The Biden administration has paused shipments of two types of precision bombs to Israel in response to U.S. opposition to Israeli forces’ operation in Rafah, according to a U.S. official.

One shipment of 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs the administration says might be used in Rafah has been placed on hold.

‘The U.S. position has been that Israel should not launch a major ground operation in Rafah, where more than a million people are sheltering with nowhere else to go,’ the U.S. official said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

‘We have been engaging in a dialogue with Israel in our Strategic Consultative Group format on how they will meet the humanitarian needs of civilians in Rafah, and how to operate differently against Hamas there than they have elsewhere in Gaza,’ the official continued. ‘Those discussions are ongoing and have not fully addressed our concerns. As Israeli leaders seemed to approach a decision point on such an operation, we began to carefully review proposed transfers of particular weapons to Israel that might be used in Rafah. This began in April.’

Following this review, the U.S. decided last week to pause a shipment of 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs, according to the official, who said the administration is ‘especially focused’ on the end-use of the 2,000-pound bombs and ‘the impact they could have in dense urban settings as we have seen in other parts of Gaza.’

A final determination has not yet been made on how to proceed with this shipment.

‘For certain other cases at the State Department, including Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) kits, we are continuing the review,’ the official said.  None of these cases involve imminent transfers – they are about future transfers.’

The official also emphasized that these shipments do not have anything to do with the Israel supplemental appropriations passed last month.

‘All are drawn from previously appropriated funds, some many years ago,’ the official said. ‘We are committed to ensuring Israel gets every dollar appropriated in the supplemental. In fact, we just approved the latest tranche of Foreign Military Financing: $827 million worth of weapons and equipment for Israel.’

The statement from the U.S. official comes after two Israeli officials told Axios that U.S.-manufactured ammunition to Israel was paused last week for the first time since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack against the Jewish State.

On Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces announced that it had gained operational control of the Gazan side of the Rafah Crossing after troops began a ‘precise counterterrorism operation’ in eastern Rafah aimed at killing Hamas terrorists and dismantling ‘Hamas terrorist infrastructure within specific areas of eastern Rafah.’

Fox News’ Liz Friden contributed to this report.

Congressional Republicans are applying pressure to both National Public Broadcasting (NPR) and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) amid NPR’s bias scandal. 

A series of letters to both entities have been sent from both House and Senate Republicans, requesting action to ensure NPR’s integrity and address the allegations of ideological bias made by senior editor Uri Berliner, who has since left the organization. 

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce requested NPR CEO Katherine Maher to appear Wednesday for an Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee hearing on the allegations. 

‘The Committee has concerns about the direction in which NPR may be headed under past and present leadership,’ Committee Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., wrote. 

However, a spokesperson for NPR told Fox News Digital in a statement that Maher would not be joining the subcommittee to testify. She is willing to testify on a different date, the spokesperson added. 

‘NPR respects the committee and its request and has offered to testify on a date in the near future that works for the committee and Maher,’ the spokesperson said. ‘NPR has a previously scheduled and publicly posted all-day meeting of its board of directors on that date, Maher’s first such meeting since she joined NPR just six weeks ago. These meetings are scheduled more than a year in advance.

‘Maher is therefore unable to attend this week’s hearing and has communicated that to the committee and proposed alternate dates. Maher will provide written testimony in her absence,’ the spokesperson continued. 

A spokesperson for the House Energy and Commerce committee told Fox News Digital Maher’s choice not to testify on Wednesday ‘speaks volumes.’

‘The chair looks forward to reviewing her thorough and transparent responses to the committee’s letter,’ the spokesperson said. 

A spokesperson for Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Chairwoman Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., did not say whether she is concerned by the allegations made against NPR or if she would invite Maher to testify in the Senate. 

‘The chair is focused on getting a five-year reauthorization passed,’ the spokesperson said, referencing the FAA re-authorization bill that has a deadline of May 10. 

CPB has also been the recipient of letters scrutinizing its grant funding to NPR amid the scandal. Both Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rick Scott, R-Fla., have sent such letters. 

Asked by Fox News Digital for comment on the letters and any concerns the corporation might have over the revelations at NPR, CPB simply replied on Tuesday it ‘has confirmed receipt of Senator Cruz’s letter and will reply in a timely manner.’

The allegations of ideological bias in NPR’s newsroom have also led to bills being discussed in both chambers and introduced in the House to cut the organization’s funding. 

One such attempt by House Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good, R-Va., would stop NPR from receiving federal funding, while also preventing public radio stations with federal grants from using them to buy content from or pay dues to NPR.

Berliner’s scathing essay addressing his concerns with his employer was published roughly one month ago, on April 9. Among other revelations, Berliner discovered that the NPR Washington, D.C., newsroom held zero Republicans, compared to 87 Democrats. 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reignited his call to debate former President Trump on Tuesday, suggesting ‘perfect neutral territory’ at the upcoming Libertarian Party convention as the venue. 

In a message on X, RFK Jr. acknowledged how both he and Trump are already scheduled to speak at the upcoming convention on May 24 and 25 in Washington, D.C.

‘It’s perfect neutral territory for you and me to have a debate where you can defend your record for your wavering supporters,’ Kennedy Jr. wrote to Trump. ‘You yourself have said you’re not afraid to debate me as long as my poll numbers are decent. Well, they are. In fact, I’m the only presidential candidate in history who has polled ahead of both major party candidates in head-to-head races.’ 

‘So let’s meet at the Libertarian convention and show the American public that at least two of the major candidates aren’t afraid to debate each other,’ he added. ‘I asked the convention organizers and they are game for us to use our time there to bring the American people the debate they deserve!’ 

Kennedy said he was ‘grateful’ to Trump for ‘calling attention to the rigged polling methodologies that biased DNC-influenced media have used against you.’ 

‘We have this concern too, and I’m happy to show you the deceptive methodologies used by DNC-allied pollsters who pretend that I’m in single digits. You have correctly characterized these as ‘fake polls,” he said. 

Kennedy pointed to polling results from Zogby, an analytics firm he contracted. The independent presidential candidate said that poll shows Trump beat President Biden ‘handily’ in a head-to-head matchup.

‘I crush him as well, by even more. And against each other, I beat you in a nail-biter,’ RFK Jr. claimed. ‘In a three-way, you are ahead but I’m coming up strong. Two new polls (CNN and Quinnipiac) have me above the 15% debate threshold. Another (Activote) has me at 26% among young voters. And you and I are tied among America’s 70 million Independents.’ 

RFK. Jr. said he’s also drawing a lot of voters from former Trump supporters who are ‘upset that you blew up the deficit, shut down their businesses during Covid, and filled your administration with swamp creatures.’ 

Six months before Election Day, Biden and Trump – the presumptive Democrat and Republican nominees – are locked in the first contest in 112 years with a current and former president competing for the White House. Kennedy, meanwhile, has increasingly been challenging Biden and Trump to debate him in recent weeks, hoping to bring his independent candidacy more mainstream.  

Kennedy’s campaign remains determined to get him on the ballot in all 50 states. So far, RFK Jr. is on the ballot in 10 states, The Hill reported. 

Either Biden or Trump would be the oldest president ever sworn in on Inauguration Day.

Trump is in the midst of the first of potentially four criminal trials and facing felony charges. The Constitution does not prevent him from assuming the presidency if convicted — or even if he is in prison.

Biden, who will turn 82 years old just weeks after Election Day, Nov. 5, is already the oldest president in U.S. history; Trump is 77.

Privately, Democratic operatives close to the campaign worry constantly about Biden’s health and voters’ dim perceptions of it, according to the Associated Press. In recent weeks, aides have begun walking at Biden’s side as he strolls to and from Marine One, the presidential helicopter, on the White House South Lawn in an apparent effort to help mask the president’s stiff gait.

Still, neither party is making serious contingency plans, assuming the general election matchup is all but set. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The House conservatives threatening to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., are seeking assurances on government funding and aid to Ukraine, Fox News Digital is told.

Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., met with Johnson behind closed doors for roughly two hours late Monday afternoon after promising last week to force a House-wide vote on his removal. They declined to give details to reporters immediately after the sit-down but said they would have a follow-up discussion with Johnson on Tuesday.

However, Fox News Digital was told they are broadly seeking four points – including no more funding for Ukraine nor special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into former President Trump.

They are also demanding that Johnson vow to block any legislation from getting a House-wide vote unless it has the support of a majority of the House GOP – a longstanding informal provision called the Hastert rule, named after a former Republican speaker.

On government funding, the conservatives are also pushing Johnson to adhere to the Massie rule, which would require automatic federal spending cuts if an agreement is not reached on fiscal year 2025 funding by the Sept. 30 deadline. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Greene, Massie and Johnson’s offices for comment. A spokesman for Greene declined to discuss the contents of a private meeting.

Meanwhile, Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., the third GOP rebel who signed onto Greene’s motion to vacate the chair – a resolution calling for a House-wide vote on removing the speaker – suggested to reporters on Monday evening that he wanted Johnson to have some more time to change course.

‘I don’t think it’s going to happen this week. I hope it doesn’t happen this week,’ Gosar told reporters. ‘I think it would be nice to see him go back to regular order, get things coming from committees, you get a majority of the majority to get something on the floor.’

Greene is leading the push to oust Johnson amid conservative frustrations over his bipartisan work on critical legislation related to government funding and foreign aid. She and Massie pledged to force the vote sometime this week.

To do so, she would have to notice her resolution as ‘privileged’ – meaning the House would have two legislative days to vote on the measure itself or first vote on scuttling it via a procedure known as ‘tabling’ the resolution.

Democrats have pledged to block the ouster vote by voting to table the resolution whenever it comes up, something that could save Johnson while also likely raising more conservative frustrations.

Johnson told reporters on Monday evening that his meeting with Massie and Greene was ‘lengthy’ but ‘constructive.’

‘We have discussed some ideas, and, we’re going to meet again tomorrow,’ Johnson said. ‘I just want to say, and I told them, and I’ve said this repeatedly, that I understand the frustration. I share it. I would really like to advance much more of our conservative policy on a daily basis here. But, the reality is we are working with the smallest majority in U.S. history with a one-vote margin.’

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., is being hit with a censure resolution on Tuesday after she referred to some Jewish students as ‘pro-genocide’ during a recent visit to Columbia University.

Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., is introducing the resolution against Omar on Tuesday, a source familiar with his plans told Fox News Digital.

The New York City Ivy League school has been the flashpoint for nationwide demonstrations on college campuses, where students have set up tent encampments to protest their universities’ financial ties to pro-Israel companies. 

Omar’s daughter was one of more than 100 Columbia students and young adults attending its sister school, Barnard College, who were arrested over their encampment last month.

The progressive ‘Squad’ Democrat visited the demonstration on April 26 in a show of solidarity for the anti-Israel protesters.

‘I actually met a lot of Jewish students who are in the encampment, and I think it is really unfortunate that people don’t care about the fact that all Jewish kids should be kept safe,’ Omar told Fox 5 New York while there. ‘We should not have to tolerate antisemitism or bigotry for all Jewish students, whether they are pro-genocide or anti-genocide.’

Bacon’s resolution text said Omar’s ‘slanderous comments against Jewish students could inflame violence against the Jewish community.’

In addition to censuring her for those comments, Bacon’s resolution also accused her of having ‘a long and demonstrated history of hateful rhetoric that plays into the worst antisemitic tropes.’

Omar has long been targeted by Republicans for her criticism of Israel. It even got her removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee last February, when the GOP won back the majority in the 2022 election.

Bacon told reporters last week, ‘To generalize, to say that the Jewish students are responsible for this and treat them that way, that is antisemitism, right? It’s one thing to protest Israel, but to stretch it over and accost Jewish students is wrong.’

‘I’m working on a bill right now to call out Omar for what she said. She’s talking about pro-genocide or anti-genocide Jewish students…all this talk is all wrong because Jewish Americans are Americans. Quit treating them that way,’ Bacon said.

Fox News Digital reached out to Omar’s office for comment.

A spokesperson for Omar told Axios last week regarding Bacon’s comments on preparing a censure resolution that, ‘Attempts to misconstrue her words by drafting this baseless resolution are meant to distract from the ongoing violence and genocide occurring in Gaza and the large antiwar protests happening across our country and around the world.’

Escalating tensions at the protests at Columbia and elsewhere have spurred bipartisan criticism amid multiple clashes between students and police, resulting in reports of people on both sides being injured. Jewish students at Columbia and other schools have also reported feeling unsafe on campus.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan is investigating whether evidence seized by the FBI in its raid on former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home as part of special counsel Jack Smith’s classified records case was ‘altered or manipulated.’

Jordan, R-Ohio, sent a letter to the Office of Professional Responsibility this week after Smith admitted that seized documents are no longer in their original order and sequence.

Smith and federal prosecutors admitted in a court filing on Friday that ‘there are some boxes where the order of items within that box is not the same as in the associated scans.’ The prosecutors had previously told the court that the documents were ‘in their original, intact form as seized.’ 

‘The Government acknowledges that this is inconsistent with what Government counsel previously understood and represented to the Court,’ a footnote in the filing reads. 

Jordan, in his letter, said the acknowledgment ‘presents grave concerns’ about the Justice Department’s ‘commitment to impartial justice, whether the Special Counsel’s Office misled a federal court, whether the Special Counsel’s Office strenuously upheld the ‘highest professional standards’ of the Department of Justice.’ 

Jordan is now asking the DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility to ‘hold accountable’ attorneys who may have violated the standards. 

Jordan is demanding that the office produce all documents and records referring or relating to any allegation of ethical impropriety regarding Smith, top prosecutor Jay Bratt or any other attorney assigned to the special counsel’s office. 

Jordan is also requesting all documents and records related to the ‘manipulation’ of documents seized from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in August 2022, among others, by May 20. 

Jordan’s investigation comes after Trump’s co-defendants in the case asked for a delay as lawyers were having trouble figuring out the origin of some of the documents in the evidence boxes. 

The FBI agents seized 33 boxes of documents in August 2022 from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, spurring another legal battle that Trump has called a ‘scam.’ The investigation is overseen by special prosecutor Smith, who Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed to the job, and has charged Trump with 40 felony counts, including allegedly violating the Espionage Act, making false statements to investigators and conspiracy to obstruct justice. 

Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges and slammed the case as an ‘Election Inference Scam’ promoted by the Biden administration and ‘Deranged Jack Smith.’

The case is slated to head to trial on May 20, though the date may change, with presiding Judge Aileen Cannon underacting a trove of documents in the lead-up to the trial that have provided notable updates to the case. 

Meanwhile, after Smith’s acknowledgment of the inconsistencies, former President Trump called for his arrest. 

‘Now, Deranged Jack has admitted in a filing in front of Judge Cannon to what I have been saying happened since the Illegal RAID on my home, Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida – That he and his team committed blatant Evidence Tampering by mishandling the very Boxes they used as a pretext to bring this Fake Case,’ Trump posted to Truth Social on Friday. ‘These deeply Illegal actions by the Politicized ‘Persecutors’ mandate that this whole Witch Hunt be DROPPED IMMEDIATELY. END THE ‘BOXES HOAXES.’ MAGA2024!’

Trump added: ‘ARREST DERANGED JACK SMITH. HE IS A CRIMINAL!’   

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report. 

House Republicans led by Reps. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Brian Mast, R-Fla., are pressuring the Biden administration to threaten sanctions against International Criminal Court (ICC) officials if the body goes after the U.S. or U.S. allies that do not fall under its jurisdiction.

It comes amid reports that the ICC is preparing warrants against top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over their handling of humanitarian aid in Gaza during the Middle Eastern nation’s war on terror group Hamas.

They’re leading a new bill to force President Biden’s hand called The Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act, along with 15 House GOP co-sponsors, including House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern, R-Okla.

According to legislative text obtained by Fox News Digital, it would force Biden to sanction an ICC-related entity or person ‘no later than 60 days after the enactment of this Act, if the International Criminal Court is engaging in any attempt to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute any protected person.’

‘The ICC is an illegitimate court that represents a massive threat to U.S. sovereignty. The Trump administration was right to impose sanctions on the associates of the ICC if they dare go after U.S. citizens, service members, or our allies,’ Roy told Fox News Digital. ‘Biden’s decision to reverse that policy was weak, embarrassing, and wrong.’

Roy said of reports that the ICC may target Israel, ‘If the ICC goes after our allies, there will be consequences.’

Israel is not under the ICC’s jurisdiction. The Palestinian territories, however, were admitted in 2015.

Mast said their bill sent a ‘clear message’ to the ICC, adding, ‘We may not recognize you, but you sure as hell will recognize what happens when you target America or its allies.’ 

Mast is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where the bill will have to advance before a possible House-wide vote. A U.S. Army veteran, he also previously served with the Israeli Defense Force (IDF).

Stefanik, the No. 3 House Republican, accused the ICC of ‘a campaign to undermine the only democracy in the Middle East, while turning a blind eye to the numerous human rights atrocities committed by Hamas.’

‘This double standard is an abuse of power by the ICC and exposes their irrelevance,’ she said.

State Department deputy spokesman Vidant Patel would not confirm or deny whether the U.S. was aware of the ICC’s reported plans during a press briefing early last week, but he told reporters, ‘On this investigation, our position is clear. We continue to believe that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over the Palestinian situation.’

Israeli officials are concerned that the ICC is preparing arrest warrants over Israel’s response to the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by the terrorist group Hamas, the New York Times reported last Monday.

Israel has been accused of blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza while waging a ground invasion and airstrike campaign in order to get Israeli hostages being held by Hamas back to their homes. But there’s been mounting criticism of Israel on the world stage over the severity of its response.

Netanyahu said on X last week in response to the report, ‘Under my leadership, Israel will never accept any attempt by the ICC to undermine its inherent right of self-defense.’

House Republicans are warning Speaker Johnson, R-La., against making any potential ‘side deals’ with the GOP rebels threatening to oust him.

Johnson is holding his second meeting in as many days on Tuesday afternoon with Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky. They made several demands of Johnson on foreign aid and government funding in a two-hour closed-door meeting on Monday. 

It’s not immediately clear if they will back off their threats if their requests are fulfilled, but several House Republicans told Fox News Digital they hope Johnson stands firm against their demands unless he decides something is in the best interest of his conference.

‘I think his job as speaker is to listen a lot, and then he has to ultimately make a decision, so I don’t have a problem with him listening,’ Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern, R-Okla., said on Tuesday morning. ‘What I would have a problem with – and we had this problem with Speaker McCarthy – is when you start making special deals, side deals and hidden deals… then people [say]… ‘What about my deal?”

Hern was referring to the closed-door conversations ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., held with members of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus and their allies, at times shifting House GOP policy after hours behind closed-doors with those members. That includes side deals he made in January 2023 to win the speaker’s gavel after a record 15 rounds of voting.

‘It’s hard to equate him and Speaker McCarthy, they’re just entirely different and they had a different approach to most of everything,’ one GOP lawmaker granted anonymity to speak freely told Fox News Digital.

The GOP lawmaker argued that the concessions being asked of Johnson were mostly non-controversial, but added, ‘I just feel like it’s not good practice to establish separate arrangements with separate members.’

‘My management style has always been – you never, ever, ever grease a squeaky wheel,’ Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., said when asked about potential side deals. ‘Because if you do, you’re going to end up with more squeaky wheels.’

Fox News Digital reported early on Tuesday that among the requests Greene and Massie made to Johnson were assurances that the House would not vote on any more Ukraine aid and a pledge to defund Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation of former President Trump.

They are also demanding that Johnson vow to block any legislation from getting a House-wide vote unless it has the support of a majority of the House GOP – a long-standing informal provision called the Hastert rule, named after a former Republican speaker.

Greene confirmed those requests when she arrived at Johnson’s office on Tuesday afternoon for their second meeting.

‘These are not unreasonable requests. These are the right things to do. These are the right things to do for our conference,’ Greene told reporters.

Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., told Fox News Digital he did not believe Johnson would agree to their requests, and called them ‘nonsense.’

‘Look, they get to weigh in, they get a vote. That’s what they get. They don’t get to form our total policy,’ Meuser said.

A second GOP lawmaker granted anonymity to speak freely acknowledged there would always be ‘concerns’ about possible side deals with House Republicans’ razor-thin majority.

‘I think there’s always concerns about that, that there’s specific members that are getting more attention than others from the speaker himself,’ the second GOP lawmaker said. ‘But, you know, overall, I think it’s kind of like, we’re just trying to figure out how to move forward on some of this stuff. Everybody realizes the majority is so thin, that, you know, anybody could walk into the speaker’s office and make demands.’

Johnson was asked about some GOP lawmakers’ concerns about his negotiating with Greene and Massie during his weekly press conference on Tuesday.

‘It’s not a negotiation, OK? This is how I have operated as speaker… Everybody knows I have lengthy discussions, detailed discussions on a daily basis with members across the conference. There are 217 of us. It takes a lot of time,’ Johnson said. ‘So I take Marjorie’s ideas and Thomas’ and everybody else’s equally, and we assess them on their own value and where we can make improvements and changes and all of that. And that’s what this is.’