House and Senate negotiators reached an agreement on a government funding top line Sunday, taking a critical step toward avoiding a shutdown later this month. 

The bipartisan deal will set the federal government’s discretionary spending at a maximum level of $1.59 trillion, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., wrote in a letter to colleagues. It would include $886 billion for defense and $704 billion for nondefense spending, Johnson said.

The $1.59 trillion figure was part of an agreement mandated by the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) last year, a compromise reached during debt limit talks between President Biden and then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.

Democratic leaders said the final top line would also include an additional $69 billion in nondefense discretionary spending that was part of a McCarthy and Biden side deal at the time. That would bring the total to roughly $1.66 trillion.

Johnson said the new agreement would see some additional cuts to discretionary spending to offset the deal.

‘As has been widely reported, a list of extra-statutory adjustments was agreed upon by negotiators last summer. The agreement today achieves key modifications to the June framework that will secure more than $16 billion in additional spending cuts to offset the discretionary spending levels,’ Johnson’s letter said.

‘As you know, the Senate marked up their appropriations bills $14 billion above the FRA levels and the adjustments. The agreement reached today thus allows for none of that funding, and combined with the additional savings described above, results in an overall $30 billion total reduction from the Senate’s spending plans.’

A GOP aide stressed that the top line agreement would ultimately be a cut to the McCarthy-Biden agreement struck last spring.

‘This deal has the same levels of spending as the FRA deal except with billions more in cuts. Republicans put the screws to Democrats one more time,’ the aide told Fox News Digital. 

Johnson conceded in his letter that ‘these final spending levels will not satisfy everyone, and they do not cut as much spending as many of us would like’ but added, ‘his deal does provide us a path to: 1) move the process forward; 2) reprioritize funding within the topline towards conservative objectives, instead of last year’s Schumer-Pelosi omnibus; and 3) fight for the important policy riders included in our House FY24 bills.’

Democrats also took a victory lap when announcing the deal. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., released a statement on Sunday touting that the agreement ‘clears thew way for Congress to act over the next few weeks in order to to maintain important funding priorities.’

But there is still a showdown looming on the horizon – Johnson made clear that he still wants conservative policy riders included in the final spending agreement. 

Schumer and Jeffries took a shot at Johnson’s effort in their statement, ‘we have made clear to Speaker Mike Johnson that Democrats will not support including poison pill policy changes in any of the twelve appropriations bills put before the Congress.’

President Biden took a similarly hostile posture toward House Republicans even while holding the deal up as a win.

‘It reflects the funding levels that I negotiated with both parties and signed into law last spring. It rejects deep cuts to programs hardworking families count on, and provides a path to passing full-year funding bills that deliver for the American people and are free of any extreme policies,’ he said of the deal.

‘Now, congressional Republicans must do their job, stop threatening to shut down the government, and fulfill their basic responsibility to fund critical domestic and national security priorities, including my supplemental request. It’s time for them to act.’

Current government funding levels expire partially on Jan. 19, with remaining agencies and offices funded through Feb. 2.

Meanwhile, a growing contingent of GOP hardliners is calling on House Republican leaders to block government funding progress altogether until Democrats make conservative policy concessions to deal with the border crisis. 

Qatari officials told family members of American and Israeli hostages that negotiations with Hamas have become more difficult following the killing of top Hamas commander Saleh al-Arouri last week.

Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani made the statement to family members of six U.S. and Israeli hostages, Axios reported Saturday. Al-Arouri was killed in an explosion while in Beirut, Lebanon last week, and no group has taken responsibility for the incident.

Prior to al-Arouri’s killing, Hamas had expressed openness to exchanging 40 additional Israeli hostages for 120 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. Israel rejected that and a prior deal that would have imposed a months-long cease-fire in the region.

Israel, the U.S., Qatar, Egypt and Hamas had continued negotiating, but apparently ran into difficulties when al-Arouri was killed on Jan. 2.

Israeli officials believe there are roughly 133 hostages remaining in Gaza, though the U.S. has cautioned that there is no way to be sure how many of them are still alive.

Israeli officials have denied involvement in the strike that killed al-Arouri, but noted the ‘surgical’ precision of the attack.

‘Israel has not taken responsibility for this attack. But whoever did it must be clear that this was not an attack on the Lebanese state,’ Netanyahu adviser Ambassador Mark Regev told MSNBC.

He continued, ‘It was not even an attack on Hezbollah terrorist organization. Whoever did this did a surgical strike against the Hamas leadership.’

Arouri was among the founders of Hamas’ military wing and has overseen the terrorist group’s operations in the West Bank. He was one of Israel’s top targets in the war alongside Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and others.

While Israel remains open to a hostage deal on the right terms, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has indicated that the war against Hamas in Gaza will last for ‘many more months.’

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the public face of the U.S. coronavirus pandemic response, will be grilled on the origins of the virus and how to manage future mass outbreaks during back-to-back marathon meetings with lawmakers.

The longtime former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is sitting down for a closed-door interview with the House select committee on COVID-19 Monday and Tuesday, with both sessions expected to last at least seven hours.

‘This is after-action review, lessons learned. What did we do right, what did we do wrong? Why were decisions made? You know, let’s face it, COVID was challenging from the standpoint that we didn’t know how to treat it. We didn’t know where it came from. We were learning what it was doing to people,’ Committee Chair Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital in an interview. 

‘Dr. Fauci clearly was the scientific face of COVID during the pandemic and spokesperson under both administrations. … He might stay here in Washington, but we’re going home to our constituents, who want answers to a lot of things.’

Wenstrup, a physician of over 30 years, said he was interested in hearing insights that could potentially help his committee eventually offer bipartisan recommendations on how to handle the next pandemic.

He’s also planning to demand answers on pandemic political decisions, including vaccine mandates, which Wenstrup called ‘egregious.’

‘It’s like a politician saying, ‘You must get this vaccine or you’re fired from your job.’ And, you know, where’s the doctor? People want to have a conversation with their doctor. ‘Am I at risk? Why am I at risk? Why should I get the vaccine? What are the side effects of the vaccine?’’ he explained. 

The Ohio Republican also suggested he’d ask Fauci about the controversy over whether COVID originated naturally or was formed in a Wuhan, China lab.

‘When people had a differing view of whether this came from nature and thought it came from a lab, why were they ignored?’ he asked. ‘You saw people being called crackpots and conspiracy theorists.

FREE COVID TESTS COMING TO US SCHOOLS, SAYS FEDERAL GOVERNMENT: ‘PREVENTING THE SPREAD’ 

‘We have people saying, ‘Forget about the origins, it doesn’t matter. Let’s just move on.’ … You’ve got to be prepared. Just as you want to see if something may emerge from nature, which is a lot of the work that they were doing with gain of function. … I can understand that. But, at the same time, you know, the technology is there to create a virus, and where are they doing it? In Wuhan. So why are we ignoring that?’

Wenstrup’s committee has been investigating whether government officials at the time, including Fauci, worked to suppress questions about whether the pandemic was the result of a lab leak in Wuhan. Republicans accused those officials of pushing the natural origin theory in a bid to protect China.

Fauci became a politically polarizing figure during the pandemic. He was vilified by those opposed to lockdowns, masking rules and vaccine mandates, while being idolized by those who agreed with the government’s actions. 

Wenstrup said the interview would be more of a ’roundtable’ with lawmakers on both sides posing questions. He also expressed hope the committee’s final recommendations could be bipartisan. 

‘At the end of the day, we want to just reveal what worked and what didn’t work and what we might do better in the future,’ Wenstrup said. ‘I come from a military background. It’s always fair to say there were lessons learned.’

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy asserted that he and former President Donald Trump are the only two candidates with an American First agenda.

At a town hall in Marengo, Iowa on Saturday, the 38-year-old entrepreneur said that he and Trump are the only two ‘America First’ candidates on the Republican ballot.

‘I think there’s two America first candidates in this race,’ Ramaswamy said. ‘That’s Donald Trump and me.’ 

The moment came after Ramaswamy told a crowd of supporters that it was time to speak ‘candidly,’ asking the attendees to raise their hands if they were planning on casting their ballot for Ramaswamy or for Trump.

‘How many of you are leaning towards supporting me right now?,’ Ramaswamy asked. ‘A good number of you.’

Next, Ramaswamy asked audience members which of them were planning on voting for Trump in the Iowa presidential caucuses on Jan. 15.

‘How many of you are considering Donald Trump for the caucus?,’ Ramaswamy asked. ‘Okay. Well, thank you. I understand that because I think there are two ‘American First’ candidates in this race.’

Ramaswamy, who has campaigned on an ‘America First 2.0’ agenda, has aligned himself with Trump’s America First policy, which centers on reducing U.S. trade deficits and rebalancing the burden of America’s responsibilities to international trade organizations.

In just a week, the 2024 Iowa Caucuses will commence, where the first votes for the next potential president will be cast. 

Being the first state to cast votes for presidential nominees, Iowa’s caucuses set the stage for the entire primary season. Winning or performing strongly in Iowa can generate crucial momentum for candidates, influencing voter perceptions of their viability.

Ramaswamy received the endorsement of former Republican Iowa Rep. Steve King in a post on X last week. 

Salem, New Hampshire, GOP Chairman Steve Goddu also endorsed Ramaswamy last year, along with former New Hampshire GOP Senate candidate Kevin Smith.

Fox News’ Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.

The Department of Justice has spent more than three times the amount investigating alleged wrongdoings by former President Donald Trump than it has to probe President Biden’s classified documents case.

The two investigations conducted by Special Counsel Jack Smith into Trump have cost taxpayers upwards of $23 million, while the DOJ’s investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents has cost taxpayers roughly $6.4 million – a combined total of nearly $30 million.

The figures were revealed Friday in expenditure reports by the DOJ and reflect spending totals by both special counsels from the beginning of April 2023 through the end of September 2023. The totals also included costs sustained by other DOJ agencies related to the investigations.

The expenditure report for Smith’s investigations into Trump revealed that the DOJ had spent approximately $7.3 million on things like compensation and benefits for certain personnel, travel, supplies, rent and additional services.

As for other DOJ agencies that incurred expenses while assisting Smith’s investigations into the former president, the total came out to around $7.2 million. That total stemmed from the use of additional investigative support analysts from other agencies and a security detail for the special counsel ‘when warranted,’ according to the report.

Smith was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November 2022 to investigate Trump’s mishandling of classified documents and his alleged efforts to interfere with the 2020 election.

The initial expenditure report from the special counsel – which covered mid-November 2022 through the end of March 2023 – revealed that Smith and other agencies within the DOJ had used $9 million in taxpayer dollars to investigate Trump. That total, combined with the total shown in the Friday report, puts the total cost the DOJ has spent investigating the former president at more than $23 million.

Trump pleaded not guilty in federal court to all four federal charges stemming from Smith’s investigation into 2020 election interference and the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.

Smith also indicted Trump on charges relating to the mishandling of classified documents. Trump pleaded not guilty to all 37 felony charges out of that probe.

In contrast to the DOJ’s extreme cost of the Trump investigations, another DOJ report released Friday showed that Special Counsel Robert Hur’s investigation into Biden’s classified documents case cost taxpayers $2.8 million from the beginning of April 2023 to the end of September 2023.

Other DOJ agencies that supported the Biden probe during the same time period incurred costs of $2.4 million – bringing the total spent on the Biden investigation from April 2023 to September 2023 to $5.2 million.

The initial report from Hur’s investigation showed that the Department of Justice spent roughly $1.2 million between mid-January 2023 and the end of March 2023. That total, combined with totals revealed Friday, brings the DOJ’s total cost for the Biden probe overall to $6.4 million.

Hur, a former U.S. attorney, was appointed last January by Garland to lead the investigation into President Biden’s handling of classified documents dating back to the Obama administration. Last fall, Biden took part in a voluntary interview with Hur about the matter.

The probe stems from a batch of records from President Biden’s time as vice president, including a ‘small number of documents with classified markings,’ that were discovered at the Penn Biden Center by the president’s personal attorneys on November 2, 2022.

The documents were found in a locked closet while preparing to vacate office space at the center, which the president used from mid-2017 until he began the 2020 campaign.

Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday called on Middle East nations to use their influence over extremist groups in the region to contain the conflict in Gaza and prevent ‘an endless cycle of violence.’ 

Blinken spoke late in the day after he met with top Turkish and Greek officials to start a week-long diplomatic tour aimed at preventing the Israel-Hamas war from escalating into a broader conflict.

The United States’ most senior diplomat told reporters it is in the interest of all Middle East countries to contain the fighting. 

‘We want to make sure that countries who feel that way are also using their ties, using their influence, using their relationships with some of the actors that might be involved to keep a lid on things, to make sure that we’re not seeing the spread of conflict,’ he said before flying to Jordan.

Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah said Saturday it launched rockets at Israel, and the Jewish state said it struck a ‘terrorist cell’ in response. 

Blinken emphasized the importance of maintaining security in northern Israel, along the border with Lebanon. 

‘From the perspective of Israel, it’s clearly not interested, does not want escalation … but they also have to be fully prepared to defend themselves,’ he said.

The State Department chief warned that if the Israel-Hamas war expands, the outcome would be ‘an endless cycle of violence … and lives of insecurity and conflict for people in the region.’ 

Earlier Saturday, Blinken spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after meeting with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan earlier.

Blinken and Fidan discussed the war and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, as well as Turkey’s process to ratify Sweden’s membership of NATO, Turkey’s foreign ministry said in a statement. 

The Biden administration hopes to convince Ankara to influence other Arab states against entering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, seeking to prevent a wider and more costly war. 

A senior State Department official traveling with Blinken, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that Turkey has relationships with many parties in the conflict, a reference to its ties to U.S. adversary Iran and Hamas. 

Erdogan has strongly opposed Israel’s military operation in Gaza and accused the Jewish state of committing war crimes against the 2.3 million Palestinians who live there. After the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Erdogan denied that Hamas is a terrorist organization, calling it a ‘liberation group’ that is ‘waging a battle to protect its land and people.’ 

Hamas terrorists killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 240 hostages back to Gaza in the attacks. 

Israel’s retaliatory war to eliminate Hamas’ governing ability has killed 22,700 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-led Gaza health ministry. However, Hamas officials do not distinguish between civilian and military casualties and their reported figures cannot be independently verified. 

The renewed conflict in Gaza has spilled into the West Bank and been aggravated by Hezbollah terrorists firing rockets at Israeli forces along the northern border with Lebanon and Houthi rebels in Yemen attacking shipping vessels in the Red Sea. 

Blinken’s mission is to persuade Arab states to stop these attacks and make progress in talks on how Gaza could be governed if and when Israel achieves its aim of eradicating Hamas.

Washington wants regional countries, including Turkey, to play a role in reconstruction, governance and potentially security in the Gaza Strip, which has been run by Hamas since 2007, the official told Reuters. 

Blinken is next scheduled to travel to Greece and speak with officials there before bouncing around the Middle East with planned stops in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt and Israel over the next week. 

Reuters contributed to this report.

The Israeli Defense Forces raided an alleged Hamas compound inside a Gaza school, finding a weapons cache, toys, and a terrorism-themed puzzle in the structure.

IDF officials announced the Bani Suheila area raid in a statement Saturday, publishing photos of weapons and other materials recovered on site.

‘The forces conducted an operation to neutralize terrorist infrastructure situated within a school in the Bani Suheila area,’ the IDF said in a statement. ‘The soldiers encountered the terrorists, returned fire and eliminated three terrorists who were found with RPG missiles.’

The statement continued, ‘In addition, the soldiers raided terrorist infrastructure and found intelligence information about the Khan Yunis Brigade.’

Among the toys and children’s products discovered in the compound was a puzzle depicting children from Gaza and other regions surrounding Israel firing weapons on the Jewish state.

‘What toys is the Hamas Child Abuser Regime giving children in Gaza to play with? A puzzle that shows a Palestinian gunboat attacking Tel Aviv, a boat of Turkish child soldiers (sorry, aid activists with AK-47s), and an armed attack from Jordan,’ said Israeli Government Spokesman Eylon Levy.

‘Charming stuff,’ he added.

Israel believes that more than 130 hostages remain in captivity in Gaza, though the U.S. has cautioned that there is no way to be sure how many of them remain alive.

Israel, the U.S., Qatar, Egypt and Hamas are still in negotiations surrounding a potential second wave of hostage exchanges, though little progress has been made.

Hamas negotiators recently had demanded multiple cease-fires culminating in the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza in exchange for the remaining Israeli hostages, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Israel rejected that offer outright, calling it ‘totally off base.’ Now, the terrorist organization is saying it is open to an exchange of 120 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel for 40 of the hostages.

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.