A coffin of a deceased hostage has been transferred from Hamas to Israel via the Red Cross, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Monday.

The body will be taken from the Gaza Strip and received in a military ceremony with a military rabbi, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

Hamas said the body was recovered Sunday. If confirmed as the body of a hostage, the remains of 15 hostages would still be in Gaza. A body handed over by Hamas last week was not that of a hostage, Israel said.

Israel’s Ministry of Health’s National Center of Forensic Medicine will identify the body, and then the family will be notified, Netanyahu’s office said.

‘All families of the deceased hostages have been updated about the matter, and at this difficult time, our hearts are with them,’ Netanyahu’s office said. ‘The effort to return our hostages continues continuously and will not cease until the last hostage is returned.’

‘Hamas is required to uphold the agreement and take the necessary steps to return all the hostages,’ the IDF said on X. 

The terror group last week said it needed specialized equipment and more time to recover more bodies.

Earlier on Monday, it was announced that the remains of Nepali student Bipin Joshi, who was held hostage in Gaza, were being flown from Israel to his hometown of Bhimdattanagar.

The transfer happened after the week-old ceasefire resumed after clashes between Hamas and Israel over the weekend. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

A new House GOP bill would block the United Nations (U.N.) from forcing the U.S. to take up any new tax that was not explicitly levied by American taxpayers’ own government.

It’s expected to be introduced this week, as the world awaits a U.N. vote on a global tax on carbon emissions made via international maritime shipping. 

Member states of the UN’s relevant body, the International Maritime Organization, voted late last week to postpone consideration of the global tax by a year after fierce pushback by President Donald Trump.

Pfluger’s bill would ensure that the U.S. would not be subject to that tax nor any other fiscal penalties ordered by the international organization, unless ratified by the Senate.

It would also prohibit the U.S. government from funding any global carbon tax, as well as block voluntary contributions to the U.N. by the U.S. if such a tax was levied.

The proposal for a global maritime shipping tax on carbon emissions was championed by Brazil and the European Union, among other countries that had also been advocating for more environmentally friendly international trade.

Its chief opponents were the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, the largest and second-largest oil producers in the world, respectively.

Republican Study Committee (RSC) Chair August Pfluger, R-Texas, is leading the legislation, alongside RSC Energy Task Force Chair Troy Balderson, R-Ohio, and Task Force Vice Chair Randy Weber, R-Texas.

Pfluger told Fox News Digital, ‘This fight isn’t over,’ despite the U.N. punting the vote.

‘This legislation would kill their global carbon tax scheme permanently by depriving all U.S. funding to any U.N. agency that attempts to impose a tax on the American people and ensuring Congress has a say in all taxes, fees and penalties on American citizens or companies,’ he said.

Balderson said he was ‘grateful to President Trump and Secretaries Rubio, Wright and Duffy for standing up to the United Nations and forcing the International Maritime Organization to back down.’

‘Unelected global bureaucrats at the U.N. are trying to build another slush fund, and they expect Americans to pay for it,’ Weber said. ‘A global carbon tax wasn’t on the ballot in November 2024, and the American people sure didn’t vote for a 10% hike in costs.’

The U.S. wants to fast-track outfitting Australia with nuclear submarines under the trilateral agreement between the U.S., Australia and the U.K. to beef up Australia’s submarine force aimed at countering Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific. 

In the agreement, known as AUKUS, the U.S. will sell up to five Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines to Australia — slated for delivery as soon as 2032. Additionally, Australia and the U.K. will then coordinate to build additional attack submarines for Australia’s fleet. 

But President Donald Trump told reporters that he is eyeing a faster timeline, when asked if he was interested in speeding up the process. 

‘Well we are doing that, yeah … we have them moving very, very quickly,’ Trump told reporters Monday while meeting with Australia’s prime minister, Anthony Albanese, at the White House. 

Even so, Trump also said that he didn’t believe that AUKUS was necessary to deter China as he touted his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who he is expected to meet with in South Korea later in October. 

‘I don’t think we’re going to need it,’ Trump said about the trilateral agreement. ‘I think we’ll be just fine with China. China doesn’t want to do that. First of all, the United States is the strongest military power in the world by far. It’s not even close, not even close. We have the best equipment. We have the best of everything, and nobody’s going to mess with that. And I don’t see that at all with President Xi.’

Meanwhile, the AUKUS deal hasn’t been on the most steady footing as the U.S. runs up against its own challenges with its shipbuilding capabilities. 

A slim workforce and insufficient supply chain in the U.S. shipbuilding industry could stymie the agreements, according to a Congressional Research Service report issued in March. The report also cautioned that the U.S. Navy would suffer a shortage of attack submarines for 20 years.  

Although the Navy has ordered two boats annually for the past 10 years, U.S. shipyards have only been able to produce 1.2 Virginia-class submarines annually since 2022, according to the report.  

Trump and Albanese also signed a critical minerals deal Monday during their meeting. The deal will require both countries to invest more than $3 billion throughout the next six months in critical mineral projects, according to a White House fact sheet. 

The deal also requires the Department of War to invest in a 100 metric ton-per-year advanced gallium refinery in Western Australia to support ‘self-reliance in critical minerals processing,’ according to the fact sheet. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Federal prosecutors signaled that they might seek the removal of the lead defense attorney in James Comey’s criminal case on Sunday, citing his possible role in the disclosures Comey made in 2017, shortly after President Donald Trump fired him as FBI director in his first term.

Prosecutors cited the yearslong relationship between Comey and the defense attorney overseeing his case, Patrick Fitzgerald, as a possible conflict of interest — noting in particular whether Fitzgerald might have had any role in the disclosures Comey made during Trump’s first term. 

‘This fact raises a question of conflict and disqualification for current lead defense counsel,’ prosecutors said of Fitzgerald, Comey’s longtime friend and former colleague. The two overlapped during their time as federal prosecutors for the Southern District of New York.

Prosecutors on Sunday urged U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff to expedite their request for a so-called ‘filter team’ of lawyers, which would be tasked with reviewing information in Comey’s case, including privileged materials.

Prosecutors told the court the ‘filter team’ could be crucial to help clarify the role Fitzgerald may have played in disseminating information Comey shared after leaving the FBI, including any materials that are protected by attorney-client privilege.

‘Based on publicly disclosed information, the defendant used current lead defense counsel to improperly disclose classified information,’ assistant U.S. attorneys Tyler Lemons and Gabriel Diaz said in the filing, first reported by Politico.

Lawyers for Comey swiftly opposed the push for the expedited filter team and filter protocol sought by the Justice Department, noting in a separate court filing Monday that the memos Comey sent to his lawyers were not classified at the time (a designation made after the fact).

‘In short, there is no good faith basis for attributing criminal conduct to either Mr. Comey or his lead defense counsel,’ they said of Fitzgerald, describing the claim as ‘provably false’ and an effort to defame the attorney. 

‘Similarly, there is no good faith basis to claim a ‘conflict between’ Mr. Comey and his counsel, much less a basis to move to disqualify lead defense counsel,’ they added.

Fitzgerald is one of several high-profile lawyers representing Comey in his criminal case in the Eastern District of Virginia, where the former FBI director was charged last month with one felony count of making a false statement and another felony count of obstruction. 

Prosecutors cited a 2019 report from the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General. The report excoriated Comey for sharing some information about his interactions with Trump while serving as FBI director with his lawyers, including information that was later deemed to be classified.

But it also concluded that there was no indication ‘that Comey or his attorneys released any of the classified information contained in any of the memos to members of the media.’

The office also declined to charge Comey with illegally disclosing the information.

Fitzgerald declined to respond to Fox News’s request for comment. 

Still, the motion comes as prosecutors vie for some early hits in their case against Comey, which is expected to come under new scrutiny this week. 

Comey’s team in recent days has challenged Trump’s decisions in the case, including his appointment of former White House aide Lindsey Halligan as acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. 

Halligan was installed last month to the role after interim attorney Erik Siebert resigned under pressure to indict Comey and another Trump foe, New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Comey’s lawyers previously suggested that Halligan’s appointment, made three days before a grand jury handed down his indictment, could strengthen their motion to dismiss.

It also comes hours before Comey’s lawyers will file a formal motion to dismiss the criminal case on grounds of ‘vindictive’ prosecution.

Lawyers for former FBI director James Comey asked a federal judge Monday to dismiss his criminal case on the grounds of ‘vindictive and selective’ prosecution, citing what they argued in a new filing is a record of ‘ample objective evidence’ that they argued should suffice to dismiss his case ‘with prejudice.’

Comey’s lawyers used the more than 50-page filing to tick through a lengthy timeline of the strained relationship between Trump and his former FBI director, whom Trump fired during his first term, in 2017 — less than halfway through his 10-year tenure as FBI director — as well as Trump’s public attacks and criticisms of Comey.  

They also noted that much of the damning information has come from Trump himself, or other administration officials. 

‘The indictment in this case arises from multiple glaring constitutional violations and an egregious abuse of power by the federal government,’ his lawyers said in the filing.

Trump ordered the Justice Department to prosecute Comey after taking office for a second time ‘because of personal spite and because Mr. Comey has frequently criticized the president for his conduct in office,’ they said. 

‘When no career prosecutor would carry out those orders, the president publicly forced the interim U.S. attorney to resign and directed the Attorney General to effectuate ‘justice’ against Mr. Comey,’ his lawyers said.

It was one of two extraordinary motions to dismiss the case against Comey that his lawyers filed Monday with U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff, who is overseeing the case in Alexandria.

The other motion asked Judge Nachmanoff to dismiss the case against Comey due to what they argued was Trump’s ‘unlawful’ appointment of Lindsey Halligan, his former personal lawyer, as acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. 

Trump in September announced he would install Halligan as the top prosecutor for the Eastern District of Virginia, replacing interim U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert, who resigned under pressure to indict both Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Comey’s lawyers noted Monday that Halligan’s appointment was made just three days before Comey’s indictment.

The official ‘who purported to secure and sign the indictment was invalidly appointed to her position as interim U.S. Attorney,’ they told the judge. 

‘Because of that fundamental constitutional and statutory defect, the indictment is a nullity and must be dismissed. That dismissal must be with prejudice in order to deter the government’s willfully unlawful conduct.’

In order to establish prosecutorial ‘vindictiveness,’ Comey must provide evidence to the court that prosecutors were both acting with genuine animus toward the defendant, and that the defendant would not have been prosecuted but for that animus. 

This is a developing news story. Check back shortly for updates.

Senate Democrats, fresh off a weekend of anti-Trump rallies, again blocked the Republicans’ plan to reopen the government for an 11th time as the shutdown nears its fourth week.

Senate Republicans had hoped their colleagues across the aisle would have a change of heart after the ‘No Kings’ rallies across the country, but like many times before, Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., largely voted to block the funding bill.

Neither side has changed its position as the shutdown has continued to drag on.

Senate Democrats want an extension to expiring Obamacare subsidies, which were enhanced when Senate Democrats controlled the upper chamber under President Joe Biden and are set to expire by the end of this year.

Schumer accused congressional Republicans of being unwilling to solve the problem, despite overtures from Senate Republicans that they’d be open to have a vote on the matter. 

‘What kind of country do we live in? What kind of party is this Republican Party that is unwilling to solve this problem, which is staring Americans in the face, frightening Americans from one end of the country to the other,’ Schumer said. ‘And yet Republicans, what are they doing about it? Nothing. They’re on vacation. It’s unacceptable and morally repugnant.’

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., contended over the weekend at the ‘No Kings’ rally in Washington, D.C., that when Democrats were in charge, the government never shut down.

‘The government is shut down and shutdowns are painful,’ he said. ‘They hurt people. And frankly, that’s why there was not a single government shutdown when Joe Biden was president and Democrats were in charge of Congress. Because we acted like adults, we negotiated with Republicans. We found common ground. We kept the government open.’

But Senate Republicans have remained adamant that they won’t negotiate while the government is shut down. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., extended an olive branch to Senate Democrats and offered a vote on the expiring subsidies, but so far, Senate Democrats have not agreed.

Republicans are also trying to fund the government through other means. Thune tried and failed to advance the annual defense appropriations bill through a procedural hurdle last week, which Senate Democrats blocked. Republicans are also trying to finish work on a trio of funding bills passed in August, but Senate Democrats are blocking that, too.

‘Any idea that this is about Obamacare enhanced premium tax credits is going by the wayside when they continue to keep the government shut down and don’t allow us time to actually work on the issue,’ Thune said. ‘I don’t think they want a solution. I think they want a political issue.’

Another issue is that even if lawmakers were to pass the House-passed continuing resolution (CR) on Tuesday, Congress would only have one month to finish work on spending bills to fund the government. When asked if the it was time to think about the House coming back to extend the deadline, Thune said, ‘For sure.’ 

‘I mean, every day that passes, we have less time to fund the government,’ he said. 

Meanwhile, lawmakers will get the chance to pay certain federal workers and the military later in the week.

Thune said that he planned to tee up legislation from Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and several other Senate Republicans that would pay military service members and certain ‘excepted’ federal workers who are still working despite the ongoing shutdown. That bill could be ready for a vote by Thursday at the latest. 

When asked if he worried that Senate Democrats would continue to take hostages during the shutdown fight, Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said, ‘Hopefully not.’

‘Because at whatever point the Schumer shutdown ends is because the Democrats are finally tired of it, or they hear enough from their constituents,’ he said. ‘Hopefully enough people will tell them, ‘Hey, we don’t want that anymore. You keep government open. Do the job.’’

But for now, there’s no real end in sight for the shutdown.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, contended that neither side would break the impasse given that there’s no ‘incentive’ to do so.

‘What we’re seeing is different,’ Murkowski said. ‘You’ve got both sides that are just really hard dug in, but everybody thinks they’re winning. Nobody is winning when everybody’s losing. And that’s what’s happening right now. The American public is losing.’

: Trump administration agencies are working to expose the Biden administration’s ‘prolific and dangerous weaponization of government,’ Fox News Digital has learned.

The Interagency Weaponization Working Group (IWWG) is made up of officials from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Justice Department, the FBI, the CIA and more.

Officials told Fox News Digital that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard initiated the Interagency Weaponization Working Group, which has been meeting biweekly since April to ‘share information, coordinate, and execute.’

‘The American people made a clear choice when they elected President Trump — to stop the Biden administration’s prolific and dangerous weaponization of government agencies against the American people and the Constitution,’ Gabbard told Fox News Digital. ‘I stood up this working group to start the important work of interagency coordination under President Trump’s leadership to deliver accountability.’

She added: ‘True accountability is the first step toward lasting change.’

Officials told Fox News Digital the group was created to streamline information sharing across the government in support of the Trump executive order.

‘Joe Biden’s Department of Justice targeted President Trump and anyone close to him, prosecuted pro-life advocates, treated parents at school board meetings as domestic terrorists, and destroyed public trust in federal law enforcement,’ Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News Digital.

‘Under President Trump, we are working every day alongside our partners to end weaponization and restore one tier of justice for all,’ Bondi said.

Meanwhile, FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News Digital that, ‘for years, Biden’s DOJ turned federal law enforcement into a political weapon.’ 

‘Going after President Trump, pro-life Americans, and parents at school boards while letting real criminals run wild,’ Patel told Fox News Digital. ‘Under Preisdent Trump, we’ve ripped that agenda out by the roots.’ 

Patel added: ‘We’re restoring equal justice under the law, one standard, one mission: Protect the American people.’ 

Officials involved pointed Fox News Digital to President Trump’s executive order, which says interagency coordination is needed to ‘ensure accountability for the previous administration’s weaponization of the federal government against the American people.’ 

The executive order had directed Gabbard, in consultation with the heads of other appropriate departments and agencies within the intelligence community, to ‘take all appropriate action to review the activities of the intelligence community over the last four years and identify any instances’ of the weaponization of government.

Officials told Fox News Digital that the interagency group is ‘working to undo the Biden administration’s whole-of-government approach to abuse the powers of government against the American people.’

‘The weaponization of government against Americans did not happen in one agency, one time,’ an official explained. ‘It happened repeatedly over the duration of the Biden administration.’

‘That’s why, in order to depoliticize and deweaponize the government, it is important to understand what agencies carried out, what roles, and why,’ the official continued. ‘The IWWG is essential for coordinating across agencies.’ 

But officials said the media has attempted to ‘negatively spin lawful oversight and accountability’ by claiming it is a way for the Trump administration to weaponize the government against its political opponents.

‘The irony is, accusing the Interagency Weaponization Working Group of targeting the president’s political opponents is classic projection and could not be further from the truth,’ an official said.

The official said that there is ‘no targeting of any individual person for retribution.’

‘IWWG is simply looking at available facts and evidence that may point to actions, reports, agencies, individuals, and more who illegally weaponized the government in order to carry out political attacks,’ the official said.

‘The only people who fear accountability are the ones who never expected to face it,’ the official continued. ‘Oversight is not the problem—abuse of power is.’ 

While President Donald Trump and his administration brushed off the ‘No Kings’ nationwide protests rebuking the president over the weekend, Democrats lauded the protesters for standing up for democracy. 

The protest marked at least the second time ‘No Kings’ rallies have been organized across the country in major cities, including Washington, New York City and Los Angeles, since Trump took office for the second time, and organizers claim the protests are in opposition to his authoritarian policies. 

Meanwhile, Trump pushed back on the description of ‘king,’ as he and other Republicans poked fun at the millions participating in the rallies. 

‘I’m not a king,’ Trump told reporters Sunday on Air Force One. ‘I work my ass off to make our country great. That’s all it is. I’m not a king at all.’

Trump also characterized the protests as inconsequential, and said that those who participated didn’t accurately reflect the people who make up the U.S. 

‘The demonstrations were very small, very ineffective and the people were whacked out,’ Trump said Sunday. ‘When you look at those people, those are not representative of the people of our country.’

Despite Trump’s rejection of being labeled a king, the official White House social media accounts previously posted an image in February of Trump wearing a crown with a caption claiming ‘long live the king.’ Trump also reposted an AI-generated video that Vice President JD Vance originally shared, depicting Trump placing a crown on his head and drawing a sword. 

Additionally, Trump shared another AI-generated video of him donning a crown in a fighter jet over New York City, unloading what appeared to be feces on the protesters. 

Meanwhile, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., said that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. needed a distraction from the government shutdown that started Oct. 1, although Johnson did admit that the protests turned out to be a ‘violent-free, free speech exercise.’ 

‘They needed a stunt,’ Johnson said in an interview with ABC Sunday. ‘They needed a show. Chuck Schumer has — needs cover right now. He’s closed the government down because he needs political cover, and this was a part of it.’

However, Democrats said the protests were an opportunity to stand up for democracy. For example, Schumer said that there are ‘no dictators’ in the U.S., and that ‘we won’t allow Trump to keep eroding our democracy.’ 

‘Dictators evolve when good people of all different beliefs and backgrounds stay silent,’ Schumer said in a social media post on Saturday. ‘This No Kings Day says we will not stay silent.’

Additionally, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi shared a video clip of her dismantling a plastic crown, appearing to harken back to when she ripped Trump’s State of the Union address in 2020. 

‘We’re gonna tear up the crown!’ Pelosi said in the brief clip, which she shared on social media with the caption: ‘No crown. #NoKings!’ 

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., also weighed in, claiming ‘we said ‘hell no’ to kings, and reminded the nation and the world what patriotism looks like.’ 

‘From our nation’s capitol to cities across California, millions stood shoulder to shoulder to say that our democracy is worth fighting for, that our voices will not be silent, and that we will not sit back and let a wannabe king take our freedoms,’ Schiff said Saturday to accompany several photos of himself at the protest in Washington. ‘Proud to stand with you.’ 

Additionally, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said the protests were reflective of the democratic process in the U.S. 

‘This is what democracy looks like!’ Murray said in a Saturday social media post. ‘We use our voices and our votes. NO KINGS IN AMERICA!’

President Donald Trump announced on Monday that construction has begun on a new, privately funded White House Ballroom – a long-envisioned addition designed to host state visits and large gatherings – as part of a modernization of the East Wing.

‘I am pleased to announce that ground has been broken on the White House grounds to build the new, big, beautiful White House Ballroom,’ Trump said on Truth Social. ‘Completely separate from the White House itself, the East Wing is being fully modernized as part of this process, and will be more beautiful than ever when it is complete!

‘For more than 150 years, every President has dreamt about having a Ballroom at the White House to accommodate people for grand parties, State Visits, etc. I am honored to be the first President to finally get this much-needed project underway — with zero cost to the American Taxpayer!’ he continued. ‘The White House Ballroom is being privately funded by many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly. This Ballroom will be happily used for Generations to come!’

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a briefing in July that the construction of the estimated $200 million new ballroom would begin in September and be ‘completed long before the end of President Trump’s term.’

Her announcement came after a similar gesture earlier this year, when Trump personally financed the installation of two 88-foot American flags flanking the White House, each reportedly costing about $50,000.

‘The White House is currently unable to host major functions honoring world leaders in other countries without having to install a large and unsightly tent approximately 100 yards away from the main building’s entrance,’ Leavitt said at the time, adding the new ballroom will be ‘a much needed and exquisite addition.’

She also said the United States Secret Service will provide the necessary security enhancements and modifications during the construction.

The project is intended to provide a dedicated space for hosting official events, state dinners and large ceremonial gatherings.

The new 90,000-square-foot addition will accommodate approximately 650 seated guests and will stay true to the classical design of the White House.

The White House does not have a formal ballroom, and the new ballroom will take the place of the current East Wing of the White House.

Trump chose McCrery Architects to design the project, with Clark Construction overseeing the build and AECOM providing engineering support.

Fox News Digital’s Amanda Macias contributed to this report.