Fox News Digital exclusively obtained a letter Smith’s attorneys sent to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley Thursday afternoon, after both panels signaled interest in testimony from the former special counsel.

EXCLUSIVE: JACK SMITH TRACKED PRIVATE COMMUNICATIONS, CALLS OF NEARLY A DOZEN GOP SENATORS DURING J6 PROBE, FBI SAYS

“Given the many mischaracterizations of Mr. Smith’s investigation into President Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents and role in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election, Mr. Smith respectfully requests the opportunity to testify in open hearings before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees,” Smith attorneys Lanny Breuer and Peter Koski wrote.

Former Special Counsel Jack Smith is requesting to testify in open, public hearings before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“During the investigation of President Trump, Mr. Smith steadfastly adhered to established legal standards and Department of Justice guidelines, consistent with his approach throughout his career as a dedicated public servant,” they wrote.

“He is prepared to answer questions about the Special Counsel’s investigation and prosecution, but requires assurance from the Department of Justice that he will not be punished for doing so,” they continued. “To that end, Mr. Smith needs guidance from the Department of Justice regarding federal grand jury secrecy requirements and authorization on the matters he may speak to regarding, among other things, Volume II of the Final Report of the Special Counsel, which is not publicly available.”

Smith’s attorneys also noted that in order to provide “full and accurate answers to your questions, Mr. Smith requires access to the Special Counsel files, which he no longer has the ability to access.”

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, leaves the Republican caucus meeting at the Capitol in Washington, Oct. 12, 2023.  (Jose Luis Magana/The Associated Press )

JACK SMITH DEFENDS SUBPOENAING REPUBLICAN SENATORS’ PHONE RECORDS: ‘ENTIRELY PROPER’

“With the guidance and access described above, Mr. Smith is available to testify in an open hearing at your earliest convenience,” they wrote.

A source familiar told Fox News Digital that Smith’s attorneys are planning to officially seek guidance from the Department of Justice on the matter.

The letter from Smith’s attorneys comes after Jordan, R-Ohio, requested Smith appear for a closed-door transcribed interview and provide all records from his work related to President Donald Trump.

Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, speaks during a hearing in Washington, Sept. 16, 2025.  (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The letter also comes after Grassley, R-Iowa, and nearly two dozen Senate Republicans demanded that the Department of Justice and FBI release documents on Smith’s decision to subpoena telecommunications companies for phone records of a number of Senate Republicans during his probe into Jan. 6, 2021.

Fox News Digital exclusively reported earlier in October that Smith tracked the private communications and phone calls of GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and GOP Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania as part of his “Arctic Frost” investigation.

An official said the records were collected in 2023 by Smith and his team after subpoenaing major telephone providers.

FBI Director Kash Patel shakes hands with Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa during a Senate Judiciary hearing on Sept. 16, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

An FBI official told Fox News Digital that Smith and his team tracking the senators were able to see which phone numbers they called, the location the phone call originated and the location where it was received.

A source said the calls were likely in reference to the vote to certify the 2020 election.

Smith, though, called his decision to subpoena several Republican lawmakers’ phone records “entirely proper” and consistent with Justice Department policy.

“As described by various Senators, the toll data collection was narrowly tailored and limited to the four days from January 4, 2021 to January 7, 2021, with a focus on telephonic activity during the period immediately surrounding the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol,” Smith’s lawyers wrote Tuesday to Grassley.

Former Attorney General Merrick Garland, President Donald Trump and Special Counsel Jack Smith.  (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images | Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images | Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

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Smith was appointed special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November 2022.

Smith, after months of investigating, charged Trump in the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C., in his 2020 election case, but after Trump was elected president, Smith sought to dismiss the case. Judge Tanya Chutkan granted that request.

Smith’s case cost taxpayers more than $50 million.

“Jack Smith certainly has a lot of answering to do, but first, Congress needs to have all the facts at its disposal,” Grassley told Fox News Digital Thursday. “Hearings should follow once the investigative foundation has been firmly set, which is why I’m actively working with the DOJ and FBI to collect all relevant records that Mr. Smith has had years to become familiar with.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Jordan for comment and has yet to receive a reply.

Fox News’ Ashley Oliver contributed to this report.

Brooke Singman is a political correspondent and reporter for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and FOX Business.

The post Jack Smith pushes for public testimony to confront ‘mischaracterizations’ of Trump probes appeared first on My Blog.

Approximately 42 million people in the U.S. who use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are in danger of not receiving aid come Nov. 1, when the program’s funds are expected to run dry, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) warned state agencies in a memo obtained by Fox News Digital on Thursday.

More than two dozen states have alerted residents to possible lapses in funding. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin declared a state of emergency over SNAP benefits on Thursday.

“It requires about $8 billion each month to fund SNAP benefits nationwide. When there’s no funding it impacts not just pockets of people, but it’s going to impact people all around the country,” said Rev. Eugene Cho, president and CEO of Bread for the World, a nonprofit hunger advocacy group that works with local partners to educate recipients about access to food.

BATTLEGROUND REPUBLICANS HOLD THE LINE AS JOHNSON PRESSURES DEMS ON SHUTDOWN

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks to the media next to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., after meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, Sept. 29, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

Cho explained to Fox News Digital that some states will feel the drying up government funding more than others.

“Yes, funding comes from the federal government, but the administration of it happens through local states,” he said. “And so, when it comes to SNAP, states are on a little bit of a different rhythm in terms of how they’re conveying the reduction or the elimination of SNAP benefits. It is playing out a little bit differently from state to state.”

The longer the shutdown goes on, the less funding also becomes available for the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition program, which helps nearly 7 million vulnerable pregnant women and children under age 5.

SCREAMING MATCH ERUPTS BETWEEN HAKEEM JEFFRIES, MIKE LAWLER AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CHAOS CONTINUES

It could pose a political headache for Democrats who have resisted agreeing to Republicans’ federal funding plan for over a month, demanding significant concessions on healthcare in exchange for their support.

“We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats. Continue to hold out for healthcare for illegals or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive timely WIC and SNAP allotments,” a USDA spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

The House passed a seven-week extension of FY2025 funding largely along partisan lines on Sept. 19. The measure, a continuing resolution (CR), is aimed at giving lawmakers more time to strike a longer-term deal for FY2026.

A local bodega with “EBT accepted here” sign in window in Queens, New York. (Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

But in the Senate, where several more Democrats are needed to break a filibuster than have been voting for it, progress has stalled, with the legislation having failed 12 times already.

Democrats are demanding that any spending plan be paired with an extension of enhancedObamacare subsidiesthat are set to expire at the end of 2025.

They have also called for Republicans to repeal the Medicaid cuts made in their One Big, Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) earlier this year.

“Millions of American families are about to lose access to food assistance because Democrats are openly admitting to being afraid of their far-left base and refuse to reopen the government,” House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., told Fox News Digital.

Thompson’s panel has jurisdiction over SNAP in the House.

“We need to reopen the government, so we can put Americans first by making sure families can put food on the table and our farmers are supported,” he said.

Democrats could also be faced with the political quagmire of having previously railed against Republicans moving to expand SNAP work requirements in the OBBBA, to now be blamed by the right for federal food benefits drying up.

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The Trump administration does have some power to move existing funding around to help cover shortages during the shutdown. The White House moved research and development funding at the Pentagon to cover active duty military paychecks on Oct. 15 and reallocated some $300 million from tariff revenues for WIC earlier this month.

But any such fix would be temporary, as the two aforementioned adjustments have been.

When reached for comment about the administration’s SNAP warning, the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee told Fox News Digital that USDA needed to tap into the government’s emergency SNAP reserves.

“It’s time the administration do right by seniors, children and veterans and utilize the SNAP contingency fund to ensure benefits can be provided for November,” ranking member Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., said.

The SNAP contingency fund currently has some $5 billion — not enough for an entire month’s worth of service.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters Thursday that he believed the White House would tap into that funding.

“As has been the case in prior government shutdowns, the money can be found by the administration if they chose to do so. In fact, there’s about $5 billion available in a contingency fund for emergency circumstances just like this,” Jeffries said. “But the administration refuses to agree to use it. Why? Because they want to starve the American people as part of their continuing effort to visit cruelty on everyday Americans.”

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com

The post Democrats under fire as food stamp funds run dry: 42 million Americans caught in shutdown fight appeared first on My Blog.

But the debate over how long to extend those levels is already dividing Republican lawmakers, making for a potentially messy fight on the horizon even before the current fiscal standoff ends.

Asked if Republicans would need to consider another extension of the most recent federal spending levels — which have been mostly unchanged since fiscal year (FY) 2024, the last year President Joe Biden was in office — House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole, R-Okla., told Fox News Digital, “I think we’ll have to, having wasted this much time.”

It has been roughly a year and a half since Congress fulfilled its duty of passing a yearly federal budget, and decades since it has been done via 12 single-subject appropriations bills — a goal prized by Republican lawmakers.

BATTLEGROUND REPUBLICANS HOLD THE LINE AS JOHNSON PRESSURES DEMS ON SHUTDOWN

Senate Majority Leader John Thune holds a copy of a continuing resolution bill as he speaks alongside Speaker of the House Mike Johnson during a news conference in Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, Oct. 3, 2025. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

“What would it be, the third year of Biden’s last budget?” House Appropriations Committee member Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, quipped to reporters Wednesday.

GOP-controlled Washington had hoped to pass a conservative budget for FY 2026. To do that, Republicans are pushing an extension of current federal funding levels through Nov. 21, called a continuing resolution (CR), aimed at giving lawmakers more time to strike a longer-term deal.

But that bill has been stalled in the Senate since Sept. 19. Democrats are demanding any spending deal be paired with an extension of COVID-19 pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies set to expire at the end of this year, a request that has been rejected by Republican leaders.

“We put the date in there weeks ago when we passed a bill over a month ago out of the House, because that is what Republican and Democrat appropriators had agreed to,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. “Well, Democrats have eaten up most of that time. And so we know at some point we’ll need a later date, and we don’t want it to be jammed up against a holiday.”

Two House GOP sources told Fox News Digital that multiple options have emerged, including another CR extending into January and a measure that could last the entire fiscal year until next Sept. 30.

House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole said he would prefer another CR into January, so his committee can get its work done. (Getty Images)

Conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus and their allies are pushing for the latter option, believing it to be the best course to keep federal spending levels low. The alternative, a bipartisan deal, would need Democrat support in the Senate and consequently see spending levels rise.

“If we can have a long-term CR, so we have guaranteed funding at current levels when we’ve got Donald Trump and [Office of Management Budget Director] Russ Vought and the strong leadership over the executive branch using taxpayer funds wisely, then that’s a good position to be in,” House Freedom Caucus Policy Chair Chip Roy, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital.

A source close to the House Freedom Caucus told Fox News Digital that its chairman, Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., would even support a CR until December 2026, though with the caveat that he would need to see what the actual details were.

That would delay another shutdown fight until after the midterm elections. And the source said Harris believed it would keep threats off of essential workers and military pay for over a year.

58 HOUSE DEMS VOTE AGAINST RESOLUTION HONORING ‘LIFE AND LEGACY’ OF CHARLIE KIRK

But Cole said House appropriators would favor an extension into January.

“I think there’s actually, amongst the appropriators, a heightened sense of urgency because we don’t want a yearlong continuing resolution,” he said. “That’s not a good thing to happen … I talk to my Democratic counterparts, I know that’s not what they want to do.”

Meanwhile, in the upper chamber, where Senate Democrats rejected the Nov. 21 CR nearly a dozen times, Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., suggested a lengthy new measure could be inevitable.

Rep. Chip Roy sits next to Rep. Ralph Norman as he listens during a House Rules Committee meeting on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, May 21, 2025. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

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“Clearly now, with the clock having lost several weeks now on the CR, we’re getting farther and farther into the season where we’re going to have to at least do an extension, if not something on a much longer term basis, to fund the government,” Thune told reporters.

Other Republican senators signaled another extension was inevitable as well.

“I would like to see it extended into January, February. I think at the end of the day we spend less money [with a] CR. And again, that’s my bigger purpose here,” Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., said.

But Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told reporters, “I’m fine with a year-long CR. I’m fine with it. I mean the original CR was to take us to Nov. 21 and that’s only a few weeks away. This shutdown could last until then.”

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com

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“It’s appalling to see the number two House Democrat openly admit that the left is weaponizing hardworking Americans as ‘leverage’ for political gain, even acknowledging families will suffer in the process,” Republican Study Committee Chair August Pfluger, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital.

“This isn’t governance — it’s calculated hostage-taking, with struggling families caught in the balance as Democrats attempt to force through their radical agenda. Families are seen only as leverage by Democrats. We always knew it, now they’re saying it out loud. Absolutely shameful.”

House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., sat down for an interview with Fox News’ Chad Pergram last week. At one point, Clark was asked about who Americans would find responsible for the ongoing shutdown.

BATTLEGROUND REPUBLICANS HOLD THE LINE AS JOHNSON PRESSURES DEMS ON SHUTDOWN

Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger criticizes House Minority Whip Katherine Clark’s comments on the government shutdown. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“I mean,shutdowns are terrible and, of course, there will be, you know, families that are going to suffer. We take that responsibility very seriously. But it is one of the few leverage times we have,” Clark responded.

“It is an inflection point in this budget process where we have tried to get the Republicans to meet with us and prioritize the American people, and it’s been an absolute refusal, and they were willing to let government shut down when they control the House, the Senate and the White House rather than come and talk about an issue as important to the American people is if they can afford healthcare.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Clark’s office for a response to Pfluger’s comments.

The government is shut down after Congress failed to reach an agreement on federal funding. (Getty Images)

The government shutdown is now in its 23rd day after Senate Democrats rejected the GOP’s federal funding bill for a 12th time on Wednesday evening.

Republicans proposed a measure that would keep federal funding roughly flat until Nov. 21, a spending patch called a continuing resolution (CR), so that negotiators would have more time to strike a longer-term deal on fiscal year (FY) 2026.

The bill passed the House largely along partisan lines on Sept. 19.

But Democrats have been pushing for any funding deal to include an extension of Obamacare subsidies that were enhanced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those enhancements are set to expire at the end of 2025.

Republican leaders have signaled a willingness to negotiate on those subsidies, but have ruled out doing so in the current package.

SCREAMING MATCH ERUPTS BETWEEN HAKEEM JEFFRIES, MIKE LAWLER AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CHAOS CONTINUES

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on the 10th day of the federal government shutdown in Washington, Oct. 10, 2025. (Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images)

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“Mike Johnson said, we have an eternity to talk about this, an eternity. This impact of the ACA is in the next few weeks,” Clark said. “Yes, there are repercussions to a shutdown that are terrible for people.”

She continued, “I feel for military families that even if they get paid, you know, there are lots of spouses that also work that are feeling these cuts because we’ve encouraged military spouses to become federal workers to accommodate all the travel and moving that military families so frequently experience. And now we’re saying to them, ‘You’re not going to be paid for your work.’ I mean, let’s get it together here. The Republicans need to come to town. They need to sit down with us.”

Republicans have seized on Clark’s comments in recent days, however.

House GOP Chairwoman Lisa McClain, R-Mich., said in a statement on Wednesday, “Democrats are holding American families hostage to advance their political agenda, and they’re admitting it.”

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com

The post Top Republican slams Katherine Clark for admitting suffering families are 'leverage' in shutdown battle appeared first on My Blog.

“You don’t know nothing” – Baseball Legend Yogi Berra

Socrates may have been claiming ignorance, Berra was talking about baseball, but both may as well have been talking about the government shutdown.

So when will it end?

“You shouldn’t ask me because I’m the guy who said it’ll only last five days,” Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., said on Fox. “But I will tell you, a couple of Democrat senators recently indicated that they think this is going to go ‘til at least the first of November.”

However, Biggs added that he doesn’t “see an end in sight.”

GOVERNMENT ENTERS LONGEST FULL SHUTDOWN IN US HISTORY WITH NO END IN SIGHT

The government shutdown is now entering its fourth week. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Whether you are Socrates or Yogi Berra, we don’t know “nothing.” Which technically means that we do know something.

However, I do know proper grammar.

The one thing that I do know in this case is that I don’t know anything about ending the government shutdown.

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN STALLS AS DEMOCRATS DEMAND OBAMACARE SUBSIDY EXTENSION

Regardless… Is it even possible to game out when the government shutdown may end?

Congressional Republicans believed that Democrats would fold after a matter of days once funding lapsed in the wee hours of Oct. 1. Then Republicans argued that Democrats would cry “uncle” once federal workers missed their first paycheck last week. Later, the GOP suggested Democrats would keep the government shuttered through the “No Kings” rallies around the country last weekend.

The GOP argued that Democrats needed to show their base that they were “fighting” against President Donald Trump.

“Now that they had their protests, I just pray that they come to their senses and re-open the government this week,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., says he doesn’t “see an end in sight.”  (Getty Images)

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., accused Republicans of continually changing their reasons for why Democrats are blocking the GOP bill to fund the government.

“In a few days, it will be about something else,” Jeffries said.

So, we enter the ice age of Congressional inactivity as the government shutdown enters its fourth week.

Who could have predicted it?

Then again, who could have predicted thieves could make off with millions of dollars of jewelry inside the Louvre in an historic heist? At least the bandits stole our attention away from the government shutdown for a bit.

SHUTDOWN STANDSTILL: NO HEADWAY UNTIL THERE’S ‘INCENTIVE,’ POLITICOS LAMENT

That said, everyone knows (even if they won’t say it publicly) who will likely end the government shutdown: Trump.

He’s not just the president. Trump has a sway over Republicans in Congress that Ronald Reagan could only envy. So until he joins the fray, the government will remain closed.

“Donald Trump definitively needs to get involved. He needs to get off the sidelines. Get off the golf course and actually decide to end the shutdown that he’s created and that he has allowed to happen,” Jeffries said.

“Donald Trump, instead of leaving the country before he leaves the country, should sit down and negotiate with us so we can address this horrible crisis,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “The president should meet with us. It’s not me, him or anything political. It’s that the people are in crisis every day.”

President Trump met with Republican lawmakers this week. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The president did meet with lawmakers this week, holding court with Senate Republicans for lunch in the renovated Rose Garden.

“Did you notice the white marble floor?” quipped the president.

But Democrats contend that Trump huddled with the wrong party. Schumer characterized it as “a Rose Garden pep rally.”

Trump implored Democrats to bend – and vote for the GOP spending bill.

“They’re getting killed in the polls,” he said.

SCREAMING MATCH ERUPTS BETWEEN HAKEEM JEFFRIES, MIKE LAWLER AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CHAOS CONTINUES

“Shouldn’t the president get involved in negotiations at this stage to end this?” yours truly asked Johnson.

“We’re not going [to] pay a ransom to reopen the federal government,” replied the speaker.

“Isn’t the only key to end this shutdown to just have a sit-down negotiation with both sides?” I countered.

“Republicans have nothing to offer to Democrats,” replied Johnson.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., meanwhile, contends that “Republicans have nothing to offer Democrats.” (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

In fact, some Republicans argued that Trump shouldn’t even negotiate.

“If I’ve learned anything about President Trump, it’s his timing. I think that he feels like the timing is not right now. We’re winning the messaging war,” said Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan. “So there’ll be a time. But the time is not ripe yet.”

It’s unclear when that time may come, considering that the government has remained shuttered for more than three weeks.

And two weeks ago, Republicans torched Schumer for declaring things got “better” for Democrats the longer the shutdown dragged on, but shutdown fatigue is now setting in on Capitol Hill.

BATTLEGROUND REPUBLICANS HOLD THE LINE AS JOHNSON PRESSURES DEMS ON SHUTDOWN

“Welcome to day 22 of the Democrats’ shutdown,” Johnson declared at the now sonorous daily press briefings delivered by both sides.

“This does suck,” said Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., on Fox Business about the shutdown.

Lawmakers are now seeking shutdown daylight.

“The hope is that we get this shutdown resolved before the end of the month,” Jeffries said.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., expresses hope that the shutdown will be resolved by the end of the month. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

There’s worry about how the shutdown might impact national parks.

“(Here are) the more negative consequences that we’ll start to see without regular staffing. Litter will pile up and park ecosystems will be affected,” said House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman, R-Ark.

Both parties are convinced they’re prevailing in the shutdown.

“What I did hear on our telephone town hall repeatedly (is) ‘Don’t you guys give into these hostage takers,’” said Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho. “I heard that repeatedly.”

“It’s resonating with Americans. What I’m hearing from people in Connecticut is ‘hang tough,’” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.

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The Senate holds a test vote Thursday on a bill to pay essential workers who are on the job without a paycheck, but Democrats are skeptical.

“I’d be in favor of paying the federal workers,” said Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt. “That bill, unfortunately, gives a lot of latitude to the president to pick and choose, or, I should say, (White House Budget Director) Russell Vought to pick and choose (who gets paid).”

So while shutdown weariness sets in, no one knows when it might end.

It is said that knowing what you don’t know actually constitutes true knowledge.

And if no one knows the end of the shutdown, that must mean that everyone is pretty smart.

Chad Pergram currently serves as a senior congressional correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). He joined the network in September 2007 and is based out of Washington, D.C.

The post Government shutdown knowledge: gaming out its potential end appeared first on My Blog.

The House Committee on Commerce Friday sent a letter to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver requesting information and a briefing to obtain information related to the scandal that resulted in the federal indictment of Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former NBA player and coach Damon Jones.

The bipartisan letter was signed by six members of Congress on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

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NBA Commissioner Adam Silver held a press conference at Chase Center on 2025 NBA All-Star weekend in San Francisco Feb. 15, 2025.  (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The committee is seeking five key points of information from Silver:

“1. Details about the fraudulent, illegal, and alleged betting practices in connection with NBA players, coaches, and officials, including the actions of NBA players and coaches identified in the recent indictment; as well as prior instances, some of which are identified above,” the letter states.

“2. Actions the NBA intends to take to limit the disclosure of nonpublic information for illegal purposes. 3. Whether the NBA’s Code of Conduct for players and coaches effectively prohibits illegal activity, including the disclosure of non-public information for the purposes of illegal betting schemes. 4. An explanation of the gaps, if any, in existing regulations that allow illegal betting schemes to occur. 5. Whether and how the NBA is reevaluating the terms of its partnerships with sports betting companies.”

The letter also references comments made by Silver during an appearance Tuesday on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show,” where the commissioner expressed support for more federal sports betting regulation.

“I think, probably, there should be more regulation, frankly,” Silver said. “I wish there was federal legislation rather than state by state. I think you’ve got to monitor the amount of promotion, the amount of advertising around it.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the NBA for a response to the letter.

The Department of Justice listed seven NBA games that saw high-stakes wagers after non-public information was disclosed to gamblers.

Rozier’s alleged involvement came in a game March 23, 2023, when he told a childhood friend, Deniro Laster, that he would take himself out of a game early, citing an injury, so Laster could place wagers based on the information. Neither Hornets officials nor betting companies were made aware of Rozier’s plan, according to the indictment, and Rozier was not listed on the team’s injury report.

NBA LEGEND CHAUNCEY BILLUPS, HEAT’S TERRY ROZIER ARRESTED AS PART OF FBI GAMBLING PROBE

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Laster then allegedly sold that information to other co-conspirators, and numerous people placed wagers totaling roughly $200,000 on Rozier’s “under” prop bets to hit in both parlay and straight wagers. After Rozier played just nine minutes and never returned, the bets won. Rozier and Laster counted cash winnings at Rozier’s home in Charlotte roughly a week later, an indictment says.

The DOJ says the player was eventually ruled out with a lower-body injury. LeBron James did not play that night due to an ankle injury that kept him out for two more games. The game in question was played two days after James scored 38 points to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.

Another game the DOJ mentioned was a Portland Trail Blazers–Chicago Bulls matchup March 24, 2023, the day after Rozier played nine minutes, and a co-conspirator, “an NBA coach at the time,” allegedly told a longtime friend, who is also a defendant in the rigged poker scheme, that the Blazers would be “tanking” that night for a better draft pick and would sit some of the team’s best players. The resting of the players had not yet been public information.

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Rozier and Jones were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The NBA announced that Rozier and Billups were placed on immediate leave from their teams, “and we will continue to cooperate with the relevant authorities.”

“The integrity of our game remains our top priority,” the NBA said.

Follow Fox News Digital’ssports coverage on X,and subscribe tothe Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

Jackson Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital. He previously worked for ESPN and Business Insider. Jackson has covered the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, and has interviewed iconic figures Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz and Roger Clemens.

The post Congress seeks answers from NBA commissioner amid widening gambling scandal appeared first on My Blog.