Former President Donald Trump mocked his competition for the Republican Party nomination on Wednesday, saying he wouldn’t give them a job in a hypothetical 2024 administration.

Trump made the remarks during a rally in Michigan on Wednesday night following a day of campaigning among autoworkers on strike in the state.

‘We’re competing with the job candidates, they’re all running for a job. No, they’re all job candidates,’ Trump said of his competition. ‘They want to be in the—they want to, they’ll do anything, secretary of something, they even say VP.’

‘Does anybody see the VP in the group? I don’t think so,’ the former president added.

Seven GOP candidates were on the stage Wednesday night at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.

The candidates were North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, biotech entrepreneur and political commentator Vivek Ramaswamy, and Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina.

The most recent Fox News poll shows 60% of Republican primary voters supporting Trump for the GOP nomination — up from 53% in the last survey in August. 

The only other candidates to receive double-digit support in that poll are DeSantis at 13% and Ramaswamy at 11%.

Haley sits at 5%, with Pence and Scott at 3% each. Christie is polling at 2%, with the remaining GOP candidates receiving less than 1%.

According to a new Washington Post/ABC poll from over the weekend, Trump is currently leading President Biden by 10 points in a head-to-head general election survey among voters. The poll said if the 2024 presidential election were held today, Trump would win 52% to 42% over Biden.

Meanwhile, Biden’s approval rating sits at 37%, according to the poll, while 56% of respondents actively disapprove of his presidency.

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis finished the second Republican primary debate and immediately suggested another: a one-on-one face-off with former President Donald Trump. 

‘Since the former president didn’t come here, maybe he would be willing to do one with you and I,’ DeSantis told Fox News host Sean Hannity. ‘I think he owes it to our voters to come and make the case.’ 

‘Here’s the thing though, you owe it to the voters to come and make the case. No one’s entitled to anything. You can say, ‘Oh, some poll months before,’ no. You gotta make the case. You owe it to the voters,’ DeSantis added from the Reagan Library. 

DeSantis’ idea for a Hannity-moderated event with Trump was inspired by the upcoming 90-minute debate that the Florida governor will be having with Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Nov. 30. Newsom attended the GOP California debate Wednesday night as surrogate for President Biden’s re-election campaign. 

Reached for comment Thursday, the Trump campaign rejected the notion. 

‘Rob DeSanctimonious? The loser in 5th place in New Hampshire? His pathetic campaign is over. Good night, sweet prince,’ Jason Miller, a senior adviser for the Trump campaign, told Fox News Digital. 

Trump again opted out of participating in the second GOP debate, instead holding a rally in battleground Michigan to blast President Biden for pushing electric vehicles amid an autoworkers strike. On the stage Wednesday, DeSantis argued that both President Biden and Trump were ‘missing in action.’

‘Where’s Joe Biden? He’s completely missing in action from leadership,’ DeSantis said on stage. ‘And you know who else is missing in action? Donald Trump is missing in action. He should be on this stage tonight. He owes it to you to defend his record, where they added $7.8 trillion to the debt that set the stage for the inflation that we have.’ 

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie also called out the former president for not participating in the debate.

‘Joe Biden hides in his basement and won’t answer as to why he’s raising the debt the way he’s done. And Donald Trump, he hides behind the walls of his golf clubs and won’t show up here to answer questions like all the rest of us are up here to answer,’ Christie said during the debate. ‘He put $7 trillion on the debt. He should be in this room to answer those questions for the people you talk about who are suffering.’

Democrats vehemently decried the first House Oversight Committee’s impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden on Thursday as a ‘waste of time’ and ‘illegitimate’ as Congress simultaneously raced against the clock to pass a Continuing Resolution (CR) deal and prevent a looming government shutdown before Saturday’s deadline.

‘Republican extremism is rearing its ugly head,’ House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters Thursday morning. ‘They are wasting time and taxpayer dollars on an illegitimate Impeachment Inquiry when we’re about 48 hours away or so from an extreme MAGA, Republican government shutdown — and this is what they’re focused on, an illegitimate impeachment inquiry as opposed to doing the business of the American people.’

Other Democrats followed suit on X, formerly known as Twitter, and joined in on the criticisms of the hearing.

‘The government shuts down in TWO DAYS, and House Republicans are… wasting time today holding a sham impeachment hearing??? Stop playing political games. Do your jobs. Fund the government,’ Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., posted to X. The congresswoman previously voted to impeach former President Donald Trump in 2021. 

California Democrat Robert Garcia said on X: ‘We are going to hit back on every lie and conspiracy theory.

‘We are ready to push back on a sham impeachment inquiry,’ Garcia posted Wednesday evening.

Greg Casar, a Democrat running for Congress with the backing of the progressive PAC Justice Democrats, called the impeachment hearing ‘baseless.’

‘My job is to defend the truth, while extremist Republicans try to defend Trump through their fact-free inquiry against President Biden,’ Cesar posted to X.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., posted a snarky photo with a thumbs up and holding a box of Bud Light with a sign saying: ‘TO: REP. COMER & HIS SQUAD A PROFILE IN COURAGE CAN MAKE A GUY THIRSTY. CONGRATULATIONS, THIS BUD’S FOR YOU.
HUGS & KISSES: JOHN FETTERMAN.’ 

New Mexico Democrat Rep. Melanie Stansbury said in a video posted to X that the hearing was essentially ‘continued peddling of conspiracy theories’ and shifted the blame to the ‘continued efforts of Donald Trump to undermine our institutions and our democracy.’

‘And then to distract from his own 91 counts of criminal indictment and his own twice impeachment, which is, of course never happened of any president ever before, because of his attempts to overthrow a fair and free election and his attempts, and his attempts to bribe a foreign official, which is part of the matter at hand,’ she said.

House Republicans on Thursday morning presented evidence uncovered to date as part of their investigation into the Biden family’s business dealings while examining ‘the value’ of an impeachment inquiry.

‘The House Oversight and Accountability Committee has uncovered a mountain of evidence revealing how Joe Biden abused his public office for his family’s financial gain,’ Comer said in his opening statement. ‘For years, President Biden has lied to the American people about his knowledge of and participation in his family’s corrupt business schemes.’

‘Evidence reveals that then-Vice President Joe Biden spoke, dined, and developed relationships with his family’s foreign business targets. These business targets include foreign oligarchs who sent millions of dollars to his family,’ Comer said. ‘It also includes a Chinese national who wired a quarter of a million dollars to his son.’

Comer was referring to subpoenaed Hunter Biden financial records, which revealed he received two wires originating from Beijing and linked to BHR Partners in 2019.

Fox News Digital first reported that Hunter Biden received the wire payments, which originated in Beijing, for more than $250,000 from Chinese business partners during the summer of 2019 — wires that listed the Delaware home of Joe Biden as the beneficiary address for the funds.

The White House did not respond to Fox News’ Digital request for comment.

‘Today the House Oversight Committee has uncovered how the Biden’s and their associates created over 20 shell companies, most of which were created when Joe Biden was vice president and raked in over $20 million between 2014 and 2019,’ Comer said. ‘We’ve also identified nine Biden family members who have participated in or benefited from these shady business schemes.’

‘And what were the Biden’s selling to make all this money? Joe Biden himself,’ Comer continued. ‘Joe Biden is the brand, and Joe Biden showed up at least two dozen times with business targets and associates sending signals of access, influence and power to those prepared to pay for it.’

Committee Democrats repeatedly accused Republicans of taking cues from Trump in launching the inquiry and used the opportunity to highlight the former president’s myriad legal issues.

‘President Trump has gone on his social media account and said we should be impeaching President Biden,’ Ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said in his opening statement. ‘Kevin McCarthy said we have an impeachment inquiry. You draw the conclusion. Directly or indirectly, this impeachment inquiry was a result of President Trump’s pressure.’

Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Jessica Chasmar contributed to this report.

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., told the Democratic Senate Caucus during a closed lunch on Thursday he would not resign amid federal corruption and bribery charges announced this week.

‘I will continue to cast votes on behalf of the people of New Jersey as I have for 18 years,’ Menendez said as he exited the lunch. ‘I think Schumer may need those votes, he’ll be looking forward for me to cast them.’

According to Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V, who was in the meeting, Menendez made his point well. Menendez and his wife federal corruption and bribery charges.

‘I think he made his point, he delivered it very well,’ Manchin told reporters. ‘Basically the whole theme of everything was every American is innocent until proven guilty, giving the benefit of the doubt.’

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., and Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii., left the meeting while Menendez spoke due to being on the ethics committee, Coons told reporters.

‘As the chairman of the ethics committee, I can’t comment on any matter that is or may be before the committee. As a result, I do my best to avoid circumstances where matters that are or may be before the Ethics Committee are discussed,’ Coons said.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., declined to say whether Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., should resign from his position Wednesday afternoon.

According to Manchin, Schumer did not say anything during Thursday’s meeting, and just ‘gave him the floor.’ Schumer did not respond to Fox News’ request for comment after the meeting. 

A senior Senate Democrat also said following the meeting: ‘I’m really depressed about it. I don’t know what to do about it. We all don’t. I’m not going to say anymore about it.’

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., said, ‘I don’t think there’s anything happy about this situation.’ 

Menendez was indicted Friday in the Southern District of New York for allegedly agreeing to use his official position to benefit New Jersey businessmen Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes and Egypt’s government in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bribes. The indictment also charges Menendez’s wife, Nadine, and the three businessmen in the years-long alleged bribery scheme. Federal prosecutors said the bribes included gold bars, cash and a luxury convertible. 

So far, Menendez has refused to resign his seat but stepped down from his position as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Friday.

The Democratic senator was also indicted on federal bribery charges in 2016. Fellow New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker defended his innocence at the time, but after the most recent charges called on Menendez to resign. 

The 2016 case related to a wealthy Florida eye doctor and longtime friend who gave generous donations to Menendez and allegedly received benefits in return. He was acquitted of the charges in 2018 following a mistrial. The new charges are unrelated.

Menendez insisted at a press conference Monday he will be exonerated, as he detailed his decades-long record in Congress and insisted hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash the FBI found at his home was withdrawn from his personal savings account.

‘The allegations leveled against me are just that, allegations,’ Menendez said. ‘For anyone who has known me throughout my 50 years of public service, they know I have always fought for what is right. My advocacy has always been grounded. And what I learned from growing up as the son of Cuban refugees, especially my mom, my hero, Evangelina Menendez. Everything I accomplished, I worked for despite the nay sayers and everyone who has underestimated me.’

In June 2022, the FBI executed a search warrant at Menendez and his wife’s New Jersey home where federal agents many of the fruits of the bribery scheme, including cash, gold, the luxury convertible, and home furnishings. Prosecutors say $480,000 in cash, much of it stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothing, closets, and a safe, was discovered in the home, as well as over $70,000 in cash in Nadine’s safe deposit box. Some of the envelopes contained the fingerprints and/or DNA of Daibes or his driver, according to the indictment.

Other of the envelopes were found inside jackets bearing Menendez name and hanging in his closet.

As of Thursday, more than half of the Senate Democratic Caucus have called on Menendez to resign.

Fox News’ Danielle Wallace and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., confronted Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., at a closed-door House GOP conference meeting on Thursday morning. 

A source familiar with the meeting said ‘fireworks’ occurred when Gaetz rose to accuse McCarthy and his allies of waging an online campaign against him using ‘MAGA influencers paid to attack Matt’ on social media.

McCarthy denied the claim and dismissed Gaetz. ‘McCarthy said he wouldn’t waste his time on Gaetz like that,’ the source told Fox News Digital.

Another source present at the meeting said that McCarthy told Gaetz, ‘Tomorrow I’m spending my time giving $5 million [to GOP candidates and members] to expand our majority. What are you doing to help our majority?’

The second source said that other members also had expressed frustration with Gaetz. One lawmaker told Gaetz to ‘f— off,’ the source said, while another called him a ‘scumbag.’

Gaetz seemed to confirm to reporters he and McCarthy had had the exchange when he exited the meeting. 

‘I asked him whether or not he was paying those influencers to post negative things about me online,’ Gaetz said. 

He also confirmed that McCarthy had said he would not waste his time: ‘Yeah, that is what he said.’

Asked whether he felt frustration with McCarthy during the exchange and the aftermath, Gaetz said: ‘My blood pressure is like 120 over 80. So I’m feeling great.’

A spokesperson for McCarthy confirmed to Fox News Digital that the speaker ‘had absolutely no role’ in the alleged online campaign, and that ‘all signs’ point to a Democrat-backed company.

Fox News Digital was provided with a screenshot of a cease-and-desist email sent by McCarthy’s outside lawyer to the alleged orchestrators. 

‘I am outside counsel to Speaker Kevin McCarthy. I understand based on multiple reporter inquiries that reference your name that you are reaching out to social media influencers about a ‘Against Gaetz and government shutdown’ and claiming it is on behalf of Speaker McCarthy and/or entities purportedly affiliated with the Speaker. That is false and in violation of the law,’ the email read. ‘This email puts you on notice that you must immediately cease and desist or we will move forward with all remedies under the law including the pursuit of damages where warranted.’

It’s the latest sign of animosity between the two lawmakers. Gaetz has been threatening to force a House-wide vote on whether to boot McCarthy from the speakership over alleged violations of a deal he struck with critics to win the speaker’s gavel in January. 

Under confirmed terms of that compromise, McCarthy agreed to allow any lawmaker to trigger a vote on his removal, known as a motion to vacate. 

Gaetz stopped short of calling for a motion to vacate in remarks on the House floor Tuesday. 

‘[T]he House of Representatives has been poorly led. We own that, and we have to do something about it. My Democrat colleagues will have an opportunity to do something about that, too, and we will see if they bail out our failed Speaker,’ he said.

Gaetz dodged questions on the measure on Thursday, however, telling reporters, ‘Right now we’re working to get these individual single-subject spending bills passed, that’s my principal goal.’

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee repeatedly sought to refocus the attention on former President Donald Trump during the Republican-led impeachment inquiry hearing on President Biden Thursday.

The committee, led by Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., held its first impeachment inquiry public hearing, where members presented evidence uncovered to date as part of their investigation into the Biden family’s business dealings, while examining ‘the value’ of the inquiry.

Committee Democrats repeatedly accused Republicans of taking cues from Trump in launching the inquiry and used the opportunity to highlight the former president’s myriad legal issues.

‘President Trump has gone on his social media account and said we should be impeaching President Biden,’ Ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said in his opening statement. ‘Kevin McCarthy said we have an impeachment inquiry. You draw the conclusion. Directly or indirectly, this impeachment inquiry was a result of President Trump’s pressure.’

‘It’s scandalous to use impeachment to establish a counterfeit moral equivalence between President Biden, an honorable public servant who has never been indicted or convicted of anything in his career of more than 50 years in public life,’ Raskin continued. ‘And Donald Trump, a twice impeached president who’s recently been found in court to have sexually abused and defamed a woman and fraudulently inflated the value of his real estate properties, while facing 91 criminal charges in four separate indictments on everything from conspiring to overthrow an election and defraud the American people to making criminal hush money payoffs, to stealing classified government documents and hiding them while obstructing justice.’

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., accused the Republicans of trying to ‘distract’ and ‘deflect’ before launching into a guessing game with the only Democrat-appointed witness, law professor Michael Gerhardt, in which he inserted Biden’s name for Trump’s in order to try to illustrate that Trump, not Biden, should be investigated.

‘Hold on to those two words ‘distract’ and ‘deflect,’ because I think this hearing’s all about, ‘Look over here, not over there,’’ Connolly said.

‘So, Professor Gerhardt, I’ve heard concern about branding, so shouldn’t we be concerned about all those Biden towers all over the world where foreign partnerships were formed and influence was used here in the United States?’ Connolly said, knowingly alluding to Trump Towers located in cities across the globe.

‘I think we are talking about Mr. Trump,’ Gerhardt responded.

Connolly continued, ‘Shouldn’t we be concerned that a New York judge just found President Biden’s organization committed fraud every year for the last ten or 15 years, and that under the Martin Law in New York, that Biden organization is now subject to dismemberment and dismantlement because of the fraudulent activity.’

‘That should be of concern with respect to Mr. Trump,’ Gerhardt replied.

‘Mr. Trump again,’ Connelly responded, feigning incredulity.

Later in the hearing, Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., mused that the former president ‘lives free in the Democrats’ heads.’

‘I’m amazed at, and I love the fact that Trump lives free in the Democrats’ heads every day,’ she said. ‘That is a beautiful thing. Even though we’re here talking about the impeachment inquiry of Joe Biden.’

Committee Democrats also repeatedly mentioned Rudy Giuliani, a former lawyer for Trump, during the impeachment inquiry hearing. 

Democrats say Giuliani promoted a ‘big lie’ that then-Vice President Joe Biden pressured the Ukrainian government to fire a prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, who was threatening to investigate Ukrainian energy firm Burisma, whose board Hunter Biden served on. 

Raskin said this was the ‘opposite of the truth,’ and that Biden led a ‘coordinated global effort’ to remove Shokin because he was corrupt. He asserted that Giuliani twisted the facts to accuse Biden of corruption  — an accusation repeatedly made by Trump — and quoted Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, who said there was ‘no evidence that Shokin was engaged in an investigation of Burisma or that Joe Biden’s role in his firing was in any way connected to Burisma.’ 

Raskin later pointed to a letter Giuliani associate Lev Parnas sent to Congress urging Republicans to drop their Burisma investigation, calling it a ‘wild goose chase.’ 

Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., demanded to know why Giuliani was not testifying at the hearing, since Trump sent Giuliani to Ukraine to urge the government there to open investigations into the Biden family. The pressure Trump exerted on Ukraine to investigate Biden ultimately became the basis for the first impeachment effort led by Democrats against Trump, of which the former president was acquitted. 

Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.

The North Korean government has added the policy of growing its nuclear capabilities into the national constitution. 

The 14th Supreme People’s Assembly, the unicameral legislative body of the country, made the constitutional change on Wednesday.

‘The DPRK’s nuclear force-building policy has been made permanent as the basic law of the state, which no one is allowed to flout with anything,’ Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un said during the legislative session.

He added, ‘This is a historic event that provided a powerful political lever for remarkably strengthening the national defense capabilities.’

The Supreme People”s Assembly is, on paper, the highest governing body in North and the government’s strongest political organ.

In actuality, the parliament has served as a mere formality — rubber-stamping the policies decided by the Kim family dynasty — for generations.

The nuclear force-building amendment unanimously passed the Supreme People’s Assembly.

Kim Jong Un said at the assembly that the enshrinement of nuclear development into the national constitution was a response to trilateral cooperation from the US, Japan, and South Korea..

The supreme leader accused the U.S. of conducting ‘large-scale nuclear war joint drills with clear aggressive nature and putting the deployment of its strategic nuclear assets near the Korean peninsula on a permanent basis.’

North Korea is positioning itself as an eager ally of Russia, the People’s Republic of China, and others in the face of American influence in East Asia.

Russia and China have increased diplomatic efforts with the hermit kingdom in recent months, with Kim Jong Un making a rare foreign visit to Russia earlier this month.

House Republicans on Thursday morning are set to hold their first impeachment inquiry public hearing, where they will present all evidence uncovered to date as part of their investigation into the Biden family’s business dealings while examining ‘the value’ of the inquiry.

The House Oversight Committee, led by Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., will ‘examine the value of an impeachment inquiry and present evidence House Republicans have uncovered to date regarding President Joe Biden’s knowledge of and role in his family’s domestic and international business practices,’ according to the panel. The hearing is to begin at 10 a.m.

Bruce Dubinsky, a forensic accountant with decades of experience in financial investigations and consulting – and who the committee says has testified in more than 80 trials, including trials that involved financial fraud – will testify, along with former Assistant Attorney General Eileen O’Connor, who served in the Department of Justice Tax Division.

Law professor and Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley, who testified in the Clinton and Trump impeachments, will also testify.

‘The House Oversight and Accountability Committee has uncovered a mountain of evidence revealing how Joe Biden abused his public office for his family’s financial gain,’ Comer is expected to say in his opening statement. ‘For years, President Biden has lied to the American people about his knowledge of and participation in his family’s corrupt business schemes.’ 

‘Evidence reveals that then-Vice President Joe Biden spoke, dined, and developed relationships with his family’s foreign business targets. These business targets include foreign oligarchs who sent millions of dollars to his family,’ Comer is expected to say. ‘It also includes a Chinese national who wired a quarter of a million dollars to his son.’ 

Comer was referring to subpoenaed Hunter Biden financial records, which revealed he received two wires originating from Beijing and linked to BHR Partners in 2019. 

Fox News Digital first reported that Hunter Biden received the wire payments, which originated in Beijing, for more than $250,000 from Chinese business partners during the summer of 2019 — wires that listed the Delaware home of Joe Biden as the beneficiary address for the funds.

The White House declined to comment.

‘To date, the House Oversight Committee has uncovered how the Bidens and their associates created over 20 shell companies and raked in over $24 million dollars,’ Comer will say, adding that the committee has also ‘identified nine members of the Biden family who have participated in or benefited from these business schemes.’ 

‘What were the Bidens selling to make all this money? Joe Biden himself,’ Comer will say. ‘The American people demand accountability for this culture of corruption.’ 

Comer is expected to say that the American people ‘demand to know how these schemes have compromised President Biden and threaten our national security,’ and ‘demand safeguards to be put in place to prevent public officials from selling access to their public office for private gain..’ 

‘Today, the House Oversight Committee will examine over two dozen pieces of evidence revealing Joe Biden’s corruption and abuse of public office,’ Comer will explain. ‘This includes e-mails, text messages, bank records, and testimony of Biden business associates.’

The House of Representatives formally launched the impeachment inquiry this month – something Comer said Congress had a duty to do while stressing that Americans ‘demand and deserve answers, transparency and accountability’ for Biden’s alleged corruption and ‘abuse of public office.’

Biden faces accusations that he was involved in foreign business deals set up by his son, Hunter Biden, who allegedly promised his father would use his public office to grant favors in exchange for payments.

The White House maintains that President Biden was ‘never in business with his son.’

White House officials, though, have blasted House Republicans for the impeachment inquiry, calling it an ‘evidence-free’ probe and a ‘political stunt.’ The White House is also slamming GOP lawmakers for holding the hearing just days before the government runs out of funding.

Congress is currently negotiating a continuing resolution to extend the current year’s funding, but without passing a deal by Sept. 30, they risk sending the government into a partial shutdown.

‘Extreme House Republicans are already telegraphing their plans to try to distract from their own chaotic inability to govern and the impact of it on the country,’ White House spokesperson Ian Sams told Fox News Digital.

‘Staging a political stunt hearing in the waning days before they shut down the government reveals their true priorities: to them, baseless personal attacks on President Biden are more important than preventing a government shutdown and the pain it would inflict on American families,’ Sams said.

The hearing will be the first since House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., formalized an impeachment inquiry last week. McCarthy directed Comer and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, along with Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., to lead the investigation.

The Senate unanimously passed a resolution late Wednesday formalizing business attire as the proper dress code while on the floor of the chamber following bipartisan backlash, after Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., quietly relaxed dress requirements last week that allowed Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., to continue to wear hooded sweatshirts and gym shorts.

The bipartisan bill by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, requires that members abide by a dress when on the Senate floor. 

The new written rules include a coat, tie, and slacks for men. The resolution does not detail dress codes for women members. 

In his remarks Wednesday Schumer said that an official dress code is ‘the right path forward.’

‘Though we’ve never had an official dress code, the events over the past week have made us all feel as though formalizing one is the right path forward,’ Schumer said. ‘I deeply appreciate Senator Fetterman working with me to come to an agreement that we all find acceptable, and of course I appreciate Sen. Manchin and Sen. Romney’s leadership on this issue.’

Following the vote, Fetterman’s office released a brief statement that included a viral meme photograph of the actor Kevin James sheepishly shrugging.

The resolution came after considerable backlash after Schumer dropped the dress code for senators on Sept. 17. 

Many have referred to it as the ‘Fetterman Rule’ given Fetterman, who has routinely been seen around the Capitol building while wearing gym shorts and his trademark hoodie.

Fox News’ Chad Pergram and Pilar Arias contributed to this report.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., on Wednesday gave an impassioned argument that the U.S. government should take back Chinese-owned farmland.

The Pennsylvania Democrat spoke during a broader hearing by the Senate Agriculture Committee on foreign ownership in U.S. agriculture and its impact on food security and national security.

‘I hope many of our colleagues agree, the Chinese government and other U.S. adversaries should own zero, zero agricultural land in our country, I believe that,’ Fetterman said. ‘They’re taking back our pandas.! We should take back all of their farmland.’

According to Department of Agriculture data, Chinese agricultural investment increased tenfold between 2009 and 2016 alone.

Fetterman was referring to the expiration of the panda bear loan agreement between most U.S. zoos and the China Wildlife Conservation Association in December. The most famous of the giant pandas, Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and their cub, Xiao Qi Ji, at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C., will all be returned to China.

The only pandas remaining in the U.S. after the deadline can be found at the Atlanta Zoo.

Meanwhile, Republican legislation that would create additional federal safeguards to protect U.S. agriculture land from Chinese buyers overcame its latest hurdle by a substantial margin earlier this week, putting it on track for a full floor vote.

The vote on the Agricultural Security Risk Review Act, which received support from Chairman Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., and ranking member Maxine Waters, D-Calif., sets up a full floor vote in the coming weeks.

Fox News’ Thomas Catenacci contributed to this report.

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