Iran is not likely to respond directly against the Jewish state but rather use its proxies to do the job, after a top commander of its Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) was killed in an apparent Israeli airstrike on the Iranian embassy in Damascus.

‘Given the target and location of the strike – at a building adjacent to the consulate — I expect the Iranians to respond,’ Bill Roggio, managing editor of Long War Journal, told Fox News Digital.

‘It is difficult to say how the Iranians respond,’ Roggio said. ‘The Iranians may try to target Israelis overseas, and may also leverage its militias – Hezbollah, the Houthis, and the Iraqi and Syria militias, to strike at targets within Israel.’

Roggio’s comments come after Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior IRGC commander, was reportedly killed Monday in an air strike on the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital, according to a report from Reuters.

Iran’s consulate was flattened in the strike, according to the report, which noted that Syrian and Iranian media had blamed the carnage on an Israeli air strike.

Israel declined to comment on the apparent strike, Reuters reported, with an Israeli military spokesperson telling the outlet that it does ‘not comment on reports in foreign media.’ The strike, according to Iranian state television, also killed several Iranian diplomats.

Israel has stepped up strikes in Syria and on Iranian-backed targets since the Hamas’ attack on Israel in October, Reuters noted, hitting both Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror groups as well as IRGC targets.

Yigal Carmon, a former adviser to two Israeli prime ministers on countering terrorism and founder and president of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), told Fox News Digital that, ‘Khamenei’s policies over the years reflect cowardice. The Iranian pattern of reaction is such that he escalates when he feels that the other side is afraid of him, and backs down when the other side shows deterrence.’

He continued, ‘In the attack on an official Iranian government target in Damascus, Israel escalated against Iran, telling Iran that Israel will not continue with the proxy game so commonly played by Iran. The Israeli escalation was to serve as a warning: we are ready for battle with you, Iran, directly, at this time, even though we are at war in both Gaza and Lebanon.’

Carmon’s said his assessment is that, ‘Khamenei will not react to the Israeli escalation by escalating against an Israeli target BY IRAN ITSELF. Rather, he will continue with the proxy game, targeting Israel by the Houthis, Hezbollah and possibly by terrorists in the West. He does not need and is not ready for an all-out war with Israel at this time.’

Another expert on the region, Casey Babb, a Fellow with the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, and a Professor at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs in Ottawa, told Fox News Digital that the latest strike is an example of the Israeli military’s significant reach.

‘It signals to Israel’s enemies — including Hamas, Hezbollah, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Iran, and other hostile actors — that the reach of Israel is immeasurable. No one is safe,’ Babb said. 

Babb said that the strike will deal Iran a ‘serious organizational blow’ and disrupt the IRGC’s ability to ‘mobilize, plan, and carry out effective attacks’ while also destabilizing ‘the psyche of Iranian leadership and their proxies.’

‘It makes them feel vulnerable, it makes them feel inferior, and crucially, it makes them question themselves,’ Babb said. ‘At the end of the day – all of these barbarians know their death warrants have been issued. This latest killing is just a reminder of that.’

Responding to the attack during a news conference, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said the U.S. did not have confirmation of the target or the responsible party, but noted the department’s concern that the reported strike could be seen as ‘escalatory’ and potential ’cause an increase in conflict in the region.’

Meanwhile, Fox News’ Trey Yingst reported Monday that Iran has vowed a ‘swift, direct, and harsh’ response to the apparent Israeli attack.

However, Babb argued that Iran is unlikely to mount any sort of ‘significant’ response.

‘Hezbollah, Iran, and other potential entities that could respond don’t want a full scale war with Israel,’ Babb said. ‘They know they’d be in ruins relatively fast – so they’ll likely respond in some calibrated way – but not enough to trigger a full on military confrontation.’

Joe Truzman a senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) and an expert on Iran and its proxies, told Fox News Digital that while Iran has generally steered clear of a direct conflict with Israel and used its proxies to carry out attacks, ‘The attack in Damascus specifically targeted high-ranking IRGC officers, as well as the Iranian consulate. As a result, Iran is likely to respond more forcefully to this incident compared to past attacks on its officers in Syria, he said. 

‘This possible shift in tactics suggests that the conflict between Iran and Israel may be entering a new and potentially more dangerous phase,’ he warned.

Iran is likely to respond and target Israelis after a top commander of its Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) was killed in an apparent Israeli airstrike on the Iranian embassy in Damascus.

‘Given the target and location of the strike – at a building adjacent to the consulate — I expect the Iranians to respond,’ Bill Roggio, managing editor of Long War Journal, told Fox News Digital.

Roggio’s comments come after Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior IRGC commander, was reportedly killed Monday in an air strike on the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital, according to a report from Reuters.

Iran’s consulate was flattened in the strike, according to the report, which noted that Syrian and Iranian media had blamed the carnage on an Israeli air strike.

Israel declined to comment on the apparent strike, Reuters reported, with an Israeli military spokesperson telling the outlet that it does ‘not comment on reports in foreign media.’

But the strike, which Iranian state television reported also killed several Iranian diplomats, is likely to draw some sort of response, Roggio said.

‘It is difficult to say how the Iranians respond,’ Roggio said. ‘The Iranians may try to target Israelis overseas, and may also leverage its militias – Hezbollah, the Houthis, and the Iraqi and Syria militias, to strike at targets within Israel.’

Israel has stepped up strikes in Syria and on Iranian-backed targets since the Hamas’ attack on Israel in October, Reuters noted, hitting both Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror groups as well as IRGC targets.

Yigal Carmon, a former adviser to two Israeli prime ministers on countering terrorism and founder and president of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), told Fox News Digital that, ‘Khamenei’s policies over the years reflect cowardice. The Iranian pattern of reaction is such that he escalates when he feels that the other side is afraid of him, and backs down when the other side shows deterrence.’

He continued, ‘In the attack on an official Iranian government target in Damascus, Israel escalated against Iran, telling Iran that Israel will not continue with the proxy game so commonly played by Iran. The Israeli escalation was to serve as a warning: we are ready for battle with you, Iran, directly, at this time, even though we are at war in both Gaza and Lebanon.’

Carmon’s said his assessment is that, ‘Khamenei will not react to the Israeli escalation by escalating against an Israeli target BY IRAN ITSELF. Rather, he will continue with the proxy game, targeting Israel by the Houthis, Hezbollah and possibly by terrorists in the West. He does not need and is not ready for an all-out war with Israel at this time.’

Another expert on the region, Casey Babb, a Fellow with the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, and a Professor at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs in Ottawa, told Fox News Digital that the latest strike is an example of the Israeli military’s significant reach.

‘It signals to Israel’s enemies — including Hamas, Hezbollah, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Iran, and other hostile actors — that the reach of Israel is immeasurable. No one is safe,’ Babb said. 

Babb said that the strike will deal Iran a ‘serious organizational blow’ and disrupt the IRGC’s ability to ‘mobilize, plan, and carry out effective attacks’ while also destabilizing ‘the psyche of Iranian leadership and their proxies.’

‘It makes them feel vulnerable, it makes them feel inferior, and crucially, it makes them question themselves,’ Babb said. ‘At the end of the day – all of these barbarians know their death warrants have been issued. This latest killing is just a reminder of that.’

Responding to the attack during a news conference, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said the U.S. did not have confirmation of the target or the responsible party, but noted the department’s concern that the reported strike could be seen as ‘escalatory’ and potential ’cause an increase in conflict in the region.’

Meanwhile, Fox News’ Trey Yingst reported Monday that Iran has vowed a ‘swift, direct, and harsh’ response to the apparent Israeli attack.

However, Babb argued that Iran is unlikely to mount any sort of ‘significant’ response.

‘Hezbollah, Iran, and other potential entities that could respond don’t want a full scale war with Israel,’ Babb said. ‘They know they’d be in ruins relatively fast – so they’ll likely respond in some calibrated way – but not enough to trigger a full on military confrontation.’

Joe Truzman a senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) and an expert on Iran and its proxies, told Fox News Digital that while Iran has generally steered clear of a direct conflict with Israel and used its proxies to carry out attacks, ‘The attack in Damascus specifically targeted high-ranking IRGC officers, as well as the Iranian consulate. As a result, Iran is likely to respond more forcefully to this incident compared to past attacks on its officers in Syria, he said. 

‘This possible shift in tactics suggests that the conflict between Iran and Israel may be entering a new and potentially more dangerous phase,’ he warned.

Hunter Biden was spotted attending Monday’s White House Easter Egg Roll alongside his father, President Biden, as House Republicans reportedly mull potential criminal referrals against them to the Department of Justice.

Hunter arrived at the White House on Sunday evening with his wife, Melissa Cohen, and their son, Beau, after spending the Easter weekend at Camp David with the president and first lady Jill Biden. The five were photographed leaving Marine One at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C.

The family getaway came as Republicans on the House Oversight and Judiciary committees are jointly investigating alleged Biden family corruption as part of an impeachment inquiry into the president, and they are reportedly floating possible criminal referrals in lieu of an impeachment vote.

Reports that Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., was considering criminal referrals followed the two committees’ joint hearing last week that included testimony from multiple former business associates of Hunter who testified to the extent of Biden’s involvement in his son’s business dealings, which the White House has denied.

Although Comer hasn’t specified who these criminal referrals would target, they could provide a way for Republicans to please those anxious for the Biden family to face some sort of consequences from the alleged influence-peddling scheme as the party looks unlikely to have the votes to successfully impeach the president.

Hunter’s appearance at the White House capped a multiday schedule that included his attendance at his father’s swanky but controversial New York City fundraiser held last Thursday, the same day as the wake of an NYPD officer killed in the line of duty.

Last year, the White House faced flak for omitting Hunter’s visits and extended stays from its visitor logs from the beginning of the Biden administration through February 2023, despite claiming to be ‘the most transparent administration in American history.’

While many of the events attended by Hunter were ceremonial and a tradition at the White House, Fox News Digital previously reported how Hunter sought to use such events for his personal financial gain during the Obama administration.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday said Hamas terrorists captured by troops said ‘the group is collapsing from within’ as Israel steps up its military offensive in the Gaza Strip. 

‘In the last week or two, hundreds of terrorists have been captured and what they say about what happened to them tells the whole story. They say that Hamas is collapsing from within, the price they are paying is very heavy,’ Gallant said, The Times of Israel reported. 

‘We’re going to eliminate everyone who was involved in the events of October 7, the junior [officials], the senior ones and the very senior ones; those who were inside [Israel] or who gave instructions,’ he said, referring to the date of Palestinian terror group Hamas’s massive attack on Israel that started the ongoing conflict.

The Israel Defense Forces said over the weekend that its troops seized a cache of weapons concealed in the maternity ward of Shifa Hospital, where a raid on the facility to target Hamas terrorists was entering its third week. Weapons found included mortars, explosive devices, sniper rifles, assault rifles, handguns and other military equipment hidden inside patient pillows and beds, according to the IDF.

Over the weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that troops would invade the city of Rafah in southern Gaza. The promise comes amid concerns from the Biden administration about Israeli military operations and the mounting civilian casualties. 

Netanyahu, 74, said he had approved the IDF’s ‘operational plan’ for Rafah, saying the force was ‘prepared for the evacuation of the civilian population and for the provision of humanitarian assistance.’

‘This is the right thing both operationally and internationally,’ he said. ‘This will take time but it will be done. We will enter Rafah and we will eliminate the Hamas battalions there for one simple reason: There is no victory without entering Rafah and there is no victory without eliminating the Hamas battalions there.’ 

Netanyahu has said there can be no victory without a military ground offensive in Rafah, the southern Gaza city where more than half of the territory’s population of 2.3 million now shelters after fleeing fighting elsewhere. 

The Biden administration and Israel were expected to hold a virtual meeting Monday to discuss Rafah. Netanyahu had canceled a previous set of meetings in Washington after the U.S. abstained from a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire and the release of all hostages. 

The White House has said a military operation in Rafah could result in mass civilian casualties and exacerbate an already dire humanitarian crisis. 

Fox News Digital’s Bradford Betz contributed to this report. 

The White House is calling the squatting trend in which strangers seize and live in a homeowner’s property against their wishes a ‘local issue’ that local governments must address themselves.

Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday whether Americans need to be worried about squatters and where President Biden stands on the issue as horror stories continue to make headlines.

‘My understanding is that this is obviously a local issue,’ Jean-Pierre said. ‘We are certainly tracking that issue. The rights of property owners and renters must be protected.’

‘And we believe that ultimately what needs to happen is that the local government needs to make sure that they address this, and they take action,’ the press secretary continued.

Jean-Pierre said all Americans in communities across the country want the same thing: ‘They want their families to be safe and that’s what we want as well.’

When asked whether Biden would support a law like one taking effect in Florida that allows homeowners to call police on squatters, Jean-Pierre said she would not address hypotheticals.

‘What I can say is that this is ultimately a local issue, and it’s critical that local governments address this,’ she said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill last week that granted state law enforcement officials the power to remove offenders and increase penalties for squatters.

The move comes as property owners nationwide complain about their homes being seized by strangers and the limited options to take back what is rightfully theirs.

The new Florida law is set to go into effect on July 1.

The Biden administration strengthened protections for African elephants, but stopped short of issuing a total ban on imports of hunting trophies and live animals, to the disappointment of wildlife activists.

In an announcement late last week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalized restrictions on elephants imported to the U.S. under the Endangered Species Act, which it said would aid the long-term conservation and survival of elephants in the wild. Prominent wildlife activist organizations have called for the agency to go further and ban such imports altogether.

‘The Service values collaborative conservation of wildlife all around the world and is committed to improving implementation of international conservation law,’ FWS Director Martha Williams said. ‘Our actions today will help support range countries’ efforts to manage and conserve African elephant populations and will further protect African elephants that are imported to the United States.’

She added that FWS would continue to work with African nations to ensure the sustainable management of elephant populations.

Under the finalized regulations, live African elephants, African elephant sport hunting trophies (such as tusks, hides, feet and tails), and African elephant parts and products may be imported into the U.S., but only from countries that have laws in place to ensure conservation of the species. The regulations also require imports to go to American facilities that are able to properly care for them.

The rulemaking further highlights the administration’s view that, for hunting to achieve its conservation potential, it must be ‘well-regulated’ and include accountability measures, FWS said. 

Still, advocates expressed disappointment at FWS’ decision to stop short of a full ban on imports and vowed to keep pushing for such a policy at the federal level.

‘I’m truly crushed this rule doesn’t ban trade in elephant hunting trophies to the United States, and it doesn’t even require stable elephant populations to allow trophy imports,’ said Tanya Sanerib, international legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity. ‘These magnificent animals are globally cherished but under threat, and it’s high time we stop letting wealthy trophy hunters turn them into decor.’

Sanerib said the restrictions finalized by the administration are ‘mouse-sized’ and treat elephants like commodities.

Jeff Flocken, the president of Humane Society International, applauded the new restrictions, but similarly called for even stronger measures. 

‘We will continue to fight for a full ban on the trade in African elephant hunting trophies, and we hope this sets a precedent that can be applied to other countries and to other imperiled species, like lions, giraffes and leopards,’ he said.

The regulations, which will take effect on May 1, 2024, were first proposed in November 2022. After they were proposed, FWS received thousands of comments from stakeholders, a large majority of whom called for increased conservation of African elephants, according to the agency.

Groups like the Performing Animal Welfare Society, Friends of Animals and the Animal Welfare Institute used their comments to call for the Biden administration to use the rulemaking to issue a complete ban on elephant imports.

‘Friends of Animals urges FWS to prohibit the import of live African elephants. There is no reason to continue to allow these intelligent and social creatures to suffer in captivity,’ Stephen Hernick, a senior attorney at the Wildlife Law Program for Friends of Animals, wrote in the group’s comments last year.

A special Russian intelligence unit could be behind a series of attacks that have left dozens of U.S. officials serving overseas with mysterious illnesses.

Russian intelligence unit 29155, a highly secretive military unit under the direct control of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has potential links to the mysterious cases of ‘Havana Syndrome’ that have stricken more than 100 Americans since 2016, according to a report from CBS’ ’60 Minutes.’

The report comes after a 2023 government report on the mysterious illnesses concluded it is ‘very unlikely’ that a foreign adversary is responsible, despite over 100 Americans having symptoms scientists have said could be caused by a beam of microwaves or acoustic sound.

But many of the victims are skeptical of the report, expressing frustration that the U.S. government’s public position has been to downplay potential attacks on Americans.

Those doubts are shared by Greg Edgreen, a former Army lieutenant colonel who was the lead Pentagon investigator into what are officially known as ‘anomalous health incidents,’ telling ’60 Minutes’ that the bar for proving a foreign country’s involvement is set too high and that evidence has consistently pointed to Russian involvement.

‘Unfortunately, I can’t get into specifics, based on the classification,’ Edgreen told ’60 Minutes.’ ‘But I can tell you, at a very early stage, I started to focus on Moscow.’

The potential attacks have targeted White House staff, CIA officers, FBI agents, military officers and family members, according to the report, with many of those suffering from the mysterious illnesses believing that they were targeted by a secret weapon capable of firing high-energy beams of microwaves or ultrasound.

According to Edgreen, the officials who were targeted were top performers and doing work that was focused on Russia.

‘And consistently there was a Russia nexus,’ Edgreen said. ‘There was some angle where they had worked against Russia, focused on Russia, and done extremely well.’

Mark Zaid, an attorney representing more than two dozen clients who suffer from symptoms of Havana Syndrome, agreed with Edgreen, telling ’60 Minutes’ that his clients include members of the CIA, State Department and FBI with a common thread in doing work related to Russia.

‘The one thread that I know of with the FBI personnel that is common among most, if not all, of my clients other than the family members connected to the employee, was they were all doing something relating to Russia,’ Zaid told ’60 Minutes.’

Christo Grozev, a journalist for The Insider who worked on the investigative report with ’60 Minutes,’ believes Russian intelligence unit 29155 is involved in the potential attacks. Russian documents uncovered by Grozev show a link between 29155 and a ‘directed energy weapon,’ with one document revealing an award that was given to a 29155 officer for work on ‘potential capabilities of non-lethal acoustic weapons.’

‘It’s the closest to a receipt you can have for this,’ Grozev told ’60 Minutes.’

The report also uncovered evidence that 29155 was present in Tbilisi, Georgia, when multiple Americans reported potential incidents of attacks there, with sources telling the outlet of an investigation into a Russian named Albert Averyanov, whose name appeared on travel manifests and phone records alongside known members of 29155. The report also noted that Averyanov is the son of the unit’s commander.

One of the Averyanov calls was intercepted, according to the report, and featured a man asking in Russian: ‘Is it supposed to have blinking green lights?’ and ‘Should I leave it on all night?’

The incidents of potential attacks on Americans in the country began a day after the call, according to the report.

Rebekah Koffler, a strategic military intelligence analyst, former senior official at the Defense Intelligence Agency and author of ‘Putin’s Playbook,’ told Fox News Digital that it is ‘highly likely’ that Russia is behind the cases of Havana Syndrome attacks, arguing that the country has the ‘capability, doctrine and intent to use nonlethal weapons against U.S. personnel and physical assets.’

‘During the Cold War, Russia’s predecessor, the Soviet Union, routinely used nonlethal weapons against American government personnel,’ Koffler said.

Koffler said she disagrees with the 2023 government report that concluded it was unlikely a foreign adversary was behind the potential attacks, arguing that the cases have the trademarks of operations that would typically only be carried out by 29155.

‘Only President Putin can authorize such intelligence operations, which are called ‘active measures’ or ‘special tasks.’ Such covert operations are normally executed by the GRU’s VCh (Voinskaya Chast’) 29155,’ Koffler said.

Meanwhile, a Russian presidential spokesperson issued a statement denying that the country was involved in the mysterious cases, calling such an accusation ‘unfounded.’

The lawyer representing dozens of clients, who holds a security clearance, also doubts the government assessment, telling ’60 Minutes’ that there could be some sort of ‘cover up’ at play.

‘There is, in my view, without a doubt, evidence of a cover up. Now, some of that cover up is not necessarily that, ‘Oh, we found a weapon,” Zaid said. ‘What I’ve seen more so is, ‘We see lines of inquiry that would take us potentially to answers we don’t want to have to deal with, so we’re not going to explore any of those avenues.”

In response to the ’60 Minutes’ report, a White House spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the administration had ordered relevant departments to ‘prioritize investigations into the cause’ of Havana Syndrome and to ensure that government employees and their families receive ‘timely access to medical care.’

‘The Biden-Harris administration continues to emphasize the importance of prioritizing efforts to comprehensively examine the effects and potential causes of AHIs,’ the spokesperson said.

An FBI spokesperson told ’60 Minutes’ that the incidents are a ‘top priority for the FBI.’

‘We will continue to work alongside our partners in the intelligence community as part of the interagency effort to determine how we can best protect our personnel,’ the spokesperson said. ‘The FBI takes all U.S. government personnel who report symptoms seriously.’

The FBI did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., suggested the House of Representatives will act in the coming weeks to get more funding to Ukraine.

‘When we return after this period, we’ll be moving a product. But it’s going to, I think, have some important innovations,’ Johnson told Fox News’ ‘Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy.’

Both the House and Senate are currently on the second week of a two-week recess, when lawmakers are working in their home districts. The House is back on Tuesday, April 9.

Johnson said he has been ‘working to build consensus’ on a supplemental national security and foreign aid package, though he signaled it would look different from prior attempts. He said the House would ‘be moving it right after the district work period.’

It comes after Republicans killed a $118 billion package with aid for Ukraine, Taiwan, Israel and the U.S. border earlier this year, arguing it did not go far enough to tackle the ongoing border crisis. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and President Biden have been pressuring Johnson to take up a slimmer $95 billion package without border measures.

‘We’ve been trying to use that as the only leverage we have to force change on the border. We’re still trying to force the president to use his executive authority, and most of the American people know that he has that authority. He’s not using it,’ Johnson argued. 

On Ukraine specifically, he said, ‘There’s a lot of things that we should do that make more sense and I think we’ll have consensus around.’

Johnson highlighted three details specifically – the first being the REPO Act introduced in the House last year by Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, which would liquidate seized Russian assets and send that as assistance to Ukraine. 

The speaker also pointed out that former President Trump recently floated the idea of aid to Ukraine in the form of a loan, though he did not mention specific terms save for Kyiv paying Washington back if they win the war against Russia.

‘Even President Trump has talked about the loan concept where we set up – we’re not just giving foreign aid – we’re setting up a relationship where they can provide it back to us when the time is right,’ Johnson said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a Trump ally, told NBC News’ ‘Meet The Press’ last month that the ex-president would back such a loan being forgivable and interest-free.

Johnson described the third proposal, ‘And then, you know, we want to unleash American energy. We want to have natural gas exports that will help unfund Vladimir Putin’s war effort there.’

Biden is facing bipartisan pushback to his administration’s pause on exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG), with some critics accusing him of giving Russia greater control over the market and thus more money to fund its invasion.

Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told Fox News Digital last month that Biden is ‘sending very mixed messages to Ukraine’ with his energy policies.

‘On one hand, he says he supports Ukraine, but on the other, he is helping fund Putin’s war efforts by putting billions of dollars of money in the pocket of Vladimir Putin by allowing him to sell his energy on world markets, by shutting off American energy,’ Scalise said.

Fox News Digital reached out to Johnson’s office for more specifics on timing and was referred back to his interview remarks.

The Sunday interview included some of Johnson’s most specific comments on Ukraine aid yet, as bipartisan pressure grows with the situation for Kyiv growing more dire in the face of Russia’s vastly greater resources.

However, Johnson is also taking heat from a small but vocal faction on his right flank for supporting Ukraine aid at all.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who filed a motion to oust Johnson in late March over passage of a bipartisan $1.2 trillion government funding deal, blasted him on Monday morning for his stance.

‘If Speaker Johnson gives another $60 billion to the defense of Ukraine’s border after he FULLY FUNDED Biden’s deadly open border, the cruel joke would be on the American people. And it won’t be April Fools,’ she wrote on X.

Johnson said Sunday that he and Greene had exchanged text messages and would be speaking next week.

Democrats and Republicans alike are scrambling to define Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s independent presidential bid and ascribe his views to the other ideological side before he is able to introduce himself to the 2024 electorate. 

‘The only thing they know is that he’s Robert Kennedy’s son,’ said Allan Lichtman, a historian and distinguished professor of history at American University.

As Kennedy focuses on gaining ballot access, his election travel looks much different than that of former President Trump or President Biden, who are primarily campaigning in critical battleground states. 

Despite this advantage, both parties are still looking to undermine Kennedy’s outside attempt. 

Trump took to his Truth Social to slam Kennedy on Wednesday, calling him ‘the most Radical Left Candidate in the race, by far.’

The Democratic National Committee has claimed that Kennedy is ‘a Trump stalking horse’ in the 2024 election.

Earlier this month, the DNC established a staff devoted specifically to addressing third-party competitors. According to spokesperson Matt Corridoni, the decision to take on outside presidential bids was born out of not taking anything for granted.

‘I think a lot of his support is simply based on the name, not on any understanding of what RFK Jr. actually stands for,’ Lichtman claimed, calling him a ‘very ambiguous figure.’

One reason for his enigmatic status is that ‘he seems to legitimately hold opinions that one can attribute to both the left and the right,’ according to Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

For Russell Verney, who served as a top adviser to Ross Perot’s famed 1992 independent presidential campaign, these efforts from each side were prompted by both parties’ aversions to competition.

If a voter chooses to support Kennedy on Election Day, Verney claimed many of them ‘wouldn’t have voted for Biden anyway.’ 

According to Democratic strategist Kaivan Shroff, it wouldn’t be hard for Democrats ‘to paint him like a Disney villain, the black sheep of a historic American family, who has this wild vendetta against the Democratic Party his family helped build.’

Republican strategists estimated a much larger threat presented to Biden, and one that isn’t easily navigated. The combination of the president’s ‘fragile’ support and the Kennedy name’s Democratic legacy ‘will cost a boatload of money and a smart plan’ for Biden to combat, said GOP strategist Zack Roday.

‘If I was in the Biden camp right now, I would be pulling the five-alarm fire,’ added Charlie Kirk, founder and CEO of Turning Point USA.

Others suggest that the threat presented by Kennedy is ‘asymmetrical.’

‘There are expected to be a lot of ‘double-haters’ in this contest’ unhappy with both Trump and Biden, added Kevin Madden, former senior adviser to Utah Sen. Mitt Romney’s presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2012. 

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Kennedy press secretary Stefanie Spear claimed that the attacks from both sides were prompted by ‘a genuine inability’ to understand ‘a candidate who does not fit into conventional political categories.’

‘Our ticket represents the broad majority who have unsubscribed from the right-left paradigm,’ she said of Kennedy and his running mate Nicole Shanahan. 

While the campaign expressed confidence in its coalition, Lichtman said historically, ‘the partisans come home’ on Election Day.

This is the result of ‘wasted vote syndrome,’ he explained. ‘You know, ‘We love you, Ross Perot, but you can’t win, so I’m not going to vote for you.” 

Verney agreed that this syndrome is often what leads to a roughly 50% cut in voter percentage for independent candidates on Election Day compared to their previous stature in polling. According to the former Perot adviser, using the idea of a wasted vote is an incredibly effective strategy to undercut an independent bid. 

Jacob Neiheisel, associate professor of political science at the State University of New York at Buffalo, also noted, ‘There isn’t a great deal of evidence that third-party candidates play such a role.’ He added that third-party voters are more likely to sit out voting if their candidate isn’t an option.  

According to Bernard Tamas, an associate political science professor at Valdosta State University and author of ‘The Demise and Rebirth of American Third Parties,’ Kennedy’s messaging is neither consistent nor cohesive, presenting a challenge to delivering voters come Election Day. ‘The issues that he supports may galvanize certain voters early on,’ he explained, but may put them off later. 

The image of Kennedy projected to voters will ultimately come down to which side employs the most effective communicators, according to Lichtman. And right now, Biden seems to have an advantage with figures like former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama on his side. 

In a statement, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung reiterated Trump’s claims about Kennedy, calling him a ‘radical leftist.’

The Biden campaign did not provide comment and instead referred Fox News Digital to the DNC’s third-party operation.

Lawmakers have long shied away from serious discussions about entitlement reform, but the issue appears to be coming back into focus for Republicans who are wary about the growing national debt.

‘I definitely have noticed it,’ veteran GOP strategist Doug Heye told Fox News Digital of the uptick in GOP-led discussions on the issue. ‘Republicans have talked about this for a long time, not always with specifics. But what tends to happen is, they talk about it, they get attacked, they fall back.’

Congress just ended the fiscal year 2024 government-funding fight with President Biden signing a $1.2 trillion spending package into law last week and averting a partial government shutdown. But the ugly battle, which took six additional months after the end of fiscal year 2023, only accounted for the government’s discretionary spending – which makes up just over a quarter of annual federal funds.

The vast majority of federal funding is classified as mandatory spending, which includes entitlement programs like Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known colloquially as ‘food stamps.’

Discussions about raising the Social Security eligibility age or cuts to Medicare are always politically fraught. But economists are now warning that without changes, those programs are headed for forced cuts anyway, due to insufficient funds – with Medicare expected to become insolvent in 2028, and Social Security in 2033.

‘I do think we should be willing to have real conversations about this, but I wouldn’t say this is a new issue,’ Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., chair of the pragmatic House Main Street Caucus, told Fox News Digital.

Johnson noted that ‘every ten years’ or so, Washington officials assemble task forces and commissions to discuss the national debt or the solvency of programs like Social Security and Medicare.

‘I think what is maybe ripening this issue a bit more now is the [threat of insolvency],’ he said. ‘It is closer than ever.’

Johnson himself has led the charge in pushing for work requirements for federal food benefits, something Democrats have used as a political cudgel, despite the programs’ ballooning costs. But in recent months, more Republicans are declaring their support for curbing entitlements.

Meanwhile, House Rules Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., openly called for entitlement reform in his announcement that he would be running for House Appropriations chair.

‘You cannot solve the U.S. deficit problem exclusively in the Appropriations Committee, as discretionary spending only amounts to roughly 28 percent of U.S. expenditures,’ Cole said earlier this month. ‘If we are going to produce a balanced budget, which I strongly believe we should be striving to do, we should be having serious discussions on how to fund and reform our entitlement programs, which makes up approximately 60 percent of all spending.’

The Republican Study Committee, a 175-member House GOP group led by Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., recently released a budget proposal that called for raising the ‘retirement age for future retirees to account for increases in life expectancy’ as well as restructuring Medicare to compete with private options.

Democrats up to the White House pounced on the proposal, accusing Republicans of trying to gut Social Security and Medicare. Seizing on the looming November election as well, Biden’s campaign has sought to link any Republican victory to deep cuts to the programs.

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good, R-Va., told Fox News Digital that he expects that Republicans will take on entitlement reform if they win the White House, House and Senate.

‘My hope would be that if we have full control of government that we will take the steps necessary to preserve and protect Social Security and Medicare for the current retirees who are depending on it, those nearing retirement, depending on the next few years, [and] so that it’s there also for people like you,’ Good said.

Former President Donald Trump, the presumed GOP nominee for 2024, has not been explicit about his stance regarding entitlement reform. 

He told CNBC earlier this month that ‘there is a lot you can do in terms of entitlements, in terms of cutting.’ His spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt, later told NBC News, ‘President Trump will continue to strongly protect Social Security and Medicare in his second term.’

But Paul Winfree, Trump’s former White House budget policy director and current president of the Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC), backed entitlement reform to reduce the national deficit and save the programs themselves.

‘Interest rates are significantly higher and so too are debt service payments. At the same time, the Fed has had a hard time getting inflation fully under control,’ Winfree told Fox News Digital. ‘Those are market signals that the deficit really needs to come down. And the sooner policymakers begin to confront the biggest drivers of the deficit, specifically what is spent on federal health programs, the more likely it will be that they can protect programs for the most vulnerable.’

The federal government spent $2.2 trillion on Social Security and Medicare in 2023, according to the Congressional Budget Office, out of $3.8 trillion in mandatory spending.

Strategist Doug Heye, who’s pessimistic about the talk becoming action, suggested that it was precisely because reforms seem too out of reach that Republicans are able to be vocal.

‘Entitlement reform, depending on who you talk to, is – it’s a tool to show either voters or portions of conservative media that you’re fighting, and it doesn’t mean that any of this is going to happen. In fact, that’s sort of irrelevant to the process, showing the willingness to fight becomes paramount,’ Heye explained.