• Venezuela latest: President Donald Trump yesterday said he was ordering a complete blockade of sanctioned oil tankers coming to and leaving Venezuela. He also demanded oil, land and assets from the country that he claimed it had “stole” from the US. • Health care subsidies: In defiance of Speaker Mike Johnson, GOP centrists are signing onto a Democratic effort to force a vote on extending soon-to-expire enhanced Obamacare subsidies. • On Capitol Hill: Former special counsel Jack Smith is testifying in a closed-door deposition before a House committee regarding his prosecutions of Trump. The move by four GOP centrists to back a Democratic effort to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies is not about “party loyalty,” one of those lawmakers said today. “We worked in earnest, good faith to get there, and (House Speaker Mike Johnson) did, too, with us,” GOP Rep. Mike Lawler of New York told CNN's Dana Bash. He's got 219 other personalities to deal with, but there is great frustration among myself and many others about a very simple fact, which is we have a responsibility to govern.” “Ultimately,” he said, “if the end result … is bipartisan compromise, then we did our job.” “If any Democrat comes out here and questions that they're lying to you,” he declared. Sen. Tim Sheehy acknowledged the video is “not pretty” but insisted that strikes like this are necessary, and indicated that his colleagues “don't like the messy reality” of combat. “The processes we're using to find, fix and finish these terrorists are the same processes we've been using across multiple combatant commands, geographies all over the world, multiple administrations, Republican and Democrat…we've been conducting 1000s of strikes like this for years,” he said. However, GOP Sen. Mike Rounds would not say whether he agrees with the legal justifications given for the strike, after being pressed by CNN multiple times. Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal was not satisfied by the legal justification provided. “I think there are serious questions about criminal culpability here, and there is certainly a need for more intensive, thorough investigation, an immediate subpoena for all of the records, documents, orders, after action, reports and other videos, and I'm deeply worried that there may be a loss or disruption of evidence here.” One of the Republicans who joined Democrats' effort to force a floor vote on extending Affordable Care Act subsidies said he was faced with a Hobson's choice before he signed onto their push, undercutting his leadership. Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick had introduced his own legislation to extend the subsidies – for two years, instead of Democrats' three, and with major reforms attached – but faltered in his push to get leaders to put it on the floor. So obviously left with a Hobson's choice,” he told reporters after signing onto Democrats' effort. Tensions within the House GOP conference flared on Wednesday after enough moderates crossed party lines and signed onto an effort by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to force a floor vote to extend enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies after a deal with GOP leadership to get an amendment vote on their own measure fell apart. The Missouri Republican warned that his colleagues are being “short sighted” on the political implications since people will still see higher costs, adding, “what we really need to do is a wholesale reform of the Obamacare system, that in such a way that actually reduces premiums for people.” Rep. Nick LaLota, another New York Republican, said he “probably would” sign onto Jeffries' petition if it's his only option, though he would prefer a “hybrid” approach with more ACA reforms. Pressed on Johnson's handling of the issue, LaLota responded, “he needs to do better. He needs to allow for a vote that both addresses the short and long term issues of Obamacare.” Rep. Mike Lawler, one of the swing district Republicans who signed onto Jeffries' petition, responded to Burlison's criticism, saying, “I represent my district. “We exhausted every effort to find an agreement within our conference. If folks chose not to find a path forward, they left us with no option but to sign that three-year discharge. If they don't want that to pass, then they should be working to find an alternative vehicle,” he said. Lawler said Speaker Mike Johnson has a “very difficult job,” adding that while Johnson hasn't been able to unify House Republicans behind a plan including ACA credit extensions, “my frustration is not at him.” I'm here to represent my constituents and get something done. House Speaker Mike Johnson insisted he has control of his chamber, after swing-district members of his conference aligned with Democrats for a discharge petition to force a vote on soon-to-expire enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits. “I have not lost control of the House,” Johnson told CNN. “I don't want to say he didn't take it seriously, but we just have a difference of opinion on something that's very, very important to us,” Fitzpatrick told CNN of House Speaker Mike Johnson, “and, you know, we've all shared with him, we have a job to do and that's to represent our people back home.” “We've done our job and gotten it across the 218 threshold. Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin expressed optimism about the Obamacare-related discharge petition moving in the House, hoping it will unlock movement in health care talks. “I think we've got a chance, and that's what all we've been asking for, is to give us a chance to vote on a bill that protects more families from these outrageous health insurance premiums,” Durbin told CNN. Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt downplayed the impact of four House Republicans signing onto a Democratic-led discharge petition to extend expiring enhanced Obamacare subsidies for three years, arguing it will not create additional pressure on Republicans in the Senate to extend the premium tax credits. “We've already voted on a plan that extends Obamacare failure. “If the Democrats are serious about reform, I think we're willing to have that conversation.” Schmitt stated his preference that Republicans tackle health care costs through the reconciliation process. “The Republican plan that we voted on last week, the Democrats killed would have expanded Health Savings Accounts, created more competition in health care. That's how you bring down health care costs, not extending subsidies and running up the national debt by trillions of dollars just to help a few people. Former special counsel Jack Smith today defended his criminal investigation into President Donald Trump in a closed-door deposition before the House Judiciary Committee as he faces scrutiny from Republican lawmakers. “The decision to bring charges against President Trump was mine, but the basis for those charges rests entirely with President Trump and his actions, as alleged in the indictments returned by grand juries in two different districts,” Smith said in portions of his opening statement obtained by CNN. He is also seeking to clarify issues surrounding the use of phone records he subpoenaed of lawmakers Trump spoke with about the election scheme. Smith, a longtime public corruption prosecutor, was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November 2022 to oversee the investigations after Trump announced he was running for president again. The former president pleaded not guilty in both cases and neither went to trial. The case on mishandling classified documents ended with District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, nullifying Smith's office. After being pressed further to respond to the president's Truth Social post attacking Reiner, Johnson acknowledged that he wouldn't have spoken the same way Trump did. “I'm asked to give running commentary on everything that the president says every five minutes of the day, as well as all of my colleagues here,” Johnson said. “I don't communicate the same way,” he continued. That's not the way I would have done it. Announcing what he referred to as “the biggest merger in history, the merger of Main Street and Wall Street,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered more details Wednesday on how “Trump Accounts” would work. At an event at the Treasury department Wednesday morning debuting trumpaccounts.gov, Bessent characterized the new accounts as an opportunity for US families to build generational wealth. Eligible US parents of children born between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2028, can open a tax-advantaged savings account their children can access, starting at age 18 — or if they leave money in the account throughout their lives — for education, housing or retirement. “Through the Trump accounts, we're creating an ownership economy where all citizens become shareholders in American wealth,” Bessent said. The federal government will contribute seed funding of $1,000 per account next year; and Bessent said he anticipates families, philanthropists, employers and states will also contribute. “World-renowned investor Ray Dalio has joined what we are calling the 50-state challenge,” Bessent said. “Through the 50-state challenge, we are inviting every philanthropist in every state across the country to partner with us in building generational wealth for America's children through Trump accounts.” Separately on Wednesday, BlackRock announced that it would match the federal government's contribution for their own roughly 9,400 US employees accounts. Earlier this month, Michael and Susan Dell pledged $6.25 billion to the “Trump Accounts.” Those four GOP centrists — New York Rep. Mike Lawler and Pennsylvania Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Ryan Mackenzie and Rob Bresnahan — have officially opted for what they have been describing as the nuclear option. By signing onto Democrats' procedural maneuver to force a floor vote on their proposed three-year extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries now has the 218 signatures needed guarantee a vote under discharge petition rules. That floor vote cannot be forced until January, however, under those same rules. Those same four centrists have criticized Democrats' plan as flawed. Former special counsel Jack Smith has arrived on Capitol Hill this morning for his closed-door deposition with the House Judiciary Committee. As he entered, Smith did not answer questions from CNN. A second Republican centrist is minutes away from signing onto House Democrats' push to extend enhanced Obamacare subsidies for three years after weeks of infighting with Speaker Mike Johnson over the matter. Rep. Mike Lawler, who represents a battleground New York district, told CNN he is on his way to the floor to sign the discharge petition. Lawler has worked closely with fellow GOP centrist Rep Brian Fitzpatrick to secure a vote on their own compromise measure. But when Johnson rejected that effort, the two centrists decided to back Democrats' push. GOP centrist Brian Fitzpatrick dramatically stepped up his public battle against Republican leadership this morning as he signed onto a Democratic effort to force a vote on extending soon-to-expire enhanced Obamacare subsidies. Fitzpatrick has strongly criticized the Democrats' three year extension, which he says does nothing to reform the costly pandemic-era program, such as enforce stricter income limits. But in a sign of desperation for the normally leadership-aligned GOP congressman, Fitzpatrick chose to defy Speaker Mike Johnson and sign onto Democrats' push. The move will immediately ramp up pressure on other GOP centrists who intentionally did not rule out signing the Democratic petition as they tried to hardball their own leadership into allowing a compromise measure to extend and reform the subsidies to come to the floor. Republicans, including Reps. Mike Lawler of New York and Kevin Kiley of California, will now need to decide if they too will sign onto the position. Fitzpatrick telegraphed his move in a late night meeting of the House Rules Committee, where he was making a final push for his bipartisan compromise measure. “I think the only thing worse than a clean extension without any income limits and any reforms – because it's not a perfect system. GOP Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington announced that he will not seek reelection in 2026, as Republican angst on Capitol Hill grows with fear of more retirements. Newhouse is one of the only remaining Republicans still in Congress who had voted to impeach President Donald Trump in 2021. That has created a challenge for congressional Republicans who need near-unanimous support of the party to advance legislation. President Donald Trump is expected to participate in a dignified transfer later today for two US service members killed in Syria over the weekend. It will take place at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware around 1:15 p.m. On Capitol Hill: Meanwhile, former special counsel Jack Smith is set to testify about his prosecutions of Trump in a closed-door deposition before the House Judiciary Committee. Sources told CNN that Smith plans to testify about Trump's alleged mishandling and retention of classified documents and his role in attempting to overturn the 2020 election, as well as issues surrounding the use of phone records. Smith has continually denied his work was politically motivated and said that he is willing to testify publicly regarding his investigations into Trump. CNN's Kit Maher, Casey Gannon, Katelyn Polantz and Annie Grayer contributed to this reporting. The Trump administration appears to have been rocked yesterday, following the publication of several interviews with Susie Wiles, US President Donald Trump's chief of staff. Wiles said on X that Vanity Fair's articles were “a disingenuously framed hit piece” missing context, while Trump gave Wiles a vote of confidence in an interview later Tuesday. US President Donald Trump has once again ratcheted up pressure on Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, this time ordering a “total and complete blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers coming to and leaving the country. Here are the latest developments in Trump's ongoing campaign against Marudo: CNN's Kit Maher, Kevin Liptak, Jose Alvarez, Lex Harvey, Morgan Rimmer, Alison Main and Manu Raju contributed to this reporting. President Donald Trump announced that he will deliver a live address from the White House tonight. “My Fellow Americans: I will be giving an ADDRESS TO THE NATION tomorrow night, LIVE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE, at 9 P.M. EST. It has been a great year for our Country, and THE BEST IS YET TO COME!” Trump posted on Truth Social yesterday. Leavitt also said Trump may tease some policy actions coming in the new year. “President Trump will be talking about what's to come. The best is truly yet to come, as he often says,” Leavitt said. CNN has reached out to the White House for more information.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrives to brief members of Congress on military strikes near Venezuela, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, at the Capitol in Washington. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks to reporters following the weekly policy luncheons at the Capitol, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Washington. WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate gave final passage on Wednesday to an annual military policy bill that will authorize $901 billion in defense programs while pressuring Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to provide lawmakers with video of strikes on alleged drug boats in international water near Venezuela. The annual National Defense Authorization Act, which raises troop pay by 3.8%, gained bipartisan backing as it moved through Congress. It passed the Senate on a 77-20 vote before lawmakers planned to leave Washington for a holiday break. The White House has indicated that it is in line with President Donald Trump's national security priorities. However, the legislation, which ran over 3,000 pages, revealed some points of friction between Congress and the Pentagon as the Trump administration reorients its focus away from security in Europe and toward Central and South America. It demands more information on boat strikes in the Caribbean, requires that the U.S. keep its troop levels in Europe at current levels and sends some military aid to Ukraine. It implements many of Trump's executive orders and proposals on eliminating diversity and inclusion efforts in the military and grants emergency military powers at the U.S. border with Mexico. It also enhances congressional oversight of the Department of Defense, repeals several years-old war authorizations and seeks to overhaul how the Pentagon purchases weapons as the U.S. tries to outpace China in developing the next generation of military technology. Still, the sprawling bill faced objections from both Democratic and Republican leadership on the Senate Commerce Committee. That's because the legislation allows military aircraft to obtain a waiver to operate without broadcasting their precise location, as an Army helicopter had done before a midair collision with an airliner in Washington, D.C. in January that killed 67 people. Cruz said he was seeking a vote on bipartisan legislation in the next month that would require military aircraft to use a precise location sharing tool and improve coordination between commercial and military aircraft in busy areas. Republicans and Democrats agreed to language in the defense bill that threatened to withhold a quarter of Hegseth's travel budget until he provided unedited video of the strikes, as well as the orders authorizing them, to the House and Senate Committees on Armed Services. Hegseth was on Capitol Hill Tuesday ahead of the bill's passage to brief lawmakers on the U.S. military campaign in international water near Venezuela. The briefing elicited contrasting responses from many lawmakers, with Republicans largely backing the campaign and Democrats expressing concern about it and saying they had not received enough information. Several Republican senators emerged from the meeting backing Hegseth and his decision not to release the video publicly, but other GOP lawmakers stayed silent on their opinion of the strike. Democrats are calling for part of the video to be released publicly and for every member of Congress to have access to the full footage. “The American people absolutely need to see this video,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat. Lawmakers have been caught by surprise by the Trump administration several times in the last year, including by a move to pause intelligence sharing with Ukraine and a decision to reduce U.S. troop presence in NATO countries in eastern Europe. The defense legislation requires that Congress be kept in the loop on decisions like that going forward, as well as when top military brass are removed. The Pentagon is also required, under the legislation, to keep at least 76,000 troops and major equipment stationed in Europe unless NATO allies are consulted and there is a determination that such a withdrawal is in U.S. interests. Around 80,000 to 100,000 U.S. troops are usually present on European soil. A similar requirement also keeps the number of U.S. troops stationed in South Korea at 28,500. Lawmakers are also pushing back on some Pentagon decisions by authorizing $400 million for each of the next two years to manufacture weapons to be sent to Ukraine. Trump and Hegseth have made it a priority to purge the military of material and programs that address diversity, anti-racism or gender issues, and the defense bill would codify many of those changes. It will repeal diversity, equity and inclusion offices and trainings, including the position of chief diversity officer. Those cuts would save the Pentagon about $40 million, according to the Republican-controlled House Armed Services Committee. The U.S. military has long found that climate change is a threat to how it provides national security because weather-related disasters can destroy military bases and equipment.

Affordable Care Act health insurance website healthcare.gov are seen on a computer screen in New York, Aug. 19, 2025. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., meets with reporters as Republicans struggle with a plan to address growing health care costs, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., speaks to reporters following a strategy session with House Republicans, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. ▶ Follow live updates on President Donald Trump and his administration WASHINGTON (AP) — Four centrist Republicans broke with Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday and signed onto a Democratic-led petition that will force a House vote on extending for three years an enhanced pandemic-era subsidy that lowers health insurance costs for millions of Americans. The stunning move comes after House Republican leaders pushed ahead with a health care bill that does not address the soaring monthly premiums that millions of people will soon endure when the tax credits for those who buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act expire at year's end. The action sets the stage for a renewed intraparty clash over health care in January, something Republican leaders had been working to avoid, just weeks before another government funding deadline at the end of that month. The moderate Republicans were able to force the issue by signing a petition, led by Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, to vote on a bill that would extend the subsides for three years. Republican Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Robert Bresnahan and Ryan Mackenzie, all from Pennsylvania, and Mike Lawler of New York signed on Wednesday morning, pushing it to the magic number. “Unfortunately, it is House leadership themselves that have forced this outcome.” Fitzpatrick said in a statement. Johnson had discussed allowing more politically vulnerable GOP lawmakers a chance to vote on bills that would temporarily extend the subsidies while also adding changes such as income caps for beneficiaries. House Republicans pushed ahead Wednesday a 100-plus-page health care package without the subsidies. “Our only request was a floor vote on this compromise, so that the American People's voice could be heard on this issue. Then, at the request of House leadership I, along with my colleagues, filed multiple amendments, and testified at length to those amendments,” Fitzpatrick said. “House leadership then decided to reject every single one of these amendments. “As I've stated many times before, the only policy that is worse than a clean three-year extension without any reforms, is a policy of complete expiration without any bridge,” Fitzpatrick said. Lawler, in a social media post, similarly said that “the failure of leadership” to permit a vote had left him with “no choice” but to sign the petition. He urged Johnson to bring the plan up for an immediate floor vote. Jeffries, for several weeks, had called on Republicans to sign his discharge petition. He particularly challenged Republicans in competitive congressional districts to join the effort if they really wanted to prevent premium increases for their constituents. The defectors largely represent districts that Democrats have targeted in their bid to retake the majority, with Democrats promising to make health insurance costs a central issue in next year's midterms. Republicans last week voted down a three-year extension of the subsidies and proposed an alternative that also failed. But in an encouraging sign for Democrats, four Republican senators crossed party lines to support their proposal. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., argued against the Democratic extension as “an attempt to disguise the real impact of Obamacare's spiraling health care costs.” “Because at this point Republicans have made it impossible to prevent many Americans from paying more on their monthly premiums on January 1st. And Republicans can't even say they tried to stop it,” Schumer said. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said leadership would continue to have discussions with members “about a few different options.” It's still possible that GOP leaders could bring up Fitzpatrick's bill or a similar measure if the only other option is watching the Democrats' three-year extension pass. In the Senate, there clearly is an appetite from a bipartisan group of senators to allow for a subsidy extension as long as some changes to the program are made. Almost two dozen Republicans and Democrats met late Monday to talk about a last-minute fix. They emerged discussing ways to end the stalemate, including a possible two-year extension of the subsidies with changes that would narrow who could receive them. They also discussed adding some version of a GOP proposal to create health savings accounts that would help people purchase insurance.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. When speaking at the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum, President Donald Trump slammed officials who pushed radical climate change policies, saying, "We have to investigate them immediately." A federal judge's extraordinary decision to refer Hagens Berman to the Department of Justice for possible unlawful conduct escalated to an appeals court this week, marking one of the toughest challenges yet for a high-profile law firm known, in part, for its aggressive climate litigation. The referral came as part of a lawsuit that Hagens Berman brought related to a separate topic, alleged drug-related injuries, and involved Judge Paul Diamond taking the rare step of asking the DOJ to review whether Hagens Berman acted unlawfully. Diamond noted in an order on Dec. 2 that a court-appointed lawyer, known as a special master, found Hagens Berman engaged in a yearslong effort to bring "fraudulent" complaints in the case in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Hagens Berman also obstructed discovery and "doctored evidence," the special master found. The Department of Justice headquarters on Feb. 19, 2020, in Washington, D.C. (Drew Angerer) "To rebut the charge in the court below would risk fomenting even greater ire of the district judge—ire that would be calamitous for petitioners' clients," Hagens Berman lawyers wrote. "To remain silent is to permit a baseless accusation leveled by an Article III judge no less, to hang like a dark, ignominious cloud over petitioners' professional reputation." The clash comes as Hagens Berman continues positioning itself as a go-to firm for high-risk litigation, including environmental cases, even as its track record in that arena shows mixed results. Last month, the firm filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of Washington state homeowners against ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron and other fossil fuel companies. The suit alleges the companies sparked a rise in natural disasters that has driven up homeowners' insurance premiums and claims they mounted a "coordinated and deliberate scheme to hide the truth about climate change and the effects of burning fossil fuels." Fuel prices at a Shell gas station in Burien, Washington, on Wednesday, March 9, 2022. Efforts to reach a Hagens Berman representative for comment were unsuccessful by press time. Judge William Alsup, a Clinton appointee, tossed out San Francisco and Oakland's case, which was brought by Hagens Berman against fossil fuel companies over the alleged effects of climate change. The cities dropped Hagens Berman as their representation after a series of adverse decisions in the case. People march as they take part in a strike to demand action on the global climate crisis on Sept. 20, 2019, in New York City. In that dismissal, the late Judge John Keenan, a Reagan appointee, again found Hagens Berman's lawsuit was far too expansive. "The City has not sued under New York law for claims related to the production of fossil fuels in New York," Keenan wrote. "The City brings claims for damages caused by global greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the combustion of Defendants' fossil fuels, which are produced and used ‘worldwide.'" Ashley Oliver is a reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business, covering the Justice Department and legal affairs. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

Trump's saber-rattling against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has exasperated political divisions in South America, with some leaders welcoming military action and others pleading for international protection. “I call on the United Nations to fulfill its role. It must assume its role to prevent any bloodshed,” Sheinbaum said on Wednesday morning during a press conference. “All of which,” Trump ordered, “must be returned to the United States, IMMEDIATELY.” She added, This is our position, based on conviction and the Constitution. The U.S.'s naval blockade affects sanctioned oil tankers in Venezuelan waters. A full blockade would be illegal, unless in response to an attack. Chilean President-elect Antonio Kast, widely seen as an analogue to Trump's brand of right-wing populism, has vocally supported a hypothetical military action against the Maduro regime. Colombian President Gustavo Petro, an arch-critic of Trump-era interventionism in Latin America, has lambasted Kast as a “Nazi” and a “fascist,” calling him and his political project “death in human form.” That is a narrative of the USA,” Petro responded Tuesday on social media — a statement notable for its use of the word “dictator,” given Colombia and Venezuela's historic alliance against U.S. aggression.

Ted Sarandos poses for the World Premiere of the Netflix Series “Emily in Paris” season 5, in Paris, France, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. Discovery is recommending its shareholders reject an unsolicited buyout offer from Paramount Skydance in favor of a rival bid from Netflix it said will better serve their interests and the entertainment company's audiences. The Warner board said in a letter to shareholders on Wednesday that Paramount's “inferior” offer carried “significant risks and costs,” in large part because it relies heavily on borrowed money – whereas the Netflix offer is backed by a company worth more than $400 billion. Warner, which owns the Warner Bros. Pictures movie studio and HBO, agreed earlier this month to a cash-and-stock offer from Netflix valued at $72 billion. Days later, Paramount made a hostile, all-cash offer for all of Warner's properties valued at $77.9 billion. With the fate of marquee movie-making and streaming services on the line, a Warner deal with either company would face intense scrutiny from U.S. regulators. Paramount has argued that its offer — coming from a smaller company — would face an easier road with regulators. Paramount is offering $30 in cash for each share of Warner. Warner's stock price fell more than 1% Wednesday to $28.52 per share. “We will continue to move forward to deliver this transaction, which is in the best interest of (Warner) shareholders, consumers, and the creative industries,” Paramount CEO and Chairman David Ellison said. Paramount has claimed it made six different bids that Warner leadership rejected before announcing its deal with Netflix on Dec. 5. Critics of Netflix's deal say that combining the massive streaming company with Warner's HBO Max would give it overwhelming market dominance, whereas the Paramount+ streaming service is far smaller. “This is something that we've heard for a long time — including when we started the streaming business,” Netflix co-CEOs Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos said in a filing through Warner Bros. “Our stance then and now is the same — we see this as a win for the entertainment industry, not the end of it.” Warner shareholders have until Jan. 8 to vote on Paramount's offer. While Netflix has agreed to uphold Warner's contractual obligations for releasing films in theaters, critics fear the streaming giant will ultimately favor online releases. Paramount and Warner Bros. are two of the biggest studios left in Hollywood. That could raise questions about news media consolidation and shifts in editorial control — as seen at CBS News leading up to and following Skydance's $8 billion purchase of Paramount, which it completed in August. President Donald Trump has been vocal about his plans to play a role in regulatory approval. Trump has said Netflix's deal “could be a problem” because of the potential for an outsized control of the market. Affinity Partners, an investment firm run by Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, previously said it would invest in the Paramount deal. But on Tuesday, the firm announced it would be dropping out. The sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Qatar are backing Paramount's bid, a detail some analysts say should be drawing more scrutiny. “The same U.S. officials and regulators who've sounded alarms about China's influence on TikTok should be crying foul here,” said Mike Proulx, vice president and research director at Forrester, a market research company. “The stakes on (Warner's) fate are higher and wider-reaching than a single short-form video app.” Warner's board cited concern about the involvement of foreign investors in its letter to shareholders. It also was critical of Paramount's decision to use an Ellison family trust to backstop the offer for Warner, which it said is not the same thing as a “full and unconditional financing commitment.” The family trust lost billions in value this month after shares of Oracle tumbled on concerns it was spending too much on artificial intelligence. AP Business Writer Matt Ott contributed to this story from Washington.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Fox News senior foreign policy correspondent and anchor Gillian Turner reports on news that footage of the September strike on alleged drug boats will be restricted on 'Special Report.' Lawmakers banded together to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a roughly $901 billion package crammed to the brim with defense policy that unlocks funding for several of the Trump administration's national defense priorities. It's a perennial legislative exercise lawmakers undertake, and one that normally comes and goes with little fuss, given that Congress typically bookends the year with it. President Donald Trump during a Mexican Border Defense medal presentation in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Dec. 15, 2025. And while the drama was not as fiery in the Senate, there were still lingering issues with certain provisions that gave lawmakers heartburn. Bipartisan frustration erupted over a provision that would roll back some safety standards in the Washington, D.C., airspace. It comes on the heels of the collision between a Black Hawk helicopter and passenger jet near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport earlier this year that killed 67 people. Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz, R-Texas, sought an amendment to the package that would have stripped the provision and instead included his ROTOR Act that would mandate technology in aircraft to boost awareness of air traffic. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, talks with reporters after Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., attended a Republican senate luncheon in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Nov. 1, 2023. "I'm seeking a vote on the ROTOR Act as part of any appropriations measure before the current continuing resolution expires at the end of next month," Cruz said. That provision comes as lawmakers demand more transparency in the Trump administration's strikes against alleged drug boats, and in particular, as they seek the release of the footage from a Sept. 2 double-strike on a vessel. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Dec. 11, 2025. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed all senators on the strikes this week. Senate Republicans left largely satisfied, while Senate Democrats charged that Hegseth wouldn't show the unedited footage to every lawmaker in the upper chamber. "He refused," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said. "The administration came to this briefing empty-handed. That's the major question that we face, and if they can't be transparent on this, how can you trust their transparency on all the other issues swirling about in the Caribbean." Still, the package is filled with several provisions that both sides agree to, including guarantees for Ukrainian assistance, and repeals of the 1991 and 2002 authorizations of use of military force (AUMFs) for the Gulf War and Iraq War, respectively, among several others. Senate Republicans want to ram through nearly 100 of Trump's nominees, and both sides are eyeing a five-bill spending package that could alleviate some concerns heading into the looming Jan. 30 deadline to fund the government. "This defense authorization act, although it doesn't have as much in there for defense as a lot of us would like, is a step in the right direction," Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said. "And I think the defense appropriations bill, which hopefully we'll vote on later this week, is another example of the investment that we need to be making, to ensure that in a dangerous world, we are prepared to defend America and American interests." Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

Jim Pillen greets state senators before giving a speech on June 2, 2025, in Lincoln, Neb. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz listens as President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Oct. 16, 2025, in Washington. Nebraska will become the first state to implement new work requirements for some people with Medicaid health insurance under a law President Donald Trump signed last year. Jim Pillen, a Republican, announced Wednesday that the requirement would take effect in the state May 1 and could impact about 30,000 people who have slightly higher incomes than traditional Medicaid beneficiaries. Instead, he said, the aim is “making sure we get every able-bodied Nebraskan to be part of our community.” The sweeping tax and policy law Trump signed in July requires states to make sure many recipients are working by 2027 but gave them the option to do it sooner. The law mandates that people ages 19 to 64 who have Medicaid coverage work or perform community service at least 80 hours a month or be enrolled in school at least half-time to receive and keep coverage. It applies only to people who receive Medicaid coverage through an expansion that covers a population with a slightly higher income limit. Forty states and the District of Columbia have opted to expand the coverage income guidelines under former President Barrack Obama's 2010 health insurance overhaul. Some people will be exempted, including disabled veterans, pregnant women, parents and guardians of dependent children under 14 or disabled individuals, people who were recently released from incarceration, those who are homeless and people getting addiction treatment. States can also offer short-term hardships for others if they choose. All Medicaid beneficiaries who are eligible because of the expansion will be required to submit paperwork at least every six months showing they meet the mandate. Those who don't would lose their coverage. That change means more work for the state agencies — and for some of them, extensive and likely expensive computer program updates. When and how to implement the change is likely to be on the agenda for governors and state lawmakers across the country as legislative sessions start — most of them in January. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the requirement will reduce Medicaid costs by $326 billion over a decade — and that it will result in 4.5 million people becoming uninsured each year starting in 2027. Currently, about 77 million Americans are covered by Medicaid. Because most people covered by Medicaid who are able to work already do, it's not expected to increase employment rates. “Most people who are able-bodied on Medicaid actually want to get a job,” Oz said. Far fewer people are covered than projected, in part because of the work and reporting requirements. Arkansas tried another variation of Medicaid work requirements — later blocked by a judge — that saw 18,000 people kicked off coverage in the first seven months after it took effect in 2018.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Fox News chief congressional correspondent Chad Pergram reports on the continuing fight over healthcare ahead of the holiday recess on ‘Special Report.' Four moderate House Republicans are rebelling against Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to join his Democratic counterpart in forcing a vote on enhanced Obamacare subsidies set to expire at the end of this year. Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., Ryan Mackenzie, R-Pa., Rob Bresnahan, R-Pa., and Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., all joined a discharge petition by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., on his push for a three-year extension of the subsidies. In this case, the four House Republicans' signatures put Jeffries' petition at 218 — clinching the critical majority threshold. Four Republicans joined a push by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Obamacare subsidies. "I've always supported bipartisan solutions that would bring about healthcare affordability in this country," Mackenzie told Fox News Digital on Wednesday of his decision. "Leader Jeffries and the Democrats have refused to sign onto either of those bipartisan solutions. And so at this point, our leadership is not calling up a bill to extend the [Obamacare] tax credits." He called for a vote on the Democrat-led solution as well as two bipartisan bills offering one and two-year extensions, respectively, with reforms. It comes despite Johnson warning Republicans earlier on Wednesday not to support Jeffries' petition, arguing it was not the best way to legislate. Rep. Mike Lawler leaves after a meeting of the House Republican Conference in Washington, March 4, 2025. The House is expected to vote on a bill that Republicans say is aimed at lowering healthcare costs for all Americans, without extending the subsidies — which they argue are part of a deeply flawed public healthcare system. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Pa., arrives for a House Education and Workforce Committee hearing in Washington, May 7, 2025. "While I have been working for a bipartisan compromise with reforms, the failure of leadership to allow a vote on the floor left me with no choice but to sign the Democrats' discharge petition," Lawler said in a statement on X. Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News. Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Fox News Flash top headlines are here. New York City police are on the hunt for a suspect who they say stabbed a Jewish man in the chest while making "anti-Jewish" statements on Tuesday. Police released images and a brief video of the suspect, who remains unidentified. The victim's injuries were not life-threatening, and he received care at a nearby hospital. "At approximately 4:10 P.M., in the vicinity of Kingston Avenue and Lincoln Place, in the confines of the 77th Precinct, a 35-year-old male victim was walking when he was approached by an unidentified individual. The unidentified individual made anti-Jewish statements and then proceeded to stab the victim in the chest with a knife," police told Fox News Digital in a statement. "The individual was last seen fleeing the location on foot towards Sterling Place and Albany Avenue," they added. New York City police are on the hunt for a suspect who they say stabbed a Jewish man in the chest while making "anti-Jewish" statements on Tuesday. Footage of the incident circulating on social media shows the two men squaring off in a minutes-long dispute. Footage of a suspect who police say stabbed a Jewish man while making anti-Jewish statements in New York City on Tuesday, December 16, 2025. NYC Mayor Eric Adams condemned the stabbing in a statement. "Evil, hateful, antisemitic violence must come to an end. We cannot let this hate persist in our city, and we will never back down. We are praying for this man and his family, and the NYPD Hate Crimes Division is investigating this incident as we speak." Police requested that anyone with information regarding the incident call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, on X @NYPDTips. Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) was the first to sign a Jeffries-led discharge petition, swiftly followed by Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY), Rob Bresnahan (R-PA), and Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA), to get to the necessary 218 signatures, forcing the hand of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). Jeffries's bill would extend the subsidies, which are set to expire on Dec. 31, for three years. “As I've stated many times before, the only policy that is worse than a clean three-year extension without any reforms, is a policy of complete expiration without any bridge,” Fitzpatrick wrote in a statement. “Unfortunately, it is House leadership themselves that have forced this outcome.” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) said GOP leadership hasn't looked at timing for Jeffries's discharge petition yet. “They know it's not a lawmaking exercise,” Scalise said. “While I have been working for a bipartisan compromise with reforms, the failure of leadership to allow a vote on the floor left me with no choice but to sign the Democrats discharge petition,” he said. Bresnahan also said in a statement that “doing nothing was not an option” and while he never intended to support the three-year extension, “it is the only option remaining.” The move by the four Republicans comes a day after Johnson said Tuesday there would be no vote on Obamacare subsidies because “it just was not to be.” Centrists still pushed for amendments to bring up various extension proposals in the Rules Committee on Tuesday night, though none of them were accepted. Regardless of the centrist Republican frustration and Obamacare drama, a GOP-led healthcare bill, which does not include the subsidies, is still set to proceed later Wednesday. The procedural rule passed mostly along party lines, with one Republican, Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA), voting against it. “My goal is to get something enacted that will stop us from going off this cliff,” Kiley said. “And so whether that will be the right thing to do or not to facilitate that outcome, I think, is very unclear right now.”

Those four GOP centrists — New York Rep. Mike Lawler and Pennsylvania Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Ryan Mackenzie and Rob Bresnahan — have officially opted for what they have been describing as the nuclear option. Now that they have signed onto Democrats' procedural maneuver to force a floor vote on their proposed three-year extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has the 218 signatures needed guarantee a vote under discharge petition rules. That floor vote cannot be forced until January, however, under those same rules. Here's what's in the House GOP health care bill Those same four centrists have criticized Democrat' plan as flawed. But in a sign of desperation, the typically leadership-aligned centrists chose to defy Johnson and sign onto Democrats' push rather than allow the enhanced subsidies to expire at year's end. The House on Wednesday is expected to vote on a separate, narrower health care proposal from GOP leadership that does not address the expiring subsidies – all but guaranteeing that the money will lapse and spike premiums for tens of millions of Americans next year. Fitzpatrick, the first Republican to sign on Wednesday, telegraphed his move in a late night meeting of the House Rules Committee, where he was making a final push for his separate, bipartisan compromise measure. “I think the only thing worse than a clean extension without any income limits and any reforms – because it's not a perfect system – the only thing worse than that would be expiration,” Fitzpatrick said Tuesday night when asked about the Democratic push. Lawler similarly emphasized that he did not fully support Democrats' bill, but suggested inaction was unacceptable. “This procedural step is not an endorsement of the bill written. I continue to believe any extension should be targeted, fiscally responsible, and include income eligibility limits and safeguards against fraud, similar to the bipartisan discussions underway in the Senate,” he said in a statement after singing onto the petition. “But when leadership blocks action entirely, Congress has a responsibility to act. My priority is ensuring Hudson Valley families aren't caught in the gridlock.” Senate Republican Leader John Thune shrugged when asked Wednesday if the Senate would take up such a bill if it passed the House. This story has been updated with additional details. CNN's Arlette Saenz and Ted Barrett contributed to this report.

Britain announced that it will rejoin the European Union's Erasmus student exchange program in 2027, six years after it ditched the scheme during fractious Brexit negotiations. The government said rejoining the scheme was a “huge win” for young Britons, and will ensure that “everyone, from every background, has the opportunity to study and train abroad.” Erasmus allows students to spend a year at foreign universities while paying the same fees as their domestic peers. The agreement will also allow Prime Minister Keir Starmer to show the British public that his push to improve relations with the EU is beginning to bear fruit. But this fruit has come at a price. The costly reintroduction of a pre-Brexit perk could raise uncomfortable questions about how and whether Britain is benefiting from its decision to leave the EU, which was taken in 2016 and implemented in 2020. Talk of Brexit remains something of a taboo in British politics – at least on the right – but recent polls show that public opinion towards the EU is softening, with only a fraction of Britons able to point to any benefits from leaving the bloc. The groundwork for Wednesday's announcement was laid during a summit between British and EU leaders in May, in which both sides agreed to “deepen our people-to-people ties, particularly for the younger generation.” Since coming to power last year, Starmer has stressed the need for Britain to forge closer ties with the EU, following years of antagonism during the Brexit negotiations. The Erasmus program was canceled in 2020 by Boris Johnson, then the Conservative prime minister, who claimed it did not offer value for money. But Chatham House, a London-based think tank, wrote in a 2021 report that: “Far from acting as a drain on the economy, Erasmus has facilitated the movement of well-funded students into the UK for limited periods, during which they have provided a lucrative customer base for the higher education, services and hospitality sectors.” It estimated that Britain made a net profit of £243 million ($324 million) per year from its participation in Erasmus. As well as financial benefits, a European Commission report in 2019 found that more than 1 million “Erasmus babies” – children whose parents met while one or both was on an Erasmus exchange program – have been born since the program started in the 1980s. “Many of these people are going to go on and become leaders of the public and private sector – or leaders of their countries – and that's a good thing. Nick Thomas-Symonds, Britain's minister for EU relations, said Wednesday's agreement is “about more than just travel: it's about future skills, academic success, and giving the next generation access to the best possible opportunities.”

While NIH director Jay Bhattacharya focuses on podcasting, his second in command is dramatically remaking the agency. Updated at 12:29 p.m. on December 17, 2025 When Donald Trump nominated Jay Bhattacharya to be the director of the National Institutes of Health, a shake-up seemed inevitable. Typically, the agency—a $48 billion grant-making institution and the world's largest public funder of biomedical research—has been led by a medical researcher with extensive administrative experience. Bhattacharya was a health economist without specialized training in infectious disease, who'd come to prominence for his heterodox views on COVID policies and who has criticized the NIH for stifling dissent. But inside the agency, officials describe Bhattacharya as a largely ineffectual figurehead, often absent from leadership meetings, unresponsive to colleagues, and fixated more on cultivating his media image than on engaging with the turmoil at his own agency. “We don't really hear from or about Jay very much,” one official told me. Many officials call Bhattacharya “Podcast Jay” because of the amount of time that he has spent in his office recording himself talking. “Bhattacharya is too busy podcasting to do anything,” one official told me. This time last year, Memoli was a relatively low-ranking flu researcher at the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). But “there's been no change since Jay got put in,” one NIH official told me. This account did “not reflect Dr. Bhattacharya's leadership approach or the way decisions are made at NIH,” Andrew Nixon, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, said in an email. In recent months, NIH officials have come to see him as so disengaged that they hardly worry about his impact. Memoli, by contrast, knows just enough about the agency—and, in particular, its approach to infectious disease—to help destroy it. But officials quickly deduced what about Memoli might have appealed to the administration: In 2021, he described COVID-vaccine mandates as “extraordinarily problematic” in an email to Anthony Fauci, then the director of NIAID, whom the Trump administration has repeatedly tried to discredit. Then, last year, when asked to submit a routine statement about diversity, equity, and inclusion, Memoli sent in one that called the term DEI “offensive and demeaning.” By September, the NIH, under Bhattacharya's leadership, had done away with DEI statements for its scientists, describing them as “loyalty oaths” that Memoli had “courageously stood against.” In his two months as acting director, Memoli enacted the Trump administration's agenda with aplomb, pushing through the mass cancellation of grants focused on topics such as DEI, transgender health, and COVID-19; multiple NIH leaders were ousted while he was acting director, including Jeanne Marrazzo, who served as the director of NIAID until early April. That same month, while Memoli was still acting director, he began to call Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s attention to the flu-vaccine research he'd done with his mentor, Jeffery Taubenberger, another NIAID scientist. By early May—after Memoli had been installed as Bhattacharya's deputy, and Taubenberger as the acting director of NIAID—HHS had redirected about half a billion dollars, once set aside to develop new COVID-19 vaccines and drugs, to their vaccine work. (Outside researchers criticized the grant as an unjustifiably enormous sum; in an email to me in May, Memoli insisted that the grant would support “more than one project,” but did not answer follow-up questions about how much of that sum would furnish his research specifically.) Part of a deputy's job is to take some load off the director. But under normal circumstances, people “wouldn't really notice who the deputy director is,” one official told me; the director is expected to set policy and lead. Although Bhattacharya has continued to reiterate his own goals for the NIH—including advancing more innovative research—his recent visions for the agency have largely followed administration talking points such as diverting resources toward chronic disease and clamping down on “dangerous” virological research. Yet the director seems out of touch with the reality of that agenda: In his public appearances, internal meetings, and on social media, Bhattacharya has delivered conflicting and sometimes erroneous accounts of the NIH's grant-making policies. Both publicly and internally, he has fixated more on defending himself against criticism he received for his COVID-policy views from 2020 than on the NIH's current state of affairs, several officials said. Bhattacharya, in his own way, still seems to be serving the administration by championing its talking points. To officials at the agency, his actions look like those of a leader who has been given broad discretion to shrink down the agency's infectious-disease work—an area where he may have a few personal grievances. “People are afraid of him,” one official said, pausing. Memoli's history at the NIH appears to have given him a particular zeal for dismantling it. In his two decades at the agency, Memoli has developed a reputation as a self-aggrandizing co-worker, eager to champion himself and dismissive of people he hasn't felt he could benefit professionally from, three officials who worked with him prior to 2025 told me. Memoli, meanwhile, complained that “he wasn't being given enough,” one of them said. Some of his scientific work was solid, but peers inside and outside the agency criticized some as unremarkable, leaving Memoli with a chip on his shoulder, the two officials said. Since January, multiple officials who denounced the administration's stance on infectious diseases and vaccines have had Memoli brush aside their concerns in meetings, then been ousted from their roles, three officials told me. Given the Trump administration's desire to pare down infectious-disease research, NIAID and prominent officials such as Marrazzo, who succeeded Fauci as director, were always clear targets for cuts. But in some cases, three officials told me, Memoli appears to have pushed lesser-known officials out of their roles after more personal clashes, including Sarah Read, who was NIAID's principal deputy director and who repeatedly questioned the circumstances of Memoli and Taubenberger's sizable vaccine grant. Days later, he gave Dieffenbach a scoring of one out of five on a performance review—potential grounds for termination—before human-resources personnel forced him to revise that rating, because he lacked evidence for them, two officials told me. Memoli has also argued that funding for HIV-vaccine research—which Dieffenbach oversaw—is wasteful and should be cut. At least some of that push has come from Bhattacharya, who has publicly advocated (including on his own The Director's Desk podcast) for reallocating HIV funds on the grounds that established interventions could resolve the AIDS crisis on their own. But whereas Bhattacharya has waffled when asked how such an investment would affect other research, two officials told me, Memoli has insisted in internal meetings that it should come at the expense of research into HIV vaccines, which is widely considered to be essential to ending the HIV pandemic. Despite being a vaccine researcher himself, he's “gleefully making these cuts,” one official told me. But the NIH officials I spoke with, and one scientist who knew Bhattacharya prior to his appointment at the agency, doubted that his distance was so calculated. This story was updated to include a comment from the Department of Health and Human Services.

President Donald Trump amplified a social media post on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday, calling for the arrest of former FBI Director Christopher Wray and former Attorney General Merrick Garland. Wray & Garland,” Truth Social account @Jay_Anthony45 posted on Tuesday night. The comment was in response to an earlier Trump post about the August 2022 FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago. That was the FBI's CRIMINAL RAID on Mar-a-Lago. This can never be allowed to happen again!!! ​Trump's social media post came hours after Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) released newly declassified emails showing that FBI agents did not believe they had the legal authority to raid Mar-a-Lago in August 2022 but did so anyway after being pressured to do so by Biden Justice Department officials. “Received shocking new docs today from DOJ & FBI showing FBI DID NOT BELIEVE IT HAD PROBABLE CAUSE to raid Pres Trump's Mar-a-Lago home but Biden DOJ pushed for it anyway,” Grassley said in a post on X. “Based on the records Mar-a-Lago raid was a miscarriage of justice.” Received shocking new docs 2day from DOJ & FBI showing FBI DID NOT BELIEVE IT HAD PROBABLE CAUSE to raid Pres Trump's Mar-a-Lago home but Biden DOJ pushed for it anyway Based on the records Mar-a-Lago raid was a miscarriage of justice Read for urself: https://t.co/qbJNT0tcRE pic.twitter.com/ljWdjndhHE As the Washington Examiner previously reported, FBI agents expressed doubt over concerns that the “evidentiary basis for a warrant was thin.” Those concerns were ignored, and the DOJ proceeded to obtain “a wide-ranging warrant covering the then-former president's residence, office, and storage areas at the Palm Beach, Florida, property.”

A Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor was shot and killed inside his suburban Boston home. He was mourned by the university, described as an “imaginative scholar, gifted administrator, and enthusiastic mentor” by MIT President Sally Kornbluth in a statement. It's entirely natural to feel the need for comfort and support,” Kornbluth continued. Dozens gathered outside Loureiro's home for a candlelight vigil. Ambassador to Portugal, John Arrigo, also extended his condolences. “I extend my deepest condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Nuno Loureiro, who led MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center. Loureiro had emigrated from Portugal and joined MIT in 2016. However, a law enforcement source with knowledge of both investigations told ABC News there was no evidence to suggest a connection between the two. He was widely mourned by his fellow faculty, who inundated him with praise. “Nuno was not only a brilliant scientist, he was a brilliant person,” Dennis Whyte, the Hitachi America Professor of Engineering, who previously served as the head of the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering and director of the Plasma Science and Fusion Center, told MIT News. “He shone a bright light as a mentor, friend, teacher, colleague and leader, and was universally admired for his articulate, compassionate manner. Several mourned his death as a major blow to scientific advancement in the field of plasma physics. His recent work on quantum computing algorithms for plasma physics simulations was a particularly exciting new scientific direction,” Deepto Chakrabarty, the William A. M. Burden Professor in Astrophysics and head of the Department of Physics, told the outlet.