The ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus is signaling it will not help Congress avoid a government shutdown next month unless a short-term spending bill is linked to a bill requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote.

The House GOP rebels are also calling for a short-term spending plan to extend until the new year, at which point allies of former President Trump hope he will be in the White House again. 

That puts the group in direct opposition to their more traditional GOP colleagues, including House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., who suggested last month that he would want to finish the government funding process by the end of 2024.

With just six of 12 individual appropriations bills having passed the House, and none yet in the Senate, it is all but certain that a short-term extension of the current year’s funding levels will be needed to keep the government open past the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.

Even senior Republicans like Cole have admitted that a short-term bill, known as a continuing resolution (CR), will be needed to avoid federal offices shuttering and potentially thousands of federal employees getting furloughed. However, the Monday morning House Freedom Caucus statement, released while lawmakers are in the middle of a six-week-long recess from Washington, shows the beginnings of a potentially messy fiscal fight.

In a new statement obtained by Fox News Digital, the House Freedom Caucus said that ‘House Republicans should return to Washington to continue the work of passing all 12 appropriations bills to cut spending and advance our policy priorities … If unsuccessful, in the inevitability that Congress considers a Continuing Resolution, government funding should be extended into early 2025 to avoid a lame duck omnibus that preserves Democrat spending and policies well into the next administration.’

‘Furthermore, the Continuing Resolution should include the SAVE Act – as called for by President Trump – to prevent non-citizens from voting to preserve free and fair elections in light of the millions of illegal aliens imported by the Biden-Harris administration over.’

The House passed the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act last month with five Democrats voting with every single House Republican in passing the bill. 

However, it is opposed by the White House and likely will not get a vote in the Democratically-held Senate, meaning its inclusion in a final CR would be fighting an uphill battle.

Cole told reporters last month that he would prefer something with wider bipartisan appeal, like supplemental disaster relief funding, to be attached to a CR instead.

‘I haven’t really thought about it yet, it’s not a big deal to me. But again, if it can’t pass the Senate, it isn’t going to be an effective CR,’ Cole said when asked about the SAVE Act. ‘So a real CR, you know, I’m more interested actually in disaster relief. That’s something that I think the two sides can come together on.’

The 118th Congress has seen historic levels of discord over the issue of government spending, with GOP rebels clamoring for House Republican leadership to wield their razor-thin majority to force through conservative policy priorities or risk a shutdown. 

However, leaders on both sides have signaled that they want to avoid the political ramifications of a shutdown, especially one this close to the November election. 

Last year’s spending fight saw the ouster of ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., by a handful of his own GOP colleagues after he helped pass a ‘clean’ short-term funding extension in September of last year.

Hezbollah launched 30 rockets from Lebanon into northern Israel early Monday, though no casualties were reported, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed. 

‘Following sirens that sounded a short while ago in northern Israel, approximately 30 projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon toward the area of Kabri, a number of which fell in open areas,’ an IDF spokesman said. ‘No injuries were reported.’ 

The barrage came amid anticipation of retaliatory strikes by Iran and its proxy forces in the region against Israel for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran late last month. 

Fighting between Hezbollah militants in Lebanon and Israeli forces in the north has intensified in recent weeks, sparking fears that the month-long conflict in Gaza will spread. 

Hezbollah, late last month confirmed the death of Faud Shukr, its ‘No. 2’ commander who was involved in the 1983 Beirut bombings of a Marine barracks bombing that killed 241 U.S. military personnel. 

The IDF strike served as a response to an attack that killed a dozen youths in Israel’s Golan Heights, but Hezbollah continues to deny any involvement in that attack, while the IDF identified Shukr as the mastermind behind the attack. 

Meanwhile, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered a guided missile submarine to the Middle East and is telling the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to sail more quickly to the area, the Defense Department said Sunday. 

The U.S. and other allies are pushing for Israel and Hamas to achieve a cease-fire agreement that could help calm soaring tensions in the region following the assassination of Haniyeh and Shukr. 

Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement that Austin spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant earlier in the day, and reiterated America’s commitment ‘to take every possible step to defend Israel and noted the strengthening of U.S. military force posture and capabilities throughout the Middle East in light of escalating regional tensions.’

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas said Sunday it would not participate in new negotiations for a cease-fire in Gaza this week unless mediators presented a plan based on previous talks. 

‘The movement calls on the mediators to present a plan to implement what was agreed upon by the movement on July 2, 2024, based on [President] Biden’s vision and the UN Security Council resolution,’ Hamas said in a statement posted on Telegram. 

The terrorist group, which is still holding dozens of hostages including Americans, said it has shown ‘flexibility’ throughout the negotiating process but that Israeli actions – including the assassination of its leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran last month – indicate it is not serious about pursuing a cease-fire agreement. 

Hamas urged mediators, including the United States, Egypt and Qatar, to submit a plan to implement what was agreed on last month ‘instead of going to more rounds of negotiations or new proposals that provide cover for the occupation’s aggression.’

President Biden told CBS News he believes it is ‘still possible’ for both sides to reach a deal that includes the release of 115 hostages. 

‘The plan I put together, endorsed by G7, endorsed by the U.N. Security Council, et cetera, is still viable,’ Biden told the network in an interview published Sunday. ‘And I’m working literally every single day – and my whole team – to see to it that it doesn’t escalate into a regional war. But it easily can.’

Meanwhile, an Israeli senior official involved in negotiations has derided Hamas’ announcement as ‘a tactical move in preparation for a possible attack by Iran and Hezbollah and to try to obtain better terms for a deal.’ 

The official told the Israeli news outlet Walla: ‘If Hamas does not come to the table, we will continue to crush their forces in Gaza.’ 

The statements come after the Israeli military ordered more evacuations in southern Gaza, a day after a deadly airstrike on a school-turned-shelter in the north killed at least 80 Palestinians, according to Hamas-affiliated local health authorities. 

The latest evacuation orders apply to areas of Khan Younis, Gaza’s second-largest city, including part of an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone from which the military said rockets had been fired. Israel accuses Hamas and other militants of hiding among civilians and launching attacks from residential areas.

The war began when Hamas-led militants burst into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and rampaged through farming communities and army bases near the border, killing around 1,200 Israelis and abducting around 250 people. Of the remaining hostages, Israeli authorities believe around a third are likely dead.

Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants, says the Palestinian death toll from the war is approaching 40,000.

The months-long conflict has threatened to trigger a regional war as Israel has traded fire with Iran and its militant allies across the region.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said sustaining President Biden’s legacy is at the top of her to-do list when asked if there’s a ‘way back’ to their friendship after the pair stopped speaking when he dropped out of the 2024 race to retain the Oval Office. 

‘Is there a way back for your friendship?’ former Biden administration White House press secretary Jen Psaki asked Pelosi, D-Calif., during a segment of her MSNBC show ‘Inside with Jen Psaki’ that aired Sunday. 

Pelosi focused her attention on the generational love her family has for Biden and on sustaining the 46th president’s legacy when answering the question. 

‘In our family, we have three generations of love for Joe Biden. My husband and I, of course, we’ve known him for a very long time – respect him, love him and Jill. He and Jill are so remarkable, and their family. Our kids have always loved them. I had pictures with him from our children growing up and now our grandchildren growing up,’ she said. 

‘But the most important thing we have to do is to win the election, just to sustain his legacy and to have the legacy be to do even more in the presidency and the vice presidency of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz,’ Pelosi continued. 

Biden dropped out of the presidential race last month in a social media message posted to his X account on a Sunday afternoon. He exited the race as pressure from elected Democrats and traditional Democratic allies in the media began calling on the president to pass the mantle to another candidate following his disastrous debate performance against former President Trump in late June. The debate performance opened the floodgates to criticisms that Biden’s mental acuity had slipped. 

Dozens of members of Congress began publicly thanking Biden for his work in the White House and decades in public office while calling on him to pass the torch to another candidate. Biden made the announcement just more than a week after an assassination attempt on Trump’s life during a rally in Pennsylvania and just days after the Republican National Convention wrapped up in Milwaukee, where Trump was certified as the Republican Party’s nominee last month. 

Amid the speculation that Biden would drop out, the Associated Press reported that leaders within the Democratic Party such as former President Barack Obama, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Pelosi were reportedly working in the background to encourage Biden to drop out due to concerns he could not defeat Trump. 

Pelosi notably publicly suggested before Biden dropped out of the race that the president’s previously adamant resolve to remain in the running was not his final decision. The former speaker of the House has since denied speculation that she helped lead a coup to pressure Biden to exit the race. 

Pelosi revealed earlier this month that she has not spoken to Biden since he dropped out. 

‘Is everything OK with your relationship?’ CNN’s Dana Bash asked Pelosi during an interview this month. 

‘You’d have to ask him,’ Pelosi answered. ‘But I hope so.’

Biden admitted in an interview that aired Sunday that pressure from his Democratic colleagues, including name-dropping Pelosi, contributed to his ultimate decision to drop out of the race. 

‘A number of my Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate thought that I was going to hurt them in the races. And I was concerned if I stayed in the race, that would be the topic, you’d be interviewing me about why did Nancy Pelosi say – why did – and I thought it’d be a real distraction,’ Biden told CBS News’ Bob Costa in an interview that aired Sunday. 

‘The polls we had showed that it was a neck-and-neck race, it would have been down to the wire,’ Biden added. 

Pelosi continued in her interview with Psaki that she was not impressed with Biden’s campaign and its shot at winning re-election when squaring up against Trump at the polls in November, while praising Biden as a ‘preeminent’ and ‘consequential’ president. 

‘I wanted the decision to be a better campaign so that we could win. I did not think we were on a path to victory. So that was really more the thing. He made his decision that that would be accomplished by him stepping aside,’ she said. 

Following Biden dropping out of the race, he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to run in his place. Harris has since secured the Democratic Party’s nomination, and named Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. 

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., slammed Vice President Harris as ‘naive’ on Iran and blasted the Democratic presidential candidate for not being tough on Hamas. 

Cotton, who serves on the Senate Intelligence, Armed Services and Judiciary Committees, said during an appearance on ‘Fox News Sunday’ that Harris’ policy toward Israel over the past 10 months alone is ‘just an example of how she’s unprepared to be the commander in chief.’ 

‘She immediately took at face value Hamas’ claims about the number of people killed and what they were doing,’ Cotton said. The death toll in Gaza is reported by the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatant and civilian casualties. 

‘Israel has to strike on occasion at places like hospitals and schools because Hamas uses them for command and control or to fire mortars and rockets,’ Cotton said. ‘There are civilian casualties in Gaza, no doubt, but those are solely the responsibility of Hamas, not Israel. Kamala Harris, like Joe Biden, though, have put more pressure on Israel than they put on Hamas from the very beginning.’ 

The senator also condemned how Harris, who as vice president presides over the Senate, joined the approximately 128 Democratic members of Congress in skipping Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to both chambers last month. Harris did have a separate closed-door meeting with Netanyahu at her office on the White House grounds while he was in Washington, D.C.

‘She refused to preside over the joint session, her only constitutional duty as president of the Senate, she refused to have a meeting in public with him, and she came out and again blamed Israel for the civilian casualties in Gaza, only emboldening Iran and Iranian-backed terrorists,’ Cotton said. ‘And what did you have two days later, Hezbollah, another Iranian-backed terrorist, shot in rockets to Israel and blew up children playing ball at a playground.

‘Kamala Harris is naïve, and she’s not prepared to be the commander in chief,’ he added. 

After her private meeting with Netanyahu, Harris did say Israel has every right to defend itself against terrorist factions. 

‘Is that not strong enough for you?’ Fox News host Shannon Bream asked Cotton. 

‘Well, she says it all the time like Joe Biden does, and then she immediately says ‘but.’ And usually, Shannon, when a politician says ‘but,’ what matters is what comes after the ‘but,’ not what came before it,’ Cotton said. 

‘And what comes after the ‘but’ with Kamala Harris is always implying that Israel is responsible for all the civilian suffering in Gaza, not Hamas, that Israel is the one being provocative when it’s waging a defensive war after the October 7 atrocity and that Israel is the one that should pull in its horns, as opposed to supporting Israel and standing strong against Iran and Iranian-backed terrorist throughout the region,’ he said. 

Cotton also ripped Harris over her handling of being interrupted by anti-Israel protesters.

‘She’s been interrupted twice by pro-Hamas radicals. The first time she accused them of helping Donald Trump get elected. Not telling them they were demented for supporting terrorists, not telling them that the United States stands with Israel, the victim of the worst slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, but that they might help Donald Trump get elected,’ Cotton said. ‘Apparently, though, that was too tough even for her and her campaign because when she was interrupted next, she literally had a script in front of her. She had a piece of paper that she started reading from in which she sympathized with these pro-Hamas radicals.

‘She said, ‘I hear you. I hear your voice. We need a cease-fire immediately,’’ Cotton recalled. ‘Rather than saying that we need a cease-fire immediately, she should have been saying, like Joe Biden should have said from the beginning, we need an Israeli victory immediately.’ 

The senator applauded how Israel has handled the war, ‘despite the constraints that Kamala Harris and Joe Biden have put on them, despite the fact that they’re operating under a significant arms embargo, which Kamala Harris won’t even say that she would worsen if she becomes elected president.’ 

Cotton added that former President Trump understood that ‘we cannot have peaceful stable relations in the Middle East with daylight between the United States and Israel and our Arab partners.’