House Republicans are targeting vulnerable districts in the 2026 midterms over the Department of Homeland Security shutdown and burgeoning Transportation Security Administration security chaos.

“House Democrats shut down Homeland Security while TSA agents work for free and Americans sit in hours-long security lines,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Mike Marinella wrote Monday in a statement, announcing the targeting of Democrats in 28 districts most impacted by TSA security checkpoint delays.

The NRCC launched a paid ad campaign, focusing on Democrats it accuses of shutting down DHS and forcing TSA agents to work without pay as travelers face long security lines.

“Democrats are being blamed by the American people for the catastrophe going on right now at our airports and at other points of transportation and beyond,” President Donald Trump told a Monday gathering on addressing crime in Memphis, Tennessee.

MINNEAPOLIS MAYOR CLAIMS TRUMP CAN JUST ‘HIRE OUT MORE TSA AGENTS’ DESPITE DHS SHUTDOWN

“And we want the public to know we’re not going to let them out of this trap that they created for themselves.”

The NRCC airport-focused campaign ad targets a list of battleground and open-seat districts across California, Florida, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Washington.

The targeting comes as Trump has sent Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to airports with long TSA security lines that have forced Americans to show up to check in up to five hours in advance or potentially missing their flights over the first weekend of spring travel – one of the busier times of the year.

TSA OFFICIAL WARNS SMALLER AIRPORTS COULD SHUT DOWN AMID DHS FUNDING CRISIS

“We’re not going to have the Democrats destroy our country,” Trump told reporters in an under-wing gaggle before boarding Air Force One on Monday morning in West Palm Beach, Florida. “These people are the most destructive sick people, the Democrats.”

Airports in the Northeast were also hit by a shutdown at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, where an Air Canada jet crashed trying to avoid a Port Authority Police Department fire truck that was cleared to cross the runway as the jet was landing.

The LaGuardia ground stop forced travelers to other New York City and New Jersey airports and led to cancellations and delays around the country that was relying on the availability of those jets grounded.

SCHUMER KNOCKS TRUMP ON IRAN, PLAN TO SEND ICE TO AIRPORTS: ‘ASKING FOR TROUBLE’

ICE agents arrive at JFK airport in New Yorlk City, N.Y., Monday, March 23, 2026. The agents are being brought in to assist TSA agents amid staffing shortages due to the government shutdown. (David Dee Delgado for Fox News Digital)

“In addition, after the appalling lines and massive disruptions at major airports nationwide last weekend, I am again demanding that Democrats in Congress immediately end their disgraceful shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security and restore the full funding for airport security and the TSA,” Trump told the Memphis event.

“They are holding it up because they want to take care of illegal immigrants coming into our country. They want to take care of criminals that are in sanctuary cities.”

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On the proverbial political tarmac, House Republicans are clinging to a narrow 217-214 majority. That tally includes one newly designated independent – Rep. Kevin Kiley, I-Calif., who vowed to continue to caucus with Republicans.

There are three outstanding vacancies yet to be filled after the resignations of former Reps. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., and Marjorie Taylor Greene-R-Ga., and the Jan. 6 death of late Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif.

Counterterrorism police are leading an investigation after four Jewish community ambulances were set on fire outside a synagogue in London early Monday in what authorities are treating as an antisemitic hate crime. 

The attack took place around 1:45 a.m. in the Golders Green neighborhood, where Hatzola ambulances, a volunteer emergency service run by the Jewish community, were deliberately set ablaze in a synagogue parking lot, according to a statement by Detective Chief Superintendent Luke Williams of the Metropolitan Police.

“This arson attack is being treated as an antisemitic hate crime. This is a devastating incident for our Jewish communities,” Williams said. He added that while the incident has not yet been formally declared terrorism, “the investigation is now being led by Counterterrorism Policing… and all lines of enquiry remain open.”

A video circulating online purports to show Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyya, an Iran-linked group that has claimed responsibility for recent attacks on Jewish sites in Belgium and the Netherlands, taking credit for the London attack, according to the Jewish Chronicle.

WESTERN LEADERS MUST CONFRONT ISLAMIST-INSPIRED ANTISEMITIC VIOLENCE BEFORE IT TARGETS EVERYONE

Charred remains of ambulances belonging to Hatzola, a Jewish community organization, which were set on fire in an incident that the police say is being treated as an antisemitic hate crime, in northwest London, Britain, March 23, 2026.  (Hannah McKay/Reuters)

Authorities are examining a potential link to a newly emerged group with suspected ties to Iran. “We are aware of an online claim from a group taking responsibility for this attack,” Williams said. “Establishing the authenticity and accuracy of this claim will be a priority… but it is not something we can confirm at this point.”

Alan Mendoza, executive director of the Henry Jackson Society, told Fox News Digital that the attack reflects years of policy failures in confronting Iranian activity on British soil. “Successive U.K. Governments have completely failed in their primary duty of keeping the home front safe. Iranian terrorist activity has been known about in the U.K. for years yet no significant moves have been made to ban the IRGC or restrict the ability of regime-linked entities to function within British society. We have created the conditions for terrorism to flourish,” he said. 

He argued that Britain’s broader approach to the conflict with Iran — attempting to maintain distance while avoiding direct confrontation — has further emboldened Tehran. “The current policy on the war in Iran is delusional. The Government is pretending Britain is not involved. The Iranian regime does not, however, believe in neutrality and has decided its position for us: ripe for targeting.”

Joe Truzman, a senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said in a post on X that “My initial assessment is that the attack could potentially be linked to Ashab al-Yamin, an Iran-linked group that has carried out multiple attacks against Jewish institutions across Europe since the war began… Hopefully this is something different, but the possibility that the group is involved should be examined.”

ISRAEL’S NETANYAHU DEMANDS WESTERN GOVERNMENTS ACT TO BATTLE ANTISEMITISM: ‘HEED OUR WARNINGS’

Charred remains of ambulances belonging to Hatzola, a Jewish community organization, which were set on fire in an incident that the police say is being treated as an antisemitic hate crime, in northwest London, Britain, March 23, 2026.  (Isabel Infantes/Reuters)

Police said they are searching for three suspects seen on CCTV pouring an accelerant onto the vehicles before igniting them. No injuries were reported, though nearby homes were evacuated as a precaution. 

The attack comes amid a broader wave of violence targeting Jewish communities across Europe in recent weeks.

Scott Saunders, CEO of the International March of the Living, said the incident represents a dangerous escalation. “The arson attack in Golders Green… marks a dangerous escalation in the targeting of Jewish communities,” Saunders said. “Emergency vehicles operated by Jewish volunteer first responders were deliberately attacked… in direct proximity to a place of worship — a space that should represent safety.”

CANADA’S CARNEY UNDER PRESSURE TO ACT AFTER SYNAGOGUES SHOT AT IN LATEST ANTISEMITIC INCIDENTS

Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel visits the scene after four ambulances belonging to Hatzola, a Jewish community organization, were set on fire in an incident that the police say is being treated as an antisemitic hate crime, in northwest London, Britain, March 23, 2026.  (Isabel Infantes/Reuters)

“These ambulances do not only serve Jewish communities… Targeting them is an attack not only on Jewish life, but on the shared fabric of the community they serve,” he added. “Since the war with Iran began, antisemitic attacks have become more frequent, more brazen, and more direct. Jewish institutions are being singled out; synagogues, community spaces, and now even the emergency services that exist to protect Jewish lives, with a growing sense that these are legitimate targets. Following the deadly shooting in and around a synagogue in Manchester last October, where this escalation already resulted in loss of life, the attack in Golders Green makes clear that this trajectory is continuing.”

Dr. Charles Asher Small, founder of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy, said the attack reflects a broader trend.

“The attack against a visible Jewish target is not an isolated act of vandalism; it is the violent fruition of a climate where Jew-hatred has been normalized and institutionalized,” Small said.

ISRAELI INTEL OFFICIAL SAYS YOUR ‘JAW WOULD DROP’ AT TERROR PLOTS PREVENTED WORLDWIDE

Men hold the flag of Israel and the pre-Iranian Revolution “Lion and Sun” flag near the scene where four ambulances belonging to Hatzola, a Jewish community organization, were set on fire in an incident that the police say is being treated as an antisemitic hate crime, in northwest London, Britain, March 23, 2026. REUTERS/Isabel Infantes (Isabel Infantes/Reuters)

“At the center of this malignancy sits the Iranian regime… which actively funds and directs the networks that view British Jewish institutions as legitimate targets,” he added.

British officials also condemned the attack.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, “An attack on our Jewish community is an attack on us all. We will fight the poison that is antisemitism.”

Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis called the incident on X “a particularly sickening assault — not only on the Jewish community, but on the values we share as a society.”

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Police secure the site near a synagogue damaged by an explosion early on Monday, in Liege, Belgium, March 9, 2026.  (Yves Herman/Reuters)

“The targeting of Hatzola… is a most painful illustration of the ongoing battle between those who sanctify life and those who seek to destroy it,” he added in a statement posted March 23, 2026.

Police said there have been no arrests and urged anyone with information to come forward.

The United States stood alone at the United Nations in early March after a European-led procedural move blocked a vote on defining gender in biological terms at one of the world’s leading forums on women’s rights.

At the conclusion of the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women, the U.S. was the only country to oppose the body’s annual “Agreed Conclusions,” citing concerns that the language departs from biological definitions of women and girls. No other member state voted with the United States.

At the center of the dispute is how the United Nations defines “gender.” Current U.N. frameworks, rooted in the 1995 Beijing Declaration, do not provide a fixed definition and instead rely on evolving interpretations tied to broader concepts of gender identity, according to EU officials. 

The U.S. proposal sought to anchor the term explicitly in biological sex.

UPROAR AFTER IRAN NAMED VICE-CHAIR OF UN BODY PROMOTING DEMOCRACY, WOMEN’S RIGHTS

The U.S. introduced a resolution titled “Protection of women and girls through appropriate terminology,” which sought to clarify how gender is understood across U.N. policy.

Turkish Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Ozdemir Goktas attends a high-level meeting themed âViolence Against Women and Girlsâ as part of the 70th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York, United States, on March 12, 2026.  (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The draft states that the term “gender” should be interpreted “according to its ordinary, generally accepted usage, as referring to men and women.” 

The proposal never reached a vote. Belgium, speaking on behalf of the European Union, introduced a “no action motion,” a procedural tool that blocks debate and prevents a proposal from being considered. 

The motion passed, halting the U.S. resolution before it reached the floor.

That distinction carries practical implications. U.N. language shapes global standards tied to development funding, humanitarian programs, education policy and anti-discrimination frameworks.

Bethany Kozma, director of Global Affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services, told Fox News Digital the move reflects a broader effort to shut down debate at the U.N.

STATE DEPT MOVES TO EXPAND MEXICO CITY POLICY, TARGETING ABORTION, DEI AND GENDER IDEOLOGY IN FOREIGN AID

“While our redlines were ignored, the United States Government will not stand by and watch as malicious forces misuse multilateral organizations to promote their ideologies and social agendas, obstructing nations’ abilities to exercise their national sovereignty,” Kozma said. “We will always protect women and girls from dangerous gender ideology and affirm biological truth.”

She added that the decision to block the vote was driven by political calculation.

“The EU blocked our resolution to define gender to mean men and women at the U.N. because they feared we would win and they would lose,” Kozma said. “We will not give up on doing what is right for women and girls. Even if we stand alone like we did at the U.N. last week, we will always stand to protect women and girls from dangerous radical gender ideology and always affirm biological truth.”

STATE DEPARTMENT DECLARES ‘INTERNATIONAL BUREAUCRACIES’ WILL NO LONGER GET ‘BLANK CHECKS’ FROM THE US

Delegates attend a United Nations Security Council meeting on Feb. 24, 2026, in New York City. (John Lamparski/Getty Images)

A State Department official, speaking on background, described the move as part of a broader coordinated effort led by European countries.

“These are procedural games that these countries are not prepared for,” the official said, referring to smaller delegations that may lack guidance on complex procedural votes.

The official said the maneuver allowed opponents to block a vote despite what the U.S. believed was growing support. These claims could not be independently verified.

The European Union rejected the U.S. criticism, saying the proposal was flawed and rushed.

“The draft resolution presented by the U.S. was factually incorrect,” said David Jordens, spokesperson for Belgium’s foreign ministry, adding that it “misquotes and contradicts” language agreed to in the 1995 Beijing Declaration.

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The United Nations Headquarters is photographed in New York City. (iStock)

“While the EU respects Member States’ prerogative to put forward new initiatives for consideration, CSW members should not be forced to rush a decision on an issue of this importance by the unilateral initiative of one Member State, without any prior consultations or negotiations,” Jordens said.

He added that “there is no universally agreed definition of the term ‘gender’. As reflected in the outcome of the Fourth World Conference on Women, the term was understood in accordance with its ordinary and generally accepted usage, without establishing a fixed or exhaustive definition. The United Nations should continue to approach gender equality in an inclusive and forward-looking manner, respectful of diversity. Any effort to revisit or reinterpret internationally agreed language must take place through broad, transparent consultations with the full membership.”

Former Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair once angered then-President Barack Obama during a White House meeting on Iran, after he pressed Obama on whether he could tolerate the nation obtaining a nuclear weapon, according to newly released oral history interviews.

“When it came my turn to speak at this meeting,” Blair said, “I said, ‘Mr. President, you really just have one decision to make… Are you going to tolerate Iran having a nuclear weapon or not?’” He added that rejecting a nuclear Iran would require espionage and military options, while acceptance would mean a strategy to contain and deter Iran.

The exchange, documented in interviews conducted by the University of Virginia’s Miller Center and reported by The New York Times, offers a window into internal divisions within the Obama administration as officials debated how to respond to Iran’s nuclear program.

Blair said the moment prompted a sharp warning from Obama.

“The president took me aside after that meeting and said, ‘Denny, don’t ever put me on the spot like that again,’” he recalled. “I said… ‘Yes, sir, Mr. President. I certainly won’t.’” He added, “I was kept out of meetings from that time forward.”

Former President Barack Obama’s pursuit of the Iran nuclear deal was a defining part of his second term. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

OBAMA OFFICIAL WHO BACKED IRAN DEAL SPARKS ONLINE OUTRAGE WITH REACTION TO TRUMP’S STRIKE: ‘SIT THIS ONE OUT’

Blair described the meeting as one that had been presented as an opportunity to provide input on Iran policy, and he made the “mistake” of thinking Obama was honestly looking for “fresh insights.”

Blair served as Obama’s DNI from the start of his presidency in 2009 until he resigned at Obama’s request in May 2010.

Obama would go on to negotiate the Iran nuclear deal during his second term, which his administration hailed as a landmark diplomatic achievement that limited the country’s nuclear ambitions while avoiding bloodshed. Its critics savaged the deal as mere appeasement that granted unearned sanctions relief to the world’s largest state sponsor of terror. 

President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the agreement in 2018.

Some holding pictures of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, mourners reach out to coffins during a funeral for people killed during the ongoing U.S.–Israeli military campaign in Isfahan, Iran, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (Payman Shahsanaei/ISNA via AP)

NANCY PELOSI DOUBLES DOWN ON DEFENDING OBAMA’S STRIKES ON LIBYA WHILE ATTACKING TRUMP: ‘READ THE LAW’

The released oral histories also include accounts of internal political discussions within the Obama White House, including deliberations over Vice President Joe Biden’s potential 2016 presidential bid.

David Plouffe, a top political strategist, urged Biden not to enter the race, telling him, “There’s no room. There’s just no room for you.”

Plouffe added, “I’m concerned about you as a human being. I’m not sure you’re in a state to run.”

Biden, who mourned the death of his son Beau in 2015, announced later that year that he would not enter the Democratic race, which came down to a heated battle between Hillary Clinton, Obama’s preferred candidate, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

Then-President Joe Biden, right, talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, July 25, 2024.  (Susan Walsh, File/AP Photo)

IRAN FUNDING EMERGES AS KEY TEST FOR JOHNSON’S RAZOR-THIN HOUSE MAJORITY

Clinton would go on to win the nomination and lose the general election to Trump.

Obama’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital‘s request for comment. 

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America has announced the date to end the ongoing war with Iran. America has set the date of April 9, 2026 to end the war. Just before the end of the ultimatum given to Iran, US President Donald Trump’s statement has indicated peace in the Middle East. Trump has said not to attack Iran’s energy sites for the next 5 days.

Trump claims that talks between the two countries are moving in a positive direction and talks have been reached on about 15 issues. The US President says that talks with Iran will decide whether a comprehensive agreement is possible or not. Iran first denied talks with America and then later admitted that talks were going on between the two countries.

These Muslim countries including Pakistan became mediators: Report

US President Donald Trump said that if an agreement is reached to end the war with Iran, oil prices will fall sharply. Trump said that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s son Mojtaba Khamenei is missing and no one knows what happened to him. He claimed that Iran’s leadership has almost completely been destroyed. American news outlet Axios quoted a US official as saying that representatives of Turkey, Egypt and Pakistan met White House envoy Steve Witkoff to end the war.

Conversation between Munir and Trump

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s CDF Field Marshal Asim Munir spoke to US President Donald Trump. According to Reuters report, Israeli officials believe that talks between America and Iran can be held in Islamabad this week. Earlier, Israel’s Channel 12 quoted a senior Israeli official as saying that a contact process is underway for a meeting of senior Iranian and American officials in Islamabad later this week. The report said, ‘As part of ongoing contacts for the summit in Pakistan, the possibility of Vice President JD Vance being the head of the US delegation is being considered.’

US has destroyed everything in Iran: Trump

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) described Donald Trump as a deceitful president and said that his statement will not divert Iran’s attention. Trump says that America has destroyed everything in Iran that could be destroyed. Trump said, ‘This time Iran is really serious, they want to make a deal. They want peace. We will give them five days’ time.

S Jaishankar spoke to Marco Rubio

Meanwhile, India’s Foreign Minister S Jaishankar spoke to his US counterpart Marco Rubio. He said, ‘Our discussion focused on the West Asia conflict and its impact on the international economy. We especially talked about energy security concerns. It was agreed to stay in touch. Egypt and Turkey are playing the role of messengers between America and Iran. A high level meeting of officials of both the countries can be held in Islamabad for negotiations.

Also read: ‘Did he speak a single word against America?’, Rahul Gandhi asked on PM Modi’s statement in Lok Sabha on Middle East crisis.

A resurfaced interview with Jennifer Siebel Newsom, wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, is drawing attention online after she said that evangelicals are “pulling us back as a country.”

In a 2022 interview with journalist Elex Michaelson when he was working at a local Los Angeles station, Siebel Newsom discussed her documentary, “Fair Play.” It was inspired by Eve Rodsky’s book of the same name, which examines gender roles in the home.

Siebel Newsom also discussed “redefining what pro-life is really about.” 

GOV NEWSOM AGREES WITH SHAPIRO THAT TRANS ISSUE IS ‘BARRIER’ FOR PEOPLE TO SUPPORT DEMOCRATIC PARTY

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and wife Jennifer Siebel Newsom embrace during a campaign event in support of Proposition 50 in San Francisco, Monday, Nov. 3, 2025. (Gabrielle Lurie/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

“I appreciate that so many people, so many progressives, are leaning into redefining what pro-life is really about, and that’s what we’re doing in California,” Siebel Newsom said. “You know, pro-life is about prenatal care and universal preschool and universal after-school and universal healthcare and taking care of foster kids and feeding, you know, universal meals and childcare. Like, that’s pro-life. It’s not conception.”

She then criticized what she described as people on the “far right,” saying that they are “pulling us back as a country.”

“They’re living in this silo, this evangelical, conservative silo that, ultimately, is just pulling us back as a country to a time and a place where we don’t deserve to be, and we’re not going to be,” Siebel Newsom said. “Because honestly, young women and fathers of daughters are awake now, and they’re woke, and they’re not going to let us go back.”

She also said she has “so much hope because of that, and obviously California has a huge responsibility to lead.”

NEWSOM PUSHES THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY TO BE ‘MORE CULTURALLY NORMAL’ IF THEY WANT TO WIN

Jennifer Siebel Newsom speaks at a Planned Parenthood funding bill signing ceremony. (Screenshot/Gavin Newsom’s YouTube Page)

Siebel Newsom also drew attention last month after criticizing reporters during an event tied to a bill her husband signed into law providing funding for Planned Parenthood.

“We just find it incredulous [sic] that we have Planned Parenthood here, and women are 51% of the population,” she said. “And the majority of the questions — all of these questions — have really been about other issues. So, it’s just fascinating.”

“You have the incredible Women’s Caucus and all these allies, and you’re not asking about it. And this happens over and over and over and over again,” she said. “You wonder why we have such a horrific war on women in this country and that these guys are getting away with it. Because you don’t seem to care.”

‘THE DAILY SHOW’ ROASTS GAVIN NEWSOM ON HOMELESSNESS, HIGH-SPEED RAIL IN SATIRICAL ‘LEADING MAN’ VIDEO

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (R) and Jennifer Siebel Newsom (L) look on as Chinese President Xi Jinping (C) arrives at San Francisco International Airport to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders’ week in San Francisco, California, on Nov. 14, 2023. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

Then Siebel Newsom added, “So, I just offer that with love. Ask about what we’re here for today, don’t you think?”

Fox News Digital reached out to Siebel Newsom and representatives for Siebel Newsom for comment.

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