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Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa makes it official: She’s not seeking re-election next year
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Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa formally announced on Monday that she will not run for re-election in next year’s midterms.
«Having been raised in a family who has given me so much love and support, now as our family ages and grows, it’s my time for me to get back to then. After a tremendous amount of prayer and reflection, I will not be seeking re-election in 2026., the 55-year-old Ernst,» who was first elected to the Senate in 2014, said in a video posted to social media.
Ernst, a retired Army Reserve and Iowa National Guard officer who served in the Iraq War, has been wrestling for months over whether to run for re-election in 2026.
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Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa announced on Tuesday that she wouldn’t seek re-election in the 2026 midterms. (Reuters)
«This was no easy decision,» the senator said in her video announcement.
The senator’s decision to retire rather than seek a third six-year term creates an open seat in Iowa.
GOP Rep. Ashley Hinson, a former TV news anchor who is in her third term representing Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, which covers the northeastern portion of the state, is planning on running to succeed Ernst, multiple sources confirmed last week to Fox News.
FOUR KEY SENATE SEATS THE GOP AIMS TO FLIP IN NEXT YEAR’S MIDTERM ELECTIONS
Iowa was once a top battleground state that former President Barack Obama carried in his 2008 and 2012 White House victories. But the state has shifted to the right in recent election cycles, with President Donald Trump carrying the state by eight points in 2020 and by 13 points last November.
Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson of Iowa is expected to launch a Senate campaign in the race to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Joni Ernst, according to sources. (Getty Images)
Republicans currently hold both of the state’s U.S. Senate seats – Ernst and longtime Sen. Chuck Grassley – and all four of Iowa’s congressional districts, as well as all statewide offices except for state auditor, which is held by Democrat Rob Sand, who’s running for governor next year.
But Democrats in Iowa are energized after flipping two GOP-held state Senate seats in special elections so far this year.
Four Democrats are already running for Senate in Iowa. The field includes state Rep. Josh Turek, a Paralympian wheelchair basketball player, state Sen. Zach Wahls, Knoxville Chamber of Commerce executive director Nathan Sage and Des Moines School Board Chair Jackie Norris.
SENATE DEMOCRATS RECRUITING TOP CANDIDATES IN PUSH TO WIN BACK MAJORITY
Ernst first grabbed national attention 11 years ago with her «make ‘em squeal» ads as she won the high-profile Senate election in the race to succeed retiring longtime Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin.
Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa sits for a Fox News Digital interview, on June 2, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa. (Paul Steinhauser – Fox News )
The senator, thanks to her military background, has often taken the lead on defense issues. She is the first female combat veteran to serve in the Senate, and made combating sexual assault in the military a priority, having been a survivor of sexual assault herself.
Since Trump’s White House victory in 2016, Ernst has tried to strike a balance between her support for the president as she hued to a more traditional Republican agenda.
But earlier this year, Ernst sparked a controversy after she said, «We are all going to die,» when responding a voter at a town hall meeting who raised concerns over Medicaid cuts in the GOP’s sweeping domestic policy bill.
Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, seen on June 3, 2023, at her annual Roast and Ride fundraising event, has decided not to seek re-election in 2026. (Paul Steinhauser – Fox News)
Republicans are aiming to not only defend, but expand, the current 53-47 Senate majority in next year’s elections.
Senate Republicans enjoyed a favorable map in the 2024 cycle as they flipped four seats from blue to red to win back the majority.
KEY HOUSE GOP MODERATE DON BACON OF NEBRASKA WON’T SEEK RE-ELECTION
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 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.
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.
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But the GOP is defending an open seat in battleground North Carolina, where Republican Sen. Thom Tills decided against seeking re-election. And Republicans will likely be forced to spend resources to defend Sen. Jon Husted of Ohio – who was appointed to succeed former senator and now-Vice President JD Vance – as he faces off next year against former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown.
Meanwhile, Democrats are also targeting moderate Sen. Susan Collins – who has yet to announce her expected 2026 re-election – in blue-leaning Maine.
senate,elections,midterm elections,politics,iowa,republicans elections
El lunes por la tarde, las Fuerzas de Defensa de Israel (FDI) encontraron los restos del último rehén israelí, el sargento mayor Ran Gvili, en el norte de Gaza.
La identidad de Gvili fue confirmada por el Instituto Nacional de Medicina Forense, asesores rabínicos, la policía y las FDI. Y será devuelto a su familia para su entierro.
Según informaron las FDI el domingo por la noche, durante el fin de semana se iniciaron una serie de operaciones clandestinas para acercarse a la posible ubicación de Gvili.
Las FDI sospechaban que Gvili estaba enterrado en dos o tres lugares, pero información de inteligencia reciente indicaba que estaba enterrado en un cementerio musulmán en la zona de Shejaiay Darah-Tuffah, al norte de Gaza, en el lado israelí de la línea amarilla.
Las FDI afirmaron que la información obtenida sobre los restos de Gvili no provenía directamente de Hamas.
Al mismo tiempo, las FDI afirmaron que Hamas, o los mediadores qataríes, fueron consultados sobre esta información y creyeron que podría ser correcta.
Fuentes de las FDI insinuaron que la información reciente de Hamas sobre dónde podría haber sido enterrado Gvili podría haber sido una desviación.
Además, fuentes de las FDI insinuaron que la Yihad Islámica Palestina podría haber enterrado a Gvili en el cementerio, pensando incorrectamente que era uno de sus propios combatientes o, al menos, palestino.
Alrededor de las 7:15 p.m., las FDI habían dicho que la búsqueda podría completarse en un periodo de horas o podría tomar varios días.
Si las FDI no hubieran encontrado el cuerpo de Gvili en este lugar, estaban preparadas para explorar el otro par de posibilidades.
Además, las FDI han tenido información sobre esta ubicación durante un periodo de tiempo significativo, pero solo la evidencia adicional obtenida durante las operaciones clandestinas del fin de semana allanó el camino para decidir que este lugar realmente podría ser el sitio correcto.
Junto con el gran número de tropas de reserva y de servicio obligatorio de las FDI, y fuerzas de unidades de ingeniería, el equipo de las FDI en el terreno también ha contado con asesores rabínicos y un dentista para intentar ayudar a identificar y confirmar rápidamente sus restos.
Gvili fue asesinado el 7 de octubre y luego su cuerpo fue llevado a Gaza.
Su regreso marca el fin de la saga del retorno de todos los rehenes, vivos y fallecidos, tomados por Hamas el 7 de octubre.
El 7 de octubre de 2023 Hamas ejecutó uno de los mayores atentados que Israel sufrió en toda su historia.
El ataque sorpresa comenzó temprano en la mañana con una andanada de al menos 5000 cohetes contra Israel y con varias oleadas de incursiones hacia su territorio
Los milicianos palestinos traspasaron la barrera Gaza-Israel, atacaron y capturaron bases militares y masacraron a civiles en las comunidades israelíes vecinas, principalmente kibutz, así como en un festival de música electrónica.
Los milicianos también tomaron como rehenes tanto a soldados como a civiles, incluidos mujeres y niños, a los que trasladaron a la Franja de Gaza.
El ataque supuso para Israel la muerte de 1195 personas (766 civiles, de los que 36 eran menores, y 373 militares) y la captura de 251 más, que fueron llevadas a la Franja de Gaza.
La devolución de todos los rehenes era la condición para dar por terminada la fase 1 del acuerdo de paz que Estados Unidos impulsó entre Hamas e Israel. Esa primera fase preveía, el fin de los combates, el repliegue del ejército israelí hacia una franja de territorio en Gaza, conocida como zona amarilla, y la entrega de los rehenes.
Ahora debería comenzar la fase II del acuerdo.
Entre los términos del acuerdo de cese al fuego de 20 puntos impulsado por la Administración Trump en octubre de 2025, la Franja de Gaza será gobernada en una segunda fase por un comité tecnocrático palestino integrado por 15 miembros, que estarán bajo la supervisión de una denominada “Junta de Paz”, presidida por el propio Trump.
Israel también se comprometió a abrir el paso de Rafah que une el territorio de Gaza con Egipto.
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Fetterman urges Minneapolis ICE op to stand down as city spirals to ‘ungovernable and dangerous’ levels
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Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman is calling for an immediate end to the Minnesota immigration crackdown after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti Saturday by federal law enforcement, he said in comment to Fox News Digital.
«The operation in Minneapolis should stand down and immediately end,» Fetterman said Monday in a comment to Fox News Digital. «It has become an ungovernable and dangerous urban theatre for civilians and law enforcement that is incompatible with the American spirit.»
«As a very pro-immigration Democrat and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Border Management, I believe our nation deserves a secured border and that we should deport all criminal migrants,» he continued. «I also believe there needs to be a path to citizenship for those hardworking families who are here.»
Fetterman’s comments on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation follow his vocal support of federal law enforcement officers, breaking with many Democrat colleagues who have called for the end to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and for ICE overall to be defunded.
FORMER ICE AGENT CALLS POLICE NON-COOPERATION ‘FORMULA FOR DISASTER’ AFTER SECOND MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING DEATH
Sen. John Fetterman’s wife, Gisele, took aim at ICE and Trump administration immigration policies in an X post. (Mark Makela/Getty Images)
«Secure the border. Deport all the criminals. Stop targeting the hardworking migrants in our nation,» Fetterman posted to X earlier in January.
Fetterman added in his statement Monday that he continues to buck calls to defund ICE.
Fox News Digital reached out to Fetterman’s office Monday morning inquiring about his wife’s X post blasting the Trump administration’s immigration policies, even as her husband has publicly backed federal immigration officers.
«For more than a decade, I lived undocumented in the US. Every day carried the same uncertainty and fear lived in my body – a tight chest, shallow breaths, racing heart,» the senator’s wife, Gisele Barreto Fetterman, wrote Sunday. «What I thought was my private, chronic dread has now become a shared national wound.»
«This now-daily violence is not ‘law and order.’ It is terror inflicted on people who contribute, love and build their lives here,» she continued. «It’s devastatingly cruel and unAmerican.»
Gisele Barreto Fetterman previously has discussed moving to the U.S. from Brazil as a child, including as an illegal immigrant for a decade.
Alex Pretti, 37, was fatally shot Saturday by Border Patrol agents in Minnesota while filming federal officers on a Minneapolis street. Federal officials say Pretti approached agents with a 9 mm handgun and resisted disarmament, while witnesses have cast doubt on if Pretti, an ICU nurse, posed a threat to agents.
President Donald Trump told The Wall Street Journal Sunday that his administration is «reviewing everything,» surrounding the case, but did not say whether the agent who shot Pretti acted appropriately.
Sen. John Fetterman participates in a debate, June 2, 2025, in Boston. (Steven Senne, File/The Associated Press )
The fatal shooting, which follows the Jan. 7 fatal ICE shooting of Renee Good, has sparked outrage among Democrats and critics of the president who say Trump administration immigration policies are causing chaos for communities, while describing the shooting deaths of the two Americans as «murder.»
ANTI-ICE AGITATORS CLASH WITH FEDERAL AGENTS AT MINNEAPOLIS HOTEL, AS AGENTS DEPLOY TEAR GAS, FLASHBANGS
Former President Bill Clinton, for example, issued a searing rebuke of the immigration crackdown following Pretti’s death, calling it an «unacceptable» tragedy that «should have been avoided.»
A man arrested by federal agents moments prior escapes in handcuffs after tear gas went off, Jan. 21, 2026, in Minneapolis. (Angelina Katsanis/The Associated Press )
Fetterman said in comment to Fox News Digital that «Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti should still be alive» and that his «family grieves for theirs.»
«I’ve also spent significant time hearing many different positions on the funding bills and maintain that I will never vote to shut our government down, especially our Defense Department.
«Additionally, a vote to shut our government down will not defund ICE. DHS has $178B in funding from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which I did not vote for,» he said. «I reject the calls to defund or abolish ICE. I strongly disagree with many strategies and practices ICE deployed in Minneapolis, and believe that must change.»
«I want a conversation on the DHS appropriations bill and support stripping it from the minibus,» he continued. «It is unlikely that will happen and our country will suffer another shutdown. We must find a way forward and I remain committed to being a voice of reason and common sense.»
JD VANCE SHARES ‘CRAZY’ STORY OF ICE AND CBP OFFICERS BEING MOBBED IN MINNEAPOLIS
A Minnesota National Guard vehicle blocks off a road near the scene of a shooting earlier in the day, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Trump announced Monday that he was deploying White House border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota, and that he will report directly to the president.
«Tom Homan will be managing ICE operations on the ground in Minnesota and coordinating with others on the ongoing fraud investigations,» White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox Digital Monday.
Leavitt said Monday during a White House press briefing that the administration is calling on Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey to agree in order to bring peace to the Twin Cities.
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«Number one, Governor Walz, Mayor Frye and all Democrat leaders should turn over all criminal illegal aliens currently incarcerated in their prisons and jails to federal authorities, along with any illegal aliens with active warrants or known criminal histories for immediate deportation,» Leavitt said. «Number two, state and local law enforcement must agree to turn over all illegal aliens who are arrested by local police. And then thirdly, local police must assist federal law enforcement in apprehending and detaining illegal aliens who are wanted for crimes, especially violent crimes.»
Walz and Trump shared what was described as a productive phone call Monday morning, with the state calling on the president to work together to quell the chaos, Trump said on Truth Social.
john fetterman,donald trump,minnesota,immigration
INTERNACIONAL
Chinese hackers reportedly breached phones at ‘heart of Downing Street’ in global spy campaign
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Chinese state-linked hackers breached mobile phones at «the heart of Downing Street» amid a global cyber-espionage campaign over several years targeting telecommunication networks, according to reports.
U.S. officials first alerted its allies in 2024 after finding out that hacking groups had gained access to telecom companies around the world, according to The Associated Press.
The campaign reportedly targeted multiple countries, including the U.S. and the other members of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance: Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
The breaches allegedly gave China access to the phone data of millions and the possible ability to eavesdrop on calls, read text messages and track users’ locations.
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Chinese cyberattacks reportedly reached «the heart» of the U.K.’s Downing Street, a source told The Telegraph. (Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images)
The hackers also had the ability to record calls «at will» according to Anne Neuberger, who was a deputy U.S. national security adviser between January 2021 and January 2025, The Telegraph reported.
Neuberger said that the «Chinese gained access to networks and essentially had broad and full access,» giving them the capability to «geolocate millions of individuals, to record phone calls at will.»
U.S. intelligence agencies believe the breaches date back to at least 2021, but they were only identified and disclosed by U.S. authorities in 2024.
SECRET ROOM TO BE BUILT AT CHINESE EMBASSY NEAR CABLE LINES, SPARKING WIDESPREAD ESPIONAGE FEARS
A source told The Telegraph that the breach went «right into the heart of Downing Street.» (Leon Neal/Getty Images)
In 2024, The Associated Press reported that U.S. federal authorities urged telecommunication companies to boost network security. The guidance, issued by the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, was to help root out the hackers and prevent similar attacks in the future.
A joint cybersecurity advisory was issued in August 2025, with the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) and allied partners warning that Chinese state-sponsored actors were targeting networks globally.
«The malicious activity outlined in the advisory partially overlaps with cybersecurity industry reporting on Chinese state-sponsored threat actors referred to by names such as Salt Typhoon,» an NSA release said.
In the U.K., officials raised concerns that senior government figures may also have been exposed. One source told The Telegraph that the breach went «right into the heart of Downing Street.»
MASSIVE TELECOM BUST IN MAJOR CITY IS ‘WAKE-UP CALL’ AS FOREIGN ADVERSARIES THREATEN US SECURITY: EXPERTS
There were reportedly «many» hacking attacks on phones across the British government, particularly under the tenure of Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. (Hannah McKay/Reuters)
Similarly, The Telegraph was told that there were «many» different hacking attacks on the phones of Downing Street staff and across wider government, especially when Rishi Sunak was prime minister between 2022 and 2024.
Yuval Wollman, a former Israeli intelligence chief, also told The Telegraph that Salt Typhoon was «one of the most prominent names» in the cyber-espionage world.
«While much of the public reporting has focused on U.S. targets, Salt Typhoon’s operations have extended into Europe, the Middle East and Africa, where it has targeted telecoms firms, government entities and technology companies,» Wollman of cybersecurity platform CyberProof added.
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In the past, China’s foreign ministry dismissed the claims as «baseless» and «lacking evidence,» according to The Telegraph.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Downing Street for comment.
united kingdom,hackers,national security,alliances,cybercrime,privacy,uk politics
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