do it. This job — you’ve got to do whatever you have to.’ 

And Midwestern Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., also took to the roads, but in a different vehicle.

‘Democrats shut the government down over 40 days ago now. And I could not count on air travel,’ he told Fox News Digital. ‘So I talked to my wife for about five seconds and said, ‘I’m getting on the motorcycle and leaving.’ So I did, and I got here on time.’

Van Orden, who first told The Hill of his plans, said he rode through sub-zero temperatures and had to navigate black ice on the roads. At one point, he stopped at a hotel ‘for four or five hours’ when the environment appeared ‘sketchy,’ he said.

‘Someone asked me, ‘Why don’t you just drive a car?’ Here’s why. We only have one car. And I wasn’t going to inconvenience my wife, because she is one of my constituents, and she happens to be my favorite constituent,’ he said.

‘People around here don’t seem to understand that the mission is more important than their personal security or comfort. And if more people in this building took their job more seriously and realized it’s about the American people than not, then we will be a better country.’

The postmortems for Republicans’ lackluster results in this month’s spate of elections in New Jersey, Virginia and beyond are in, and while pet theories abound, there is one thing almost everyone agrees on: In the age of President Donald Trump, the GOP does not fare well when he is not on the ballot.

The question for Republicans in tough congressional campaigns across the country is how they can symbolically get Trump on the ballot, and more importantly, get his often reluctant voters to the polls to fill out said ballots.

The best way to achieve this goal is an idea that Trump himself has floated, a midterm national Republican convention that showcases the party’s achievements under Trump’s second term and that makes it crystal clear that Americans won’t just be voting for Congress, but for Trump’s agenda.

The success of the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee was a bit overshadowed by assassination attempts and top of the ticket shakeups, but it is widely and rightly regarded as one of the best ever staged, and it made a difference.

The RNC was not only excellent prime-time television that showcased the priorities of the Trump GOP, it was an even better live event on the ground, cornhole courts and bars and restaurants created a festive, even joyous atmosphere.

This live event feeling could be amplified by satellite parties, even if the main convention is in Philadelphia for the 250th anniversary of America, or Chicago, to celebrate the birth of the Republican Party. Every city and town could have its own smaller version.

The power of such live events is something that both President Trump and the late founder of Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk, understood intuitively. If the midterm convention could be part Trump rally, part TPUSA party, well, that’s a powerful combination.

The most important reason why a midterm convention is vital is to put Trump front and center in the election. By then his signature One Big, Beautiful Bill Act will have cut taxes on tips and overtime, some of the trillions of new investment will be taking root, and Trump will be able to point to these achievements.

One thing that was notably missing in this most recent off-year election season was any emphasis on the Make America Healthy Again wing of the Trump movement led by Health and Human Services head Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

That was a mistake, Kennedy’s focus on making sure we aren’t poisoning our kids played a massive role in Trump’s 2024 win. A midterm convention could put the issue back on the table, and MAHA moms everywhere back in play.

This convention would also highlight Trump’s all but miraculous closing of the southern border, and celebrate, rather than denigrate, federal officials working to rid the nation of criminal illegal aliens.

Trump’s message would be simple: ‘I’ve got two more years to do what you put me in office to do, but to do it, I need Congress.’

If Republicans get really lucky, then holding a midterm convention might lead Democrats to hold one of their own, an exercise that could not help but betray the deep divisions in their ranks.

Who would speak at the DNC? Who would be welcome? Socialist mayor of New York City Zohran Mamdani or Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., or maybe both at once yelling at each other about who’s a Zionist and who’s an antisemite. You see my point?

Trump is perhaps first and foremost a showman. That can be colored as a criticism or assessed as an asset, but it cannot be denied. The best chance that Republicans have in 2026 is to let him put on his show.

Although I am told that conversations have occurred behind the scenes in preparation for a potential midterm convention, it would still be a heavy lift. Usually there are four years to plan these things, not six months. But the Trump movement has the infrastructure and wherewithal to pull it off.

The ‘Trump Rally’ will go down in history, alongside the Lincoln-Douglas debates and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s fireside chats, as one of the most successful forms of political communication our nation has ever seen. My sense is that voters are up for one more encore performance.

Letting Trump be Trump might not just be the best strategy for Republicans in 2026, it might be the only one. And hey, if you’re going to lose anyway, why not go out with a party?

Former Special Counsel Jack Smith met with then-FBI Director Christopher Wray months after he began investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots and the 2020 election, Fox News Digital has learned.

Fox News Digital exclusively reviewed the document that FBI Director Kash Patel recently shared with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson containing the new development.

Grassley, R-Iowa, and Johnson, R-Wis., are currently reviewing the documents as part of their joint investigation into Smith’s ‘Arctic Frost’ probe.

The information was included as part of a ‘significant case notification’ drafted by the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division May 25, 2023.

‘On 5/24/2023, Special Counsel Jack Smith met with FBI Director Wray,’ the document reads.

The meeting took place just a day before the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division created the ‘Significant Case Notification’ document.

An FBI ‘significant case notification’ is an internal record used by the bureau to alert senior leadership and FBI field offices about a case of high public interest. This notification provided a case update on ‘Arctic Frost,’ which the bureau considered a ‘sensitive investigative matter.’ 

‘Jack Smith claims he wants to tell his story to Congress, but when I asked him point-blank if he ever met with Garland, Monaco, or Wray as part of his investigation, he refused to answer,’ Grassley told Fox News Digital.

The revelations are significant, as Grassley, in October, sent a letter that specifically asked Smith whether he had met with Wray, then-Attorney General Merrick Garland, then-Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco or then-FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate.

Smith replied to Grassley, but declined to share information about any of his meetings with those officials.

‘Either Smith has a bad memory, or he’s simply not willing to come clean about his actions,’ Grassley told Fox News Digital, adding that if Smith ‘really wanted the American people to hear the truth, he’d be cooperating with my straightforward congressional oversight requests instead of making excuses.’

‘I’m going to continue investigating to ensure the public gets full transparency,’ Grassley said.

Smith, in October requested to testify in open, public hearings before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees.

‘Given the many mischaracterizations of Mr. Smith’s investigation into President Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents and role in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election, Mr. Smith respectfully requests the opportunity to testify in open hearings before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees,’ Smith attorneys Lanny Breuer and Peter Koski wrote.

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

Congressional Democrats are warring after one of their own moderates moved to force a vote on formally rebuking a progressive lawmaker, accusing him of undermining the U.S. Constitution with his 2026 announcement.

Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., stunned fellow lawmakers on Wednesday evening when she filed what’s known as a privileged resolution aimed at scolding Rep. Jesús ‘Chuy’ García, D-Ill., for a move that effectively appeared to clear a path for his chief of staff to run for his seat.

It brought an onslaught of attacks from García’s fellow progressives, like Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., who accused Gluesenkamp Perez of using it as a distraction from her vote to reopen the government.

‘Going after a strong progressive Latino leader the same day that you vote for a slush fund for Republicans involved in January 6 does not scream democratic values,’ Ramirez wrote on X. ‘It is disappointing that someone willing to compromise working families’ healthcare would use this moment for a cheap political stunt aimed at distracting people from an indefensible vote on tonight’s [continuing resolution].’

García had filed for re-election in late October before abruptly reversing course just before the filing deadline, citing his doctor’s recommendations and a desire to spend time with family. 

His chief of staff, Patty García, ‘quickly mobilized a campaign and became the only Democratic candidate prepared to file,’ according to Fox 32 Chicago.

‘Congressman Chuy García’s stated reasons for retirement are honorable, but his decision to anoint an heir is fundamentally undemocratic. This is the kind of thing that makes folks tune out of electoral politics,’ Gluesenkamp Perez said in a statement. ‘Americans bled and died to secure the right to elect their leaders. We can’t expect to be taken seriously in the fight for free and fair elections if we turn a blind eye to election denial on our side of the aisle.’

When reading her resolution of disapproval against García on the House floor, she accused him of ‘undermining the process of a free and fair election’ and said his ‘actions are beneath the dignity of his office and incompatible with the spirit of the Constitution.’

García’s spokesperson responded by saying the congressman followed all proper election guidelines when making ‘a deeply personal decision based on his health, his wife’s worsening condition and his responsibility to the grandchildren he is raising after the death of his daughter.’

‘At a moment like this, he hopes his colleagues, especially those who speak about family values, can show the same compassion and respect that any family would want during a health crisis,’ the spokesperson said.

Rep. Jonathan Jackson, D-Ill., said he was prevented from speaking out to defend García on the House floor.

‘Some people need to learn how to stay in their lane,’ he wrote on X, accusing Gluesenkamp Perez of a ‘lack of decorum.’

Gluesenkamp Perez found an ally in Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., however, who said on X, ‘Rep Chuy Garcia’s decision to end his re-election at the last second and plant his chief of staff as the only candidate to succeed him was undemocratic and should not be allowed.’

‘Standing against corruption means standing up no matter which political party violates. The House should condemn and steps need to be taken to restore the people’s right to choose,’ Kim wrote.

Michael T. Morley, Florida State University’s election law center director, said that while he sees Gluesenkamp’s point, he doesn’t believe her complaint raises a legal controversy.

‘It’s one thing to talk about general principles of democracy, right? And it’s something else to talk about constitutional restrictions,’ Morley told Fox News Digital. ‘So, on the one hand, yes, if people are intentionally gaming the system, if they’re working together to try to deprive voters of a meaningful opportunity to make a choice among candidates and manufacture situations where only one person is on the ballot — then yes, obviously, I think that that is directly in tension with democratic principles.’

‘But not all democratic principles are embodied in the Constitution. And this is not the sort of situation where current precedent really creates a good mechanism for anybody to bring a challenge.’

He noted that beyond political expectations, nothing García did would have prevented a challenger from launching their own bid.

Fox News Digital reached out to Gluesenkamp Perez’s office for an interview.

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Thursday that an individual attempted to confront Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba on Wednesday night, ‘destroyed property in her office’ and then ‘fled the scene.’

‘Thankfully, Alina is ok,’ Bondi added. ‘Any violence or threats of violence against any federal officer will not be tolerated. Period. This is unfortunately becoming a trend as radicals continue to attack law enforcement agents around the country.’

‘We will find this person, and the individual will be brought to justice. Our federal prosecutors, agents, and law-enforcement partners put their lives on the line every day to protect the American people, and this Department will use every legal tool available to ensure their safety and hold violent offenders fully accountable,’ Bondi also said.

Habba said following the incident that, ‘I will not be intimidated by radical lunatics for doing my job.’

The Justice Department, on its website, said, ‘As Acting U.S. Attorney and Special Attorney to the United States Attorney General,’ Habba ‘is responsible for overseeing all federal criminal prosecutions and the litigation of all civil matters in New Jersey in which the federal government has an interest. 

‘Including the offices in Newark, Camden, and Trenton, Ms. Habba supervises a staff of approximately 155 federal prosecutors and approximately 130 support personnel,’ according to the Justice Department.

Further details about the attack were not immediately available.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., was hospitalized on Thursday after he fell near his home in Pennsylvania, a spokesperson for the senator said.

‘During an early morning walk, Senator Fetterman sustained a fall near his home in Braddock. Out of an abundance of caution, he was transported to a hospital in Pittsburgh,’ the spokesperson said. ‘Upon evaluation, it was established he had a ventricular fibrillation flare-up that led to Senator Fetterman feeling light-headed, falling to the ground and hitting his face with minor injuries.’

The spokesperson added that Fetterman is currently ‘doing well and receiving routine observation at the hospital.’ The spokesperson also shared a statement from Fetterman, in which the senator jokes about the incident.

‘If you thought my face looked bad before, wait until you see it now!’ Fetterman said.

Fetterman was choosing to stay at the hospital so that doctors could adjust his medication treatment, according to the spokesperson.

Fetterman has battled health issues in the past, the most high-profile being a somewhat debilitating stroke during his 2022 Senate campaign.

Fetterman has made headlines recently over breaking with the majority of Democrats during the government shutdown, voting to reopen the federal government.

This is a developing news story; check back for updates.

Former Rep. Louie Gohmert blasted ex-Special Counsel Jack Smith for allegedly targeting his personal phone records as part of his investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots, telling Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that his action ‘destroys the checks and balances that the founders counted on.’

Fox News Digital exclusively reported Thursday morning that Smith targeted then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s personal, private phone records, as well as Gohmert’s. 

Fox News Digital exclusively reviewed the document that FBI Director Kash Patel recently shared with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson containing the explosive revelations. Grassley and Johnson have been leading a joint investigation into Smith’s ‘Arctic Frost’ probe.

According to the document, Smith, on Jan. 24, 2023, allegedly sought the ‘toll records for the personal cell phones of U.S. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (AT&T) and U.S. Representative Louie Gohmert (Verizon.)’

The information was included as part of a ‘significant case notification’ drafted by the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division May 25, 2023.

‘It is astounding that Jack ‘Frost’ Smith went on this persecution,’ Gohmert told Fox News Digital Thursday. ‘Apparently, this guy has never read the Fourth Amendment because you have to describe with particularity what it is you’re going after — there should be probable cause, and they had no probable cause. They were going on a witch hunt.’

Smith had sought Gohmert’s personal cellphone records from November 2020 through the end of January 2021.

‘They don’t have any regard for the Fourth Amendment,’ he said. ‘It makes Watergate look like school yard folly.’

But Gohmert said it is the ‘principle.’

‘It is the separation of powers that is the problem,’ Gohmert explained. ‘People and whistleblowers contacted me regularly from within the DOJ and the FBI about overreach within the FBI and DOJ. By grabbing my records, they could stifle reporting of potential crimes by people within the agencies.’

‘You can’t just go seize members of Congress’ records even with a warrant because of that separation of powers,’ Gohmert said. ‘There has to be a wall and that’s what troubles me more than anything.’

Gohmert told Fox News Digital that he didn’t remember who he spoke with during the time period Smith sought records, but said that ‘the last thing I want is for someone who trusted me to keep their name private to have some jack-booted thug like Jack ‘Frost’ Smith grab my records and find out who is tattle tailing on him.’ 

He added: ‘It violates and destroys the checks and balances that the founders counted on.’

Gohmert, though, told Fox News Digital that he trusts the current Justice Department and FBI leadership.

‘I trust the DOJ and trust the people running the FBI,’ he said. ‘We’ll see if there were any crimes committed and, if following the Constitution, they can be properly prosecuted.’ 

Meanwhile, McCarthy said he will take legal action against Smith. 

‘Jack Smith’s radical and deranged investigation was never about finding the truth,’ McCarthy told Fox News Digital. ‘It was a blatant weaponizing of the Justice Department to attack political opponents of the Biden administration. Perhaps no action underscores this point more than the illegal attempt to access the phone records of sitting members of the House and Senate — including the Speaker of the House.’ 

‘His illegal targeting demands real accountability,’ McCarthy continued. ‘And I am confident Congress will hold hearings and access documents in its investigation into Jack Smith’s own abuses.’ 

‘At the same time, I will ask my own counsel to pursue all areas of redress so this does not happen to anyone else,’ McCarthy said. 

The revelations come after Fox News Digital exclusively reported in October that Smith and his ‘Arctic Frost’ team investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots were tracking the private communications and phone calls of nearly a dozen Republican senators as part of the probe, including Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and GOP Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania.

An official told Fox News Digital that those records were collected in 2023 by Smith and his team after subpoenaing major telephone providers. 

Smith has called his decision to subpoena and track Republican lawmakers’ phone records ‘entirely proper’ and consistent with Justice Department policy.

‘As described by various Senators, the toll data collection was narrowly tailored and limited to the four days from January 4, 2021 to January 7, 2021, with a focus on telephonic activity during the period immediately surrounding the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol,’ Smith’s lawyers wrote in October to Grassley.

Grassley, R-Iowa, and Johnson, R-Wis., have been investigating the matter. 

An FBI official told Fox News Digital that ‘Arctic Frost’ is a ‘prohibited case,’ and that the review required FBI officials to go ‘above and beyond in order to deliver on this promise of transparency.’ The discovery is part of a broader ongoing review, Fox News Digital has learned.

Smith, after months of investigating, charged President Donald Trump in the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C., in his 2020 election case, but after Trump was elected president, Smith sought to dismiss the case. Judge Tanya Chutkan granted that request. 

Smith’s case cost taxpayers more than $50 million. 

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