FIRST ON FOX: A coalition of 128 Republican lawmakers is pressing the federal government to scrutinize Planned Parenthood’s taxpayer funding and potentially launch an investigation into the organization and its affiliates.

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., and Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., led the bicameral effort, asking Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Inspector General T. March Bell to review Planned Parenthood’s federal funding and determine whether the organization and its affiliates have complied with federal laws and funding requirements.

«We write to request that the Office of Inspector General (OIG) review and, if appropriate, initiate an investigation into the activities of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. and the organization’s affiliates,» the lawmakers wrote.

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Their request casts a rather wide net.

The lawmakers want the OIG to scrutinize funding flowing through HHS programs, grants, contracts and sub-awards and determine whether evidence exists of fraud, waste, abuse, misrepresentation or other violations affecting federal health programs.

If misconduct is uncovered, they want the watchdog to consider consequences ranging from administrative remedies and suspension to exclusion from federal healthcare programs or referrals to other authorities.

«Planned Parenthood and its affiliates have faced serious allegations involving the use of federal funds and compliance with federal law. Those allegations deserve a thorough review,» Lankford said.

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«The HHS Inspector General should follow the facts, determine whether federal laws and funding requirements have been violated, and hold accountable anyone who has misused taxpayer dollars,» he added.

The push comes as the Small Business Administration (SBA) separately reviews more than $88 million in COVID-era Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans received by 38 Planned Parenthood affiliates.

The lawmakers cited the SBA action in their letter, characterizing it as an investigation into whether Planned Parenthood affiliates «illegally received $88 million» in pandemic loans. SBA has described its action as a review of whether the affiliates were eligible for the loans. The review itself is not a finding that the affiliates violated the law.

But the lawmakers want federal scrutiny to go well beyond the pandemic loans.

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They are asking the OIG to examine Planned Parenthood’s broader HHS funding and coordinate with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on what they described as a «comprehensive review» of the organization’s activities.

HHS-OIG told Digital Wednesday evening that it had not yet received the letter.

«We have not received the letter and will review it for appropriate action once received,» HHS-OIG said.

Smith, co-chairman of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, said the scrutiny was «long overdue,» citing allegations involving federal funding, reporting requirements, sexual exploitation and fetal tissue.

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«It is long overdue for a comprehensive investigation and review, and I urge the HHS OIG to look closely to determine whether it has violated federal standards for federal funding recipients,» Smith said.

The congressional letter also points to reports alleging failures to comply with mandatory reporting requirements involving suspected child abuse or neglect. The lawmakers are asking federal officials to examine those allegations. They have not been established as findings by HHS-OIG.

«Given the significant taxpayer resources that flow through federal health and human services programs, it is critical that recipient organizations operate with transparency, integrity, and full compliance with federal standards,» the lawmakers wrote.

The lawmakers closed by asking OIG to coordinate across the federal government to conduct a «comprehensive review» of Planned Parenthood’s activities.

«Thank you for your continued commitment to protecting the integrity of federal health programs and safeguarding taxpayer dollars,» they wrote.

Planned Parenthood did not respond to Digital’s request for comment.

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Iraq is preparing for the possibility that Islamic State fighters could spill across the border from Syria, the country’s foreign minister said Thursday. It comes just one day after the U.S. military formally ended its counter-ISIS mission in Iraq.

Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein told reporters in Washington, D.C., on Thursday that Baghdad is closely watching recent ISIS activity in neighboring Syria, and warned that fighters crossing into Iraq could once again pose a threat to the country’s security.

«We are worried about ISIS activities inside Syria,» Hussein said, adding that Iraqi forces were preparing to confront any movement toward the border. Still, he stressed that Baghdad believes its military can now handle the terrorist group without the large U.S.-led coalition presence that helped defeat ISIS’s self-declared caliphate.

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«If they would be capable to cross the border, that would be once again a threat to our security,» Hussein said. «We are preparing ourselves – if there will be any movement from inside Iraq — to fight them and to defeat them.»

The warning came just after the departure of the final U.S. forces under Operation Inherent Resolve on Wednesday.

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Trump hailed the withdrawal as a victory over ISIS, saying the terrorist group had been «completely decimated.»

«We came to fight a caliphate, and there is no longer a caliphate, so we are going home,» Trump said. «This day is a victory for the United States, a victory for Iraq, and a decisive victory over ISIS.»

But Hussein’s warning came four days after Syrian authorities said they dismantled an ISIS cell operating across four provinces, arresting four of its leaders and seizing explosives that had been prepared for attacks. The cell had carried out kidnappings and was involved in assassinations and planting explosive devices, according to Syrian security forces.

U.S. officials assess that ISIS has been severely degraded and no longer poses a systemic threat to Iraq, but the terrorist group maintains scattered cells across Iraq and Syria. The Pentagon has said Iraqi forces are capable of suppressing the remaining threat themselves, while U.S. forces continue counter-ISIS operations in Syria aimed at preventing the group from reconstituting.

The withdrawal marked the end of a U.S. military mission in Iraq that, in different forms, stretched across more than two decades and reshaped American foreign policy. The 2003 invasion toppled Saddam Hussein but gave way to years of insurgency and sectarian violence. Nearly 4,500 U.S. service members were killed before American forces withdrew in 2011.

Three years later, U.S. troops returned as ISIS swept across large parts of Iraq and Syria, seizing Mosul and declaring a self-styled caliphate. The U.S. launched Operation Inherent Resolve in 2014, leading an international coalition that helped Iraqi forces reclaim the territory ISIS had captured.

After the withdrawal, Iraq intends to pursue a bilateral security relationship with the U.S., though discussions on what that will look like have not yet begun.

He said Baghdad and Washington had discussed the principle of a future security relationship while negotiating the coalition’s departure, but still need to work out the details, including what kind of training, intelligence sharing or other military cooperation could continue.

At the same time, Baghdad is moving to bring Iran-backed militia groups operating outside the regular security forces under government control, another longstanding source of friction between Iraq and the U.S.

Iraq had originally set a Sept. 30 deadline — coinciding with the U.S.-led coalition’s withdrawal — for armed groups to lay down their weapons or come under state authority. That deadline has since slipped to June 2027 as some powerful factions resist disarmament.

Hussein said one group had issued a statement Thursday backing the government’s plan and another was expected to follow within a day, while negotiations continued with others.

«A single group will not be allowed to take the decision in their hands and attack other countries,» Hussein said.

That question has taken on new urgency as Iraq tries to contain the fallout from the war between the U.S. and neighboring Iran. Hussein confirmed that a recent attack on Saudi Arabia originated from Iraqi territory near the Iranian border, prompting an investigation by Baghdad and consultations with both Riyadh and Tehran.

Hussein said he had been in contact with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan over the attack and planned to visit Riyadh to discuss the matter further. The investigation remains ongoing, he said.

More broadly, Hussein described Iraq as caught in the middle of the U.S.-Iran conflict, saying Iraqi territory had been struck by both sides.

«We became a victim of this war,» Hussein said.

Baghdad has pressed both Washington and Tehran to resolve the conflict through negotiations, Hussein said, while seeking to keep Iraq from being drawn further into the fighting.

iraq, syria, isis, politics, national security, middle east foreign policy, foreign policy, terrorism

Nithya Raman, the far-left Los Angeles mayoral frontrunner, defended her appearance on controversial streamer Hasan Piker’s program and stood by her use of the term «genocide» to describe Israel’s actions in Gaza when pressed by a Jewish audience Tuesday night, raising alarm among some Jewish voters.

Raman’s appearance before hundreds of attendees at a Jewish community mayoral forum quickly turned into a series of pointed exchanges over Israel, antisemitism and her past comments on the war in Gaza. Pressed over her appearance on Piker’s show, Raman said candidates need to «meet people where they’re at» and rejected the suggestion that appearing on his platform signaled an endorsement of his views. 

She also reaffirmed her use of the word «genocide» to describe Israel’s actions in Gaza, saying she relied on unnamed «experts» who have used the same terminology.

Both Raman and current Mayor of Los Angeles Karen Bass attended a candidate forum hosted by several Jewish organizations Tuesday evening, during which they were questioned on a range of topics but largely about antisemitism, public safety, homelessness, Israel and other issues of particular concern to the Jewish community ahead of the Nov. 3 election.

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«Nithya Raman’s remarks should alarm every Jewish voter in Los Angeles,» StopAntisemitism founder and Executive Director Liora Rez told Digital, arguing that «‘meeting people where they’re at’ is not a defense» for appearing on Piker’s program.

The Wednesday night forum’s moderator noted that many in the audience viewed Raman’s appearance on Piker’s show as «deeply hurtful,» citing the streamer’s past remarks about Jews and praise for groups including Hamas, Hezbollah and al Qaeda. Asked why she chose to appear and whether she worried it could be perceived as an endorsement of his views, Raman said she has consistently spoken out against antisemitism but believed candidates should engage voters across different platforms.

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«I do believe that as an elected representative who’s seeking higher office, you have to go and speak to voters,» Raman said. «I think it’s important for us as elected officials and as people running for office to go and speak to them even when you disagree with parts of those individuals… and meet them where they’re at.»

Raman’s explanation echoes a rationale Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed offered when defending his own appearances with Piker, arguing candidates should engage audiences on platforms where voters already are.

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The moderator then shifted to Raman’s broader views on the Israel-Gaza war, noting that she had repeatedly described Israel’s actions as «genocide» and asking her to define the term and address Jewish voters who viewed the language as deeply inflammatory.

Raman acknowledged that «the word ‘genocide’ is a deeply painful word» and said she understood its historical significance, but maintained she used the term because other experts had done so and because she felt compelled to speak out after seeing «the targeting of hospitals» and «the deaths of children.»

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«I have used that term, and I’m not an expert on these issues, and so I have looked to experts on these issues — international experts, Israeli experts — who have used that language, and that is what guided me in using that term in describing what’s happening in Gaza,» Raman said.

But, in comments to Digital, Rez said «that charge is not supported by the facts,» arguing «casualty figures supplied by Hamas-controlled authorities, often presented without distinguishing civilians from combatants, do not establish a deliberate campaign to destroy the Palestinian people.»

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During the Tuesday night forum, Bass offered a sharply different view on the term and rejected its use in regard to the war in Gaza when pressed on the matter.

Meanwhile, when asked where she differed from the anti-Israel positions of the Democratic Socialists of America, whose Los Angeles chapter has endorsed her mayoral campaign, Raman defended the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, as «a legitimate form of peaceful protest» before arguing that Israel-related issues were not part of her municipal platform and pointing to disagreements she has had with DSA on other issues.

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Rez rejected Raman’s characterization of BDS as «a legitimate form of peaceful protest,» arguing the movement «is a discriminatory movement that singles out the world’s only Jewish state for isolation and elimination.»

Local Los Angeles activist and Jewish mother of two, April Silverman, slammed Raman’s appearance at the forum on X, arguing the mayoral frontrunner is not aware of «the concept of knowing your audience and reading the room.»

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«Nithya Raman couldn’t even pretend in front of a room full of Jewish Angelenos to be anything other than an antizionist radical,» said Shana Meyerson, a podcast host who has a show called «The Unapologetically Jewish Podcast.»

«She also doubled down on her ‘genocide’ accusations despite admitting she ‘isn’t an expert,’ and could not define what genocide is,» Meyerson added. «Another DSA jihadi laughing in the face of Jewish Americans.»

politics, controversies state and local, hasan piker, anti semitism