Demetre Daskalakis, an official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), resigned this week, claiming the Trump administration’s policies ignore science. However, his own leadership during the Biden-era monkeypox response was criticized for putting optics over public health.

Amid the Trump administration’s efforts to push out CDC Director Susan Monarez, a handful of other top CDC officials, including Daskalakis, resigned in protest of the Trump administration’s policies. Daskalakis wrote in his resignation letter that was posted to social media that the health policies put forward by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy do not ‘reflect scientific reality.’ He also accused the Trump administration of attempting to ‘erase transgender populations,’ while also using the term ‘pregnant people’ to describe women who are about to give birth.

But flashback to 2022 and 2023, after the monkeypox virus had spread across several countries and made its way into the U.S., during which Daskalakis was among the Biden administration’s top advisers who spearheaded the national response to the disease outbreak. 

Government communications from that time period, uncovered by watchdog group the Oversight Project, show that officials were aware that the disease was spreading among the gay community. However, those communications, and other records, show the administration appeared to be more concerned with protecting the stigma targeting the gay community, than they were with implementing measures that would provide the best mitigation response.

‘A common theme was public health officials identifying locations where outbreaks occurred, to include bathhouses and saunas,’ according to the Oversight Project. ‘Officials never broached consideration of shutting down these locations. This draws a stark contrast to the public health guidance and shutdowns of gathering places during COVID, to include gyms and skate parks.’

In 2023, after the monkeypox outbreak had taken hold in the U.S., Daskalakis went on national television to let the country know that his team was ‘making sure [they] got the word out in a way that supports people’s joy, as opposed to calling them risky.’

‘You know, one person’s idea of risk, is another person’s idea of a great festival or Friday night, for that matter. So, we have to sort of embrace that with joy and make sure that folks know how to keep themselves safe,’ the Biden monkeypox coordinator added.

Meanwhile, during the outbreak, Daskalkis posted a tweet from gay sex app Grindr that stated ‘Dr. Daskalakis could jab me any day,’ with a sticker of a flattered cat.

In other social media posts from around the same time, Daskalkis can be seen using male models wearing leather bondage straps to make an entrance at an HIV prevention summit. 

While in his role at the White House leading the monkeypox response, Daskalkis also reportedly ran an STD screening operation from an after-hours sex club in New York City. When asked about the operation in an interview, Daskalakis described it as ‘exciting’ and added there was ‘not much sleep time.’ Later in the interview, he added: ‘I’d already kind of been the bathhouse HIV testing doctor.’

Fox News Digital reached out to Daskalakis about the juxtaposition between his criticism of Kennedy’s policies not reflecting ‘scientific reality,’ and his role in the Biden administration’s approach to monkeypox, but did not receive an immediate response.

The Israel Defense Forces said on Saturday that it had killed the Houthi prime minister and several other senior officials in a strike in Yemen. 

‘Houthi Prime Minister, Ahmed Al-Rahawi, along with additional senior officials of the Houthi terrorist regime were eliminated during an IDF strike in Sanaa, Yemen,’ the IDF said in a social media post.

The IDF said it had targeted a Houthi site where officials responsible ‘for the use of force, the military buildup of the Houthi terror regime, and the advancement of terror actions against Israel. The IDF will continue to target all threats against Israeli civilians.’ 

The airstrike was conducted by the Israeli Air Force Thursday using intelligence gathered by the IDF. 

‘The strike was made possible by seizing an intelligence opportunity and completing a rapid operational cycle, which took place within a few hours,’ the IDF said. 

A Houthi statement confirmed Al-Rahawi’s death. 

It was Israel’s second strike against the Houthis in Yemen in a week. 

On Sunday, Israel hit Yemen’s capital in response to missiles fired by the Houthis. The attack killed six people and wounded 86 others, according to Reuters, which cited a Houthi Health Ministry spokesperson.

‘As we warned the Houthis in Yemen: ‘After the plague of darkness comes the plague of the death,’’ said Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, who was in the IDF central command during the attack. ‘Whoever raises a hand against Israel, their hand will be cut off.’

The IDF previously said the Houthis were operating under Iran’s direction to harm Israel and its allies. The IDF also blamed the Houthis for ‘undermining regional stability and disrupting global freedom of navigation.’ 

The strikes Thursday were launched after Israel intercepted two drones from Yemen and happened during a speech by Houthi leader Abdul-Malik Badreddin al-Houthi, according to YNet. Additionally, the Israeli outlet reported that the speech went on without interruption.

The conflict between Israel and the Houthis has gone on for nearly two years. 

The Iran-backed terror force threatened to strike Israel just days after Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre. Within weeks of Hamas’ attacks, the Houthis shot missiles and drones at Israel that were intercepted by U.S. forces aboard the USS Carney.

The Houthis have continued to attack Israel in support to Hamas. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

For Dyan Cannon, age is more than just a number.

The ‘Heaven Can Wait’ actress, 88, attempted to go inside the White House this week, but as she and her friends documented in a video shared on social media, the Secret Service refused to let her enter because of an age discrepancy on her passport.

Cannon, along with fellow actresses Kym Douglas and Tracey Bregman and TV personality and chef Christine Avanti-Fischer, traveled to Washington, D.C., together recently. The group hosts a new podcast, ‘God’s Table.’ 

They went out to do some sightseeing, but there was a hiccup in their plans.

‘We are lined up for a great tour, and we have these Secret Service guys and all of the federal agents. We can’t get in because someone lied about their age,’ Douglas, who filmed the video, explained.

Cannon laughed throughout the explanation as Bregman and Avanti-Fischer teased her.

‘Listen,’ Cannon said. ‘Years ago, here’s the thing, I lied about my age on my passport.’

‘Who doesn’t, Dyan?’ Douglas joked.

Avanti-Fischer remarked, ‘If we get in, it’s going to be a miracle of God.’

The video was originally shared by Douglas on her Instagram story Thursday, but Cannon reposted it to her own page, writing in her caption, ‘And I’d do it again.’

She added, ‘It’s nobody’s business what the number is they’ve pinned on me ….right girls? Right guys? it’s just a blinkin number… no matter what number they put next to me there’s one thing that never changes …I WUV WU’

Bregman commented on the post, writing, ‘Hilarious. Love you so but seriously, how can I change my age.’

Cannon has been a force in the entertainment industry for decades. She got her start in show business by appearing in various TV shows in the 1950s, and, in 1962, she appeared in her first Broadway show.

Her breakthrough role came in 1969, when she appeared in ‘Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice,’ a role that earned her her first Academy Award nomination.

She was later nominated for the award for best live action short film for 1976’s ‘Number One,’ which she produced. This nod made her the first woman nominated for an Oscar for her work in front of and behind the camera.

Cannon has also had a storied love life, which included marrying legendary actor Cary Grant in 1965. The couple welcomed one daughter, Jennifer, before divorcing in 1968.

She got married a second time in 1985 to real estate investor Stanley Fimberg, but the couple split in 1991. She also had what she once called a ‘love affair’ with Johnny Carson.

Earlier this year, she told People that ‘of course’ she’s still dating.

She told the outlet she was seeing ‘somebody very special,’ then clarified that she was actually seeing ‘several special [people]. … I have friends with benefits, yes.’

Lawmakers could soon have Jeffrey Epstein’s infamous ‘birthday book,’ which could potentially give insight into the disgraced late financier’s social ties. 

Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., who serves as the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, told MSNBC on Friday that Epstein’s estate ‘is actually going to actually now get us that book and a bunch of other documents that they have that’s not actually been reported yet.’ He added that the lawmakers expect to receive the book and the documents on Sept. 8.

Garcia also told MSNBC that ‘many of the victims’ of Epstein would speak to lawmakers on Capitol Hill next week to ‘highlight their stories.’ He did not name the lawmakers or accusers expected to meet.

The release date is confirmed in the subpoena signed by House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky. The specific deadline listed in the subpoena is Sept. 8 at 12 p.m.

‘The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is reviewing the possible mismanagement of the federal government’s investigation of Mr. Jeffrey Epstein and Ms. Ghislaine Maxwell, the circumstances and subsequent investigations of Mr. Epstein’s death, the operation of sex-trafficking rings and ways for the federal government to effectively combat them, and potential violations of ethics rules related to elected officials,’ Comer stated in a cover letter that accompanied the subpoena.

‘Recent reporting indicates the estate of Mr. Epstein has access to documents relevant to the Committee’s investigation, including the alleged ‘birthday book’ prepared for Mr. Epstein by Ms. Maxwell… It is imperative that Congress conduct oversight of the federal government’s enforcement of sex trafficking laws generally and specifically its handling of the investigation and prosecution of Mr. Epstein and Ms. Maxwell,’ Comer added.

READ THE LETTER BELOW. APP USERS CLICK HERE:

House Oversight Democrats released a statement Monday supporting the subpoena for the book and calling on former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida and Trump Labor Secretary Alex Acosta to testify before Congress. He is expected to appear for a closed-door transcribed interview next month.

With a federal probe of the case under way, lawmakers have sought the testimony of several former high-ranking officials, such as former Attorney General Bill Barr. While Barr testified before lawmakers, Democrats, such as Reps. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., and Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, were not pleased with Republicans’ questions.

Comer, who argued those accusations were baseless, implored Democrats not to politicize a bipartisan investigation. Divisions deepened after Comer said Barr had no knowledge of, nor did he believe there were any implications of wrongdoing on President Donald Trump’s part related to Epstein.

Garcia disagreed. Though he did not attend the deposition, he said in a statement that Barr did not clear Trump.

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report. 

Dr. Sohan Dasgupta, appointed earlier this year as the political head of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), told Fox News Digital he is stepping down after a four-month sprint, declaring his mission to preserve and reposition the U.S. agency as a strategic foreign policy tool as ‘accomplished.’

Created by Congress in 2004, MCC delivers five-year infrastructure and energy compacts to developing nations that meet strict governance standards. Unlike traditional aid, its investments are structured to drive long-term economic growth and open markets for U.S. companies.

Since its creation under President George W. Bush, MCC has often been grouped with other U.S. aid programs. 

Career staff have long emphasized development goals like poverty reduction, education, and infrastructure, but unlike USAID, MCC was established as a corporate body with a fiduciary duty to ensure effectiveness.

A White House official, speaking on background to Fox News Digital, argued the agency too often presented itself as aid rather than investment before President Donald Trump took office.

Dasgupta pushed staff to adopt a different lens, pressing them to evaluate projects based on the return on investment for the United States, the degree of strategic alignment with partner countries, and whether MCC compacts could be used to strengthen U.S. leverage in negotiations.

A Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) report this spring argued that MCC is not a traditional aid agency but an ‘investment’ tool uniquely suited for an ‘America First’ agenda. 

The authors warned shuttering it would hand China ‘diplomatic and economic wins’ while leaving half-built projects abroad, and noted Trump-era partner selections, from Nepal to Côte d’Ivoire to the Pacific Islands, were strategically chosen to counter Chinese influence. 

‘The United States and the world are safer, stronger, and more prosperous with the MCC model than without it,’ the report concluded.

MCC’s current portfolio under Trump includes some of its largest-ever compacts: a $500 million deal in Nepal funding nearly 200 miles of transmission lines, a $480 million compact in Sierra Leone expanding electricity access and a $202 million program in Kosovo focused on grid-scale battery storage. Other investments include $536 million in Côte d’Ivoire, $537 million in Mozambique and a water compact in Mongolia.

Dasgupta told Fox News Digital that his role was to press MCC staff to think in terms of U.S. national security and economic benefits. ‘Reforming MCC into a vital national security and foreign policy asset’ was how he described his ‘mission accomplished’ moment.

A May 9 email from the White House Liaison to MCC staff, obtained by Fox News Digital, shows Dasgupta was appointed as a Schedule C Senior Advisor ‘assuming political leadership for the agency.’

MCC’s Fiscal Year 2026 Candidate Country Report, released this month, lists Kosovo, Nepal, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire, Mozambique, Mongolia, Solomon Islands, Fiji and Tonga among its eligible partner nations.

‘Service has many forms. My goal was to carry out particular projects and missions, then make way for others,’ Dasgupta said.

On China, he added: ‘Critical minerals and rare earth elements are a vital part of American strength … MCC has really understood that.’

Kosovo’s ambassador to the U.S., Ilir Dugolli, praised Dasgupta’s responsiveness. ‘We worked closely soon after he arrived at MCC … I respect him enormously for the way he handled his portfolio and how professional he was,’ Dugolli told Fox News Digital.

On energy security, Dugolli said: ‘Kosovo fully aligns with U.S. foreign policy … Batteries are extremely important, especially after last year’s terrorist attack on the Iber-Lepenc canal. The compact is the single most critical investment for our country’s energy security and economic resilience.’

Dasgupta’s departure also comes as the Trump administration pursues cuts to traditional U.S. foreign aid programs and seeks to reframe America’s global engagement under its ‘America First’ policy. 

While agencies such as USAID have faced reductions and restructuring, Dasgupta argues the MCC has been preserved as a leaner, investment-driven tool aligned with the administration’s emphasis on strategic deals and competition with China.

Analysts estimate China controls about 70% of global rare earth mining and nearly 90% of processing capacity, according to the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. 

Between 2023 and 2025, China imposed export restrictions on strategic minerals, according to CSIS. Dasgupta argues MCC’s work in allied nations can help diversify supply chains and strengthen resilience, though MCC has not publicly described critical minerals as a formal focus of its work.

‘Quick wins’ like Kosovo’s battery project and Nepal’s power lines, Dasgupta said, show how American aid can advance prosperity abroad while reinforcing security at home.

With his departure, MCC continues compacts in dozens of countries worldwide. 

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

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is demanding that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. resign after multiple senior officials at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention departed the agency.

The Trump administration announced the removal of CDC Director Susan Monarez earlier this week, less than a month after she was confirmed, after she refused Kennedy’s directives to adopt new limitations on the availability of some vaccines, including for approvals for COVID-19 vaccines.

Four other senior CDC officials resigned in protest after Monarez’s ouster, pointing, in part, to anti-vaccine policies pushed by Kennedy. Hundreds of workers at the agency also walked out of the CDC’s headquarters in Atlanta in support of their former colleagues.

In response to the departures, Sanders wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times that Kennedy is ‘endangering the health of the American people now and into the future’ and accused the secretary of firing Monarez because she refused ‘to act as a rubber stamp for his dangerous policies.’

‘Despite the overwhelming opposition of the medical community, Secretary Kennedy has continued his longstanding crusade against vaccines and his advocacy of conspiracy theories that have been rejected repeatedly by scientific experts,’ Sanders wrote in the piece published Saturday.

‘It is absurd to have to say this in 2025, but vaccines are safe and effective,’ he added. ‘That, of course, is not just my view. Far more important, it is the overwhelming consensus of the medical and scientific communities.’

Sanders also noted that vaccines for diseases like polio and COVID-19 have saved hundreds of millions of lives around the world.

Sanders, the ranking member of the Senate’s health committee, opposed Kennedy’s confirmation earlier this year. The secretary was sworn in back in February. Deputy HHS Secretary Jim O’Neill was selected to be the acting director of the CDC after Monarez’s termination.

The Trump administration has defended Monarez’s ouster, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying Thursday the president has the ‘authority to fire those who are not aligned with his mission.’

‘The president and Secretary Kennedy are committed to restoring trust and transparency and credibility to the CDC by ensuring their leadership and their decisions are more public-facing, more accountable, strengthening our public health system and restoring it to its core mission of protecting Americans from communicable diseases, investing in innovation to prevent, detect and respond to future threats,’ Leavitt told reporters.

Sanders earlier this week called for an investigation into Monarez’s ouster, criticizing the move as ‘reckless’ and ‘dangerous.’

In the op-ed, he wrote that Kennedy ‘has profited from and built a career on sowing mistrust in vaccines,’ adding that the secretary is now ‘using his authority to launch a full-blown war on science, on public health and on truth itself.’ 

He also said it will become harder for Americans to obtain ‘lifesaving vaccines’ with Kennedy leading HHS.

‘The danger here is that diseases that have been virtually wiped out because of safe and effective vaccines will resurface and cause enormous harm,’ Sanders wrote, stressing that the U.S. needs to be better prepared in the case of another pandemic.

‘Secretary Kennedy is putting Americans’ lives in danger, and he must resign,’ Sanders wrote. ‘In his place, President Trump must listen to doctors and scientists and nominate a health secretary and a C.D.C. director who will protect the health and well-being of the American people, not carry out dangerous policies based on conspiracy theories.’

Fox News Digital reached out to HHS for comment.

Reuters contributed to this report.

A controversial pro-Palestinian gathering in Detroit is drawing scrutiny for featuring speakers with extremist views—including two former Israeli prisoners released in a Hamas deal—alongside Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., a prominent anti-Israel congresswoman.

The second annual ‘People’s Conference for Palestine’ conference, which is being organized by a dozen different pro-Palestinian groups, will begin Friday afternoon and will end on Sunday.

Rep. Tlaib will speak alongside several individuals accused of espousing antisemitic rhetoric, including a professor who has compared Jews to Nazis, a journalist who quipped about Hamas kidnapping ‘several dozen hipsters’ at ‘some sort of rave’ on Oct. 7, 2023, and a high-profile activist who once said Israel is ‘built on the idea that Jews are supreme to everyone else’ and lost her position on the board of a major philanthropic organization amid antisemitism complaints.

Tlaib, herself, has been no stranger to criticism about her anti-Israel views either. She was censured in 2023 by her colleagues in Congress over alleged inflammatory rhetoric about the Israel-Hamas war. The censure followed several comments from Tlaib that drew backlash, including her use of the phrase ‘From the river to the sea,’ a slogan that many Israel supporters consider a call for the destruction of Israel. 

Tlaib also came under fire in 2023 for being part of a secret Facebook group for many years that glorified terrorists following the attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The congresswoman will be joined at the conference by two former prisoners held by Israel who gained their freedom through an Israeli prisoner swap with Hamas. One of those individuals, Hussam Shaheen, was sentenced by Israeli authorities to almost 30 years in prison during the early 2000s for murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

The other former prisoner, Omar Assaf, was formerly an official of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP). The DFLP is not a U.S.-designated terror group, but it has been targeted by U.S. sanctions.

Other attendees of this weekend’s conference include Raja Abdulhaq, who is listed on the conference’s website as the co-founder of the Quds News Network (QNN), which was suspended from Twitter in 2019 for alleged ties to terrorism, a company spokesperson reportedly told the Times of Israel. Subsequently, other major social media platforms, like Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, all took steps to restrict QNN’s presence on their platforms. 

Wesam Ahmed, another speaker, is listed as a ‘human rights advocate’ with Al-Haq, an entity accused by the Israeli government of having ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

Meanwhile, Michigan-area activist and former candidate for Congress, Huwaida Arraf, is also slated to speak. Arraf is known for being a co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), which has previously been investigated by the FBI for possible ties to terrorists. In 2021, Arraf also penned an article which promoted using violent tactics against Israelis. 

‘The Palestinian resistance must take on a variety of characteristics — both nonviolent and violent,’ she wrote at the time. ‘But most importantly it must develop a strategy involving both aspects.’

However, when reached for comment, Arraf shot back at criticism that she may be antisemitic, arguing any accusations of such are ‘meant to smear and silence Palestinians and anyone who dares to speak up for their rights.’ 

‘My record is clear,’ she added. ‘I have spent my life opposing all forms of racism, discrimination, and oppression. Conflating criticism of a government with hatred of a people is dishonest and dangerous—it weaponizes antisemitism instead of confronting it.’

A Michigan high school principal was forced to apologize to students and parents in 2023 after Arraf went off script at a ‘diversity assembly’ and reportedly attacked Israel.

Multiple university professors accused of antisemitism will also be at the event with Tlaib. One of them, Hatem Bazian, came under fire by his university, the University of California – Berkley, in 2017 after he shared an anti-Israel cartoon that drew widespread backlash for comparing Jews to Nazis, among other tropes.

‘Mom, look! I is chosen! I can now kill, rape, smuggle organs & steal the land of Palestinians yay #Ashke-Nazi,’ read the caption of a political cartoon shared by Bazian, the chairman of American Muslims for Palestine and the co-founder of Students for Justice in Palestine.

The caption was layered over an image of an orthodox Jewish individual who was juxtaposed next to an image of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un wearing a kippah and other traditional Jewish garb. That photo was also layered with its own caption: ‘Donald Trump: Now my nukes are legal & I can annex South Korea & you need to start paying me 34 billion a year in welfare.’

In 2015, Bazian, whose SJP group has fueled anti-Israel riots on college campuses, raised alarm bells when he called for an ‘intifada in this country that changes fundamentally the political dynamics in here,’ which is widely interpreted as calling for violence against Jews. He went on to say, ‘They’re gonna say some Palestinian being too radical – well, you haven’t seen radicalism yet.’

Another speaker at the event, journalist Eugene Puryear, has been slammed for trivializing Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attacks that killed over a thousand innocent Israelis.

‘As you might have seen, there was some sort of rave or desert party where they were having a great time, until the resistance came in electrified hang gliders and took at least several dozen hipsters,’ Puryear said on Oct. 8, one day after the attack, according to a report from the Anti-Defamation League.

Linda Sarsour, who had to walk-back her remarks after stating Israel ‘is built on the idea that Jews are supreme to everyone else,’ and lost her seat on the board of the Women’s March amid allegations of antisemitism, will make an appearance as well on Friday afternoon. Sarsour previously denied the allegations of antisemitism that came during her time with the Women’s March.

‘Ask them this, how can you be against white supremacy in America and the idea of being in a state based on race and class, but then you support a state like Israel that is based on supremacy, that is built on the idea that Jews are supreme to everyone else,’ Sarsour asked a crowd in 2019, according to Israeli news outlet Haaretz.

Mahmoud Khalil, the former Columbia University student who the Trump administration tried to deport for allegedly inciting anti-Israel violence on his campus, will also be in attendance.

In addition to the speakers, the organizers added special programming geared for kids. ‘We’re proud to introduce a two-day Children’s Program for ages 6–12, featuring engaging activities and an educational curriculum that explores Palestinian history, culture, and resistance,’ the conference’s website says.

Fox News Digital reached out to the conference for comment on its list of speakers, but did not immediately receive a response. Fox News Digital also reached out to several of the speakers for comment but, with the exception of Arraf, did not immediately hear back.

Fox News’ Cameron Cawthorne and Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle panned the White House’s move to cancel billions in foreign aid funding as illegal, and warned that it could have dire consequences on the fast-approaching deadline to fund the government.

The White House on Thursday notified Congress of the administration’s intent to cancel $4.9 billion in foreign aid funding through a ‘pocket rescission.’

‘Last night, President Trump CANCELED $4.9 billion in America Last foreign aid using a pocket rescission,’ the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) said on X. ‘[President Donald Trump] will always put AMERICA FIRST!’

The pocket rescissions package obtained by Fox News Digital includes cuts to a variety of foreign aid programs over several fiscal years that the administration argued did not comport with Trump’s agenda.  

Included are roughly $520 million in cuts to Contributions to International Organizations account, over $390 million in cuts to the Contributions for International Peacekeeping Activities account, $322 million from the Democracy Fund, $445 million from the Peacekeeping Operations account and over $3 billion from Development Assistance.

The rescissions process allows the president to make a request to Congress to cancel already approved funding within a 45-day period. Lawmakers successfully went through that exercise earlier this year when they approved $9 billion to be slashed from public broadcasting and foreign aid.

However, a pocket rescission is designed to skirt that 45-day window by coming so close to the end of a fiscal year that lawmakers wouldn’t have time to weigh in. And the White House’s maneuver is already giving Senate Republicans and Democrats heartburn.

Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, said in a statement that the move was an ‘apparent attempt to rescind appropriated funds without congressional approval.’

She also argued that the Government Accountability Office found that under the Impoundment Control Act, the law that governs rescissions, this style of pocket rescission was illegal.

‘Any effort to rescind appropriated funds without congressional approval is a clear violation of the law,’ she said.

‘Instead of this attempt to undermine the law, the appropriate way is to identify ways to reduce excessive spending through the bipartisan, annual appropriations process,’ Collins continued. ‘Congress approves rescissions regularly as part of this process.’

Fox News Digital reached out to the OMB and the White House for comment but did not immediately hear back.

Lawmakers will also have to grapple with how the pocket rescissions will affect negotiations to keep the government open. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., already warned that further attempts to claw back congressionally approved funding would be a bridge too far for Democrats.

Prior to the announcement, Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., sent a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., imploring both to meet with them to discuss the looming Sept. 30 deadline. 

In the letter, they specifically asked if more rescissions were coming.

Now, Schumer charged that the ‘unlawful ‘pocket rescission’ package is further proof President Trump and Congressional Republicans are hellbent on rejecting bipartisanship and ‘going it alone’ this fall.’

‘As the country stares down next month’s government funding deadline on September 30th, it is clear neither President Trump nor Congressional Republicans have any plan to avoid a painful and entirely unnecessary shutdown,’ Schumer said in a statement.

‘In fact, it seems Republicans are eager to inflict further pain on the American people, raising their health care costs, compromising essential services and further damaging our national security,’ he continued. 

Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, has signed a new congressional map into law, securing an additional five Republican-leaning U.S. House districts ahead of competitive midterm elections expected in 2026. 

Abbott’s signature on Friday marks the culmination of a partisan redistricting debate that has captivated the country’s attention and inspired an eye-for-an-eye effort by California Democrats. 

‘Today, I signed the One Big Beautiful Map into law,’ Abbott said on X. ‘This map ensures fairer representation in Congress. Texas will be more RED in Congress.’

The Republican-controlled Texas House and Senate passed the new map through their respective chambers last week, following weeks of Lone Star State Democrats breaking quorum and fleeing the state to avoid a redistricting vote. 

And Republicans in the state were not shy about the reason why they wanted to tweak the map. 

Sen. Phil King, R-Texas, who carried the map in the Senate, contended that while the map created more competitive districts, he believed they would be won by Republicans during the 2026 midterm election cycle. 

‘[House Bill 4], I believe, should elect more Republicans to the U.S. Congress, but I’m here to tell you, there are no guarantees,’ he said.

Texas Democrats aren’t shy about their plans to challenge the map in court, either. 

Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder lauded state Democrats for their attempts to block the process and charged that Texas Republicans ‘have effectively surrendered Texas to Washington, D.C.’

‘This isn’t over — we’ll see these clowns in court,’ Scudder said. ‘We aren’t done fighting against these racially discriminatory maps, and fully expect the letter of the law to prevail over these sycophantic Republican politicians who think the rules don’t apply to them.’

Abbott pushed for the creation of a new map to adhere to President Donald Trump’s desire to not see a repeat of the 2018 election cycle, when Democrats handily regained the majority in the House and acted as a foil to the president’s legislative goals toward the end of his first term. 

The Texas map seeks to maintain the Republican majority in the U.S. House next year. Republicans managed to pass Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ through Congress this year, fulfilling many of his 2024 campaign promises, including immigration and green energy reform and tax cuts. Democrats are already using the megabill as fodder for their 2026 campaigns, particularly on Medicaid cuts. 

Repeating a similar legislative achievement for Trump would face even more hurdles if Democrats win control of the House. 

But Abbott and the Texas GOP’s effort could be in vain, given that California Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Democrats passed their own new map, which added five new Democratic-leaning seats in a bid to cancel out Trump’s demands. 

However, the new California map is not yet official, and must be approved by voters in November to be enacted. 

‘The People of California will be able to cast their vote for a Congressional map. Direct democracy that gives us a fighting chance to STOP Donald Trump’s election rigging,’ Newsom said on X. 

While Republicans control a supermajority in deep-red Texas, Democrats were still needed to create a quorum in the House to actually move the process along.

Dozens of Texas Democrats fled the state to stall the process, creating a national media frenzy and generating support from Democratic donors, including groups linked to George Soros and Beto O’Rourke, to help pay for their fines, travel and lodging.

But Texas Republicans Attorney General Ken Paxton and House Speaker Dustin Burrows sought nationwide civil arrest warrants for the Texas House Democrats who broke quorum, and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, requested the FBI track them down and the DOJ launch an investigation into the political action committees funding their escape.

Democratic leaders announced early last week they would return for the second special session following California’s plan to redraw its maps to soften the blow from the Lone Star State, ending the blockade and allowing Republicans to charge ahead. 

Texas House Democrats accused the GOP of crafting a map that was illegal and racially discriminatory, and they tried and failed on the House floor to add amendments to the bill that would have halted the process. Despite Democrats’ best efforts, Texas House Republicans shot down a dozen amendments to the bill and passed it last Wednesday evening.

‘Members, it breaks my heart to see how this illegal and rigged mid-decade redistricting scheme is dividing our state and our country,’ Rep. Chris Turner, a Democrat, said. ‘This is Texas, it’s not Washington D.C. The impulses of outside politicians and their billionaire backers shouldn’t dictate what we do in this chamber, in this House.’

Rep. Todd Hunter, a Republican who wrote the bill for the new map, countered that four of the five new districts were ‘majority-minority Hispanic,’ noting that each of the new districts now trended Republican. Still, he had no qualms as to why Republicans were pursuing changes to the congressional maps. 

‘The underlying goal of this plan is straightforward, [to] improve Republican political performance,’ he said. 

The Democrats’ blockade ended last week, when Abbott called for a second special session after their demands for California to also begin a redistricting cycle were met in an effort to nullify the map Texas Republicans were creating.

House investigators’ plan to grill former FBI Director Robert Mueller has hit a snag. 

The House Oversight Committee was set to have Mueller appear before the panel on Tuesday as part of the House’s probe into Jeffrey Epstein. However, a source familiar with the investigation told Fox News Digital that lawmakers ‘learned that Mr. Mueller has health issues that preclude him from being able to testify.’ 

‘The committee intends to withdraw its subpoena,’ the source said. 

Mueller was one of many notable figures, including the Clintons, who House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., subpoenaed to testify before the panel. 

He would have been the second witness appearing in-person before the House Oversight Committee after former Attorney General Bill Barr did so last month.

His closed-door deposition was expected to see at least some lawmakers on both sides attend, with the investigation so far seeing wide bipartisan support in an otherwise highly divided era for Congress.

Mueller was most recently in the headlines for his role as special counsel investigating whether Russia interfered in the 2016 election in favor of President Donald Trump.

That probe, which did not find Trump to have committed any wrongdoing, saw 34 people indicted and eight convictions or guilty pleas, including several people associated with the president.

House investigators were expected to dive into Mueller’s time as director of the FBI. He led the bureau under former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, from September 2001 until September 2013.

It was during that window that the federal government first investigated Epstein, something Comer pointed out in his letter subpoenaing Mueller.

‘When you were FBI Director, an FBI investigation of Mr. Epstein led to an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of Florida preparing a draft 60-count indictment of Mr. Epstein in 2007,’ Comer wrote.

‘However, the next year, Mr. Epstein pled guilty in Florida state court to two prostitution offenses, and, in exchange, he and his co-conspirators received immunity from federal prosecution through a non-prosecution agreement.’

That non-prosecution agreement has been widely criticized and is now the basis for Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell to appeal her conviction and 20-year prison sentence before the Supreme Court.

It’s not clear how much of a role Mueller would have had in that agreement. Alexander Acosta, the former Trump labor secretary and U.S. attorney in Florida who signed off on the deal, is sitting down with the House Oversight Committee for a voluntary transcribed interview later this month.

Comer sent out a flurry of subpoenas last month in relation to the Epstein probe. 

Other figures also compelled to appear after Mueller are former FBI Director James Comey, former Attorney General Loretta Lynch and ex-first couple Bill and Hillary Clinton.