INTERNACIONAL
4 key Senate seats Republicans aim to flip in 2026 midterms to expand their majority
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Republican Sen. Tim Scott’s goal in next year’s midterm elections is not only to defend the GOP’s 53-47 margin in the Senate, but to expand the majority.
Scott, the conservative senator from South Carolina, told Fox News Digital soon after taking over late last year as chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) that he aimed to increase the GOP’s control in the chamber to at least 55 seats.
And he’s standing by his goal.
«The bottom line is, I believe that we can defend our current seats while adding at least two more seats to our numbers,» the NRSC chair told Fox News Digital earlier this year.
THIS REPUBLICAN JUST JUMPED INTO BATTLEGROUND GEORGIA’S HIGH-PROFILE SENATE RACE
Sen. Tim Scott spoke to a South Carolina GOP delegation breakfast on Wednesday (pictured speaking on the RNC stage). (Getty Images)
Senate Republicans enjoyed a favorable map in the 2024 cycle as they flipped four seats from blue to red to win back the majority.
But the party in power—clearly the Republicans right now—traditionally faces political headwinds in the midterm elections. Nevertheless, a current read of the 2026 map indicates the GOP may be able to go on offense in some key states.
In battleground Georgia, which President Donald Trump narrowly carried in last year’s White House race, Republicans view first-term Sen. Jon Ossoff as the most vulnerable Democrat incumbent up for re-election next year.
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They’re also targeting battleground Michigan, where Democratic Sen. Gary Peters is retiring at the end of next year, and swing state New Hampshire, where longtime Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen decided against seeking a fourth six-year term in the Senate.
Also on the NRSC’s target list is blue-leaning Minnesota, where Democratic Sen. Tina Smith isn’t running for re-election.
At the top of their list is Ossoff, who narrowly won election to the Senate in a January 2021 runoff contest.
Republicans view Sen. Jon Ossoff as the most vulnerable Democrat running for re-election in the 2026 midterm elections. (AP)
But Ossoff is off to a very hot fundraising start, and a GOP primary in Georgia between Reps. Mike Collins and Buddy Carter, and former college and professional football coach Derek Dooley, is starting to turn combustible.
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Republicans are also confident they can flip Michigan, another battleground Trump narrowly carried last November.
Former Rep. Mike Rogers, the 2024 GOP Senate nominee who lost last year’s race by a razor-thin margin, has at this point cleared the Republican primary field, thanks in great part to Trump’s endorsement.
Former Rep. Mike Rogers, a Republican Senate candidate in Michigan for a second straight election cycle, is interviewed by Fox New Digital in Grand Rapids, Michigan on April 2, 2024. (Paul Steinhauser – Fox News )
Democrats, meanwhile, have a very competitive primary on their hands. The primary race includes three well-known Democrats: Rep. Haley Stevens, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and former gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who enjoys the backing of progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
With Shaheen, who made history as the first woman in the nation’s history to win election as a governor and a senator, out of the running in New Hampshire, the GOP is hoping to win a Senate election in the Granite State for the first time in 16 years.
Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, seen at a policy event in Concord, N.H. on Oct. 22, 2024, isn’t seeking a fourth term in the Senate when she’s up for re-election in 2026. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
They’re encouraged by the gains Trump made in New Hampshire in last year’s election, as he improved on his showing from four years earlier and came close to carrying the state.
But four-term Rep. Chris Pappas’ announcement in early April that he would run to succeed Shaheen has cleared the Democratic primary field, as of now, of any potential rivals for the party’s Senate nomination.
Meanwhile, a Republican primary in the state—where the GOP hasn’t won a Senate race in 15 years—is heating up between former Sen. Scott Brown and state Sen. Dan Innis, with the possibility of more candidates entering the race.
In Minnesota, the leading candidates in the Democratic primary to succeed Smith are Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and Rep. Angie Craig.
Former professional basketball player Royce White, who won the 2024 Senate nomination in Minnesota, and former Navy SEAL Adam Schwarze are currently running in the GOP primary. But another Republican Senate hopeful may soon enter the field.
While Republicans will work to defy political history in next year’s midterms, they point to the Democratic Party’s current brand issues.
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«Democrats have historically low approval ratings because candidates like Jon Ossoff and Chris Pappas keep prioritizing radical policies like men in women’s sports, protecting sanctuary cities for criminal illegal aliens, and raising taxes on working families,» NRSC communications director Joanna Rodriguez argued in a statement to Fox News.
And Rodriguez touted that «Republicans are delivering on policies that keep Americans safe and let families and workers keep more of their hard-earned paychecks. Voters will reward us for it in 2026.»
midterm elections,elections,senate elections,republicans elections,georgia,michigan,new hampshire,minnesota
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As it was announced that Vice President JD Vance would visit Israel, President Donald Trump once again warned Hamas, saying the U.S.-brokered Gaza truce must hold, and issued another blunt warning to the terrorist group.
During a White House meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday, Trump warned, «We’re going to eradicate them. If we have to, they’ll be eradicated. And they know that,» he told reporters, and stressed the deal’s broad backing — «59 countries that agreed to the deal» — while insisting the ceasefire remains in place and warning that any further violence would be met with decisive action.
While details of Vance’s trip to Israel have yet to be announced, Washington’s diplomacy is extending beyond Jerusalem, as U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were expected to travel to Egypt from Israel for talks with Hamas representatives, underscoring a push to move from preserving the ceasefire toward negotiating the more fraught next phase.
ISRAEL SAYS HAMAS VIOLATED CEASEFIRE WITH ‘MULTIPLE ATTACKS’ LEADING TO IDF RESPONSE
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accompanied by President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and former National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, speaks during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on April 7, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
At Monday’s meeting with the Australian pm, Trump was asked by a reporter whether the U.S. would put boots on the ground, Trump said his administration does not plan to deploy troops and that other countries — and Israel itself — could act if needed.
«We don’t need to, because we have many countries, as you know, signed on to this deal,» he said. «We’ve had countries calling me when they saw some of the killing with Hamas, saying we’d love to go in and take care of the situation ourselves. In addition, you have Israel — they would go in, in two minutes. If I asked him to go in, I could tell him, go in and take care of it. But right now, we haven’t said that. We’re going to give it a little chance, and hopefully there will be a little less violence.»
He added a blunt warning about Hamas’ capacity and support. «But right now, you know, they’re violent people. Hamas has been very violent, but they don’t have the backing of Iran anymore… They have to be good, and if they’re not good, they’ll be eradicated — because absolutely we can, and we have the capacity to do so.»
The comments came as senior U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with Israeli leaders to shore up the fragile, Trump-brokered, 20-step ceasefire plan after a weekend flare-up. Hamas terrorists killed two Israeli soldiers, prompting Israeli strikes against the terror group. Despite the violence, both Israel and Hamas publicly recommitted to the truce.
President Donald Trump, left, and Anthony Albanese, Australia’s prime minister, shake hands outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, Oct. 20, 2025. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
HAMAS ACCEPTS TRUMP PEACE PLAN ENDING 2 YEARS OF WAR IN GAZA, RETURNING HOSTAGES
On the ground, the IDF took custody of the coffin of another deceased hostage. A joint IDF–ISA statement asked the public to «act with sensitivity and wait for the official identification, which will first be provided to the families,» while adding that, «Hamas is required to uphold the agreement and take the necessary steps to return all the deceased hostages.» Israeli officials say Hamas could hand over six more bodies immediately out of the 15 still believed in Gaza, though some remains may be impossible to recover amid widespread destruction.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking in the Knesset, struck a hard line while stressing close U.S.–Israel coordination. He warned the fighting was far from over and said violations would carry a «very heavy price,» while praising the «unprecedented closeness» with Washington.
A group of Hamas terrorists in Deir-el Balah in central Gaza as 20 living Israeli hostages were freed on Oct. 13, 2025. (TPS-IL)
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Separately, the IDF said Southern Command troops have begun marking a so-called yellow line inside Gaza — 3.5-meter concrete barriers topped by yellow poles placed roughly every 200 meters — to establish «tactical clarity on the ground» as part of the ceasefire arrangement. The military said the marking will continue «in the coming period» as forces work to remove threats and defend Israeli civilians.
israel,donald trump,conflicts,middle east,terrorism,jd vance
INTERNACIONAL
Trump admin agencies coordinating to expose Biden admin’s ‘prolific and dangerous’ weaponization of government
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EXCLUSIVE: Trump administration agencies are working to expose the Biden administration’s «prolific and dangerous weaponization of government,» Fox News Digital has learned.
The Interagency Weaponization Working Group (IWWG) is made up of officials from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Justice Department, the FBI, the CIA and more.
Officials told Fox News Digital that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard initiated the Interagency Weaponization Working Group, which has been meeting biweekly since April to «share information, coordinate, and execute.»
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced on Tuesday the revocation of former intelligence officials’ credentials. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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«The American people made a clear choice when they elected President Trump — to stop the Biden administration’s prolific and dangerous weaponization of government agencies against the American people and the Constitution,» Gabbard told Fox News Digital. «I stood up this working group to start the important work of interagency coordination under President Trump’s leadership to deliver accountability.»
She added: «True accountability is the first step toward lasting change.»
Officials told Fox News Digital the group was created to streamline information sharing across the government in support of the Trump executive order.
Attorney General Pam Bondi is sworn in before a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025. (Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo)
«Joe Biden’s Department of Justice targeted President Trump and anyone close to him, prosecuted pro-life advocates, treated parents at school board meetings as domestic terrorists, and destroyed public trust in federal law enforcement,» Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News Digital.
GABBARD FIRES ‘DEEP STATE’ HEADS OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE COUNCIL TO ROOT OUT ‘POLITICIZATION OF INTEL’
«Under President Trump, we are working every day alongside our partners to end weaponization and restore one tier of justice for all,» Bondi said.
Meanwhile, FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News Digital that, «for years, Biden’s DOJ turned federal law enforcement into a political weapon.»
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«Going after President Trump, pro-life Americans, and parents at school boards while letting real criminals run wild,» Patel told Fox News Digital. «Under Preisdent Trump, we’ve ripped that agenda out by the roots.»
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on Sept. 16, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Patel added: «We’re restoring equal justice under the law, one standard, one mission: Protect the American people.»
Officials involved pointed Fox News Digital to President Trump’s executive order, which says interagency coordination is needed to «ensure accountability for the previous administration’s weaponization of the federal government against the American people.»
GABBARD ESTABLISHES NEW INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY TASK FORCE TO RESTORE TRANSPARENCY
The executive order had directed Gabbard, in consultation with the heads of other appropriate departments and agencies within the intelligence community, to «take all appropriate action to review the activities of the intelligence community over the last four years and identify any instances» of the weaponization of government.
Officials told Fox News Digital that the interagency group is «working to undo the Biden administration’s whole-of-government approach to abuse the powers of government against the American people.»
«The weaponization of government against Americans did not happen in one agency, one time,» an official explained. «It happened repeatedly over the duration of the Biden administration.»
Attorney General Pam Bondi, left, FBI Director Kash Patel, center, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, center right, are seen on Wednesday, March 5, awaiting Muhammed Sharifullah’s arrival in the U.S. following his arrest overseas. (Justice Department)
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«That’s why, in order to depoliticize and deweaponize the government, it is important to understand what agencies carried out, what roles, and why,» the official continued. «The IWWG is essential for coordinating across agencies.»
But officials said the media has attempted to «negatively spin lawful oversight and accountability» by claiming it is a way for the Trump administration to weaponize the government against its political opponents.
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«The irony is, accusing the Interagency Weaponization Working Group of targeting the president’s political opponents is classic projection and could not be further from the truth,» an official said.
The official said that there is «no targeting of any individual person for retribution.»
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«IWWG is simply looking at available facts and evidence that may point to actions, reports, agencies, individuals, and more who illegally weaponized the government in order to carry out political attacks,» the official said.
«The only people who fear accountability are the ones who never expected to face it,» the official continued. «Oversight is not the problem—abuse of power is.»
joe biden,tulsi gabbard,pam bondi,kash patel,justice department,cia,fbi
El Gobierno de Brasil estima que el nuevo horizonte petrolero frente al río Amazonas, cuya exploración fue autorizada este lunes por la agencia ambiental del país, atraerá inversiones por unos 300.000 millones de reales (55.000 millones de dólares).
El Instituto Brasileño de Medio Ambiente (Ibama) concedió a la petrolera estatal Petrobras el permiso para perforar un pozo exploratorio en una zona del Atlántico situada a unos 500 kilómetros de la desembocadura del Amazonas y a unos 175 kilómetros de la costa.
La decisión, cuestionada por las organizaciones ecologistas, se produjo a menos de un mes de que comience la cumbre climática de la ONU (COP30), que se celebrará en la ciudad amazónica de Belém.
Sin embargo, el ministro de Minas y Energía, Alexandre Silveira, afirmó que ese nuevo horizonte petrolero, cuyo potencial es de 10.000 millones de barriles recuperables, representa “el futuro de la soberanía energética” de Brasil.
“Brasil no puede renunciar a conocer su potencial. Hicimos una defensa firme y técnica para garantizar que la exploración se realice con total responsabilidad ambiental (…) Nuestro petróleo es uno de los más sostenibles del mundo”, aseguró en una nota.
Según estimaciones oficiales, además de atraer una cantidad importante de inversiones, si finalmente se materializa la explotación de hidrocarburos en la región, conocida como Margen Ecuatorial, el Estado brasileño recaudará “un billón de reales (cerca de 200.000 millones de dólares) en las próximas décadas”.
Además, el Ejecutivo del presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva prevé la creación de 300.000 empleos directos e indirectos.
Silveira subrayó que la exploración del territorio se llevará a cabo “bajo los más altos estándares de sostenibilidad, conciliando la preservación ambiental con la generación de empleo e ingresos”.
Y recordó que Petrobras montó “la mayor estructura de respuesta del país, con 13 embarcaciones a disposición para apenas un pozo”.
“La decisión refuerza el compromiso del Gobierno con una transición energética justa, inclusiva y equilibrada, en la que el desarrollo de las actividades de exploración y producción de petróleo y gas avanza de la mano con las políticas de descarbonización y expansión de los biocombustibles”, señaló el ministro.
Por otra parte, ONG ambientalistas cargaron este lunes contra la concesión de la licencia. El Observatorio do Clima, un red formada por 130 organizaciones, señaló en un comunicado que se trata de una decisión “desastrosa” desde el punto de vista ambiental y pedirán ante la justicia que el permiso sea “anulado” por las “fallas técnicas” en el proceso de licenciamiento.
La red ambientalista apuntó, además, a la contradicción que supone dar esta licencia a menos de un mes del inicio de la COP30.
La decisión es un “sabotaje” a la COP30 y “va en dirección contraria al papel de líder climático reivindicado por el presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva”, de acuerdo con el Observatorio do Clima.
Asimismo, la licencia para explorar esta área, situada a unos 500 kilómetros de la desembocadura, choca, según los ambientalistas, con las metas del Gobierno brasileño, que se ha comprometido a reducir entre un 59 % y un 67 % las emisiones contaminantes hasta 2035.
“En un escenario de emergencia climática como el actual, la apertura de nuevos pozo de petróleo contradice los compromisos del país con la transición energética y refuerza patrones excluyentes e insostenibles”, señaló la portavoz de Greenpeace Mariana Andrade, en declaraciones distribuidas a los medios.
Brasil, según los ambientalistas, debería invertir más en energías renovables, en vez de ampliar su producción de petróleo.
“Necesitamos invertir en alternativas que generen desarrollo inclusivo y sostenible, como las energías renovables y la bioeconomía; insistir en el petróleo es ir en dirección contraria al mundo”, dijo, a su vez, Ricardo Fuji, especialista en conservación de WWF en Brasil.
Alrededor del área objeto de la licencia hay reservas ambientales, territorios indígenas, manglares y arrecifes de coral, así como una variada diversidad marina con especies en peligro de extinción.
La petrolera tiene planes para explorar la región desde 2022, pero el proceso de autorización se alargó durante casi cinco años, ante los pedidos de información adicional por parte del Instituto Brasileño de Medio Ambiente (Ibama), la entidad responsable de emitir los permisos.
(Con información de EFE)
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