Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty in his initial appearance in federal court Thursday, after being charged with tax crimes out of Special Counsel David Weiss’ investigation. 

Judge Mark Scarsi presided over the proceedings. Hunter was processed after the hearing by the U.S. Marshals Service.

The president’s son pleaded not guilty to all nine federal tax charges stemming from Weiss’ investigation. Hunter’s trial is scheduled to begin on June 20. 

Weiss charged Hunter in December, alleging a ‘four-year scheme’ when the president’s son did not pay his federal income taxes from January 2017 to October 2020 while also filing false tax reports.

Weiss filed the charges in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. 

The charges break down to three felonies and six misdemeanors concerning $1.4 million in owed taxes that have since been paid.

In the indictment, Weiss alleged that Hunter ‘engaged in a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019, from in or about January 2017 through in or about October 15, 2020, and to evade the assessment of taxes for tax year 2018 when he filed false returns in or about February 2020.’

Weiss said that, in ‘furtherance of that scheme,’ the younger Biden ‘subverted the payroll and tax withholding process of his own company, Owasco, PC by withdrawing millions’ from the company ‘outside of the payroll and tax withholding process that it was designed to perform.’

The special counsel alleged that Hunter ‘spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills,’ and that in 2018, he ‘stopped paying his outstanding and overdue taxes for tax year 2015.’

Weiss alleged that Hunter ‘willfully failed to pay his 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 taxes on time, despite having access to funds to pay some or all of these taxes,’ and that he ‘willfully failed to file his 2017 and 2018 tax returns on time.’

Judge Scarsi on Thursday set the same conditions of Hunter’s release as those set in Delaware, where the first son pleaded not guilty to federal gun charges brought by Weiss in October. 

Those conditions include the requirement for the president’s son to seek employment and communicate all international travel plans. Hunter also is prohibited from possessing a firearm and using alcohol and drugs, and he is required to get drug tested randomly and participate in a substance abuse counseling program. 

The next motions hearing was set for March 27 in Los Angeles. 

Hunter’s defense attorney Abbe Lowell attacked Weiss over the charges last month, accusing the special counsel of ‘bowing to Republican pressure’ when talking to the press.

‘Based on the facts and the law, if Hunter’s last name was anything other than Biden, the charges in Delaware, and now California, would not have been brought,’ Lowell said in a statement.

Hunter’s court appearance in California comes a day after the House Oversight Committee and the House Judiciary Committee passed resolutions to hold Hunter in contempt of Congress for defying a congressional subpoena as part of the House impeachment inquiry against President Biden, setting up a full vote on the House floor in the coming days that would recommend the first son for prosecution.  

Hunter made a surprise appearance on Capitol Hill on Wednesday morning, as the House Oversight Committee considered the resolution.

The House Oversight and Judiciary Committees had subpoenaed Hunter to appear for a closed-door deposition, scheduled for Dec. 13, 2023, as part of the House GOP impeachment inquiry against President Biden.

Hunter offered to testify publicly, but Republicans rejected the request. Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, cited the setting of other witness interviews, saying Hunter would not receive special treatment. The chairmen did, however, vow to release a full transcript of his deposition, as they had for previous witnesses, and agreed to schedule a subsequent public hearing.

On Dec. 13, Hunter appeared on Capitol Hill, but not for his deposition. Instead, he delivered a statement to the press, defying the subpoena.

Fox News’ Lee Ross contributed to this report. 

Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy has filed an amicus brief at the Supreme Court in support of former President Donald Trump’s efforts to remain on state ballots.

‘President Trump’s political opponents have sought to disqualify him from the ballot in multiple states because they fear they cannot beat him in a free and fair election,’ Ramaswamy noted in the filing. ‘Needless to say, the distress of competing against a formidable opponent cannot justify disqualification under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. The consequences of affirming the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision will extend far beyond the dispute over President Trump’s eligibility.’

‘Specifically, this Court’s blessing of the state supreme court’s interpretation of Section 3 will warp incentives for state decision-makers and voters alike,’ Ramaswamy added in the filing. ‘For secretaries of state and state supreme court justices, the path to national notoriety will be illuminated: To enhance your credibility among copartisans, simply concoct a reason to declare a disfavored presidential candidate of the opposing party ineligible to run for office.’

‘For voters, the message will be equally clear: Scour the records of disfavored candidates for speeches containing martial rhetoric, or even policies that had unintended consequences, and then file challenges under Section 3. The number of Section 3 complaints will proliferate, as will the number of divergent outcomes.’

The amicus brief was filed Thursday as the Supreme Court gears up to hear arguments on whether Trump should remain on the Colorado Republican presidential primary ballot. The justices said they will hear the case on an expedited basis, with arguments on February 8.

The justices issued an administrative stay that orders the Colorado Secretary of State to put the former president’s name on the GOP primary ballot, at least until the case is decided. The high court said that the briefs are due by January 31.

Ramaswamy said Wednesday that he planned to file the amicus brief at the Supreme Court in hopes that it would ‘overturn Coloarado’s disastrous decision to try to keep Donald Trump off the ballot.’

In the clip announcing the filing, Ramaswamy said the court should overturn Colorado’s decision because it’s ‘the right thing to do for this country.’

‘I feel a sense of obligation to do that as somebody who understands the Constitution,’ he said. ‘It’s my belief that every other Republican, myself included, needs to withdraw from any ballot that forcibly withdraws Donald Trump from the primary.’

The Colorado Supreme Court decision was the first time in history that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment was used to bar a presidential contender from the ballot. 

The state’s highest court concluded that Trump ‘engaged in insurrection’ over his role in the January 6, 2021, protests at the U.S. Capitol.

The historical hearing will consider the meaning of the 14th Amendment, which bars people who ‘engaged in insurrection’ from holding public office. 

The amendment was adopted in 1868, following the Civil War.

Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., criticized South Africa for bringing a genocide case against Israel in the United Nations’ International Court of Justice, saying the African nation should focus on quelling unrest on its own continent.

The International Court of Justice in The Netherlands was set to hear oral arguments on Thursday in the case South Africa submitted in late December accusing Israel of genocide. 

‘Who are they really fighting?’ Fetterman said of Hamas terrorists while speaking at the Orthodox Union luncheon in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. ‘ It’s a group of cowards. They hide in tunnels, they hide behind civilians, they attack, kill and mutilate children, women. And they do that. Stop talking about proportion on that. They shot their best shot on October 7th, and they would have taken more lives if they could do that.’

‘Now we’re also talking about genocide,’ Fetterman continued. ‘And now South Africa… bringing that kind of trial. Maybe South Africa ought to sit this one out when they’re talking about criticizing the behavior of another nation. Sit out!’ 

The Associated Press reported in 2020 that White farmers and organizations representing them in South Africa have called for farm killings to be made a priority crime, but the South African government insists that White farmers are not being targeted because of their race, saying the violence is a result of South Africa’s high crime rate. 

South Africa has one of the highest crime statistics in the world. A great deal of South Africa’s best farmland is owned by White farmers, as a result of the eviction of Black farmers when the country was ruled by a White minority. Although South Africa now has majority rule, land ownership remains a contentious issue, with parties like the leftist Economic Freedom Fighters mobilizing supporters and urging the government to seize White-owned land without compensation and return it to Black families.

Fetterman’s office said he was not referring to the issue of White farmers. ‘The entirety of my point was this: South Africa should instead focus on the spiraling humanitarian crises on its own continent—like Sudan where more than 7 million people have been displaced with widespread atrocities,’ the senator said in a statement.

In the third quarter of 2023, South African farm attacks soared by 21% compared to the previous quarter, according to AfriForum, a non-profit civil rights organization. AfriForum’s Community Safety Division documented 88 farm attacks, including 13 farm murders, from July to September 2023. 

In the second quarter from April to June, 73 farm attacks, including 23 murders, were recorded, the group said. 

Fetterman, a Democrat who drew heavy criticism from conservatives during his campaign and following his victory over Dr. Mehmet Oz in 2022, has recently been championed by conservatives while drawing left-wing backlash over his stance on Israel. 

‘The Fetterman 180 is the most amazing development in political history,’ conservative lawyer Marina Medvin wrote on X, sharing the clip. 

‘John Fetterman is the only politician with the stones to stand up against the radicals in his own base, and it is beyond respectable,’ Harrison Krank wrote to his 244,000 followers, reshaping the clip originally posted on X by Dovi Safier. 

During opening statements on Thursday, South African lawyers said the latest Gaza war is part of a decades-long oppression of the Palestinians by Israel. South Africa is seeking binding preliminary orders to compel Israel to stop its military campaign in Gaza. 

The Palestinian health ministry, which is run by Hamas, claims more than 23,000 people have died and does not distinguish between civilian and militant casualties. 

‘Genocides are never declared in advance, but this court has the benefit of the past 13 weeks of evidence that shows incontrovertibly a pattern of conduct and related intention that justifies as a plausible claim of genocidal acts,’ South African lawyer Adila Hassim told the judges and audience in the packed, ornate room of the Peace Palace in The Hague, according to the Associated Press. ‘Nothing will stop the suffering except an order from this court.’ 

Israel, however, says it is battling a fierce enemy in the Gaza Strip that carried out the deadliest attack on its territory in Israel’s history, killing more than 1,200 people on Oct. 7. Israel says it is following international law and does its utmost to avoid harm to civilians. It blames Hamas for the high toll, saying the terror organization that had been controlling Gaza embeds in residential areas.

Ahead of the proceedings at The Hague, hundreds of pro-Israeli protesters marched close to the courthouse with banners saying, ‘Bring them home,’ referring to the hostages held by Hamas since Oct. 7. But South Africa reportedly turned a deaf ear to Israel’s arguments, insisting the Jewish state committed genocide by design.

‘The scale of destruction in Gaza, the targeting of family homes and civilians, the war being a war on children, all make clear that genocidal intent is both understood and has been put into practice. The articulated intent is the destruction of Palestinian life,’ lawyer Tembeka Ngcukaitobi said, according to the AP. ‘What state would admit to a genocidal intent? Yet the distinctive feature of this case has not been the silence as such, but the reiteration and repetition of genocidal speech throughout every sphere of the state in Israel.’ 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

A Telegram channel used by more than 3,000 teachers for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza was found replete with posts celebrating Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, praising the terrorists who raped and murdered civilians as ‘heroes.’ 

The Telegram channel is intended for UNRWA teachers and contains files with staff names, ID numbers, schedules, and curriculum materials, according to UN Watch, which highlighted the troubling messages in a Wednesday report. 

Users on the channel glorified the ‘education’ the terrorists received, shared photos of dead or captured Israelis and urged the execution of hostages – in some cases, minutes after the attack began. 

Users also regularly share videos, photos, and messages inciting ‘Jihadi terrorism’ and openly celebrate the massacre and rape of civilians by Hamas terrorists, the report alleged. 

In one post highlighted in the report, UNRWA teacher Waseem Ula shared a video glorifying the Hamas attacks and posted a photo of a suicide bomb vest wired with explosives. 

The caption read: ‘Wait, sons of Judaism.’ 

He was also alleged to have glorified one of the perpetrators of the Oct. 7 attack as a ‘friend’ and ‘brother’ whom he prayed to Allah to ‘admit him to paradise without judgment.’ 

‘This is the motherlode of UNRWA teachers’ incitement to Jihadi terrorism,’ said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, the Geneva-based organization that monitors the UN. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to UNRWA for a response to UN Watch’s report. 

This is not the first time troubling reports regarding the UNRWA have emerged since the Oct. 7 attack. 

The U.K.-based Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se) issued a 123-page report in November accusing UNRWA teachers of having ‘publicly celebrated the October 7 massacre and other Hamas attacks on their social media accounts.’ 

The Trump administration cut ties with UNRWA in 2018, with the State Department calling the organization an ‘irredeemably flawed operation.’ 

However, President Biden reestablished the relationship in June 2021, pumping an estimated $1 billion of taxpayer money into the organization since then. 

Hamas terrorists killed 1,200 people – mostly civilians – and took 240 hostages when it stormed into Israel’s borders on Oct. 7. In the weeks since then, Israel has waged an all-out assault on Gaza with the express aim of destroying the terrorist group’s military capabilities.  

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says more than 23,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in the offensive, though Israel has disputed these figures.  

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

A new Department of Defense Inspector General report released Thursday finds more than $1 billion worth of weapons sent to Ukraine were not properly tracked by U.S. defense officials. 

The DOD IG has personnel stationed in Ukraine and is investigating with its Defense Criminal Investigative Service allegations of diversion of weapons. For now, the IG says, ‘It was beyond the scope of our evaluation to determine whether there has been diversion of such assistance.’ 

The weapons in question are small and include shoulder-fired missiles, one-way attack drones and night-vision devices. 

‘From a monetary perspective, the delinquent serial numbers account for more than $1.005 billion of the total $1.699 billion (59 percent of the total value) of EEUM‑designated defense articles as of June 2, 2023,’ the report says. ‘Until those challenges are resolved, the DoD will not be able to fully account for all of the more than $1.699 billion in EEUM‑designated defense articles provided to Ukraine.’

As Congress weighs sending more U.S. military assistance to Ukraine, a growing number of lawmakers are demanding greater oversight. 

The Pentagon sent the report to Congress on Wednesday and a redacted version was released Thursday.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby reacted to the report’s findings at a Thursday press briefing.

Despite concern that sensitive weapons material could be bartered by arms dealers on the black market, Kirby largely justified why American defense officials didn’t fully account for nearly 40,000 weapons that the U.S. provided to Ukraine by citing the active warzone and risk of sending personnel to conduct inventory on the frontlines. 

‘Let me broadly say, we have for many, many months now been interested in improving and improving accountability over the end use of material that is provided to Ukraine. We have had that conversation with our Ukrainian partners and they share our concerns about accountability,’ Kirby said. ‘Now, we are grateful for the work that the DoD did, that was a  significant body of work and we appreciate that. We’re going to go through this. I know DoD has already gone through this and reacted to it.’

Kirby noted that report ‘made clear that DoD has made some improvements, including things like handheld scanners and trying to boost a little bit of the footprint there at the embassy to try to help with better tracking of material.’ Kirby also noted that in the report ‘there’s no evidence of any sort of wide scale diversion or illicit diversion of any of the material that’s been going on to Ukraine,’ and given the wartime environment, ‘there are real limits to our ability to count every… bullet, every artillery shell.’

‘We have a small footprint at the embassy of military men and women who are working on this accountability,’ Kirby said. ‘We don’t want to, nor should we be expected to, put them in greater harm’s way, closer to the front, to inspect every little shipment and how it’s being used. I mean, it’s a combat environment.’

Since Russian forces seized Crimea and portions of the Donbas region in 2014, the United States had provided more than $47 billion in military assistance to Ukraine. Before the February 2022 full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, as the IG report notes, Office of Defense Cooperation personnel with the U.S. embassy in Ukraine ‘were required to inspect and document serial number inventories of new EEIM-designated defense articles in Ukraine.’ But especially after U.S. employees were ordered to evacuate Kyiv, the inventory process was disrupted. 

Since then, during the course of the Biden administration sending another approximately $44.2 billion in military assistance, according to the State Department’s estimates released in late December, the inventory process and delinquency rate has improved. 

Regarding the logistical challenges of inventory during an active war zone, the IG report states, ‘ODC-Ukraine personnel experienced logistical and personnel limitation challenges that prevented them from conducting inventories of all EEUM-designated defense articles before transfer into Ukraine. ODC-Ukraine officials stated that they relocated additional staff to the logistics hubs in a partner nation in July 2022 to conduct initial serial number inventories of EEUM-designated defense articles upon their arrival. An ODC-Ukraine official stated that the geographic distance between the logistics hubs posed a challenge that impeded conducting EEUM inventories.’

The report, however, still notes the ‘DoD did not fully comply with EEUM program requirements for defense article accountability in a hostile environment.’

The DoD Inspector General did not clarify exactly how many of the 39,139 high-risk pieces of material that were given to Ukraine in the years before and after the February 2022 full-scale invasion were considered ‘delinquent.’ But as the New York Times noted, the latest data available from June shows the U.S. has provided Ukraine with more than 10,000 Javelin anti-tank missiles, 2,500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles, about 750 Kamikaze Switchblade drones, 430 medium-range air-to-air missiles and 23,000 night vision devices. 

Senior Biden adviser Amos Hochstein will visit Beirut, Lebanon, on Thursday to meet with officials in an effort to prevent Israeli-Hezbollah tensions from spilling into an all-out war.

Hochstein has been in the region meeting with Israeli officials for more than a week as tensions have grown red-hot. He will now meet with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and other officials to discuss how the country can secure its border and prevent Hezbollah attacks on Israel.

Hezbollah is an Iran-backed terrorist organization that operates in Lebanon. The group has launched hundreds of missiles and rockets into Israel since the IDF began its campaign against Hamas following the October 7 terror attack that killed more than 1,200 Israelis.

Israel has been forced to evacuate towns along its northern border with Lebanon, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that an invasion may be imminent if Hezbollah does not cease hostilities.

A senior Hezbollah commander said the terrorist organization does not want an expanded war with Israel Tuesday, but attacks on Israeli targets have continued.

Hezbollah claimed that a Tuesday attack was in retribution for an Israeli strike that killed Wissam al-Tawil, who commanded Hezbollah’s Radwan forces.

Hezbollah deputy leader Naim Qassem released a televised speech stating that his group does not seek an all-out war with Israel, ‘but if Israel expands it, the response is inevitable to the maximum extent required to deter Israel.’

Netanyahu vowed on Monday that his government would do ‘anything’ to bring back security for Israel.

‘Hezbollah made a serious mistake about us in 2006, and is doing so again now. It thinks that we are weak as a spiderweb, and now sees what kind of spider we are,’ Netanyahu said while visiting soldiers at the northern border. ‘It sees here enormous power, national unity, and determination to do whatever is necessary to bring security back to the north, and I tell you that this is my policy.’

‘We naturally prefer that there be no large scale conflict, but that will not stop us,’ he added. ‘We have given Hezbollah an example of what happened to its friends in the south, and that is what will happen here in the north. We will do anything to bring back security.’

When top Hamas commander Saleh al-Arouri was killed in Beirut, Lebanon, last week, Hezbollah’s chief claimed the organization was ready for war. Netanyahu adviser Ambassador Mark Regev told MSNBC that ‘Israel has not taken responsibility for this attack,’ but noted the ‘surgical’ nature of the strike.

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich told an audience at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library that Democratic Party leaders will not rest until former President Donald Trump is in jail.

Gingrich speculated that Trump’s political opponents’ main goal is to prevent the former president from standing in the upcoming presidential election due to President Biden’s poor approval ratings.

‘Their goal is to put him in jail. Literally. I mean, if they can get to the right place, they will have him in chains,’ Gingrich told the audience in Simi Valley, California, on Wednesday.

He continued, ‘And their hope is that if the American people see this guy in chains, they won’t vote for him.’

However, Gingrich suggested that the overzealous effort to remove Trump as a candidate could prove the ultimate undoing of the officials seeking to imprison him.

‘Now, what’s happening, of course, is because they’ve gone to overkill — I mean, you get to do one of these. But, you do three or four or five of them — people get the joke.’

The former house speaker said that the repeated failures have only served to bolster Trump as the election draws closer, and that Democrats can expect an ‘explosion of outrage’ if the latest bids to put Trump in prison succeed.

‘What they’re likely to have, I think, is an explosion of outrage across the whole country on a scale we have not seen in our lifetime, because people are going to just say, ‘This whole thing is rigged,’’ Gingrich said.

He added, ‘It’s absurd, but the danger is that they have the power of the government.’

The Department of Defense Inspector General (IG) is launching an investigation into the department’s highly-criticized handling of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s hospitalization. 

Robert Storch wrote in a memo on Wednesday, stating that, ‘The objective of the review is to examine the roles, processes, procedures, responsibilities, and actions related to the Secretary of Defense’s hospitalization in December 2023– January 2024, and assess whether the DoD’s policies and procedures are sufficient to ensure timely and appropriate notifications and the effective transition of authorities as may be warranted due to health-based or other unavailability of senior leadership.’ 

Austin was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Dec. 22, 2023 and underwent a minimally invasive surgical procedure called a prostatectomy to treat and cure prostate cancer.  

Austin was again admitted to Walter Reed on Jan. 1, 2024, due to a urinary tract infection after the procedure, including nausea with severe abdominal, hip and leg pain. He was reportedly hospitalized for days without notifying the White House, leading to many questions and prompting the White House to begin a review of Cabinet protocols for delegating authority. 

HOUSE DEMOCRAT PRESSURES SECRETARY OF DEFENSE AUSTIN TO RESIGN 

The memo from the IG comes as Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder issued a statement saying ‘Secretary Austin currently remains hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and is in good condition.’ 

LLOYD AUSTIN HOSPITALIZATION: NEW DETAILS EMERGE SURROUNDING INTERNAL DEFENSE DEPARTMENT COMMUNICATIONS 

‘He’s in contact with his senior staff and has full access to required secure communications capabilities and continues to monitor DOD’s day-to-day operations worldwide,’ Ryder added. ‘We do not have a specific date for his release from the hospital at this time but will continue to provide daily updates until then.’ 

On Wednesday, Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., also became the first House Democrat to call for Austin’s resignation. 

Fox News’ Liz Friden, Bradford Betz and Houston Keene contributed to this report. 

President Biden has consistently held several closed-door meetings with his top donors to alleviate their concerns heading into the 2024 election, including worries about his age and energy, according to a report.

Biden’s attempts to suppress their anxieties have occurred since the launch of his re-election campaign last spring. The meetings have taken place at the White House and included at least six sessions, each consisting of between four and eight people, and have covered an array of issues, such as how to handle former President Trump if he wins the Republican nomination and abortion rights.

Individuals familiar with the matter told the Washington Post, which first reported on the behind-the-scenes gatherings, that Biden’s age and energy were also among their concerns.

‘It has dispelled anybody who has any doubts about his determination and his energy and his passion,’ a person familiar with the meetings told the Post. 

‘It just gives him some seasoning. That is good. It gives him energy, which is very good,’ they said. ‘And these people who are wondering if he has lost a step, they leave and are like, ‘That was great.”

In addition to his top contributors, other individuals that Biden has known for some time have been in attendance, according to the report. The meetings have occurred in areas of the White House not considered ‘official workspaces,’ where political activity can be discussed, such as the Map Room and a private dining room.

However, other reports from Wednesday indicate Biden previously showed the donors the Oval Office. The White House Counsel’s office allegedly warned him last year to stop to prevent any potential legal issues, Axios reported.

While the exact people who have attended the discussions are unknown, former Disney CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, a left-wing megadonor who co-chairs Biden’s campaign, has facilitated the meetings. Katzenberg told Reuters last year that he believed attacks on Biden’s age would backfire on those who made it an issue, and added his age is his ‘superpower.’ 

The worries of his top supporters align with those acknowledged by other prominent Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, who has said Biden’s age is an issue and people have a right to consider it.

Clinton made the comments last May during a Financial Times panel after the moderator referenced an incident when Biden almost tumbled down a flight of stairs.

‘There was that heart-stopping moment when he almost fell over coming down the stairs a day or two ago,’ the outlet’s editor said. ‘He didn’t use a railing, and Jill wasn’t there with him.’ 

‘Every time that happens, your heart is in your mouth because these things could be consequential. Is that a concern?’ he asked.

‘It’s a concern for anyone,’ Clinton responded. ‘We’ve had presidents who had fallen before who were a lot younger, and people didn’t go into heart palpitations.’

‘But his age is an issue, and people have every right to consider it,’ Clinton added. ‘But, you know, he has this great saying – and I think he’s right – don’t judge him for running against the Almighty but against the alternative. I am of the camp that I think he’s determined to run; he has a good record that, three years ago, people would not have predicted would have gotten done.’

David Axelrod, a former adviser to former President Obama, also brought up worry over Biden’s age among voters in November.

‘I have no concerns about polls a year out. I mean, you have to look at them and analyze them and adjust,’ Axelrod said. ‘But I was in a situation as a strategist for Barack Obama in 2011 where we were facing some difficult polls.’

‘The one number in the polling that was concerning, and in the CNN poll that followed after The New York Times poll, had to do with age, and that is one thing you can’t reverse no matter how effective Joe Biden is behind the scenes,’ he added. ‘In front of the camera, what he’s projecting is causing people concerns, and that is worrisome,’ 

The White House and Biden’s campaign did not immediately provide a comment. 

House Republicans are divided over whether to support a short-term government funding extension as Congress hurdles toward the first of two shutdown deadlines next week.

‘[Jan. 19] is not a rational goal. We need to do something by the 18th,’ Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, told reporters Wednesday. 

He agreed with earlier comments by Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., who suggested a deadline sometime in March for such an extension, known as a continuing resolution (CR).

‘There’s going to have to be some kind of short-term, I probably lean more toward the kind of Thune orthodoxy that we’re going to need to move it into March sometime, to give us adequate time. But you know, look, we knew this was coming,’ Womack said.

Meanwhile, Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., suggested Wednesday that Republicans should use a government shutdown as leverage to get GOP policy goals passed. 

‘A shutdown is something that you have to be willing to risk, especially for the things that are on the line,’ Mast said. ‘If we’re not working to extract the security of our nation and willing to shut the government down and for a period of time in order to secure our nation in part, then I don’t think we’re having the right fight.’

Tensions have erupted in the House of Representatives already, less than halfway through the first month of 2024. 

A group of 12 conservatives staged a protest vote on Wednesday that tanked a normally sleepy procedural measure in a pointed shot at House GOP leadership over its handling of government funding talks.

It paralyzed the House floor and forced the remainder of the day’s votes to be canceled, heightening concerns that Congress may not reach a deal by next Friday. 

Under a previous short-term funding deal passed by Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the new deadline to reach a fiscal year 2024 spending deal was split. Some agencies are funded through Jan. 19, while the remaining ones have until Feb. 2.

However, there is another timing element hovering overhead. Because of negotiations Schumer had with former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a yearlong CR would trigger a 1% government funding cut in April – something hard-line Republicans have said would be preferable to the current spending deal, but Democrats oppose.

Such a standoff could very likely lead to a government shutdown.

Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., another senior Appropriations Committee member, suggested a short-term CR would be preferable to a shutdown.

‘I think we should work to avoid a shutdown. Republicans are not going to be helped by a shutdown. The country’s not helped by a shutdown and taxpayers are hurt by a government shutdown,’ he said.

Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern, R-Okla., however, said a shutdown might even be helpful in helping Congress reach a deal if it was only ‘for a short period of time.’

‘We work really well when we know that we’ve got to come out of a shutdown,’ Hern said. ‘If we’re talking about working on some policies, working on funding for a few days, then yes, I think it’s better than a CR.’

Senate leaders have already acknowledged that a short-term CR is likely needed. Johnson was noncommittal but did not rule it out at a Wednesday press conference.

‘I’m not ruling out anything, committing to anything, other than getting these appropriations done. And I think we can. And we’re pushing everybody hard,’ Johnson told reporters.

Fox News’ Brianna O’Neil contributed to this report.