Democrats face ‘few opportunities’ to win back the Senate majority in next year’s midterm elections, a top non-partisan political handicapper predicts.

While the Republicans are defending seats in 22 states in 2026 compared to just 13 for the Democrats, the Cook Report’s first Senate rankings of the new election cycle point to a tough road ahead for the Democrats as they aim to recapture control of the chamber.

Senate Republicans enjoyed a very favorable map in the 2024 cycle as they flipped four seats from blue to red and stormed to a 53-47 majority in the new Congress, to go along with President Donald Trump’s recapturing of the White House and the GOP’s successful defense of their razor-thin House majority.

Cook Report Senate and governors editor Jessica Taylor, looking to new Senate battle, suggests that ‘the challenge for Democrats to net the four seats necessary to win back the majority looks herculean.’

The Cook Report ranks two seats as toss-ups, and both are controlled by the Democrats.

They are in the battlegrounds of Michigan – where Democrat Sen. Gary Peters announced two weeks ago that he wouldn’t seek re-election in 2026 – and Georgia – where Democrat Sen. Jon Ossoff faces a rough road to securing a second six-year term in the Senate.

Trump flipped Michigan in last November’s election, while then-Rep. Elissa Slotkin narrowly edged Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers in the race to succeed longtime fellow Democrat Sen. Debbie Stabenow. Rogers is now seriously mulling a second straight bid for the Senate.

In Georgia, which Trump also flipped after losing the state in his 2020 election loss to former President Biden, the Cook Report calls Ossoff ‘the most endangered incumbent overall.’

State and national Republicans are urging popular Republican Gov. Brian Kemp – who is term-limited in 2026 – to challenge Ossoff.

The Cook Report ranks the key New England swing state of New Hampshire as Lean Democrat. 

Longtime Democrat Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a former governor, has yet to announce if she’ll seek another term in office. And while plugged in Democrats in the Granite State have told Fox News the past couple of months that they expected the now-78-year-old Shaheen to run for re-election, her recently announced sparse fundraising for the fourth quarter of last year took many politicos by surprise.

Former Republican Sen. Scott Brown, who served as ambassador to New Zealand during Trump’s first term in the White House, is making moves towards launching a second run for the Senate in New Hampshire, a dozen years after narrowly losing to Shaheen.

While no Republican held Senate seats are listed as toss-ups, two are rated by the Cook Report as Lean Republican.

They are Maine, where moderate GOP Sen. Susan Collins is running for re-election in a state Trump lost last November, and North Carolina, where Republican Sen. Thom Tillis is seeking another term in a state Trump narrowly carried last year.

While Cook lists both races as Lean Republican, Taylor notes that ‘the rating could change if Democrats recruit strong candidates.’

Those Democratic candidates could possibly be former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, who finished his second term earlier this year, and Maine Gov. Janet Mills, who’s term-limited in 2026.

When it comes to potentially competitive races, the Cook Report ranks Ohio as Likely Republican. GOP Gov. Mike DeWine last month named Lt. Jon Husted to fill the seat previously held by now-Vice President JD Vance. Husted is now running in 2026 to fill the final two years of Vance’s term.

Once a key battleground state, Ohio has shifted to deep red in recent election cycles and its unclear if former longtime Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who lost his re-election last year, will make another bid in 2026.

Cook also lists Minnesota – where Democrat Sen. Tina Smith is up for re-election next year – as a likely Democrat.

Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said last November that he’d ‘like to see 55,’ when asked in a Fox News Digital interview about how many seats he was aiming for in the 2026 midterms.

And this past weekend at the Senate GOP campaign committee’s winter meeting, Scott reiterated that ‘we believe we can get to 55 or maybe even stretch for 56,’ according to sources attending the confab in Palm Beach, Florida.

The party in power – which this cycle is clearly the Republicans – traditionally faces electoral headwinds in the midterm elections.

But Taylor, pointing to recent polling, notes that the Democrats’ ‘party brand is… deeply unpopular.’

‘Even if Democrats were able to defend every incumbent and open seat on their side and flip both those states, it would leave them two short of an outright majority. Additional targets are hard to find,’ Taylor emphasized.

President Donald Trump has paused the enforcement of a law that criminalizes American businesses that bribe foreign officials in an executive order signed on Monday.

The order, which directs the Department of Justice (DOJ) to stop enforcing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), is intended to further American economic growth by eliminating excessive barriers to American commerce abroad.

‘It sounds good on paper, but in practicality, it’s a disaster,’ Trump said about the FCPA. 

‘It means that if an American goes over to a foreign country and starts doing business over there illegally, legitimately or otherwise, it’s almost a guaranteed investigation indictment. And nobody wants to do business with the Americans because of it,’ Trump continued.

According to the DOJ, the FCPA was enacted in 1977 to make it ‘unlawful for certain classes of persons and entities to make payments to foreign government officials to assist in obtaining or retaining business.’ 

However, the act has been ‘stretched beyond proper bounds and abused in a manner that harms the interests of the United States.’ Enforcing the FCPA also ‘actively harms American economic competitiveness and, therefore, national security,’ the order states. 

In an effort to eliminate excessive barriers to American businesses overseas, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has also been directed, through the executive order, to review the FCPA for the following 180 days and revise reasonable enforcement guidelines. 

‘President Trump is stopping excessive, unpredictable FCPA enforcement that makes American companies less competitive,’ a White House fact sheet stated. ‘U.S. companies are harmed by FCPA overenforcement because they are prohibited from engaging in practices common among international competitors, creating an uneven playing field.’

‘The title is so lovely, but it’s an absolutely horror show for America,’ Trump said. ‘So we’re signing it because that’s what we have to do to make it good… It’s going to mean a lot more business for America.’

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., will lead a new task force focused on the declassification of federal secrets – including records related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and other documents in the public interest, Fox News Digital has learned. 

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., appointed Luna to chair the ‘Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets.’

Luna is expected to focus on examining the declassification of materials in the public interest, including the client list of Jeffrey Epstein, and files relating to Sept. 11, 2001, COVID-19 origins, UFOs and more. 

Fox News Digital has learned that Comer and Luna are sending letters to necessary agencies to kick off the declassification investigations. 

Sources told Fox News Digital that Comer and Luna sent letters to the State Department, Department of Energy and the CIA for documents relating to the origins of COVID-19; the National Security Agency and CIA for records relating to JFK, MLK and RFK assassinations; the Department of Defense and the CIA for 9/11 files; and to the Justice Department for documents relating to Jeffrey Epstein. 

The creation of the task force comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order telling the director of national intelligence and other appropriate officials to present a plan for the full and complete release of all JFK assassination records within 15 days. 

He also ordered that officials immediately review the records relating to RFK and MLK assassinations and present a plan for their full and complete release within 45 days. 

‘For too long, the federal government has kept information of public interest classified and the American people are demanding greater transparency. This secrecy has sowed distrust in our institutions,’ Comer told Fox News Digital, noting that the task force will ‘build on the Trump administration’s efforts to declassify records of national importance and ensure Americans get the answers they deserve.’ 

‘Rep. Luna is committed to shining a light on the truth and ending the era of secrecy,’ Comer said. ‘It’s time to let the sunlight in and finally provide answers the American public has long demanded.’

Luna told Fox News Digital that the federal government ‘has been hiding information from Americans for decades.’ 

‘We have spent years seeking information on the assassinations of President Kennedy, Senator Kennedy, Reverend King, and other government secrets without success,’ Luna told Fox News Digital. ‘It is time to give Americans the answers they deserve, which is why I am honored to lead this bipartisan task force that seeks truth and transparency.’ 

Luna told Fox News Digital that the task force will also investigate ‘UAPs/USOs, the Epstein client list, COVID-19 origins, and the 9/11 files.’

‘We will work alongside President Trump and his Cabinet members to deliver truth to the American people,’ she said. ‘From this moment forward, we will restore trust through transparency.’ 

Sources said Luna’s task force is authorized for six months.

Fox News Digital is told that members of the task force will be announced in the coming weeks. 

President Donald Trump is on the cusp of seeing his 14th Cabinet member confirmed in former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard. 

Gabbard is slated for a final Senate confirmation vote to be Trump’s director of national intelligence (DNI) after midnight in the early morning hours of Wednesday. 

This is when the 30 hours of post-cloture debate expires on her nomination. Frequently, the debate between the cloture motion and the final vote is minimized in what’s referred to as a ‘time agreement’ between Republicans and Democrats. But with the controversial nature of Gabbard’s nomination and ongoing frustrations with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and its government audit, no such agreement is expected. 

Gabbard is expected to be confirmed and has already amassed support from hesitant Republicans who voted against Trump’s Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, requiring Vice President JD Vance to break the tie in the upper chamber. 

Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who are often considered the conference’s moderate members, have both already come out in support of Gabbard. Both lawmakers voted against confirming Hegseth. 

Collins is a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and voted in favor of the nomination, helping advance it to the full Senate floor. 

Gabbard also snagged the backing of key Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Todd Young, R-Ind., despite the latter being uncertain before the committee vote. 

Young is also on the Intel Committee and ultimately voted to advance her to the floor, but only after some prodding and discussions with Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Vance, who operated rigorous operations to ensure the nomination got through. 

Some concerns that followed Gabbard through her confirmation hearing were her past meeting with former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, her previous FISA Section 702 stance and her past support for NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. 

But these worries were apparently quelled by her answers and the persuasive support of both Cotton and Vance.

GOP state attorneys are taking on a renewed role during President Donald Trump’s second administration as ‘freedom’s front line,’ Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) incoming executive director Adam Piper told Fox News Digital, arguing that Democrats – deflated from losing control of both houses of Congress – are turning to left-leaning state attorneys to ‘undermine’ the White House’s America First agenda.

Right now, there are 29 Republican attorneys general in the United States who are ‘uniquely qualified to be the tip of the spear, to be freedom’s front line and be a foundation for the future and a foundation for freedom every single day,’ Piper told Fox News Digital. ‘These men and women are working tirelessly to ensure their states are the safest places possible. But they’re also working tirelessly to defend freedom, to help President Trump to ensure the American people have the system of government they voted for, they expect, and they deserve one that is free and one that is fair.’ 

In Trump’s first three weeks in office, Democratic attorneys general have sued the Trump administration on several matters related to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). That includes New York Attorney General Letitia James leading 19 state attorneys in suing over DOGE leader Elon Musk’s access to Treasury Department records. U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer issued a preliminary injunction in that case Saturday. 

Democratic attorneys general also partnered with the country’s largest federal labor unions to sue over Trump’s deferred resignation offer that would allow workers eight months of paid leave if they agree to leave their jobs voluntarily. 

In turn, Montana’s Republican attorney general, Austin Knudsen, led 22 states in an amicus brief Sunday asking the court to deny a motion for a temporary restraining order and allow Trump to manage the federal workforce how he sees fit. U.S. District Judge George O’Toole in Boston federal court on Monday proceeded to push back the deadline a second time on Trump’s ‘Fork in the Road Directive,’ which gives most federal employees the option to resign with pay and benefits until Sept. 30. 

‘During the Biden administration, Republican AGs were the last line of defense. We were the goal line stand, keeping the equivalent of a ‘tush push’ out of the end zone,’ Piper told Fox News Digital. 

‘During the Trump administration, we have to play offense, defense and special teams,’ he continued. ‘We have to be freedom’s front line. Working with the administration to ensure this DOGE regulatory reform agenda gets done, that we return to America’s Golden Age. But we also have to play defense and special teams. You’re going to see Democratic AGs take our playbook, bastardize it, and push back on the Trump administration. You will see states like New York and California get more aggressive, and Republican AGs are there to defend the rule of law, to promote freedom, and to ensure we work with President Trump to return America’s Golden Age.’ 

As for the DOGE injunction led by James, Piper said it equates to ‘partisan gamesmanship from Democratic attorneys general who want to do everything possible to thwart President Trump’s agenda.’ 

‘This is why Republican attorneys general are so critical to the success of the Trump administration in pushing back against Democratic attorneys general and their attempts to crowbar what President Trump and his team are trying to accomplish in Washington, D.C., which is returning freedom to the American people, returning government efficiency, eliminating fraud, waste and abuse,’ he said. 

Regarding James, in particular, Piper noted how New York’s attorney general led cases against Trump during his 2024 re-election campaign that are now defunct and have failed. 

‘A lot of her push back on the Trump administration is more about political theater than it is the rule of law in a court of law,’ he said. ‘And today and moving forward, you will see Republican attorneys general being President Trump’s best friend from a policy standpoint. We will be his best champion from a policy standpoint. There’s no more effective elected official in the United States than the state attorney general. We’re more effective than the members of Congress, more effective than U.S. senators, more effective than even governors… You know, we can push back on some of this lawfare that you’ll see from Democratic attorneys general.’ 

The Republican Attorneys General Association has seen alumni advance to the federal level in the Department of Justice. Most notably, that includes the newly sworn-in U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. Piper said he also hopes to see the Senate confirm Aaron Rice, an alum of the Texas Attorney General’s Office, to join the DOJ’s Office of Legal Policy. He noted 51 Republican attorneys general or staff alumni held Senate confirmed positions in the first Trump administration.

‘Republican attorneys general and their staffs are truly America’s farm team. You know where the best incubator of talent to ensuring President Trump has known conservative fighters who are willing to fight every day for the American people,’ Piper said. ‘And from Attorney General Bondi. There’s no better person to be the attorney general of the United States of America.’ 

As RAGA looks ahead, Virginia Attorney General Jason Myares is defending his office this year in what’s expected to be a competitive race, and then 30 attorneys general races will be on the ballot in 2026. 

‘There’s an urban myth that Richmond goes the opposite way of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. We are going to make sure that myth is just an urban myth and just a fable. Attorney General Jason Myers is truly one of our best when you look at the issues across the board. We will have probably an uphill battle,’ Piper said. ‘Virginia is a state the Republicans carried by two points four years ago. We have to have a good ground game. We have to have a good turnout operation… We have to make sure voters in the Commonwealth of Virginia understand the importance of attorney general, understand the public safety issues and understand that they need someone who every day will ensure Virginia is the safest place to live, work and raise a family.’

Israel’s security cabinet fully supports President Donald Trump’s demand that the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas release all of its hostages by noon on Saturday or that ‘all hell is going to break out,’ an Israeli official told Fox News. 

The declaration comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened his security cabinet Tuesday after Hamas announced it is delaying the next release of Israeli hostages. 

‘The decision I passed in the Cabinet unanimously is this: If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon – the ceasefire will end, and the IDF will resume intense combat until Hamas is decisively defeated,’ Netanyahu said in a statement following the meeting.

‘In light of Hamas’ announcement of its decision to violate the agreement and not release our hostages, I instructed the IDF last night to amass forces inside and around the Gaza Strip. This operation is currently underway and will be completed as soon as possible,’ Netanyahu added.

‘We also welcomed the President’s revolutionary vision for the future of Gaza,’ Netanyahu said.

Trump said Monday if Hamas does not return all hostages by noon on Saturday, he will call for the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip to be canceled and ‘let all hell break out.’  

‘If all the Gaza hostages aren’t returned by Saturday at 12 p.m., I would say cancel the ceasefire,’ Trump said in the Oval Office. ‘Let all hell break out; Israel can override it.’ 

Trump stressed that Hamas needs to release ‘all of them — not in drips and drabs.’  

‘Saturday at 12pm and after that, I would say, all hell is going to break out,’ Trump said.   

Trump reiterated his demand on Tuesday and told reporters that he believes Hamas will listen to him.

A Hamas spokesperson said Monday that the terrorist group will delay the next planned release of hostages in the Gaza Strip after accusing Israel of violating the ceasefire agreement. 

‘Over the past three weeks, the resistance leadership has monitored the enemy’s violations and failure to fulfill its obligations under the agreement; including the delay in allowing the return of the displaced to the northern Gaza Strip, targeting them with direct shelling and gunfire in various areas across Gaza, and denying relief supplies of all kinds to enter as agreed, while the resistance has implemented all its obligations,’ Abu Obeida, the spokesperson for Hamas’ military wing, said.  

Israel and Hamas are in the midst of a six-week ceasefire, during which Hamas has committed to releasing 33 hostages captured in its Oct. 7, 2023 attack in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. 

The sides have carried out five swaps since the ceasefire went into effect last month, freeing 21 hostages and more than 730 Palestinian prisoners. The next exchange, scheduled for next Saturday, calls for three more Israeli hostages to be freed in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. 

Fox News’ Yael Rotem-Kuriel, Brooke Singman, Danielle Wallace, Yonat Friling and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., sent House Democrats a letter Monday announcing the formation of a rapid response team and litigation group to ‘push back against the far-right extremism’ since President Donald Trump took office. 

In the ‘Dear Colleague’ letter, Jeffries wrote, ‘I write with respect to our ongoing effort to push back against the far-right extremism that is being relentlessly unleashed on the American people.’

Jeffries characterized the political landscape as ‘a multifaceted struggle to protect and defend everyday Americans from the harm being inflicted by this administration.’

The letter states House Democrats have as a result officially established a Rapid Response Task Force and Litigation Working Group chaired by Colorado Democratic Rep. Joe Neguse. 

Jeffries said that Democrats would continue to be ‘committed to driving down the high cost of living for everyday Americans.’ He criticized House Republicans for continuing to ‘launch far-right attacks on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, public safety and the education of our children,’ saying the American people were ‘counting’ on Democrats to stop them. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House, Jeffries’ office and Neguse’s office for comment but did not immediately hear back. 

Jeffries responded to a Fox News inquiry about the task force, saying, ‘It’s been an ongoing effort to push back against far-right extremism.’

Jeffries told Fox that ‘not a single thing that [Republicans have] actually done is a matter of law right now’ and said such actions suggest Republicans are ‘in disarray.’

Jeffries, along with House Democrat colleagues, have unveiled efforts to resist the president’s agenda since Trump took office in mid-January. 

Just last week, House Democrats announced legislation that seeks to secure the personal data of Americans amid the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) spending sweep.

The legislation, titled the Taxpayer Data Protection Act, was revealed Thursday to ‘shield the American people from this out-of-control power grab, permanently, and make sure that the financial, personal, medical, and confidential information of the American people is protected.’

Elon Musk’s DOGE team has spent the last several weeks identifying ‘wasteful’ spending within various governmental agencies. 

DOGE became the target of various lawsuits in the weeks following its establishment. A federal New York judge on Saturday ruled to block DOGE officials from accessing personal data such as social security numbers and bank account numbers. 

Trump’s Justice Department railed against the order, calling it an ‘anti-Constitutional’ ruling. 

Vice President JD Vance also called the ruling unconstitutional on X, saying it was an example of judicial overreach.

‘If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal. If a judge tried to command the attorney general in how to use her discretion as a prosecutor, that’s also illegal. Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power,’ Vance wrote Sunday.

Fox News’ Kelly Phares, Tyler Olson, Aubrie Spady, and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report. 

A group of House Republicans is pushing to give President Donald Trump more control over the federal spending process, as his administration continues to crack down on funding that does not align with the GOP agenda.

Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., is leading legislation to repeal the Impoundment Control Act, a 1974 Nixon-era law aimed at stopping the president from having unilateral say over government spending.

It would give Trump greater ability to accomplish his goals for Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Clyde told Fox News Digital in an interview.

‘I think it goes hand in hand with what DOGE is doing right now and with what the president has in mind to do, and that is to make our government more effective and more efficient,’ Clyde said.

‘They’re simply bringing the fraud, waste and abuse to light. And, then the rest of us, you know, the president and the executive need to take action on it. And then Congress needs to look at that and say, hey, we need to codify that into law to make sure that it stays beyond just this presidency.’

His legislation has more than 20 House GOP co-sponsors and a companion bill in the Senate led by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah.

Clyde told Fox News Digital that he intends to raise his bill with members of the Trump administration, which has also driven significant pushback against the Impoundment Control Act.

Russell Vought, Trump’s recently confirmed director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), has previously called the Impoundment Control Act unconstitutional.

Trump himself has made similar arguments.

‘Since the Empowered Control Act of ‘74, we have seen a tremendous increase in spending. And I think that’s part of the problem right there. The president is required now by law to spend the exact amount that Congress authorizes or appropriates for a specific program,’ Clyde said.

‘Well, as a small business owner, I understand the rules of business. And I think that if you can accomplish the same goal and be more financially efficient, I think you should be allowed to do that. And I think the president has always had the authority to do that under the Constitution.’

Trump has already exercised significant control over existing federal spending commitments. He paused most foreign aid funding soon after taking office last month, as well as other funding streams his administration said necessitated review. 

Parts of Trump’s federal funding freezes have been challenged in court, with a federal judge ordering the White House just this week to comply with an earlier legal order directing them to reinstate funding.