Eastern European countries are eyeing an exit of the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel landmines so they can place lethal underground bombs along their border to prevent Russia from invading, Fox News Digital has learned. 

Poland is expected to withdraw from the treaty, together with Lithuania and Estonia, multiple eastern European officials predicted. Latvia and Finland are considering the idea as well. 

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk asked the Ministry of Defense to initiate withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention "and possibly the Dublin Convention," referring to both the treaty governing anti-personnel landmines and the use of cluster munitions. 

Pressure among the Baltic States, together with Poland and Finland, has swelled in recent months to stop adhering to the Canada-brokered treaty as a way to bolster defenses at a time when the U.S. has said it will not offer Ukraine security guarantees to prevent Russian President Vladimir Putin from once again invading and pushing west.

RUSSIA HITS ZELENSKYY'S HOMETOWN AS UKRAINE SIGNALS IT'S READY FOR PEACE

Lithuania pulled out of the treaty banning the use of cluster munitions recently, making it the first European Union nation to pull out of an international arms treaty. It's now expected to pull out of Ottawa as well.

Russia and Ukraine both use cluster munitions and anti-personnel landmines in the current war. 

Lithuanian National Security Committee Chairman Giedrimas Jeglinskas said that the "threat assessment has changed dramatically" since his nation joined the convention in 2003. Jeglinskas, who has led the charge to leave the treaty in Lithuania, said the nation had wanted to withdraw from the treaty for a long time, given it shares a border with Russian vassal state Belarus, but needed the agreement from other border nations, so Russia could not just "go around" Belarus and through Poland or Latvia. 

"We hold that Latvians and Estonians will move in the same direction," he said. 

Canada urged Eastern European states to remain in the treaty, but laid blame on Russia for their moves to withdraw. 

"Support for the convention and universal adherence remain a priority for Canada," the Global Affairs office told Fox News Digital. 

"These debates are taking place as a result of Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine. Russia's actions in the region are forcing states to act out of necessity, not by choice," the office said. "While we understand the need to consider all options … such measures need to be balanced with the long-term impacts, including impacts on civilians."

RUSSIA PRESENTS US WITH DEMANDS THAT NEED TO BE MET BEFORE ENDING UKRAINE WAR: REPORT

Finland, meanwhile, has asked for "a couple weeks more" to come to its own decision, according to the chairman. 

Estonia’s defense ministry said that its "military assessment has not changed" on the treaty. "At the same time, this is a wider political question, on which a decision has not been made in Estonia," according to a defense ministry official.  

Latvia, meanwhile, has to consider the 1,700 Canadian troops stationed within its borders as part of the withdrawal. 

Finland began a report to assess the need and deterrent effect of anti-personnel land mines within its borders, which will be finalized in the spring and the Ministry of Defense will then make a recommendation to parliament on whether to leave, according to Finnish press counselor Riikka Hietajärvi.

Two other European officials said behind the scenes Finnish, Estonian and Latvian officials expressed an openness to the idea of leaving the treaty. 

EUROPE STEPS UP TO FUND ITS OWN DEFENSE, PROVIDE SECURITY FOR UKRAINE AFTER TRUMP THREATS

For Lithuania to withdraw, the president needs to notify his defense council and then propose the withdrawal to parliament, where it needs a 60% vote.

Jeglinskas said he expects such a vote would pass without widespread dissent. "There might be some lone voices expressing their concern, but it should pass without issue." 

As of now, 164 nations are party to the agreement. No EU country has ever left the Ottawa Treaty.

The United Nations holds that the "number of casualties has sharply declined" since the agreement and 40 million stockpiled mines have been destroyed. 

Tusk acknowledged that this is "not a pleasant" decision but insisted that Poland must consider its current security needs. "Anything that can strengthen Poland’s defense will be implemented. We will use all available options," he stated.

The U.S. is not party to the treaty and in November the Biden administration began supplying Ukraine with anti-personnel mines. 

Critics of landmines argue that they are indiscriminate and can instantly kill and maim civilians who step into the wrong area. 

"No matter what decision we make – and I think this decision is very, very clearly going towards withdrawal – it’s still a difficult decision," said Jeglinskas. "Just the situation … it just does not allow us the privilege to remain part of this coalition on anti-personnel mines, and it’s with a heavy heart, I would say that, that's unfortunate, but that's just the military reality." 

The Russian military has the supreme edge against any of its border states on their own, necessitating lethal deterrence like land mines, according to Hudson defense analyst Can Kasapoğlu.

"The Russian military has the upper hand over the Polish armed forces, and it has a gigantic, gigantic upper hand over the entire Baltic nations. So for these nations to keep being a part of the Ottawa treaty and and ditching the landmines, for the sake of some international image, it doesn't make sense." 

The anti-personnel mines would need to be combined with anti-tank mines and artillery and drones stationed along the border to effectively deter an enemy. "It forms a kill box that the Russians can't evade." 

He said that such mines have advanced to self-destruct after a set period of time so that the fallout does not last for generations like in wars past. 

The new movement comes as Europe has moved at a rapid-fire pace to account to take charge of its own defense since President Donald Trump took office and brought along his critiques of Europe and the NATO alliance. 

The European Union last week proposed an $841 billion plan to "rearm Europe," and defense leaders met in Paris this week to discuss how to offer Ukraine security guarantees after the war. 

Ukraine has agreed to the U.S.-brokered terms of a 30-day ceasefire, but Russia has said it is still reviewing the details. Overnight, Russia struck the Black Sea port of Odesa with missiles, killing four and damaging a grain vessel. 

FIRST ON FOX: China's dominance over the U.S. in terms of shipbuilding is sending alarms through Capitol Hill, forthcoming legislation suggests.

A bipartisan group of military veterans now serving in the House of Representatives – Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green, R-Tenn., Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., and Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C. – are rolling out a bill aimed at revitalizing the flailing U.S. commercial ship sector.

"This is no drill. A fundamental pillar of America's security, our naval supremacy, is under threat from Communist China," Green told Fox News Digital. 

TRUMP TOUTS $5 MILLION ‘GOLD CARD’ AS NEW PATH TO CITIZENSHIP 

Green said China's Navy was now the largest in the world, surpassing the U.S. with 350 estimated seafaring vessels, compared to 280.

"China has used its fleet to erode freedom of navigation, harass civilian ships, and intimidate our allies," he said. "To maintain our strategic edge, we must invest ‘full speed ahead’ in our maritime industrial base – encompassing commercial shipbuilders, military shipyards, and every link in the supply chain."

The bill would establish a National Commission on the Maritime Industrial Base, and mandate it to launch a probe into the status of American maritime industries, both military and commercial. 

The goal would be to develop policy and legislative recommendations to revitalize U.S. shipyards.

TRUMP DECLARES 'AMERICA IS BACK' IN SPEECH BEFORE CONGRESS

Kiggans said shipbuilding was the "backbone" of her coastal Virginia district's economy in a statement to Fox News Digital.

"However, due to workforce and supply chain issues, our maritime industrial base is struggling to keep pace with growing global threats. This Commission is a critical step toward identifying the challenges facing our shipyards and strengthening our ability to build and sustain a world-class fleet," she said.

Davis said, "We must collaborate to ensure that both the public and private sectors work together to find solutions that will strengthen our maritime industrial base. Shipbuilding is vital for our national security."

U.S. competition with China has remained among the most bipartisan issues in Congress, even with the current hyper-partisan environment.

China has nearly 47% of the global market in shipbuilding, according to the U.S. Naval Institute.

South Korea and Japan are second and third, with roughly 29% and 17% of the market, respectively. The U.S. has 0.13% of the market.

A single Chinese shipbuilder managed more output by tonnage in 2024 alone than the U.S. has in its entirety since World War II, according to a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, which said China's dominance in the sector was a national security risk.

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) voted Thursday morning to advance President Donald Trump's pick to head the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya. 

The vote was strictly along party lines, 12 votes in favor and 11 against, but with the committee having one extra Republican member in the majority, Bhattacharya sailed to the finish line with only GOP support. Bhattacharya now heads to the full Senate for an impending confirmation vote that will be the last hurdle before he becomes the next Director of the NIH.   

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., expressed concern Thursday over Bhattacharya's confirmation, saying he feared Bhattacharya would not do enough to help lower the cost of prescription drugs. Sanders and other Democrats have also expressed concern over how Bhattacharya will approach medical research at the NIH, especially considering Trump just imposed a cap on facilities and administration costs associated with NIH research grants. 

TRUMP NIH APPOINTEE DEFENDS PRESIDENT'S RESEARCH FUNDING CUTS, LAYS OUT NEW VISION FOR FUTURE    

A physician, Stanford professor of medicine and senior fellow at the university's Institute for Economic Policy Research, Bhattacharya was a leading voice during the COVID-19 pandemic against lockdown measures and vaccine mandates. 

Bhattacharya was probed by the Senate HELP Committee roughly a week ago over various issues related to his potential role as NIH director; however, much of the hearing he was forced to defend the president's decision to put a 15% cap on indirect research costs dispersed by the NIH.

Bhattacharya would not explicitly say he disagreed with the cuts, or that, if confirmed, he would step in to stop them. Rather, he said he would "follow the law," while also investigating the impact of the cuts and ensuring every NIH researcher doing work that advances the health outcomes of Americans has the resources necessary.

WHITE HOUSE PULLS NOMINATION OF DAVID WELDON AS CDC DIRECTOR

In addition to addressing questions about the Trump cuts, Bhattacharya also laid out what he called a new, decentralized vision for future research at NIH that he said will be aimed at embracing dissenting ideas and transparency, while focusing on research topics that have the best chance at directly benefiting health outcomes of Americans. Bhattacharya added that he wants to rid the agency's research portfolio of other "frivolous" efforts that he says do little to directly benefit health outcomes.

"I think fundamentally what matters is: Do scientists have an idea that advances the scientific field they're in?" Bhattacharya said last week during his confirmation testimony. "Do they have an idea that ends up addressing the health needs of Americans?"

Bhattacharya was notably a co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, which was a document published in October 2020 by a group of scientists advocating for an alternative approach to handling the COVID-19 pandemic. It argued largely against widespread lockdowns and promoted the efficacy of natural immunity to the virus for low-risk individuals, suggesting the vaccine may not be the best course of action for everyone.

Prior to his confirmation hearings, Bhattacharya, alongside several other scientists, including Trump's pick to head the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Marty Makary, launched a new research journal focused on spurring scientific discourse and combating "gatekeeping" in the medical research community. The journal, titled the Journal of the Academy of Public Health (JAPH), is implementing a novel approach aimed at spurring scientific discourse by publishing peer reviews of prominent studies from other journals that do not make their peer reviews publicly available. 

President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Dr. Marty Makary, passed a key committee vote 14-9 on Thursday morning, clearing the way for a full Senate vote on his nomination. 

If confirmed before the full Senate, Makary will work alongside the nominee for National Institute of Health (NIH) Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to achieve Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Make America Healthy Again agenda. 

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) voted in favor of Makary's confirmation following his committee hearing one week ago today. 

"We now have a generational opportunity in American healthcare. President Trump and Secretary Kennedy's focus on healthy foods has galvanized a grassroots movement in America. Childhood obesity is not a willpower problem, and the rise of early-onset Alzheimer's is not a genetic cause. We should be, and we will, be addressing food as it impacts our health," Makary said last week. 

TRUMP FDA NOMINEE TURNS VACCINE QUESTION ON DEM, RECALLING CONTROVERSIAL BIDEN DECISION

"Thanks to the courage of President Trump and Secretary Kennedy, we now have a generational opportunity to usher in radical transparency to facilitate more cures, meaningful treatments and diagnostics at the FDA to help people take care of their own health," Makary added.

TRUMP PICKS DR. MARTY MAKARY AS FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION COMMISSIONER

Makary was grilled by Democrats last week on vaccines, abortion, chronic illness and food safety. When repeatedly asked by Democratic senators on the committee whether he would revoke the approval process for Mifepristone, Makary said any decision on the abortion pill will come down to science. 

"I have no preconceived plans on Mifepristone policy except to take a solid, hard look at the data and to meet with the professional career scientists who have reviewed the data at the FDA, and to build an expert coalition to review the ongoing data," he said. 

Makary, who advocated for natural immunity during the COVID-19 pandemic, flipped a question about vaccine processes around on Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., during his confirmation hearing, telling her to ask former President Joe Biden why he skipped a key step when it came to the COVID-19 booster. 

"So, if you are confirmed, will you commit to immediately reschedule that FDA Vaccine Advisory Committee meeting to get the expert views?" Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., asked Trump's FDA pick. 

"I would re-evaluate which topics deserve a convening of the advisory committee members on [Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee] and which may not require a convening," Makary replied, adding that he was not a part of the decision. 

When asked again by Murray, he said: "Well, you can ask the Biden administration that chose not to convene the committee meeting for the COVID vaccine booster."

He vowed during his committee hearing to lead his own Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) investigations if confirmed. DOGE has terminated the employment of thousands of probationary HHS employees, including those at the FDA, since Trump took office. 

"If confirmed, I will do my own independent assessment on personnel. I welcome input on efficiencies at the agency. At the same time, I want to make sure that the scientists and food inspectors and staff, central to the core mission of the agency, have all the resources they need to do their job well," Makary said last week. 

Makary has long been a critic of the FDA. He penned an opinion piece in 2021 that called for "fresh leadership at the FDA to change the culture at the agency and promote scientific advancement, not hinder it."

Trump nominated Johns Hopkins School of Medicine professor, pancreatic surgeon and former Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marty Makary for FDA commissioner in November. 

"I am very pleased to nominate Marty Makary MD, MPH, FACS, for FDA Commissioner," Trump said in a statement. "FDA has lost the trust of Americans, and has lost sight of its primary goal as a regulator. The Agency needs Dr. Marty Makary, a Highly Respected Johns Hopkins Surgical Oncologist and Health Policy Expert, to course-correct and refocus the Agency." 

Trump said that Makary will "work under the leadership of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to, among other things, properly evaluate harmful chemicals poisoning our Nation’s food supply and drugs and biologics being given to our Nation’s youth, so that we can finally address the Childhood Chronic Disease Epidemic."

SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — Veterans who have volunteered to help secure the border in Southern California say there has been an incredible difference in what they have seen since President Donald Trump took office in January.

"There has been such an amazing difference between what was going on during the Biden administration versus what's going on under the Trump administration" said Kate Monroe, a Marine Corps veteran who became the founder of Border Vets, a group of U.S. military veterans who have given their own time and money to patch up holes in the border barrier in Southern California.

The comments come as Trump has continued his push to secure the southern border, seeking to make good on a promise that became a cornerstone of his third campaign for president.

The data seemingly indicates Trump has made good on that campaign promise, with the number of southern border encounters last month hitting lows not seen in about a quarter-century last month, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data that was first reported by Axios.

CALIF POLITICIAN PATCHES GAPING BORDER HOLE WITH 400 FEET OF RAZOR WIRE USING HER OWN CASH

CBP agents apprehended roughly 8,300 people attempting to illegally cross the border in February, the data showed, the lowest monthly total recorded since fiscal 2000. The data also showed that CBP encounters with illegal migrants attempting to cross the border dropped sharply from this time last year, with the agency recording just shy of 30,000 encounters last month, a drop from 130,000 in February 2023 and 2024.

Members of the Border Vets have noticed the difference, telling Fox News Digital that they have observed a drastic decrease in people crossing the border in this once-busy sector.

"Things are getting better down at the border," one Marine veteran who volunteers for Border Vets told Fox News Digital.

The area of border these veterans patrol is largely near Jacumba Hot Springs, California, a secluded area about 70 miles east of San Diego. One such area of Jacumba Hot Springs that was noticeably quiet on Tuesday was the previously infamous "San Judas Break," a hole in the border barrier that had seen more than 3,000 migrants per week spill through as recently as last year.

Monroe, who at that time last year was the Republican candidate for California's 49th Congressional District, decided to take it upon herself to patch the border hole, enlisting a group of veterans to put up a makeshift barrier of razor wire that effectively closed off the small gap.

TRUMP GOES TOE-TO-TOE WITH SANCTUARY CITIES OVER DEPORTATION AS ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN SET TO BEGIN

"I felt the anger and frustrations of millions of fellow Americans watching in horror as thousands of people poured through," Monroe told Fox News Digital last February, noting that the gap her organization helped patch once allowed "terrorists, drugs, and human trafficking to infiltrate while local and national city economies bear the burden of supporting these migrants."

Monroe's volunteer act quickly went viral and spawned the creation of Border Vets, which has since gone on to plug multiple holes in Southern California's barrier between the U.S. and Mexico.

Border agents have largely welcomed the help of the volunteer group, according to one agent who anonymously spoke with Fox News Digital on Tuesday.

Both CBP agents and Border Vets members told Fox News Digital that they have personally witnessed a sharp decrease in attempted crossings since Trump took office, leaving a once-busy sector suddenly quiet after the record crossings of the few years prior.

"There used to be hundreds of people crossing every time I came, [now] not a one," Monroe said. "The difference has been absolutely amazing. I feel like our national security is getting less and less at risk by the day."

At another area of the Jacumba Hot Springs border with Mexico, a makeshift shelter set up by non-governmental organizations that once housed migrants daily sat empty on Tuesday, a sign of the quickly changing situation at the border.

Nevertheless, members of the Border Vets say they are remaining vigilant, continuing to check in on known soft spots along the border in an attempt to keep the flow of illegal crossings at its current lows.

"Secure the border, plain and simple," a Navy veteran member of Border Vets explained when asked by Fox News Digital what motivated him to come out to the border on Tuesday. "This is the United States of America, and an open border policy that we've dealt with for the last four years has been nothing but a detriment to the country."

Pete Buttigieg is expected to rule out a run for an open Democrat-held Senate seat in his adopted home state of Michigan, according to two sources familiar with his plans.

And the likely move by the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, who served four years as Transportation secretary in the Biden administration, appears to clear the path for a potential 2028 White House bid by Buttigieg.

The news regarding Buttigieg was first reported earlier on Thursday by Politico.

BUTTIGIEG APPEARANCE ON THIS RADIO SHOW SPARKS MORE 2028 SPECULATION

Buttigieg had been eyeing a possible Senate run for months.

"I’ve been looking at it,"he said earlier this month as he pointed to the emerging race to succeed Sen. Gary Peters. The two-term Democrat announced in January that he won't seek re-election in 2026.

"I’m going to continue to work on the things that I care about," Buttigieg said as he appeared on CBS' "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert." "I have not decided what that means professionally, whether that means running for office soon or not. But I will make myself useful."

THESE ARE THE DEMOCRATS WHO MAY RUN FOR THE WHITE HOUSE IN 2028

In a sign of just how seriously he had been contemplating a Senate campaign in the pivotal Great Lakes battleground state, a source familiar confirmed to Fox News that Buttigieg recently met with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, the longtime leader of the chamber's Democrats.

The 43-year-old Buttigieg, a former naval intelligence officer who deployed to the war in Afghanistan and who served eight years as mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was a long-shot candidate when he launched his 2020 presidential campaign. 

But his campaign caught fire, and he narrowly edged Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont to win the Iowa caucuses before coming in a close second to Sanders in the New Hampshire presidential primary. But Buttigieg, along with the rest of the Democratic field, dropped out of the race and endorsed Biden as the then-former vice president won the South Carolina primary in a landslide, swept the Super Tuesday contests and eventually clinched the nomination before winning the White House.

But the millennial Democrat has maintained popularity within the Democratic Party as one of its younger stars.

DEMOCRAT GOVERNOR'S TRIP TO THIS KEY STATE SPARKING 2028 SPECULATION

Buttigieg in recent months has highlighted that he aims to stay involved. In a radio interview in December near the end of his tenure as transportation secretary, he said, "I will find ways to make myself useful, and maybe that's running for office, and maybe that's not. I'll take the next few weeks and months to work through that."

That interview, on a news-talk program in New Hampshire – the state that has held the first-in-the-nation presidential primary for over a century – sparked some 2028 Buttigieg buzz.

While Buttigieg enjoys strong name recognition and is a proven fundraiser, he could have faced carpetbagger attacks if he had run for Senate in Michigan.

TOP POLITICAL HANDICAPPER REVEALS DEMOCRATS CHANCES OF WINNING BACK THE SENATE MAJORITY

After his 2020 presidential campaign, Buttigieg and his spouse, Chasten, moved from red-state Indiana to neighboring Michigan, and have a home in Traverse City.

Buttigieg wasn't the only Democrat taking a hard look to succeed Peters.

State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, the majority whip in Lansing, is likely to launch a Democratic campaign. McMorrow grabbed national attention in 2022 after delivering a floor speech in the Michigan Senate that was seen as a model for countering GOP attacks.

Among the other Democrats who've expressed interest in running are two-term Michigan Attorney General Dana Nesse and Congresswoman Haley Stevens.

Meanwhile, former Rep. Mike Rogers announced at the end of January that he was "strongly considering" a second straight Republican run for the Senate in Michigan.

ONLY ON FOX: SENATE GOP CAMPAIGN CHAIR REVEALS HOW MANY SEATS HE'S GUNNING FOR IN 2026

Fox News confirmed on Wednesday that Rogers is likely to announce his campaign in the coming weeks, and that he's hiring veteran Republican strategist and 2024 Trump's co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita as a senior advisor.

Rogers won the 2024 GOP Senate nomination in Michigan but narrowly lost to Rep. Elissa Slotkin, the Democrats' nominee, in last November's election in the race to succeed longtime Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who retired. Slotkin, who vastly outspent Rogers, edged him by roughly 19,000 votes, or a third of a percentage point.

Rogers is a former FBI special agent who later served as chair of the House Intelligence Committee during his tenure in Congress.

While Rogers was the first Republican to publicly make a move toward launching a 2026 Senate campaign in Michigan, GOP sources told Fox News last month that others who may consider running are Rep. John James – who's in his second term in the House and was the GOP Senate nominee in Michigan in 2018 and 2020 – and longtime Rep. Bill Huizenga.

The Michigan Senate race is considered a "Toss Up" by top nonpartisan political handicapper the Cook Political Report. 

The Republicans currently control the Senate 53-47, after flipping four seats from blue to red in last November's elections.

The party in power – clearly the Republicans right now – traditionally faces political headwinds in the midterm elections. Nevertheless, an early read of the 2026 map indicates the GOP may be able to go on offense in some key states.

Along with Michigan, Republicans will also be targeting battleground Georgia, where first-term Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff is considered vulnerable.

And in swing state New Hampshire, longtime Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen announced on Thursday that she won't seek re-election next year. 

The National Republican Senatorial Committee emphasized in a memo on Thursday that "the Granite State was already a great opportunity for Senate Republicans to expand the Majority, but yet another retirement vaults the seat into toss-up status, making it ripe for the taking in 2026."

The GOP is also eyeing blue-leaning Minnesota, where Democratic Sen. Tina Smith last month announced she wouldn't seek re-election in 2026.

But Republicans are also playing defense in the 2026 cycle.

Democrats plan to go on offense in blue-leaning Maine, where moderate GOP Sen. Susan Collins is up for re-election, as well as in battleground North Carolina, where Republican Sen. Thom Tillis is also up in 2026. 

And Democrats are looking at red-leaning Ohio, where Republican Lt. Gov. Jon Husted was appointed in January to succeed Vice President JD Vance in the Senate. Husted will run next year to finish out Vance's term.

The White House is pulling the nomination of Dave Weldon for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director, Fox News Digital has confirmed. Weldon was expected to have his confirmation hearing on Thursday.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee announced that it canceled its hearing in a statement on Thursday morning. However, it confirmed that lawmakers would still vote on the nominations of Dr. Jay Bhattacharya for National Institutes of Health (NIH) director and Dr. Marty Makary for Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

TRUMP FDA NOMINEE TURNS VACCINE QUESTION ON DEM, RECALLING CONTROVERSIAL BIDEN DECISION​

"It became clear that the votes weren't there in the Senate for him to get confirmed. This would have been a futile effort," a source familiar with the nomination told Fox News Digital. However, there is no official reason for pulling the nomination at this time.

WE WILL MAKE SURE ANYONE WHO WANTS A VACCINE CAN GET ONE, SAYS HHS SECRETARY

Weldon, a medical doctor and former Florida congressman, has made statements against vaccines in the past, which were expected to be brought up during his hearing. In a 2007 statement, Weldon said there were "legitimate questions" about potential links between vaccines and childhood neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism.

Additionally, during his time in Congress, he introduced legislation with former Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-Ny., that would have banned mercury from vaccines.

The question of vaccine skepticism came up repeatedly during now-HHS Secretary RFK Jr.’s confirmation hearing. Democrats on the Senate HELP Committee repeatedly brought up Kennedy’s claims linking vaccines to autism.

They also asked about his time serving as chairman and chief litigation counsel, for Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit organization that has advocated against vaccines and sued the federal government numerous times.

Fox News Channel’s Peter Doocy and Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

The Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) top lawyer, who was appointed to the position just this week, has resigned, according to a Thursday morning post on X.

"Hilary K. Perkins has resigned from her position as Chief Counsel of FDA, effectively immediately," the FDA's official X account posted.  

Perkins – a former assistant director under Biden's Department of Justice (DOJ) in the consumer protection agency – was selected on Tuesday by acting general Sean Keveney in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a "reorganization" effort by the department, according to an HHS news release.

FIRST STATE TO BAN FLUORIDE IN DRINKING WATER WILL HEED MAHA MOVEMENT'S CALL TO ACTION

She previously defended abortion pill access in a high-profile case under Biden's DOJ, and HHS officials were reportedly unhappy with the decision to appoint Perkins but were overruled by White House officials, according to a report from Axios this week.

"We’ve been able to recruit higher quality personnel to HHS than in any time in its history," HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., said in a statement Tuesday at the announcement of Perkins' assignment on Tuesday. "These are individuals who will return the agency to gold-standard science, evidence-based medicine, and recalibrate its trajectory toward public health rather than industry profiteering."

FEDERAL DIETARY GUIDELINES WILL SOON CHANGE FOR AMERICANS, HHS AND USDA ANNOUNCE

Fox News Digital has reached out to HHS and FDA for comment.

This is a breaking story. Check back for updates.

While on a visit to the New York state Capitol, President Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan warned migrant "sanctuary" jurisdictions to "get out of the way" or they will "get exactly what they don’t want, more ICE agents in your community."

New York state law restricts local and state law enforcement agencies from complying with ICE detainers or holding illegal immigrants solely based on their immigration status. Another policy, known as the "Green Light Law," allows illegal immigrants to obtain drivers' licenses valid in the state of New York. 

Surrounded by Republican state lawmakers in the state Capitol building, Homan renewed his promise to deport "the worst first" and decried non-cooperation policies such as New York’s, saying that they pose a threat to federal agents and communities.

He urged local and state law enforcement authorities to "let us in the jails" voluntarily but vowed that sanctuary policies would not stand in the way of the Trump administration’s deportation plans.

NEW YORK ASSEMBLYMAN TRIES TO CONFRONT TOM HOMAN OVER ARREST OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY ANTI-ISRAEL ACTIVIST

"This is an attack on immigration enforcement, that’s plain what it is," he said.

Homan said the result of not complying with immigration authorities would be more ICE agents in the community rather than less.

"You’re not going to stop us, New York state, you’ve got to change the sanctuary status. If you don’t, get out of the way, we’re going to do our job," he said. "We’ll double the man-force if we have to. Rather than one officer arresting a bad guy, now I have to send a whole team."

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

Homan also slammed New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat who has said she supports deporting criminal illegals but has criticized much of Trump’s recent immigration actions.

"She’s talking out of both sides of her mouth, saying, ‘I want criminal aliens to be deported,’ while she wants all the roadblocks [so that] it’s not happening," he said.  

TRUMP VOWS ANTI-ISRAEL ACTIVIST MAHMOUD KHALIL WAS 'FIRST ARREST OF MANY TO COME'

"Releasing a public safety threat back into the public is just stupid, it’s just common sense," he said. "You have forced us into the community because you have failed to let us in the jail."

Assemblyman Matt Slater, one of the New York Republicans present for Homan's visit, told Fox News Digital, "It is reassuring to know that we finally have partners on the federal level like President Trump and Director Homan who are prioritizing national security and public safety."

"Director Homan sent a clear message that New York's dangerous sanctuary policies that protect criminal illegal immigrants and the Green Light Law will no longer be acceptable," he said. 

Hochul did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment by the time of publication.

There is no clear path right now to avoid a government shutdown at 12:00:01 a.m. ET Saturday. 

However, circumstances often accelerate matters just before a deadline on Capitol Hill.

With Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., opposing the GOP plan, Republicans need at least eight Democrats to help break a filibuster on the House-passed bill. 

SENATE REPUBLICANS COIN ‘SCHUMER SHUTDOWN’ AHEAD OF CRITICAL VOTE ON TRUMP SPENDING BILL

Senate Republicans could then approve the bill on their own with a simple majority. 

Senate Democrats are pushing their own, monthlong spending package. However, if the Senate OKs that, the House and Senate are out of sync. The House is now out of session for a week and a half. 

Democrats are really torn. They do not want to support the GOP plan. They also want to make this battle a hill to die on to fight back against President Donald Trump and Elon Musk. 

‘BIG WIN’: TRUMP TOUTS FEDERAL FUNDING BILL PASSAGE IN THE HOUSE

However, they fear Musk could try to shutter more programs and agencies if the government shuts down. 

At this stage, it is hard to see how the fight does not bleed into Friday, if not Friday night before the deadline. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Wednesday that his party would oppose the spending bill that Republicans drafted and passed through the House, as the Friday midnight deadline looms for Congress to take action to avoid a government shutdown. 

"Funding the government should be a bipartisan effort. But Republicans chose a partisan path, drafting their Continuing Resolution without any input from Congressional Democrats," Schumer wrote on X, echoing comments he made on the Senate floor. 

"Because of that, Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate to pass the House CR," he wrote. "Our caucus is unified on a clean 30-day CR that will keep the government open and give Congress time to negotiate bipartisan legislation that can pass. We should vote on that." 

Schumer called for a one-month spending bill to keep the government open until April 11 so that Democrats can better negotiate a deal. The continuing resolution, which passed through the House Tuesday on a nearly party-line vote of 217-213, would keep the government open for the next six months, for the rest of the fiscal year which ends Sept. 30.

TRUMP CRITICIZES SCHUMER, SAYS DEM LEADER 'HAS BECOME A PALESTINIAN'

The minority leader addressed the Senate floor after a lunch meeting with Democratic senators on Wednesday, as some were reportedly concerned that a shutdown would be more grim for their party despite them broadly being against the CR. 

"There are not the votes right now to pass it," Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told reporters after the meeting, according to NBC News. "Democrats had nothing to do with this bill. And we want an opportunity to get an amendment vote or two. And so that’s what we are insisting on."

"Quite frankly, both outcomes are bad," Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., added, according to NBC. "Elections have consequences, but this is an extreme bill. If it passes, it will hurt a lot of ordinary people on the ground. If the government shuts down, that will hurt a lot of ordinary people on the ground, and so that is the dilemma in which we found ourselves."

Warnock said the additional problem he has with the bill "is that I think it advances this project that we’re seeing come from the executive branch, this power grab that does not respect that the power of the purse is with the Congress." 

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., has not voiced whether he would support the bill in the upper chamber. 

 

"I’m weighing the badness of each option," Kelly said, acknowledging that supporting the six-month stopgap would set a bad precedent that Republicans can put together funding bills without Democrats involved in the negotiation process. 

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said he would support the continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown, while Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., said Democrats "are unified in not wanting to shut down the government" but should vote for a short-term bill. 

SENATE REPUBLICANS COIN 'SCHUMER SHUTDOWN' AHEAD OF CRITICAL VOTE ON TRUMP SPENDING BILL

President Donald Trump supports the six-month continuing resolution so Republicans can focus their time early in his second term on advancing his agenda on the border and taxes. 

The bill, which bolsters military spending while slashing non-defense domestic programs, needs 60 votes to avoid a filibuster. Republicans hold 53 Senate seats. 

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has indicated he will reject the continuing resolution, so the GOP needs at least eight Democrats to cross the aisle in order to avoid a filibuster. 

Republicans argue it is too late to swap in a one-month bill, as the House is already on recess until March 24. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., signaled to reporters that he is open to having conversations with Democrats on adding potential amendments to the CR. 

Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., torched Republicans for keeping Democrats from the negotiation table thus far.

"Republicans are in charge of the Senate, in charge of the House, and have the White House. The American people know who’s in charge," he reportedly said. "It’s ridiculous for Republicans to try to blame the party that’s the minority everywhere."

Politico reported that multiple White House sources say that Schumer will allow enough centrist Democrats to join Republicans in supporting the continuing resolution, despite his vocal opposition of the measure on the Senate floor Wednesday. 

"They’re 100 percent gonna swallow it," one White House official reportedly told the outlet. "They’re totally screwed."

FIRST ON FOX: Grassroots parental rights advocacy group Parents Defending Education (PDE) is urging the Trump administration to reverse "unconstitutional" Biden-era policies that penalize schools for racial disparities in discipline, as outlined in a Dear Colleague letter issued by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Education (DOE) in 2023.  

The Biden-era document pushes schools "to adopt racially discriminatory discipline policies" or face the loss of federal funding, according to PDE.

"Despite clear Supreme Court precedent holding that disparate impact alone cannot support a Title VI violation, the School Discipline Letter states that racial disparities in school discipline outcomes are prima facie evidence of racial discrimination, even when a school’s disciplinary code is race neutral," the group wrote to the Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon on Thursday morning. "Moreover, the letter threatens school districts with the loss of federal funds if they do not adjust their procedures to eliminate such disparities."

Biden's DOJ and the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights released the guide in 2023 for schools to address racial discrimination in K-12 student discipline.

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"Discrimination in school discipline can have devastating long-term consequences on students and their future opportunities," then-Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a DOJ release. 

"The Justice Department Civil Rights Division uses our federal civil rights laws to protect students from discriminatory discipline, including discrimination in suspensions and expulsions, law enforcement referrals and school-based arrests. The investigations that we describe demonstrate how students may experience discrimination based on multiple facets of their identities and reflect our joint commitment to fully protect all students."

In the letter, the DOE and DOJ agencies wrote that their agencies engaged in "decades of enforcement activity" demonstrating "that discrimination based on race, color, and national origin in student discipline was, and continues to be, a significant concern."

"Discrimination in student discipline forecloses opportunities for students, pushing them out of the classroom and diverting them from a path to success in school and beyond. Significant disparities by race – beginning as early as preschool – have persisted in the application of student discipline in schools," the Dear Colleague letter reads. "While racial disparities in student discipline alone do not violate the law, ensuring compliance with Federal nondiscrimination obligations can involve examining the underlying causes of such disparities."

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PDE spokesperson Erika Sanzi told Fox News Digital it's "hard to believe" that the previous administration "thought it was noble, let alone legal, to instruct schools to adopt racially discriminatory discipline policies in order to eliminate racial disparities in their discipline data then threaten them with loss of funds if they didn't fall in line."

At the time of the guide's release, the agencies completed investigations into 14 school districts across 10 states, including Alabama, Arizona, California and others. The investigations focused on whether the schools were unfairly disciplining Black, Latino and Native American students. Concerns included the use of suspensions, expulsions, school-based arrests and other actions the administration deemed discriminatory.

"Not surprisingly, districts got skittish about suspending too many students from certain racial groups for chronically disruptive and even violent behavior, and schools descended into chaos," Sanzi said. "It's long overdue that we rescind this letter … it shouldn't be controversial to state unequivocally that school policies must be race neutral."

OHIO TRANSGENDER BATHROOM LAW TAKES EFFECT AS TOP PROPONENT CALLS IT ‘VICTORY FOR SAFETY & COMMON SENSE’

The DOE, which President Donald Trump hopes to fully dismantle, has reversed course on much of the previous administration's "woke" and DEI-related policies during his first three months in office. It also launched an investigation this week into 60 universities due to allegations of antisemitism and violence against Jewish students since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel.

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Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of Justice and the Department of Education for comment.

President Donald Trump is continuing to push for a "gold card" visa that would allow foreign nationals to buy their way into the U.S., replacing a controversial visa scheme that has been dogged for years by concerns about potential abuse by China.

Trump again touted his plan for the gold card, which would allow people to buy a pathway to citizenship for $5 million, on "Sunday Morning Futures."

"I believe that Apple and all these companies that can't get people to come out of college and come because they get thrown out, I think of it, you graduate number one at the Wharton School of Finance or Harvard or Stanford, and you get thrown out of the country. You can't stay more than one day. And they want to hire these people, but they can't. They've complained to me about it. Now they can buy a gold card, and they can take that gold card and make it a part of their deal to get these top students," Trump said on Sunday.

"You're going to have a lot of companies buying gold cards. So for $5 million now, it's a lot of money when you add it up, if we sell a lot of them," he said, later describing it as a "green card on steroids."

TRUMP TOUTS $5 MILLION ‘GOLD CARD’ AS NEW PATH TO CITIZENSHIP 

Host Maria Bartiromo asked Trump about concerns that the Chinese may exploit it.

"They may, and they may, but they don't have to do that. They can do it in other ways," Trump said.

The visa would replace the EB-5 investor visa program. That program was established in the 1990s and typically required an investment of $1 million, but that could be as low as $500,000 in areas classified as high poverty, and the creation of at least 10 jobs.

There had been unsuccessful efforts to reform the program in both the Obama and Trump administrations amid concerns that the program had been used by the Chinese Communist Party.

"Although the EB-5 program’s goal of stimulating capital investment and job creation in the United States is laudable, it has become clear in recent years that the CCP may be abusing the program to gain access to U.S. permanent residency for their members," Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee said in 2020.

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They cited statistics that show that between 2012 and 2018, nearly 80% of nearly 10,000 visas went to Chinese-born investors and that the majority of investors in the backlog were Chinese.

It also involved the creation of "regional centers" that pooled the visa money and funded large investments across the country. While intended to promote growth in poor or rural areas, the drawing of regional maps around specific impoverished pockets was used to pump money into luxury projects in places like New York City and San Francisco.

A bipartisan attempt to reform the program was blocked in 2021 and funding for the program was allowed to expire. It was later resurrected in 2022 with reforms introduced by Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

The reforms aimed to tackle fraud, and included audits, background checks and site visits for EB-5 projects, as well as tighter definitions of terms like "capital" to prevent abuse. It also increased the level of funding needed for high poverty areas to $800,000. Of the 10,000 EB-5s made available each year, 2,000 will be earmarked for rural or high poverty areas.

Provisions also include increased Department of Homeland Security (DHS) powers to vet foreign capital to make sure it is lawfully sourced, and requiring foreign agents and third-party promoters of the program to register with DHS. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

However, the EB-5 continues to draw criticism, with some immigration hawks saying it did not solve the fundamental issues with the program. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick recently described the program as "poorly overseen, poorly executed."

Lora Ries, director of the Border Security and Immigration Center at the Heritage Foundation, shared those concerns about EB-5.

"With any immigration benefit in America, if you offer it, they will come, and too often seek or use the benefit fraudulently. The EB-5 investor visa program is no exception, as Commerce Secretary Lutnick mentioned. Examples of fraud that program sees include false job creation claims, bogus projects, and pyramid investment schemes," she said.

"Aliens view immigration benefit fraud as low risk, high reward because it is so rarely investigated, let alone punished. It is one reason we have over 9 million immigration benefits applications pending at DHS and another nearly 4 million immigration cases pending at DOJ," she said. 

"It is important to scrutinize the current backlogs for immigration benefit fraud, deny those cases, and deport the alien applicants, which helps accomplish an administration priority – mass deportations," she added.

Republicans have identified Georgia’s U.S. Senate election in 2026 as an opportunity to widen their margin over Democrats in the U.S. Senate. After Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen's announcement that she will not seek re-election in New Hampshire, all eyes are on Georgia’s Senate race.

"Every battleground state — Georgia, Michigan, New Hampshire and Minnesota – is in play, and we play to win," Nick Puglia, National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) regional press secretary, said in a statement to Fox News Digital after Shaheen’s announcement Wednesday. 

Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., the first-term senator who helped secure a Democratic majority in 2021, is one of the only Democratic senators up for re-election in a state President Donald Trump won in 2024. Trump won battleground Georgia by just over two percentage points in 2024. 

"Jon Ossoff is a Democrat with extreme and reckless policies," Puglia added. "Ossoff wants biological males to be allowed to compete in women’s sports, took a backseat after the tragic murder of Laken Riley and is too weak to stand up to pro-Hamas radicals in his party. Georgians deserve better." 

LONGTIME DEMOCRATIC SEN. JEANNE SHAHEEN NOT SEEKING RE-ELECTION IN 2026 IN KEY NORTHEASTERN SWING STATE

Ossoff's office did not reply to Fox News Digital's request for comment by the deadline of this article. 

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, the popular term-limited Republican, is the GOP’s ideal candidate in 2026 as it challenges Ossoff and seeks to expand its 53-47 Senate majority. 

While the governor has not announced a formal bid for the U.S. Senate in 2026, Kemp acknowledged in an interview with Fox News Digital last month, "We’ll have something to say on that down the road."

TOP GOP RECRUIT FOR CRUCIAL 2026 SENATE RACE HINTS WHEN HE WILL MAKE AN ANNOUNCEMENT

"We need to flip that seat," Kemp said. "We should have a Republican in that seat, and I believe we'll have one after the '26 election."

Ossoff, 38, became the first millennial elected to the U.S. Senate in 2021, unseating former Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., in a runoff election. 

During his fourth year in office, Ossoff highlighted "historic upgrades for Georgia’s infrastructure through the bipartisan infrastructure law," his commitment to supporting Georgia veterans, efforts to secure relief after Hurricane Helene, his public safety initiatives and work to expand healthcare across the state. 

Ossoff has issued a series of press releases countering Trump’s executive actions since he returned to the White House in January. Ossoff has led efforts to unfreeze federal funding, raised concern over programs cut by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and rejected the Department of Veterans Affairs' plans to cut 80,000 jobs. 

The Georgia senator voted against a bill last week that would have prevented biological males from participating in women’s and girls sports, telling The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a statement, "This bill was overreach." 

The New York Times reported last month that a bipartisan group of Jewish leaders in Atlanta asked Kemp to consider running for Ossoff’s senate seat. The letter came after Ossoff voted to block a weapons transfer to Israel and criticized Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza. Ossoff is Georgia’s first Jewish senator. 

Ossoff was one of 12 Senate Democrats who voted to pass the Laken Riley Act, named for the 22-year-old nursing student who was murdered by an illegal immigrant while jogging at the University of Georgia last year. The Laken Riley Act imposes increased penalties for undocumented immigrants who commit crimes in the United States.

Prior to serving in the U.S. Senate, Ossoff narrowly lost his campaign to represent Georgia’s 6th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2017. 

In addition to Georgia, the NRSC has identified New Hampshire, Michigan and Minnesota as key battleground states for the 2026 midterm elections. 

NRSC CHAIR REVEALS HOW MANY GOP SENATE SEATS HE'S GUNNING FOR DURING 2026 MIDTERMS

Shaheen’s announcement that she will not seek re-election in New Hampshire could further complicate the Democrats’ efforts to regain control of the U.S. Senate. However, it has been 15 years since Republicans last won a Senate election in New Hampshire. 

"Another one! Shaheen's retirement is welcome news for Granite Staters eager for new leadership. New Hampshire has a proud tradition of electing commonsense Republicans and will do so again in 2026," Sen. Tim Scott, the NRSC chair, said in a statement to Fox News after her announcement. 

Republicans also have their eyes on Michigan, where Democratic Sen. Gary Peters announced he will not seek re-election next year. Trump won Michigan by just over a percentage point in 2024.

Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., also took her name out of the running for another term in the U.S. Senate. Trump lost Minnesota by over four points to former Vice President Kamala Harris and running mate Tim Walz, Minnesota's governor.

EXCLUSIVE: Meta is launching its new community notes program next week to replace its biased, third-party fact-checking program.

The company’s global affairs officer, Joel Kaplan, told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that content with community notes applied will not be limited in distribution to users nor have penalties imposed. 

Meta, in January, ended its fact-checking program and lifted restrictions on speech on the platform to "restore free expression" across Facebook, Instagram and Meta platforms. Meta said its content moderation practices had "gone too far." 

META ENDS FACT-CHECKING PROGRAM AS ZUCKERBERG VOWS TO RESTORE FREE EXPRESSION ON FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM

"We had a third-party, fact-checking program, which was well-intentioned at the beginning but proved to be really prone to partisan political bias and destroyed a lot of trust and credibility in the system," Kaplan said. "We decided to replace that system, starting in the United States with a crowdsourced, community-based approach, which we announced in January." 

Next week, Meta is opening the new community notes program for users to write and rate notes on content across Facebook, Instagram and Threads. 

"We’ve developed a waitlist that actually has a couple of hundred thousand people on it, a broad cross-section of Americans who use Facebook and Instagram who want to be able to add context to the content that they are seeing when they think it is misleading," Kaplan said. "And the great thing about community notes is that, first of all, instead of a handful of so-called experts like the third-party fact-checkers, it’s our community, which is broad based, ideologically diverse people from across the political spectrum."

Meta will begin by gradually and randomly admitting people off the waitlist and will take time to test the writing and rating system before any notes are published.

Meta will not decide what gets rated or what gets written but rather the contributors from the Facebook, Instagram and Threads communities, the company told Fox News Digital. 

Kaplan told Fox News Digital that Meta is borrowing the algorithm used by X, which the company has open-sourced from its system. 

META POLICY CHIEF SAYS DECISION TO END DEI ENSURES COMPANY HIRES 'THE MOST TALENTED PEOPLE'

"The algorithm only applies a community note when people who normally disagree agree that something is misleading," Kaplan said. "And that’s the way that you ensure that the bias that crept into the third-party fact-checking system isn’t a part of this system." 

Kaplan said all content is subject to community notes, except for advertisements. But contributors can submit notes on almost any other form of content, including posts by Meta, Meta executives, politicians and other public figures. 

"Another thing that it won’t do that the third-party fact-checking program did is it doesn’t apply any penalty," Kaplan explained. 

"The third-party fact-checking program, in addition to the bias, had penalties attached to it, where if something was rated false, we would dramatically reduce its distribution," Kaplan continued. "And that turned a program that was intended to be about providing additional information into one that was essentially a censorship tool."

Meta’s third-party fact-checking program was put in place after the 2016 election and had been used to "manage content" and misinformation on its platforms, largely due to "political pressure," executives said, but they admitted the system had "gone too far."

"The community notes program is just about providing additional information and context so people can make their own decisions, but it doesn’t apply any distribution penalties or limit the flow of information through the algorithm," Kaplan said.

Under the third-party fact-checking program, fact-checked posts often had their distribution reduced across platforms. Meta said that will not be the case with posts that have community notes applied to them, and it will not affect who can see the content or how widely it can be shared. 

MARK ZUCKERBERG’S PHILANTHROPY ENDS DEI PROGRAMS, SOCIAL ADVOCACY EFFORTS

Kaplan said Meta believes users "should see both the posts and then also the additional information to give them context about the post." 

"We want to make sure that the full range of information is provided," he said.

The community notes will be limited to 500 characters and will be written by contributors in the Meta community notes program. 

"Individual members of the community will write and submit notes, and then other members of the community will get to say, ‘Yeah, that looks right to me,’ within the system," he said. "And once the algorithm determines that it received a critical mass of support from people who usually disagree, that is the check on the bias."

"All the changes we made in January were in the service of returning to our roots of free expression, and the third-party fact-checking program has become an impediment to that," Kaplan said. "A community-based system that empowers our users to just provide additional information that people find helpful, I think, is a really big improvement on voice and expression on the platform." 

As for who can contribute community notes, Meta told Fox News Digital that contributors must be over 18 years old and have an account that is more than six months old and in good standing. The user must also have either a verified phone number or be enrolled in two-factor authentication.

The community notes feature will be available in six languages commonly used in the United States to start, including English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, French and Portuguese. Meta will expand to other languages down the line.

EXCLUSIVE: A new proposal would expand which military families will qualify for lifetime National Park passes.

The "Benefits that Endure for Lifetimes of Service (BELO'S) Act" would apply to Gold Star families and service members who died from a "service-connected illnesses or service-related incident," like a training accident while in the United States, serious illness or an injury. 

Currently, Gold Star families and veterans can obtain a free lifetime pass, as well as anybody with a "permanent disability" regardless of military status. 

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The legislation is named after the late U.S. Army First Sergeant Marc Belo, who died from cancer related to his military service in May 2024. Belo worked closely alongside Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Colo., the bill’s sponsor, including on a deployment in 2012.

"I’m proud to introduce the BELOS Act, honoring my dear friend and fellow solider, First Sergeant Marc Belo," Evans told Fox News Digital in a statement.

"Marc was a giant— a true leader, role model, and the godfather of flying in our unit. When Marc passed away last year, he left a hole in the hearts of all who knew him. I’m proud to honor him by ensuring families of fallen heroes are never forgotten," he added. 

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For the current edibility, the passes are offered as part of an effort with the National Parks Service and Operation Live Well, but the bill modifies the Federal Land Recreation Enhancement Act to go beyond just those who died in the usual "qualifying situation" that Gold Star families are determined by.

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The bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., and has been referred to the House Natural Resources Committee and the House Agriculture Committee. 

An Obama-appointed federal judge ordered Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to reveal its plans to downsize the government and to identify all its employees, among other actions. 

The directives from U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan come as 14 Democratic state attorneys general are suing President Donald Trump, Musk and DOGE, arguing that Musk is unconstitutionally wielding power, according to Politico. Chutkan gave Musk and DOGE three weeks to produce the information, which ultimately will help her decide whether to block DOGE’s operations altogether, it added. 

The ruling issued Wednesday requires Musk and DOGE to, among other directives: 

DOGE PROTESTERS RALLY OUTSIDE KEY DEPARTMENT AFTER EMPLOYEES ARE TOLD NOT TO REPORT TO WORK 

DOGE AND AGENCIES CANCEL 200,000 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CREDIT CARDS 

The directives also call for admissions that "Elon Musk has directed actions of DOGE personnel" and that "Elon Musk is not supervised by any Officer of the United States other than the President of the United States." 

The White House did not immediately respond Thursday to a request for comment by Fox News Digital. 

"The burden to Defendants is minimized by the narrow time period for responsive materials, the exclusion of electronic communications, explicitly exempting President Trump from the requests, extending Defendants’ time to respond, and denying Plaintiffs’ request to notice depositions," Chutkan said in her decision. 

"Plantiffs' Discovery Requests shall be limited to information and materials regarding agencies, employees, contracts, grants, federal funding, legal agreements, databases, or data management systems that involve or engage with Plaintiff States; including entities and institutions operated or funded by Plaintiff States," she added.

Republicans are ramping up pressure on Senate Democrats ahead of a vote on the House-passed stopgap spending bill to keep the government open, even dubbing a potential funding lapse as a "Schumer shutdown."

"If they want to shut it down, it's on them," Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., told reporters. "That'll be a Schumer shutdown."

Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., recently stressed this point in an op-ed for Fox News, writing, "If there is a shutdown, it will be driven by and directed by the Democrats."

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Earlier in the week, House Republicans passed a short-term spending bill, called a continuing resolution (CR), which would keep spending levels the same as fiscal year 2024 until Oct. 1. If a spending bill is not passed by Friday, the government will enter into a partial shutdown.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., took to the chamber floor on Wednesday and said, "Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate to invoke cloture on the House CR," which he slammed for being a "partisan path" to funding the government. 

The resolution would notably keep spending levels as they were when former President Joe Biden was in office. 

Instead, Schumer said Senate Democrats were interested in passing a "clean" monthlong stopgap bill. 

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This was echoed by Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., who said Wednesday, "Those votes exist on a 30-day CR, without a doubt."

"If the Republicans would bring it to the floor," he added. 

But Republicans have made it clear they want to move forward with the House-passed bill.

"The thing that bugs me about this is, keep in mind, this same CR was voted for with these spending levels [in] September and December. So what's the difference now?" Mullin said.

"These same employees that they've been fighting for supposedly, now they're going to yield literally all the authority to the White House because the White House is going to be able to deem them essential and non-essential," he said. 

MEET SANDRA WHITEHOUSE, WHOSE HUSBAND'S VOTES FUNNELED MILLIONS INTO NGO THAT PAYS HER

Mullin said Schumer refused to bring 11 of 12 appropriations bills to the Senate floor for votes in the last Congress, despite them having been advanced out of committee. The senator further faulted Democrats for not engaging in negotiations on a spending deal until the last minute. He said Senate Appropriations Committee ranking member Patty Murray, D-Wash., only recently came to the table to discuss it with Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine.

A spokesperson for Murray told Fox News Digital in a statement, "For months, Senator Murray has remained at the table ready to negotiate and pass bipartisan funding bills—and she stands ready to work with the Senate Republican majority to immediately pass a short-term stopgap to prevent a shutdown. In fact, she and her Democratic colleagues pressed to get government funding done in December—but Speaker Johnson chose to kick the can down the road and walk away from bipartisan talks."

A representative for Schumer did not provide comment in time for publication. 

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., sounded off on the potential funding lapse, saying, "We all know the Democrats want a shutdown." 

"The American people agree with reducing federal spending, getting this country back on the right track. And the Democrats are so opposed to it, they're willing to push to a shutdown. It's all on them," she told reporters. 

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Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., said in a statement, "Republicans are doing the right thing for the American people by making sure our government stays open."

However, "Democrats are sacrificing the good of hardworking Americans on the altar of their hatred for Donald Trump. They should reverse course and join Republicans in keeping the lights on in the federal government. Enough with the political games."

Votes on beginning the process to consider the stopgap bill are expected to occur on Thursday, depending on whether Republicans and Democrats come to an agreement to skip lengthy procedural votes that are routine for most votes. 

The government says it cannot accept any new applications for its key green farming funding scheme.

After referring to Democratic Rep. Sarah McBride of Delaware as "Mr. McBride" during a congressional hearing this week, Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, said he is not obligated to engage in McBride's "fantasy."

While discussing the issue, Self referred to McBride – who identifies as a transgender woman – using male pronouns.

"Well, Michael, I'm a retired Green Beret. I'm not even sure what all the fuss is about," Self told conservative commentator Michael Knowles of the Daily Wire during an interview.

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"I mean, he is allowed to live his life — in fact, I spent 25 years on active duty defending his right to live his life as he chooses. But I don't have to participate in his fantasy," Self said.

Rep. Mary Miller, who referred to McBride as "the gentleman from Delaware, Mr. McBride," when recognizing the lawmaker for a floor speech last month, agreed with Self's sentiments, declaring in a post on X, "Exactly! No one should be forced to go along with the Democrats’ delusions. Thank you, @RepKeithSelf, for your boldness."

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., also expressed his support for Self's position, tweeting, "#GoodMan."

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McBride referred to Self as "Madam chair" during a hearing on Tuesday after Self, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee's Europe subcommittee, recognized McBride as "the representative from Delaware, Mr. McBride."

Subcommittee ranking member Rep. Bill Keating, D-Mass., halted the hearing over the issue, demanding that Self introduce McBride the "right way." 

GOP LAWMAKER SCRAPS WITH DEMOCRAT IN HEARING OVER TRANSGENDER ‘SLUR,' BATHROOM RIGHTS: ‘NOT GOING TO HAVE IT’

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"You will not continue" the hearing "with me unless you introduce a duly-elected representative the right way!" Keating declared.

In response to the ultimatum, Self declared, "This hearing is adjourned."

"No matter how I'm treated by some colleagues, nothing diminishes my awe and gratitude at getting to represent Delaware in Congress. It is truly the honor and privilege of a lifetime. I simply want to serve and to try to make this world a better place," McBride tweeted on Tuesday night.