Just before starting a two-week break, the Senate reached an agreement to conclude the 42-day partial government shutdown, which had been largely focused on federal immigration enforcement issues.

In a voice vote that took place after 2 a.m., the Senate approved a measure to fund the Department of Homeland Security, except for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and certain components of Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The legislation notably excluded many immigration enforcement reforms demanded by Democrats following the fatal shootings of two Americans in Minnesota during President Trump’s immigration campaign.

This week saw some progress in negotiations, but discussions eventually stalled. Democrats argued that the Republicans’ proposal to fund the entirety of DHS fell short of addressing their concerns.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, representing New York, stated that his party remained steadfast.

“Through it all, Senate Democrats stood united — there was no wavering, no backing down,” Schumer remarked on the Senate floor following the vote. “We made it clear: no blank check for a lawless ICE and Border Patrol.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said Thursday afternoon that Republicans sent Democrats their “last and final” offer. 

Shortly after, the Senate began a procedural vote on DHS funding, which was held open for more than six hours in hopes that there would be a breakthrough in negotiations. The vote ultimately failed. 

But Mr. Trump said he would sign an emergency order to pay TSA agents as travelers face long waits in airport security lines, which Thune said alleviated “the immediate pressure” to reach a deal. 

Mr. Trump’s announcement appeared to pave the way for ending the impasse, which threatened to cut short the Senate’s recess. 

After Friday’s vote, Thune ruled out the possibility of immigration enforcement reforms, telling reporters that Democrats “kissed that opportunity goodbye” by failing to provide funding for those agencies. 

“I think that ship has sailed,” he said. 

Republicans have vowed to fund immigration enforcement agencies through the reconciliation process, though the strategy is expected to face more hurdles with the GOP’s narrow majority and a lack of Democratic support. 

An 83-year-old veteran has succumbed to injuries after reportedly being pushed onto New York City’s subway tracks by an undocumented immigrant with an extensive criminal record, the Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday.

Richard Williams, a retired pilot from the Air Force, passed away on March 17. This tragic event followed an incident at the Lexington Avenue-63rd Street Station where he and another individual were allegedly forced onto the tracks a few days earlier.

The suspect, Bairon Posada-Hernandez, a 34-year-old from Honduras, was taken into custody on March 10 and is now facing charges of murder.

Accused of shoving both Richard Williams and another man onto the tracks, Posada-Hernandez’s actions led to Williams’ untimely death from the injuries he sustained. This case has drawn considerable attention due to the suspect’s immigration status.

John Pena, 30, who was also reportedly pushed onto the tracks, played a heroic role in rescuing Williams by pulling him back onto the platform just before a train arrived, according to a report from the New York Post.

After the attack, Williams was taken to a hospital, where doctors said he suffered a brain bleed and underwent surgery. He had no brain activity after the procedure, doctors said. 

Williams’ death has been ruled a homicide. 

“I want him to go to the Venezuela prison, the worst place he could go to,” his daughter, Debbie Williams, previously told the newspaper. “I want him to suffer for the rest of his life. Prison justice would be appropriate.”

She said her father had recently won a five-year battle with prostate cancer six months ago. 

Hernandez’s public defender, Mitchell Schuman, declined ot comment on the charges against his client. 

“We have yet to see the indictment, concluded our investigation or reviewed the expected voluminous discovery materials,” he said. 

Bairon Posada-Hernandez, 34, was arrested March 10 and faces a murder charge.  (NYPD)

Posada-Hernandez, whom the Department of Homeland Security called a “serial criminal,” has been deported from the United States four times, the agency said. 

“Bairon Posada-Hernandez is a serial criminal and four-time deported illegal alien from Honduras who should never have been able to walk our streets and harm innocent Americans,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis. 

Federal authorities are asking New York not to release Posada-Hernandez back onto the streets. New York has adopted sanctuary policies limiting cooperation between local and federal authorities. 

U.S. Immigration and Custioms Enforcement has lodged a detainer for Posada-Hernandez. Fox News Digital has reached out to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office and the New York Public Defenders office. 

Bairon Posada-Hernandez, 34, was arrested March 10 and faces a murder charge.  (WNYW)

Posada-Hernandez’s criminal history includes 15 prior charges, including simple assault, domestic violence, obstruction of police, possession of a weapon, drug possession and aggravated assault. 

He first entered the country Jan. 2, 2008, and has been deported four different times, most recently in 2020. It was unclear when he reentered the U.S. for a fifth time, DHS said. 

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During a conversation with a Fox News host, Donald Trump quipped that she is becoming “better looking” with age after she inquired about the situation in Iran amid ongoing conflicts.

In a light-hearted exchange with Dana Perino, Trump remarked that his compliment on her appearance might “end my political career,” suggesting that “you are not allowed to say a woman is beautiful anymore.”

Perino, smiling, credited the network’s hair and makeup team for her appearance during a wide-ranging and occasionally peculiar interview with the former President.

Trump had joined Fox News’ The Five Show via phone, where Perino questioned him about whether the Iranian people are suffering from starvation.

Criticizing the Iranian government’s treatment of its citizens, Perino, who previously served as White House press secretary under George W. Bush, pressed Trump: “Do you have any insight into how they are doing? Do they have drinking water? Do they have food? It’s upsetting.”

The President replied: ‘I do’, before appearing to flirt with Ms Perino.

He said: ‘But first. Remember when we had lunch years ago in the base of Trump Tower when it was a brand new building?

‘You haven’t changed. I’m not allowed to say this. It’s the end of my political career, but you may be even better looking, okay? So, I don’t know what you’re doing’.

Dana Perino smiles on Fox News as Donald Trump said she was getting more beautiful with age when she was asking him about the humanitarian disaster in Iran

Mr Trump joked that his comments about Dana might ‘end my political career’

A smiling Ms Perino, 53, replied: “Fox hair and makeup has a lot to do with it.”

Mr Trump went on: ‘I will not say that because that will end my political career. You are not allowed to say a woman is beautiful anymore’.

He then said to Dana Perino’s co-host Jesse Watters: ‘You know that, Jesse. You have to be careful’.

In the same interview he admitted that the CIA had told him the new Ayatollah of Iran may be gay.

Mr Trump said: ‘They did say that. I think a lot of people are saying that – which puts him off to a bad start in that particular country’.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency has said that it believes 1,492 Iranians have been killed since the war began.

Mr Trump has a history of flirty comments – and barbs – when dealing with female reporters. 

He called the New York Times’ Katie Rogers ‘ugly’ and tried to shush Bloomberg’s Catherine Lucey when she asked about the Epstein Files by telling her: ‘Quiet, piggy’.

It came as Donald Trump last night said he will hold off on bombing Iran’s energy infrastructure until at least early April after extending the deadline for Tehran to negotiate a deal by ten days.

The President said he acted at the behest of Iranian leadership, posting the announcement on social media Thursday afternoon. 

‘As per Iranian Government request, please let this statement serve to represent that I am pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction by 10 Days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8 P.M., Eastern Time,’ Trump said.

‘Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others, they are going very well.’ 

Trump first announced a five-day pause on US strikes targeting Iran’s energy sector early Monday, and has since submitted a 15-point peace plan to the regime.

Tehran rejected the terms and vowed to continue fighting, sending oil prices rocketing after they had plunged at the start of the week. 

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told state media that exchanges between the two countries through mediators do not mean ‘negotiations with the US.’ 

International benchmark Brent crude rose 5.7 percent Thursday to $108 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate futures climbed 4.6 percent to $95 per barrel.

Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on March 26 

US forces have struck Iran’s Kharg Island, where some 90 percent of the country’s oil is prepared before being exported

A thick plume of smoke rises from an oil storage facility hit by a U.S.-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, March 8, 2026

Extending the temporary ceasefire on Iran’s energy production allows the US and Iran to continue negotiations to end the war, now in its fourth week.

Special Envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed Thursday that talks conducted alongside Jared Kushner and their Iranian counterparts had been fruitful. 

‘I can report to you today that we have, along with your foreign-policy team, presented a 15-point action list that forms the framework for a peace deal,’ he said at Thursday’s Cabinet meeting.

‘This has been circulated through the Pakistani government, acting as the mediator,’ he continued. ‘This has resulted in strong and positive messaging and talks.’ 

The Iranian regime has ratcheted up pressure on Washington even as talks progress, publicly confirming its continued pursuit of a nuclear weapon.  

The relentless US-Israeli strikes have persuaded the regime it has nothing to gain by holding back from building a bomb, sources told Reuters. 

State television aired a segment earlier this month in which conservative commentator Nasser Torabi said the Iranian public demanded action: ‘We need to act in order to build a nuclear weapon. Either we build it or we acquire it.’ 

Iran’s state media claimed Thursday that more than a million troops have been mobilized in preparation for a potential US ground invasion to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The threats from Tehran come as the US military is reportedly planning a ‘final blow’ to take out the remnants of the Islamic regime, a threat that could include US ground troops in Iran in combination with a devastating bombardment. 

‘Trump has a hand open for a deal, and the other is a fist, waiting to punch you in the f***ing face,’ a Trump aide told Axios.

The President has told members of his inner circle he is prepared to pull the trigger on a full-scale invasion if Tehran continues to rebuff his diplomatic overtures. 

Pentagon chiefs ordered around 2,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East this week to join some 4,500 Marines already en route to the region.