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The government shutdown costs taxpayers $400 million every day to pay federal employees who are not actively working, totaling $1.2 billion as of Friday, Congressional Budget Office (CBO) data published by the office of Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, estimates. “Schumer’s Shutdown Shenanigans mean taxpayers will be on the hook for another $400 million today to pay 750,000 non-essential bureaucrats NOT to work,” Ernst said in a comment to Fox News Digital Friday.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Republicans are winning the messaging war over the ongoing government shutdown and urged his conference to keep the heat on congressional Democrats during a private call with lawmakers on Saturday.The call came on the fourth day of the shutdown, a day after Senate Democrats again rejected a GOP-led plan to keep federal agencies funded through Nov. 21.

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein on Friday signed “Iryna’s Law,” which increases checks on criminals getting out on bail and prohibits cashless bail for some violent crimes and most repeat offenders following the stabbing death of a Ukrainian refugee on a Charlotte light-rail train in August.

Democrats want to remove a provision of Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA) before reopening the government, but Republicans argue the line item they want removed is allowing California to use a “loophole” to draw down funds from the federal government to help pay for the state’s ballooning cost of healthcare for illegal immigrants.

President Donald Trump said Friday that anyone who burns the American flag “will be immediately arrested” and face a one-year prison term, citing his Aug. 25 executive order on flag desecration.”To ICE, Border Patrol, Law Enforcement, and all U.S. Military: As per my August 25, 2025 Executive Order, please be advised that, from this point forward, anybody burning the American Flag will be subject to one year in prison,” Trump posted on Truth Social Friday evening.

With Washington, D.C., gridlocked over the government shutdown, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy took his case to social media Friday, sharing a viral meme video that uses the “f— around and find out (FAFO)” graph to take aim at Democrats holding out for healthcare provisions in the spending deal.

FIRST ON FOX: A new seven-figure ad in Virginia’s governor’s race is drawing comparisons to the infamous Willie Horton spot of 1988 amid record early voting in the Old Dominion State.The ad, produced by the American Principles Project, attacks Democrat Abigail Spanberger over transgender policies and warns of the dangers of biological men in women’s spaces.

Rudy Giuliani’s aides and allies have thrown themselves behind Andrew Cuomo instead of Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa in the race for New York mayor, according to reports.Joe Lhota, Giuliani’s former deputy mayor and the GOP’s 2013 mayoral candidate, confirmed to the New York Post Thursday he is firmly in Cuomo’s camp.Lhota, who later served as Cuomo’s MTA chairman and has since changed his party affiliation to Democrat, framed the choice bluntly.

Federal immigration officials say their Portland, Oregon, facility has come under nightly attack, with little help from local police because of political directives from city leaders.In an exclusive interview with Fox News’ Bill Melugin, Cammila Wamsley, director of Portland’s ICE office, said the facility has faced violence for more than 100 consecutive nights, with Portland police largely absent under guidance from the mayor and city council.

Despite pledging to spend $20 million to back younger, more progressive candidates, a PAC led by Democratic activist David Hogg has spent millions of dollars on political consultants, ads and even fitness classes.The PAC, Leaders We Deserve, spent just $455,000 to back three candidates in tough Democratic primary races over the first eight months of 2025, Axios reported.That figure stands in contrast to the roughly $2.5 million spent on consultants, $1.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., accused the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of endangering women’s health, saying the agency approved another chemical abortion drug without the thorough safety review it had promised.Hawley argued the move shows both regulatory failure and the influence of a company that refuses to define “woman” in its materials.”This is shocking.

War Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered a blunt message to military leaders from around the globe this week: Get fit, get on board with the Trump agenda or get out.It marked the first time generals from around the world had been summoned to convene with the secretary, and many had expected closed-door announcements on trimming the general officer corps, drawing down forces in the Middle East and Europe or cutting civilian and contractor roles.

Rejecting reports of a split with the brass, the Department of War says the National Defense Strategy was “seamlessly coordinated” with senior civilian and uniform leaders — and that “any narrative to the contrary is false.”On Monday, The Washington Post reported that multiple senior officers had raised concerns about the forthcoming strategy, pointing to a divide between political leadership.

New Jersey gubernatorial hopeful Mikie Sherrill has become one of the Garden State’s richest lawmakers in Congress six years after getting elected to Washington — buoyed by a portfolio of luxe properties, millions in stock and a banker husband who earns more than $2 million per year.

EXCLUSIVE: U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., vowed to stand fearlessly with young conservatives in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination — a tragedy that sparked national outrage and led to three Clemson professors being fired after allegedly celebrating his death.

EXCLUSIVE: Recent Russian incursions into NATO airspace have sharpened divisions inside the alliance over how to respond, exposing both the strength and the limits of collective defense.Secretary General Mark Rutte clashed with Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal last week after Estonia invoked NATO’s Article 4 clause, which triggers consultations when a member feels its security is threatened.

EXCLUSIVE: Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is accusing Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., of refusing to vote to end the government shutdown to kowtow to his left-wing base.Johnson told Fox News Digital in a sit-down interview that Democrats’ refusal to budge on their current position came up in an hour-long call with President Donald Trump Wednesday afternoon.

The federal government is officially entering a partial shutdown on Wednesday after the midnight funding deadline passed with Democrats and Republicans failing to agree on a funding bill.An earlier attempt by Senate Republicans to pass a short-term extension of fiscal year (FY) 2025 government funding levels, called a continuing resolution (CR), was sunk by Democrats who were furious about being sidelined in shutdown negotiations.The bill, which would have given Congress until Nov.

President Donald Trump shared photos on Truth Social on Tuesday showing red “Trump 2028” hats strategically displayed on the Resolute Desk during an Oval Office meeting with Democrat leaders Monday in hopes of fending off a government shutdown.Trump’s post came late Tuesday, hours before Washington grappled with its first shutdown since 2018-19.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) accused congressional Democrats on Tuesday of forcing a government shutdown, warning that the “Radical Left” is putting vulnerable families at risk while pledging to keep critical housing services operating.”The Far Left is barreling our country toward a shutdown, which will hurt all Americans,” a HUD spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., railed against Senate Democrats’ move to block the GOP’s short-term funding extension as Congress gears up for a government shutdown.Democratic lawmakers led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., voted to block Republicans’ continuing resolution (CR) for a second time just hours ahead of the deadline to fund the government.

A yelling match between Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and a former Biden administration official broke out in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing over the need for “two spirit” safe spaces to combat gun violence.Hawley challenged Gregory Jackson Jr.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry says he has formally requested federal assistance (RFA) to activate up to 1,000 Louisiana National Guard personnel under Title 32.Landry announced his intentions during an appearance on “Hannity” Monday evening, stating his request for federal assistance had been submitted to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

The Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Minnesota over its sanctuary policies that the Trump administration says interfere with the federal government’s enforcement efforts on illegal immigration. The complaint, filed Monday, names the State of Minnesota, Hennepin County, Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna S. Witt, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, and the Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, as defendants.

FIRST ON FOX: An illegal alien who left an obscenity-laden bomb threat to a member of Congress was arrested by ICE over the weekend, according to the Department of Homeland Security.In a statement sent to Fox News Digital, the DHS said that Rigoberto Albizar-Martinez, a 58-year-old Cuban illegal living in Tampa, was arrested by ICE over the weekend as part of its efforts to crack down on the “worst of the worst” criminal illegal aliens.

After an illegal alien, Ian Andre Roberts, the superintendent of the Des Moines Public Schools in Iowa, was arrested by ICE, Republicans blew the whistle on the fact that he was a registered active Democrat voter in the state of Maryland.According to the official website for the Maryland State Board of Elections, Roberts, who overstayed a student visa from 1999, has an active voter status and is registered as a Democrat in Maryland.

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Score another victory for President Donald Trump in the high-stakes political battle between Republicans and Democrats over congressional redistricting.GOP Gov. Mike Kehoe of Missouri on Sunday signed into law a new congressional map, Missouri First, that is likely to hand Republicans an additional seat in the U.S. House of Representatives ahead of next year’s midterms elections.