The federal government has entered its third partial shutdown of the last half-year after Congress failed to reach an agreement on all 12 of its annual spending bills.

Unlike past shutdowns, however, this one just affects the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It comes after Democrats walked away from a bipartisan deal to fund the department amid uproar over President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.

And while some 97% of the federal government has been funded at this point, a DHS shutdown will still have effects on everyday Americans — effects that will become more apparent the longer the standoff continues.

Air travel delays

Disruptions to the TSA, whose agents are responsible for security checks at nearly 440 airports across the country, could perhaps be the most impactful part of the partial shutdown to Americans’ everyday lives.

Acting Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill told lawmakers at a hearing on Wednesday that around 95% of TSA employees — roughly 61,000 people — are deemed essential and will be forced to work without pay in the event of a shutdown.

‘We heard reports of officers sleeping in their cars at airports to save money on gas, selling their blood and plasma, and taking on second jobs to make ends meet,’ she said of the last shutdown.

But it would take some time before TSA funding could translate to delays. TSA agents, like other essential federal workers, received back pay once the shutdown was over. Those who did not miss shifts also got a $10,000 bonus for added relief.

TSA paychecks due to be issued on March 3 could see agents getting reduced pay depending on the length of the shutdown. Agents would not be at risk of missing a full paycheck until March 17.

If that happens, however, Americans could see delays or even cancellations at the country’s busiest airports as TSA agents are forced to call out of work and get second jobs to make ends meet.

Natural disaster reimbursement

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is one of the largest and most critical recipients of federal funding under DHS.

Associate Administrator of the Office of Response and Recovery Gregg Phillips told lawmakers on Wednesday that FEMA has enough funds to continue disaster response through a shutdown in the immediate future, but that its budget would be strained in the event of an unforeseen ‘catastrophic disaster.’

That means Americans hit by an unexpected natural disaster during the shutdown could see delayed federal reimbursement for their homes and small businesses.

Others who have already lived through a natural disaster in the last year but still have not received their checks — FEMA is currently working through a backlog worth billions of dollars — could see that relief delayed even further during the shutdown.

‘In the 45 days I’ve been here … we have spent $3 billion in 45 days on 5,000 projects,’ Phillips said. ‘We’re going as fast as we can. We’re committed to reducing the backlog. I can’t go any faster than we actually are. And if this lapses, that’s going to stop.’

Worker visa processing

American business owners who rely on certain types of worker visas could see processing times extended during a DHS shutdown.

That’s because United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) programs are run under DHS and are responsible for processing most immigration applications as well as temporary visas.

The majority of those programs are funded by fees and are largely untouched. However, areas like e-Verify, the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Regional Center Program, Conrad 30 J-1 doctors, and non-minister religious workers all rely on funding appropriated by Congress, according to the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

USCIS could allow employers to use alternate processes if e-Verify is disrupted during a shutdown, but it’s not clear how much time it would add to business owners’ day-to-day responsibilities to learn a new route for that paperwork.

: A trio of Republican senators are moving to overhaul how federal childcare funds are distributed after what they call ‘mass fraud’ in Minnesota exposed a system that paid providers before verifying children were ever in the room.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, joined by Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Rick Scott, R-Fla., is introducing the Payment Integrity Act, legislation that would require states to distribute federally funded childcare dollars based on verified attendance — not enrollment claims.

‘Programs in Minnesota for welfare and childcare were designed to channel resources into protecting vulnerable children, but were treated like an open ATM by criminals,’ Cruz told Fox News Digital.

‘The mass fraud in Minnesota shows that American taxpayers can no longer rely on local and state politicians to prevent abuses, because those politicians often have electoral and partisan incentives to look the other way. My legislation reduces the risk of the waste and fraud we’ve seen and ensures that resources are provided to children and families who need it.’

The bill would reverse a 2024 Biden administration rule requiring states to pay childcare providers before attendance verification. Under Cruz’s proposal, providers would be paid only after services are confirmed — shifting from enrollment-based payments to attendance-based billing.

Cruz’s bill comes as the outspoken Texan led a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on alleged Somali fraudsters last week. There, lawmakers heard directly from David Hoch — a journalist seen accompanying blogger Nick Shirley to addresses proclaimed to be Somali daycares.

‘There are few crimes more morally repugnant than stealing from vulnerable children. Every dollar stolen is a meal not eaten, a doctor’s visit missed, and a future diminished,’ Cruz said, adding that such fraud ‘plunders our children’s potential.’

Gesturing towards a photo of the ‘Quality Learing Center’ in Minneapolis during the hearing, an allegedly fraudulent childcare provider Cruz called ’emblematic’ of the crisis, he said the fraud was occurring not in ‘some distant or lawless place, but in the heart of America’s Midwest.’

Co-sponsor Lee said that support for childcare should ‘go to real kids, not empty rooms.’

‘Fake childcare operations are stealing funding from the ones who are actually taking care of America’s children in need. Our bill will address this massive fraud by granting funding based on actual attendance rather than reported enrollment, and allowing states to pay retroactively instead of in advance,’ Lee said, adding such ‘diligence’ should have been the law all along.

The Payment Integrity Act also puts into law January rule from Health and Human Services that established attendance-based billing procedures

That rule, according to Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s deputy Jim O’Neill was also spurred on by what has been happening in Minnesota.

‘We’ve seen credible and widespread allegations of fraudulent daycare providers who were not caring for children at all. The reforms we are enacting will make fraud harder to perpetrate,’ O’Neill said in a statement.

The Payment Integrity Act officially amends the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act signed into law by President George Herbert Walker Bush, to include such ‘attendance-based billing.’

‘Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to require a lead agency to make a payment to a child care provider prior to the provision of child care services,’ the bill reads, a direct reversal of the pre-payment system Cruz says allowed fraud to flourish.

A new attack ad from Republicans targeting U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., is slamming the vulnerable Democrat senator for requiring entrants at his political rallies to show proof of identification, but arguing that identification requirements for voting are a form of voter suppression. 

‘Want to get into a Jon Ossoff rally?’ the advertisement’s narrator begins, before it goes into a montage of staffers at Ossoff’s Feb. 7 rally asking for entrants’ IDs.

‘Don’t forget your ID’ rally staff can be heard saying as folks walked into the Georgia International Convention Center located in metro Atlanta.

‘Also, do you have your ID with you?’ another staffer can be heard asking entrants in the video captured by a GOP tracker. ‘I’ll just grab your ID from you. Thank you so much,’ another said. ‘Please have your IDs ready, please, thank you.’

Meanwhile, Ossoff has referred to attempts to establish stricter photo-identification rules for voting and voter registration in federal elections as ‘nakedly partisan, totally unworkable, [and] bad faith.’

Ossoff’s team declined to comment for this story. 

On Wednesday, Republicans in the House of Representatives passed the latest iteration of a voter integrity law aiming at requiring stricter in-person documentation requirements, such as needing a photo-ID to vote. This bill is a broader and stricter version of the 2025 version of the bill which focused predominantly on registering to vote as opposed to the act of voting itself.

Ahead of the vote’s passage, one of Ossoff’s Republican challengers in the upcoming U.S. Senate race in Georgia, Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., called out the incumbent Democrat Senator for ‘once [saying] that voter ID was ‘right and appropriate,’ [but] now supports his party as reframing it as ‘voter suppression.”

‘The law didn’t change. Public opinion didn’t change. What changed was he – and other Democrat politicians like him – realized that illegal immigrants could no longer vote to keep Democrats in office,’ Carter asserted. ‘They oppose this bill because it chips away at their voting base; plain and simple.’

Despite Ossoff’s previous opposition to voter integrity laws, his campaign event framed the requirement for photo ID as a security measure.

‘Due to security requirements … be ready to show ID that matches our RSVP list and these arrival instructions (printed or on your phone),’ the campaign event’s confirmation email said.

Fox News Digital’s Leo Briceno contributed to this report.

: A trio of Republican senators are moving to overhaul how federal childcare funds are distributed after what they call ‘mass fraud’ in Minnesota exposed a system that paid providers before verifying children were ever in the room.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, joined by senators Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Rick Scott, R-Fla., is introducing the Payment Integrity Act, legislation that would require states to distribute federally funded childcare dollars based on verified attendance, not enrollment claims.

‘Programs in Minnesota for welfare and childcare were designed to channel resources into protecting vulnerable children but were treated like an open ATM by criminals,’ Cruz told Fox News Digital.

‘The mass fraud in Minnesota shows that American taxpayers can no longer rely on local and state politicians to prevent abuses because those politicians often have electoral and partisan incentives to look the other way. My legislation reduces the risk of the waste and fraud we’ve seen and ensures that resources are provided to children and families who need it.’

The bill would reverse a 2024 Biden administration rule requiring states to pay childcare providers before attendance verification. Under Cruz’s proposal, providers would be paid only after services are confirmed, shifting from enrollment-based payments to attendance-based billing.

Cruz’s bill comes as the outspoken Texan led a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on alleged Somali fraudsters last week. There, lawmakers heard directly from David Hoch, a journalist who accompanied blogger Nick Shirley to sites claiming to be Somali daycare centers.

‘There are few crimes more morally repugnant than stealing from vulnerable children. Every dollar stolen is a meal not eaten, a doctor’s visit missed and a future diminished,’ Cruz said, adding that such fraud ‘plunders our children’s potential.’

Gesturing toward a photo of the ‘Quality Learing Center’ in Minneapolis during the hearing, an alleged fraudulent childcare provider Cruz called ’emblematic’ of the crisis, he said the fraud was occurring not in ‘some distant or lawless place, but in the heart of America’s Midwest.’

Co-sponsor Lee said support for childcare should ‘go to real kids, not empty rooms.’

‘Fake childcare operations are stealing funding from the ones who are actually taking care of America’s children in need. Our bill will address this massive fraud by granting funding based on actual attendance rather than reported enrollment and allowing states to pay retroactively instead of in advance,’ Lee said, adding such ‘diligence’ should have been the law all along.

The Payment Integrity Act also puts into law the January rule from Health and Human Services that established attendance-based billing procedures.

That rule, according to Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s deputy, Jim O’Neill, was also spurred by what has been happening in Minnesota.

‘We’ve seen credible and widespread allegations of fraudulent daycare providers who were not caring for children at all. The reforms we are enacting will make fraud harder to perpetrate,’ O’Neill said in a statement.

The Payment Integrity Act amends the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act signed into law by President George H.W. Bush, to include such ‘attendance-based billing.’

‘Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to require a lead agency to make a payment to a child care provider prior to the provision of child care services,’ the bill states in a direct reversal of the prepayment system Cruz says allowed fraud to flourish.

President Donald Trump is threatening to back election challengers against the six House Republicans who joined Democrats in voting to reverse his tariffs on Canada.

The president sent out an ominous warning to GOP lawmakers in the House and Senate just before his agenda suffered a blow on Capitol Hill Wednesday evening.

‘Any Republican, in the House or the Senate, that votes against TARIFFS will seriously suffer the consequences come Election time, and that includes Primaries!’ Trump posted on Truth Social.

He argued that the trade deficit was reduced significantly while U.S. financial markets hit significant high points because of his tariff policies.

‘In addition, TARIFFS have given us Great National Security because the mere mention of the word has Countries agreeing to our strongest wishes,’ Trump continued. 

‘TARIFFS have given us Economic and National Security, and no Republican should be responsible for destroying this privilege.’

Democrats successfully got a vote on a measure to reverse Trump’s national emergency at the northern border using a mechanism for forcing votes over the objections of House majority leadership called a privileged resolution.

The six Republicans who voted in favor of the measure are Reps. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., Don Bacon, R-Neb., Jeff Hurd, R-Colo., and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa. 

One Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, voted with the majority of Republicans on the matter. It passed 219-211.

It’s not clear how much impact Trump’s threat will have, however.

Both Newhouse and Bacon are not running for re-election in the 2026 midterms, and Trump is already endorsing a primary challenger against Massie.

Kiley, whose district was severely impacted by California Democrats’ new congressional map, has not yet said whether he will run for re-election or where he will do it.

Fitzpatrick and Hurd are both well-liked incumbents in their districts, which are top targets for Democrats come November.

Trump signed an executive order in February 2025, enacting an additional 25% tariff on most goods from Canada and Mexico. Energy from Canada was subject to an additional 15% tariff.

At the time, the White House said it was punishment for those countries’ unwillingness to do more to stop the flow of illegal immigrants and illicit drugs into the U.S.

Opponents of Trump’s tariff strategy have criticized his moves against Canada in particular, arguing it was unjustly harming one of the closest allies of the U.S. and trading partners to the detriment of Americans themselves.

But Republicans who voted against the legislation pointed out that Trump said the fentanyl crisis was the reason for issuing the emergency in the first place, and said the drug was still killing Americans.

The legislation now heads to the Senate, where Republicans have voted to rebuke Trump’s tariff strategy in the past despite similar warnings from the president.

The House of Representatives passed legislation on Wednesday aimed at reversing President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada after several Republicans joined Democrats for a rare rebuke of the GOP commander-in-chief.

Democrats successfully got a vote on a measure to reverse Trump’s national emergency at the northern border using a mechanism for forcing votes over the objections of House majority leadership, called a privileged resolution.

Trump signed an executive order in February 2025 implementing an additional 25% tariff on most goods from Canada and Mexico. Energy from Canada was subject to an additional 15% tariff.

At the time, the White House said it was punishment for those countries’ unwillingness to do more to stop the flow of illegal immigrants and illicit drugs into the U.S.

Opponents of Trump’s tariff strategy have criticized his moves against Canada in particular, arguing it was unjustly harming one of the U.S.’s closest allies and trading partners to the detriment of Americans themselves.

‘In the last year, tariffs have cost American families nearly $1,700. And that cost is expected to increase in 2026,’ Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., who is leading the legislation, said during debate on Wednesday.

‘And since these tariffs were imposed, U.S. exports to Canada have fallen by more than 21%. When I go home, my constituents aren’t telling me that they have an extra $1,700 to spare. They’re asking me to lower grocery prices, lower the price of healthcare, and make life more affordable.’

Meeks also said, ‘Canada is our friend. Canada is our ally. Canadians have fought alongside Americans, whether it was in World War II or the war in Afghanistan, where 165 Canadians gave their lives after our country was attacked. There is no national emergency, there is no national security threat underpinning these threats.’

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., argued the text of the resolution itself would end a national emergency related to fentanyl.

‘The gentleman over here, 5,000 people per year die in his state alone from fentanyl,’ Mast said of Meeks. ‘So if he wants to beg the question of who’s going to pay the price of him trying to end an emergency, that actually, for the first time, has Canada dealing with fentanyl because of the pressure being put on them — who’s going to pay the price? It’s going to be 5,000 more of his state’s residents. That’s who’s going to pay the price.’

He said the resolution was ‘not a debate about tariffs’ but rather Democrats trying to ‘ignore that there is a fentanyl crisis.’

The resolution was filed by Democrats months ago but was put on hold by an active measure by House GOP leaders that blocked the House from reversing Trump’s emergency declarations.

The president has used emergency declarations to bypass Congress on the subject of tariffs, a move that has drawn mixed reviews from Capitol Hill.

But that measure expired last month, and House GOP leaders’ bid to extend it through July 31 crashed and burned on Tuesday night when three Republicans joined Democrats to oppose it.

‘It is time for Congress to make its voice heard on tariffs,’ Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., one of the Republicans who voted in opposition to the Trump policy both on Tuesday and Wednesday, told Fox News Digital.

The legislation now heads to the Senate, which has voted in the past to restrict Trump’s tariff authority.

Even if it succeeds there, however, it’s likely to be hit with a veto from the president.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced she was ending the work of a task force that sought to reform the U.S. intelligence community, including rooting out what she described as the politicization of intelligence gathering, after less than a year since its creation.

Gabbard established the group in April, when it was also tasked with probing ways to reduce spending on intelligence and whether reports on high-profile topics such as COVID-19 should be declassified.

In a statement on Wednesday, Gabbard said the task force’s work was always intended to be temporary after she was tapped to oversee coordination of the 18 U.S. intelligence agencies.

‘In less than one year, we’ve brought a historic level of transparency to the intelligence community,’ Gabbard said in her statement. ‘My commitment to transparency, truth, and eliminating politicization and weaponization within the intelligence community remains central to all that we do.’

The number of officers assigned to the task force, as well as their identities, are classified, according to Gabbard’s office.

The officers will now return to other intelligence agencies to continue the work the group started, her office added.

The group sparked criticism against Gabbard after its creation, with Democrats and some intelligence insiders raising questions about whether it would be used to undermine intelligence agencies and bring them under tighter control of President Donald Trump.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-VA, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said last year that the group appeared to be a ‘pass for a witch hunt’ designed to target intelligence officers deemed disloyal to Trump.

‘This seems to be just a pass for a witch hunt and that’s going to further undermine our national security,’ Warner told Reuters at the time.

Gabbard has implemented significant changes to the country’s intelligence gathering in the last year, including by using agencies to back up Trump’s claims about alleged interference in the 2016 and 2020 elections.

In August, she revealed plans to cut her office’s workforce and slash more than $700 million from its annual budget. She also fired two top intelligence officials in May after concluding that they opposed Trump.

Since Gabbard took over as director, the federal government has revoked the security clearances of dozens of former and current officials, including high-profile political opponents of the president, which critics have panned as being a punishment for siding against Trump rather than posing security risks.

Gabbard’s presence for a recent FBI search of a Georgia election office in connection to the 2020 election has led to criticism from Democrats who argue she is blurring the traditional lines between foreign intelligence collection and domestic law enforcement.

The CIA has also released additional information about its investigations into the origins of COVID-19, such as an assessment released last year that affirmed the position that it most likely originated in a lab in China.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday in a visit expected to center on Iran, as Washington weighs diplomacy against the threat of military action and Israel pushes to shape the scope of negotiations.

Trump has signaled the Iranian file will dominate the agenda. In a phone interview with Axios, the president said Tehran ‘very much wants to reach a deal,’ but warned, ‘Either we make a deal, or we’ll have to do something very tough — like last time.’

Netanyahu, speaking before departing Israel for Washington, said he intends to present Israel’s position. ‘I will present to the president our concept regarding the principles of the negotiations — the essential principles that are important not only to Israel but to anyone who wants peace and security in the Middle East,’ he told reporters.

The meeting comes days after U.S. and Iranian officials resumed talks in Oman for the first time since last summer’s 12-day war, while the United States continues to maintain a significant military presence in the Gulf — a posture widely viewed as both deterrence and for holding leverage in negotiations with Tehran.

From the U.S. perspective, Iran is seen as a global security challenge rather than a regional one, according to Jacob Olidort, chief research officer and director of American security at the America First Policy Institute. ‘It’s an important historic time of potentially seismic proportions,’ he told Fox News Digital.

‘Iran is not so much a Middle East issue. It’s a global issue affecting U.S. interests around the world,’ he added, calling the regime ‘probably the world’s oldest global terror network… [with] thousands of Americans killed through proxies.’

Olidort said the administration’s strategy appears to combine diplomacy with visible military pressure. ‘The president has been clear… should talks not be successful, the military option cannot be off the table,’ he said. ‘Military assets in the region serve as part of the negotiation strategy with Iran.’

For Israel, the main concern is not only Iran’s nuclear program but also its ballistic missile arsenal and regional network of armed groups.

Trump indicated to Axios that the United States shares at least part of that view, saying any agreement would need to address not only nuclear issues but also Iran’s ballistic missiles. 

Israeli intelligence expert Sima Shein has warned that negotiations narrowly focused on nuclear restrictions could leave Israel exposed. ‘The visit signals a lack of confidence that American envoys, Witkoff and Kushner, alone can represent Israel’s interests in the best way. They were in Israel just a week ago — but Netanyahu wants to speak directly with Trump, so there is no ambiguity about Israel’s position,’ she added.

Shein says Iran may be stalling diplomatically to see whether Washington limits talks to nuclear issues while avoiding missile constraints. Her analysis further suggests that a sanctions-relief agreement that leaves Iran’s broader capabilities intact could stabilize the regime at a moment of internal pressure while preserving its military leverage. 

‘An agreement now would effectively save the regime at a time when it has no real solutions to its internal problems. Lifting sanctions through a deal would give it breathing room and help stabilize it,’ she said.

‘If there is an agreement, the United States must demand the release of all detainees and insist on humanitarian measures, including medical support for those who have been severely injured. Washington would need to be directly involved in enforcing those provisions.’

Netanyahu said before leaving Israel that he and Trump would discuss ‘a series of topics,’ including Gaza, where a U.S.-backed postwar framework and ceasefire implementation remain stalled. 

According to Israeli reporting, Netanyahu plans to tell Trump that phase two of the Gaza peace plan ‘is not moving,’ reflecting continued disputes over disarmament, governance and security arrangements.

The timing of Netanyahu’s visit may also allow him to avoid returning to Washington the following week for the inaugural session of the Board of Peace, Shein said, noting the initiative is controversial in Israel’s parliament. 

‘Israel is deeply concerned about the presence of Turkey and Qatar on the board of peace and their malign influence on other members as well as on the Palestinian authority’s technocratic government,’ Dan Diker, president of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, told Fox News Digital.

‘Hamas’s control of Gaza has not weakened, while international commitments to disarm Hamas have appeared to weaken,’ he added, ‘The longer the U.S. waits before taking action against the Iranian regime, the more compromised Israel is in its ability and determination to forcibly disarm Hamas, both of which require the sanction and the blessing of the new international structures on Gaza.’

‘The prime minister’s deep concern is the stalled state of affairs both against the Iranian regime and apparently in Gaza. Timing is critical on both fronts. And for Israel, the window seems to be closing,’ Diker said.  

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) refused to consider Moderna’s application for a new flu vaccine using mRNA technology, the company announced Tuesday, a decision that could delay the introduction of a shot designed to offer stronger protection for older adults.

Moderna said it received what’s known as a ‘refusal-to-file’ (RTF) letter from the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), citing the lack of an ‘adequate and well-controlled’ study with a comparator arm that ‘does not reflect the best-available standard of care.’

Stéphane Bancel, chief executive officer of Moderna, said the FDA’s decision did not ‘identify any safety or efficacy concerns with our product’ and ‘does not further our shared goal of enhancing America’s leadership in developing innovative medicines.’

‘It should not be controversial to conduct a comprehensive review of a flu vaccine submission that uses an FDA-approved vaccine as a comparator in a study that was discussed and agreed on with CBER prior to starting,’ Bancel said in a statement. ‘We look forward to engaging with CBER to understand the path forward as quickly as possible so that America’s seniors, and those with underlying conditions, continue to have access to American-made innovations.’

The rare decision from the FDA comes amid increased scrutiny over vaccine approvals under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has criticized mRNA vaccines and rolled back certain COVID-19 shot recommendations over the past year.

Kennedy previously removed members of the federal government’s vaccine advisory panel and appointed new members, and moved to cancel $500 million in mRNA vaccine contracts.

The FDA authorized COVID-19 vaccines for the fall for high-risk groups only. Last May, Kennedy announced the vaccines would be removed from the CDC’s routine immunization schedule for healthy children and pregnant women.

According to Moderna, the refusal-to-file decision was based on the company’s choice of comparator in its Phase 3 trial — a licensed standard-dose seasonal flu vaccine — which the FDA said did not reflect the ‘best-available standard of care.’

Moderna said the decision contradicts prior written communications from the FDA, including 2024 guidance stating a standard-dose comparator would be acceptable, though a higher-dose vaccine was recommended for participants over 65.

Moderna said the FDA ‘did not raise any objections or clinical hold comments about the adequacy of the Phase 3 trial after the submission of the protocol in April 2024 or at any time before the initiation of the study in September 2024.’

In August 2025, following completion of the Phase 3 efficacy trial, Moderna said it held a pre-submission meeting with CBER, which requested that supportive analyses on the comparator be included in the submission and indicated the data would be a ‘significant issue during review of your BLA.’

Moderna said it provided the additional analyses requested by CBER in its submission, noting that ‘at no time in the pre-submission written feedback or meeting did CBER indicate that it would refuse to review the file.’

The company requested a Type A meeting with CBER to understand the basis for the RTF letter, adding that regulatory reviews are continuing in the European Union, Canada and Australia.

Fox News has reached out to the Department of Health and Human Services for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Alex Miller and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The House of Representatives is readying to vote on a bill that would mandate photo identification for voters across the United States in the coming 2026 midterm elections.

The House Rules Committee, the final gatekeeper before most bills see a chamber-wide vote, advanced the SAVE America Act on Tuesday as conservatives continue to pressure the Senate to take up the bill after its likely House passage.

It’s a sweeping piece of legislation aimed at keeping non-citizens from participating in U.S. elections.

Democrats have attacked the bill as tantamount to voter suppression, while Republicans argue that it’s necessary after the influx of millions of illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. during the four years of the Biden administration.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters it would get a vote on Wednesday.

The legislation is led by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, in the House, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, in the Senate.

It is an updated version of Roy’s Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which passed the House in April 2025 but was never taken up in the Senate.

Whereas the SAVE Act would create a new federal proof of citizenship mandate in the voter registration process and impose requirements for states to keep their rolls clear of ineligible voters, the updated bill would also require photo ID to vote in any federal elections.

It would also require information-sharing between state election officials and federal authorities in verifying citizenship on current voter rolls and enable the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to pursue immigration cases if non-citizens were found to be listed as eligible to vote.

The legislation is highly likely to pass the House, where the vast majority — if not virtually all — Republicans have supported similar pushes in the past.

But in the Senate, where current rules say 60 votes are needed to overcome a filibuster and hold a final vote on a bill, at least seven Democrats would be needed even if all Republicans stuck together.

It’s why House conservatives are pushing Senate GOP leaders to change rules in a way that would effectively do away with the 60-vote threshold, even if alternative paths mean paralyzing the upper chamber with hours of nonstop debate.

‘[Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.] will take it up. The only question is, will he take it up in an environment where it can pass?’ Roy posed to Fox News Digital on Tuesday. 

‘My view is that the majority leader can and should. I’m not afraid of amendment votes…we should table all their amendments, force them to run through all their speaking, make them take the floor and filibuster.’