U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Asia on Tuesday to seek help from the Group of Seven (G7) amid an ongoing crisis in Gaza and Israel, as well as other global issues including the war between Russia and Ukraine, North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear and ballistic missile technologies, and China’s aggression toward Taiwan and its other provocations in the South China Sea.

Fresh from a pair of tours through the Middle East — where Blinken largely ended empty-handed after meeting with leaders in Israel, Palestinian territories, Jordan and Syria, without scoring peace — the senior official is shifting his diplomacy toward Asia to forge consensus on how to deal with the crises.

Blinken and foreign ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Italy began two days of talks in Tokyo, saying it was critically important for the group to show unity and to prevent the Gaza war from further destabilizing already shaky security in the broader Middle East.

‘This is a very important moment as well for the G7 to come together in the face of this crisis and to speak, as we do, with one clear voice,’ Blinken told Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, shortly after talks with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa said Japan ‘unequivocally condemns’ the Hamas’ attack on Israel, supports U.S. efforts to find a way forward, and said that ‘solid unity between Japan and the U.S. is especially critical at this point.’

‘We appreciate the diplomatic efforts of the U.S. in the recent situation between Israel and Palestine,’ she said. ‘You have our utmost support.’

Following Secretary Blinken’s meeting with Prime Minister Kishida, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Japan pledged to provide humanitarian care to Gaza, where the Gaza Health Ministry has said more than 10,000 Palestinians have died since Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7.

‘Secretary Blinken and Prime Minister Kishida reaffirmed their commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to continuing to provide Ukraine the support it needs to defend its independence and protect its people. The Secretary also thanked the Prime Minister for Japan’s pledge to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza. The Secretary reaffirmed the United States’ ironclad commitment to the defense of Japan,’ the statement read.

The meetings, which are expected to last through Wednesday, are expected to include conversations on how to push Israel to agree to ‘pauses’ in its military operation to allow that assistance to get in and more civilians to get out.

Blinken described all of these as ‘a work in progress’ and acknowledged the G7 and larger international community have deep divisions over a pause.

Israel remains unconvinced that it would do any more than help Hamas regain its composure and plan additional attacks. Meanwhile, Arab and Muslim nations are calling for an immediate full cease-fire, which even the U.S. opposes.

Blinken arrived in Tokyo from Turkey, concluding his four-day blitz through the Mideast. Blinken also visited Israel, Jordan, the West Bank, Cyprus and Iraq.

The secretary of state will leave Japan later this week and will travel to South Korea and then to India.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The families of Israelis taken hostage by Hamas made an emotional appeal for U.S. aid at a press conference held by House Republican leadership on Tuesday.

‘He actually said, ‘I want to say my last words. We’re not going to survive it.’ Nobody survived it. Everybody is killed,’ said Doris Liber, whose son was kidnapped by Hamas militants at a music festival in southern Israel where more than 250 people were killed.

As her son, Guy Iluz, was hiding, Liber said her husband encouraged him to hide under dead bodies so the terrorists would not notice him. She said he told her he had been shot in the arm.

‘His father doesn’t let him speak. He says, ‘Shush, don’t talk. Don’t let them hear you.’ And I try to, you know, tell him, ‘Guy I love you. Don’t worry. Nothing’s going to happen. I’m going to call now. I’m going to send somebody now to get you.’ And that’s what I did. I hung up, and I regret that, since I didn’t hear from him since,’ Liber said.

It has been 30 days since Hamas militants infiltrated Israel’s borders on Oct. 7 and slaughtered roughly 1,400 Israelis – mostly civilians. 

‘It’s been 30 days. Every day is like eternity to me. And I can’t wait any longer because I know that he was shot. I know I don’t know anything…We don’t have a list of the hostages. We don’t know their condition,’ Liber said. 

‘I’m so proud of being an American, being an Israeli as well. But I do need you now, because there’s nothing helping me now. I pray, which I didn’t do before. But just please help me.’

Yonatan Lulu-Shamriz, whose brother Alon Shamriz is also being held hostage, warned the U.S. would be ‘next’ if it did not take action to stamp out Hamas.

‘This is a call for action. And this is a wake-up call – not only for Israel, not only for the Jewish community. This is a wake up of all the all of you here, all of America, all of Europe,’ he said.

‘You are next. And we should do everything that we can to stop this atrocity.’

A House GOP-led bill giving $14.3 billion to Israel while taking it out of money President Biden allotted to the Internal Revenue Service passed along bipartisan lines last week, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., panned it as a nonstarter in the upper chamber. 

Key top Democrats are remaining silent on controversial anti-Israel comments from Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., including her trumpeting of the antisemitic rallying cry, ‘from the river to the sea,’ before a potential vote on the congresswoman’s censure that could come as soon as Tuesday afternoon. 

Reps. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., and Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., all refused to answer questions from Fox specifically on Tlaib’s ‘from the river to the sea’ comments. 

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., meanwhile, was noncommittal Tuesday when asked if she’ll vote for the censure resolutions brought by Republicans against Tlaib. 

‘I’m just gonna see how things play out,’ she said. 

Speaking with reporters outside House Democrats’ closed door conference meeting Tuesday, Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., addressed the back-and-forth of censure resolutions in Congress and Tlaib defending the use of the phrase ‘from the river to the sea.’ 

Hoyer said the use of censure resolutions to sanction members for speech is at odds with the First Amendment. But he added that he ‘violently’ disagrees with Tlaib’s use of the phrase. 

Hoyer characterized ‘from the river to the sea’ as, ‘the Arab community, not just the Palestinian community, has been using that phrase from 1948 to today to express their intention to obliterate the State of Israel, established by the United Nations as a place of sanctuary and security and freedom for the Jewish people.’ 

Tlaib infamously tripled down on allegations that an Israeli airstrike was responsible for an explosion at al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza said to have killed hundreds, ignoring Israeli and U.S. intelligence, cited by President Biden himself while visiting the Jewish state, supporting that it was actually a misfired rocket by the armed group Palestinian Islamic Jihad behind the blast. 

‘As I said, the censure resolutions are not appropriate,’ Hoyer said Tuesday. ‘Instances where people say things they don’t, that we don’t agree with. Now, on the other hand, when a member threatens the life of another member, when a member… says I’m their worst nightmare, that’s a different story. That’s threatening people. It’s not expressing opinions, it’s threatening people.’ 

A senior House Democrat leadership source tells Fox News that Democrats are not encouraging a vote either way on a Democratic resolution to sanction Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., over his comments likening Palestinian civilians to Nazis. Another senior House Democratic leadership source says the effort to sanction Mast will disappear if the House tables the resolution to censure Tlaib.

Hoyer pointed to the speech given by Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., on the House Floor Tuesday on ‘the fact that the First Amendment is an extraordinarily unique provision in the world.’ 

‘I’m profoundly disturbed that this House has gotten into a frenzy of censure resolutions to censure the speech of members of Congress,’ Himes said, addressing House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., ‘It’s the second clause of the First Amendment to our Constitution that says that Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech.’ 

‘I don’t much like any of the speech that the members who are accused of – foul speech – have engaged in,’ he continued. ‘But the test of our commitment to freedom of expression is not how hard we fight in a moment for the rights of those that we agree with. The test is whether we’re willing to stand up for freedom of expression for somebody with whom we don’t agree.’ 

‘It is time for us to stop trying to punish each other for the things that we say, no matter how abhorrent,’ Himes said. ‘Mr. Speaker, I believe that we’re more than just representatives. If we were just representatives, we would just go back to our constituents and bring their ideas here. We are stewards of this institution, which is why we take an oath to the Constitution. If you take seriously your role as a steward of this institution, vote to table every one of these obnoxious motions to censure.’

Fox News’ Chad Pergram and Daniel Scully contributed to this report. 

Special Counsel David Weiss told the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that he was not ‘blocked’ or ‘prevented from pursuing charges’ against Hunter Biden in his years-long probe, and he maintained that ‘political considerations played no part’ in his decision-making.

Weiss appeared for a voluntary and ‘unprecedented’ transcribed interview before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday morning to address ‘misunderstandings about the scope’ of his ‘authority to decide where, when and whether to bring charges.’

In a statement after his hours-long testimony, Weiss said that to the best of his knowledge he is ‘the first Special Counsel to testify before the submission of the Special Counsel report.’

‘I have done so out of respect for the committee’s oversight responsibilities and to respond to questions raised about the scope of my authority,’ Weiss said.

Weiss said he is ‘in the midst of conducting an ongoing investigation and prosecution’ and that he is ‘limited as to what I can say at this point.’ But Weiss also said that at the conclusion of his work he will prepare a report and ‘will be able to share more information at that time.’

Weiss said that during his transcribed interview he was ‘prepared to address misunderstandings about the scope of my authority to decide where, when and whether to bring charges in this matter.’

However, he also said he would not answer questions ‘that could jeopardize the ongoing litigation, our investigations, or the rights of defendants or other individuals involved in these matters.’

‘I am, and have been, the decision-maker on this case,’ Weiss said. ‘I do not, however, make these decisions in a vacuum. I am bound by federal law, the principles of federal prosecution and DOJ guidelines.’

As a result, he said, ‘there are processes that I must adhere to in making investigative and charging decisions.’

‘These processes did not interfere with my decision-making authority,’ Weiss said. ‘At no time was I blocked or otherwise prevented from pursuing charges or taking the steps necessary in the investigation by other United States attorneys, the Tax Division or anyone else at the Department of Justice.’

Weiss also noted that he ‘did not request special counsel status until August 2023.’

‘When I made that request, it was promptly granted,’ Weiss said.

Whistleblowers have alleged that Weiss previously requested special counsel status and was denied. Attorney General Merrick Garland tapped Weiss in August to serve as special counsel with jurisdiction over the Biden investigation and any other issues that have come up, or may come up, related to that probe.

Weiss has been leading the Biden investigation since 2018.

‘Throughout this investigation, the career prosecutors on my team and I have made decisions based on the facts and the law,’ Weiss said. ‘Political considerations played no part in our decision-making.’

Weiss said his team’s ‘analysis has been moored to the principles of federal prosecution, and going forward, my team and I will continue to abide by the same principles as we try to bring this matter to a just conclusion.’

Weiss’ interview comes after a number of current and former Justice Department officials related to the Hunter Biden probe have testified voluntarily on the matter behind closed doors at the committee, which is led by Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.

But on the matter of requesting special counsel status, Jordan said Weiss had requested it prior to being appointed in August.

‘When he was specifically asked, ‘Did you ever request special attorney authority under Section 515, Mr. Weiss?’ His response was, ‘Yes, in the spring of 2022,’’ Jordan said after Weiss’ interview. ‘So, that goes to the heart of the matter. He requested it, was not given that request – never had that authority throughout the time. And yet he pretends that somehow he did have that.’

Jordan said Weiss would not answer ‘a lot of questions’ but that the ‘key takeaway’ was about ‘the changing story we got from DOJ regarding the authority’ that Weiss had.

Jordan said Weiss’ testimony was ‘entirely consistent’ with what IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley said. Shapley alleged that in October 2022 Weiss said he requested special counsel authority but the ‘DOJ denied his request and told him to follow the process.’

‘So, once again, Shapley and Ziegler’s testimony continues to stand up to every single witness we brought in,’ Jordan said.

IRS whistleblowers Shapley and Joseph Ziegler alleged that politics affected prosecutorial decisions throughout the probe with regard to search warrants, decisions about lines of questioning during interviews of specific people, and more. Shapley also alleged that Weiss did not have ‘ultimate authority’ to pursue charges against the president’s son and instead needed approval from the Justice Department – something that DOJ officials confirmed in their voluntary transcribed interviews before the committee. 

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ Tax Division Stuart Goldberg participated in a transcribed interview before the House Judiciary Committee last month. Fox News Digital reviewed a copy of the transcript of Goldberg’s interview in which he said Weiss needed approval from his unit at the Justice Department before bringing charges in the Hunter Biden probe. Goldberg also said that a prosecutor could appeal his division’s decision if they disagreed.

Shapley further alleged that Weiss was considering bringing charges against Hunter Biden in California but the U.S. attorney there chose not to partner with him for prosecution. The charges were never filed.

Martin Estrada, the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, told the House Judiciary Committee during his transcribed interview last month that he did, in fact, decline to partner with Weiss in bringing charges against Hunter Biden in his district. Estrada, though, did offer Weiss ‘administrative support.’

In his first move as special counsel, Weiss charged Biden with making a false statement in the purchase of a firearm; making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federal firearms licensed dealer; and one count of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.

The president’s son pleaded not guilty to all charges last month.

Weiss’ interview comes amid House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry against President Biden. The impeachment inquiry is being led by Jordan, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo.

Former President Trump’s presidential campaign scoffed at new arguments made by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ team that the 2024 Republican nomination is a two-man race, with everyone else playing spoiler.  

‘If it’s a two-man race, why the hell is DeSanctimonious spending money and resources attacking Nikki ‘Birdbrain’ Haley?’ Trump spokesman Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital in a text message. ‘He knows she’s overtaken him in polls, and he is falling like a wounded bird out of the sky,’  

In the wake of yesterday’s endorsement by Republican Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, the DeSantis presidential campaign is once again trying to frame the Florida governor as the only viable alternative to Trump in the GOP presidential primary. 

‘Simply put, without Ron DeSantis in this primary, Trump is the Republican nominee,’ the DeSantis campaign argues in a new memo released Tuesday morning. 

‘Nikki Haley and others are, at best, simply playing the role of spoiler – exponentially increasing the odds of a Trump nomination,’ the memo states.

The memo – first reported by The Associated Press – outlines DeSantis’ underdog strategy to pull off a ‘big win’ in Iowa that would clear the 2024 Republican primary field. DeSantis has concentrated the vast majority of his campaign trail time and resources in Iowa the past couple of months and has so far made stops in 87 of the Hawkeye State’s 99 counties.

‘Everyone can universally agree that if Trump were to win big in Iowa it would create media and political momentum for his candidacy that would be difficult to stop heading into New Hampshire,’ DeSantis campaign manager James Uthmeier, deputy manager David Polyansky and senior adviser Ryan Tyson wrote. 

‘Additionally, a Trump loss or even a close battle in the Hawkeye State will reveal his political vulnerabilities and inspire Republican voters across the country who are either in the ‘not for Trump’ or ‘consider Trump and others’ camps,’ the memo states.

The Haley campaign did not respond to a request for comment. 

In her own memo, Haley campaign manager Betsy Ankney on Monday described the Iowa contest as a ‘dead heat’ between DeSantis and Haley, while ignoring Trump’s massive lead.

‘The Iowa Caucuses are in just over two months. The New Hampshire primary is just 8 days after that. And Nikki Haley is the only candidate who is positioned to do well in both,’ Ankney wrote, according to The Associated Press. ‘EVEN IF DeSantis were to do well in Iowa, which is a big ‘if’ given his current decline, he is in such a weak position in New Hampshire and South Carolina that it doesn’t matter. He has no end game.’

Trump remains the commanding frontrunner in the race for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination as he makes his third straight White House run. He saw his lead expand over his rivals during the spring and summer as he made history as the first former or current president in American history to be indicted for a crime. Trump’s four indictments – including in federal court in Washington, D.C., and in Fulton County court in Georgia on charges he tried to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss – have only fueled his support among Republican voters.

DESANTIS, HALEY SPAR OVER FLORIDA’S OFFSHORE OIL DRILLING BAN: ‘THAT’S JUST WRONG’ 

Although the DeSantis campaign wants to spin the race as a two-man contest, the reality on the ground is that Haley has leapfrogged DeSantis in many of the latest polls in New Hampshire and South Carolina for second place. The latest major poll in Iowa – from the Des Moines Register/NBC News released last week – indicated Haley moving into a second-place tie with DeSantis.

Seeking to capitalize on that momentum, the Haley campaign released a new ad Tuesday morning that attacks DeSantis over energy policy. 

The video serves as a potential preview for a Haley line of attack at tomorrow night’s third GOP presidential primary debate.

The video begins with Haley – at the Fox Business debate at the Reagan Library in late September, charging that DeSantis is ‘against fracking, against drilling’ with DeSantis responding that the allegations are ‘not true.’

The ad includes several clips of DeSantis stating during his tenure in Tallahassee saying that he opposes offshore drilling and touting policies against fracking. The ad ends with a voter asking the Florida governor if he supports a ban on fracking, to which he replies, ‘Yeah.’

Haley previously took aim at DeSantis’ support for an offshore oil drilling ban in his state during the second Republican presidential debate in September. 

‘You banned fracking, you banned offshore drilling — you did it on federal lands and you took green subsidies that you didn’t have to take,’ she charged.

DeSantis appeared to laugh during Haley’s remarks before rejecting that he opposed fracking or drilling on federal lands.

He then noted a Florida constitutional amendment passed in 2018 that bans offshore drilling three miles into the Atlantic Ocean and nine miles into the Gulf of Mexico. The measure was passed by voters to protect marine wildlife that would be impacted by such activity.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

House Republicans appeared eager to find a way forward to avoid a government shutdown but left a Monday morning closed-door meeting as far apart as ever on how to do it.

‘We’re kind of without a path forward,’ a senior GOP aide who attended the meeting told Fox News Digital afterward. ‘[Speaker Mike Johnson] said he doesn’t want to shut down. That was his ultimate goal. So we’ll see how he does that.’

Current government funding expires on Nov. 17. Leaders in both the House and Senate have acknowledged the need for a temporary extension of last year’s spending, known as a continuing resolution (CR), to give themselves more time to make a deal. 

But House Republicans are divided on how to do it. It appears that two main tracks emerged in the Monday meeting — a straightforward extension, known as a ‘clean’ CR, or a ‘laddered’ approach that would stagger funding deadlines for different departments and agencies.

‘The best thing for us is to pass a clean CR,’ Rules Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., told reporters.

However, Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern, R-Okla., emerged from the meeting suggesting that conservative policy riders were a must-have.

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., told reporters, ‘I can tell you with some level of confidence, there is this understanding that we’re going to have to do a… CR. And that’s different than what we have dealt with in the past when we had Republicans who wouldn’t vote for anything, right? No extension. I think that feels different now.’ 

Most GOP lawmakers said a vote on some kind of CR would likely happen early next week.

House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., said he preferred a ‘laddered approach’ with two funding deadlines — one in January and another at a later date.

‘Anything but the clean CR. Why continue [former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s] policies, and funding the government that’s given [President Biden] the lowest rating for the country in years?’ Norman said. 

Rep. John Duarte, R-Calif., suggested a targeted approach to the laddered CR idea that would force the Senate and House to first compromise on the spending bills they already passed.

‘I think that if we’ve got some work done on certain appropriations bills, especially where the Senate’s already done the same bills, and put them through — let’s sit down and start hammering that out. Let’s do a continuing resolution on the issues we haven’t resolved, and let’s keep the government open and get the arm wrestling underway,’ Duarte said.

Currently, however, only one of 12 total appropriations bills that need to be passed overlap in the House and Senate — the spending bill dealing with military construction and Veterans Affairs. 

There does not appear to be a plan for how to stagger priorities on the laddered CR. Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., told reporters after the meeting. 

‘We’re just trying to figure out where the sweet spot is,’ Murphy said.

What’s clear, however, is that Johnson is not navigating the same fraught tensions and relationships that ousted ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was forced to work through when he passed a CR to keep the government open past the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.

‘I think that ultimately, the leadership team has got to figure out where the votes lie,’ said Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y. ‘Shutdown is not an option.’

Johnson himself was vague on when the House would vote on something — or the details of what that thing is — during House GOP leadership’s weekly press conference. 

‘I’m not going to show you all the cards right now. We have some very constructive, I think very positive, discussions going on,’ Johnson said. ‘I’m not going to tell you when we’ll bring it to the floor, but it will be in time… but trust us, we’re working through the process in a way that I think that we will be proud of.’

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy unveiled a ‘No to Neocons’ pledge on Tuesday he plans to implement in his administration. 

According to a website launched Tuesday, ‘every prospective political appointee must commit to and sign this pledge’ in order to serve in a Ramaswamy administration. 

The pledge requires officials to commit that ‘avoiding WW3 is a vital national objective,’ ‘war is never a preference, only a necessity’ and ‘the sole duty of U.S. policymakers is to U.S. citizens.’

‘If you want 20 more years of endless wars that don’t advance our interests, then I’m not your guy. But if you want to stay out of no-win wars and make America stronger at home, I know how to get that done,’ Ramaswamy said in a press release. 

‘This pledge is my commitment to the American people that I will lead true to these principles and hold all appointees in my administration to the same standard,’ he added. 

Supporters of Ramaswamy can also sign the pledge on the ‘No to Neocons’ website. 

The biotech entrepreneur has been outspoken in cautioning the U.S. from entering into a World War III, particularly after the Oct. 7 terrorist attack against Israel by the terrorist group Hamas. He has also been vocal about limiting U.S. involvement in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, putting him at odds with fellow Republicans.

He is one of five presidential hopefuls who will participate in the third Republican debate in Miami. The other candidates who qualified and agreed to appear on the debate stage are Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott. 

At the two previous debates, Ramaswamy had fiery clashes on foreign policy with Haley and former Vice President Mike Pence, who has since suspended his presidential campaign. 

Ramaswamy is currently placing fourth in national Republican polls according to the RealClearPolitics average behind Haley, DeSantis and former President Trump, who maintains a commanding lead in the GOP field. 

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

The Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act could include a House-authored provision that prohibits the United States government and its contractors from buying equipment from ‘adversarial biotech companies’ that work to ‘exploit’ Americans’ genetic information for ‘malign purposes,’ Fox News Digital has learned.

Both the Senate and the House of Representatives are currently conferencing and negotiating on final NDAA text that can be passed by both chambers.

The provision, which was passed in the original House bill, was introduced by House China Select Committee Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wis. The provision prohibits the purchase of biotechnology equipment or services from all United States adversaries, including North Korea, Russia, Iran and China.

But in his amendment, Gallagher specifically mentions Shenzhen-based company Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) and seeks to block the company from contracting with the United States government. BGI has close ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

‘Beijing Genomics Institute collects genetic data on people all over the world, to include that of pregnant women, and uses it for research with the Chinese military,’ Gallagher told Fox News Digital. ‘The CCP will undoubtedly use the genetic data collected by BGI to further its malign aggression, potentially even to develop a bioweapon used to target the American people.’ 

Gallagher said that ‘the good news is that Congress can do something about it.’ 

Gallagher and Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., are working together ‘to prohibit the U.S. government and those that contract with the U.S. government from acquiring genetic sequencing equipment from BGI and its subsidiaries in this year’s National Defense Authorization Amendment.’

Hagerty told Fox News Digital that he is ‘pleased’ to work with Gallagher to ensure the NDAA includes ‘this important provision to prevent CCP-aligned Chinese biotech companies from collecting Americans’ DNA.’

‘It’s deeply alarming that the Chinese Communist Party, through China’s ‘national champion’ biotech companies like BGI, is harvesting genetic data from millions of people around the world for storage and analysis back in China, often in collaboration with the Chinese military,’ Hagerty told Fox News Digital.

Hagerty, at this point, has filed a motion to instruct conferees to include the BGI text in the final conference report.

‘I urge my Senate colleagues to support this effort to prohibit the U.S. government and its contractors from buying equipment from adversarial biotech companies whose intent is to exploit Americans’ genetic and medical information for malign purposes,’ Hagerty said.

And Gallagher called for lawmakers ‘on both sides of the aisle and in both chambers of Congress to protect Americans’ sensitive health information and include this critical provision in the final bill.’

The push comes as the Intelligence Community, dating back to 2021, has been sounding the alarm on China’s collection of health care data and DNA of Americans. Intelligence officials have warned that the efforts pose ‘serious risks’ to the privacy of Americans and to U.S. economic and national security.

The National Counterintelligence and Security Center within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has warned that China is prioritizing the collection of health care data, including genomic data – which it says the country views as a ‘strategic commodity’ to be collected and used for its economic and national security priorities.

NCSC defined genomic data as ‘a broad term referring to your entire genetic sequence – all your DNA.’

The collection efforts come as part of China’s efforts to advance its artificial intelligence and precision medicine industries.

In 2016, the People’s Republic of China announced a $9 billion, 15-year project to collect, analyze and sequence genomic data to become a global leader in precision medicine – which ODNI describes as a process designed to provide tailored treatments based on the genetic makeup, environment and lifestyle of individual patients.

The intelligence community has also explicitly called out BGI, pointing to its efforts during the coronavirus pandemic. Intelligence officials have pointed to China’s efforts to market its COVID-19 testing kits around the world as well as laboratories to support its COVID-19 testing.

NCSC said that by August 2020, BGI said it had sold test kits to 180 countries and established labs in 18 countries during the pandemic.

Intelligence officials told Fox News that BGI made ‘aggressive efforts’ to market their COVID testing and lab services in states across America in the early days of the pandemic, despite concerns from the NCSC, the FBI and others in the intelligence community about the collection of health and genetic data from Americans. 

The Pentagon has also listed BGI as a ‘Chinese military company’ operating in the United States.

BGI group and its subsidiaries are currently active throughout the United States. The company has a regional headquarters located in San Jose, California.

The company is required by law in the People’s Republic of China to share its data with the CCP.

House Democrats on Tuesday failed to shield progressive Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., from a looming censure, teeing up a vote on whether to punish her for inflammatory anti-Israel comments.

A single Democrat lawmaker joined most House Republicans to advance the censure resolution, a largely symbolic reprimand, with a vote to kill the measure falling short, 213-208.

Six Republican lawmakers voted to table the resolution, which would have effectively killed it – Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., Ken Buck, R-Colo., John Duarte, R-Calif., Mike Garcia, R-Calif., Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., and Tom McClintock, R-Calif.

It was not immediately clear which Democrat lawmaker voted with Republicans to move the censure forward. The actual vote on censuring Tlaib is expected to now occur on Wednesday.

Tlaib, clad in a traditional Palestinian garment called a keffiyeh, sat in the front row of the House chamber between fellow progressive Reps. Cori Bush, D-Mo., and Summer Lee, D-Pa.

She spoke in her own defense after the vote, at one point nearly in tears while being consoled by Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.

‘It is important to separate people and governments,’ Tlaib said. ‘The idea that criticizing the Israeli government is antisemitic sets a dangerous precedent.’

Tlaib’s voice broke with emotion as she held up a photo of her grandmother as she said, ‘Palestinians are not disposable.’

She has been under fire by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle over her response to the war between Israel and Hamas. Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress, has been vocal about the Israeli government for years and has recently espoused phrases that even her colleagues in the House Democrat caucus deemed antisemitic.

In particular, she has refused to apologize or acknowledge fault in echoing the phrase ‘from the river to the sea,’ which she claimed represented Palestinian freedom while most regard it as a call for Israel’s extermination. The phrase has also been co-opted by terror group Hamas, which infiltrated Israel on Oct. 7 and slaughtered 1,400 Israelis – mostly civilians.

House Republicans introduced two different censures aimed at censuring Tlaib on Monday. 

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., introduced a modified version of her previous Tlaib censure, which failed to advance last week. Meanwhile, Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., one of the 22 Republicans to vote against Greene’s resolution, introduced his own.

McCormick’s resolution advanced on Tuesday afternoon while Greene’s is expected to have a preliminary vote later in the evening.

His legislation accused Tlaib of ‘promoting false narratives regarding the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and for calling for the destruction of the state of Israel.’

Democrats’ bid to shield Tlaib largely failed due to having too many absences on their side of the aisle. If all members were present, Republicans could have only lost four votes to still advance the censure.