House conservatives are expressing skepticism after Senate Democrats and the White House announced a deal had been reached to fund the government without a long-term Department of Homeland Security funding bill. One House member warned that Republicans should not give in to demands to «handcuff ICE.»  

With any deal reached in the Senate needing approval in the House of Representatives, Rep. Mark Harris, R-N.C., told Fox News Digital, «[Senate Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer’s current demands, compounded by a lack of conservative priorities, are an absolute non-starter» in the lower chamber.  

«With Chuck Schumer’s demands to handcuff ICE and his Democrat colleagues threatening to shut down the government over it, this is yet another example of the radical left prioritizing criminals over American citizens,» said Harris.

Schumer, D-N.Y., and President Donald Trump labored over a deal from late night Wednesday into Thursday evening after the top Senate Democrat unleashed several funding demands and the White House accused Schumer of blocking a meeting with rank-and-file Democrats.

7 REPUBLICANS JOIN DEMS TO BLOCK MAJOR GOVERNMENT FUNDING PACKAGE AS SHUTDOWN LOOMS

«The separation of the five bipartisan bills the Democrats asked for, plus the two-week DHS [continuing resolution] has been agreed to,» Schumer said in a statement. 

In response, one House conservative remarked to Fox News Digital, «We’re still looking at what is being discussed in the deal, but 14 days is awfully short.»

«We sure think we should be getting something out of this deal when it’s Democrats who are threatening a shutdown, not Republicans,» the House member said.

Not all House Republicans were against the compromise. Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., reacted on X, «I stand with @POTUS, a shutdown will only hurt the American people. I will vote YES on this package should it make it through the Senate!» 

In a Truth Social post on Thursday evening, Trump urged the GOP to agree to the deal, saying, «Hopefully, both Republicans and Democrats will give a very much-needed bipartisan ‘YES’ Vote.»

NEW DEM PROPOSAL WOULD RESTRICT ICE’S KEY TOOL TO DETAIN CRIMINAL ILLEGAL ALIENS

The White House and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., reached an agreement to fund the government on Thursday, sidelining the controversial DHS funding bill in the process.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters)

The president added that the «only thing that can slow our Country down is another long and damaging Government Shutdown.» 

«I am working hard with Congress to ensure that we are able to fully fund the Government, without delay,» Trump said. «Republicans and Democrats in Congress have come together to get the vast majority of the Government funded until September, while at the same time providing an extension to the Department of Homeland Security (including the very important Coast Guard, which we are expanding and rebuilding like never before).»

The deal brokered between the two would see the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill stripped from the broader six-bill package. Schumer and Democrats have been adamant that if the bill is sidelined, they’d vote for the remaining five, which includes funding for the Pentagon. 

Their agreement also tees up a short-term funding extension, known as a continuing resolution (CR), for two weeks to keep the agency funded while lawmakers negotiate restrictions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 

If passed in the Senate, the deal would still need to pass the House again. With lawmakers there not expected back in Washington until Feb. 2, three days after the Jan. 30 funding deadline, a brief partial government shutdown is all but certain.

HOUSE FREEDOM CAUCUS DRAWS LINE ON DHS, ICE FUNDING AS MINNEAPOLIS UNREST FUELS SHUTDOWN RISK

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., has yet to weigh in on the deal. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

Tensions have been boiling over in the House over the prospect of the Senate’s compromise on DHS.

Caucus member Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital via text message on Thursday, «THE HOUSE DID OUR JOB BY PASSING THE REMAINING SIX APPROPRIATION BILLS TO THE SENATE AND THERE IS NO RATIONAL REASON TO REMOVE DHS FROM THE APPROVAL PROCESS.»

Norman accused Democrats of trying to «demonize» and «bludgeon» DHS, adding, «IF THE DEMOCRATS WANT TO SHUT THE GOVERNMENT DOWN, ‘DO IT’!!»

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Meanwhile, Mark Bednar, a GOP strategist and former spokesperson for then Speaker Kevin McCarthy, told Fox News Digital, «President Trump wants to ensure that our troops, air traffic controllers and DHS patriots are on the job and get paid, and this path will help ensure they do that.

«It’s now on Democrats to negotiate in good faith with President Trump so that the homeland is secured with a long-term funding bill — because that’s what the American people want and deserve.»

Fox News Digital’s Alex Miller contributed to this report.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently revoked Iranian senior officials and their family members’ privilege to travel to the U.S., citing ongoing oppression by the regime.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s regime is accused of killing more than 6,200 protesters since Dec. 28, with nearly 17,100 additional arrests as internet communications remain halted, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

«As the people of Iran continue to fight for their basic rights, [Rubio] took action this week to revoke the privilege of Iranian senior officials and their family members to be in the United States,» the State Department wrote in an X post. «Those who profit from the Iranian regime’s brutal oppression are not welcome to benefit from our immigration system.»

In addition to the potential civil rights violations in Iran, tensions have flared between Khamenei and President Donald Trump, as the U.S. attempts to strike a nuclear deal.

IRAN’S TOP PROSECUTOR CRITICIZES TRUMP’S ANNOUNCEMENT THAT 800+ EXECUTIONS WERE HALTED: ‘COMPLETELY FALSE’

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi warned on Wednesday the nation’s military is «prepared—with their fingers on the trigger—to immediately and powerfully respond to ANY aggression against our beloved land, air, and sea.»

Araghchi claimed that Iran has «always welcomed» a mutually beneficial, fair and equitable nuclear deal that would ensure Iran’s rights to peaceful nuclear technology, and guarantee no nuclear weapons.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sits next to a senior military official in Iran. (Getty Images)

TRUMP ANNOUNCES ‘FINAL’ 25% TARIFF ON COUNTRIES DOING BUSINESS WITH IRAN REGIME

Trump fired back on Truth Social, warning a «massive» armada was heading to Iran «with speed and violence, if necessary.»

«Time is running out, it is truly of the essence!» Trump wrote in a post. «As I told Iran once before, MAKE A DEAL! They didn’t, and there was ‘Operation Midnight Hammer,’ a major destruction of Iran. The next attack will be far worse! Don’t make that happen again.»

The president said Thursday night it would be «great» if the U.S. did not have to use the military fleet.

The state tax building burned during Iran’s protests on a street in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 19, 2026.  (Majid Asgaripour/WANA via Reuters)

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The State Department on Wednesday also demanded Tehran overturn the death penalty for 19-year-old Saleh Mohammadi, a decorated Iranian wrestler who was arrested while peacefully protesting against the regime earlier this month.

Fox News Digital’s Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.

El misterio sobre el traslado de los megalitos de Stonehenge a la llanura de Salisbury experimentó un giro decisivo. Un grupo de investigadores de la Universidad Curtin (Australia) publicó un estudio que desecha la hipótesis glaciar y atribuye el transporte de estos enormes bloques de piedra exclusivamente a la acción humana. Esta resolución modifica décadas de debate arqueológico. Los resultados, divulgados en Communications Earth & Environment, emplean avanzados análisis geoquímicos y ofrecen nuevas evidencias sobre el origen y las rutas de estas piedras emblemáticas.

Stonehenge, situado en el sur de Inglaterra, es uno de los monumentos prehistóricos más reconocidos a nivel mundial. Fue construido en varias fases por comunidades del Neolítico y de la Edad del Bronce entre el 3000 a. C. y el 1500 a. C. El conjunto está compuesto por bloques de arenisca locales de unas 25 toneladas cada uno, piedras azules más pequeñas, de entre dos y cinco toneladas, y la Piedra del Altar, que alcanza seis toneladas.

La procedencia de estos materiales ha sido objeto de múltiples investigaciones, según detalla el equipo de Clarke y Kirkland en Communications Earth & Environment. Los bloques de arenisca provenían de Marlborough Downs, a unos 32 kilómetros de Stonehenge. Las piedras azules se extrajeron de las colinas de Preseli, al suroeste de Gales, a 290 kilómetros de distancia. La Piedra del Altar se atribuye actualmente a la cuenca Orcadiana, en el noreste de Escocia, a más de 700 kilómetros del monumento.

Durante décadas, la comunidad científica defendió dos posturas opuestas sobre cómo se movilizaron estos bloques. Una apoyaba el transporte humano mediante rodillos, trineos o rutas marítimas; la otra sugería que los glaciares podrían haber arrastrado y depositado las piedras en tiempos prehistóricos. La controversia persistió ante la falta de pruebas directas concluyentes.

La reciente investigación liderada por Anthony J. I. Clarke y Christopher L. Kirkland aplicó métodos de análisis geoquímico, en particular la datación U–Pb en minerales como circones y apatita, para reconstruir la historia del transporte de sedimentos en la región. El equipo recolectó muestras de sedimentos de varios arroyos alrededor de Stonehenge con el fin de identificar señales minerales que indicaran un posible paso glaciar por la zona.

Los resultados fueron contundentes, según los autores del estudio. El análisis de circones presentes en los sedimentos fluviales mostró correspondencia únicamente con rocas locales de Gran Bretaña, sin aportes relevantes desde regiones distantes, como cabría esperar si los glaciares hubieran arrastrado las piedras desde Gales o Escocia. Además, la apatita analizada no presentó indicios de un origen glacial externo y su composición coincidía con depósitos locales.

El equipo identificó una coincidencia aislada con minerales característicos de las piedras azules galesas, pero la evidencia resultó insuficiente para sostener la hipótesis glaciar. Communications Earth & Environment destaca que, si los glaciares hubieran desplazado cientos de toneladas de megalitos, la huella en el registro sedimentario local sería evidente. La ausencia de estas señales y la uniformidad de los minerales analizados permitieron descartar la intervención de procesos glaciales en el transporte.

La investigación excluye la llegada de megalitos por acción glaciar y sugiere una movilización manual, o al menos sin intervención de glaciares. El estudio refuerza la idea de que las poblaciones neolíticas poseían capacidades avanzadas de organización y transporte, suficientes para recorrer cientos de kilómetros con grandes bloques de piedra. Persisten grandes interrogantes: “Algunos sostienen que las piedras podrían haberse movido por mar o sobre troncos, pero quizá nunca sepamos cómo lo lograron”, afirmó el geólogo Clarke en declaraciones recogidas por Anne Doran.

El trabajo demuestra el potencial de la geoquímica avanzada para resolver cuestiones históricas y arqueológicas de larga data. El enfoque interdisciplinario de los autores aporta nuevas perspectivas para comprender la relación entre las sociedades antiguas y el entorno natural.

Aunque el método exacto de traslado de los enormes bloques sigue sin determinarse, el consenso científico es claro: las piedras de Stonehenge no llegaron hasta allí por acción del hielo.