President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy were scheduled to speak by phone Saturday night at 6 p.m. to discuss a potential debt limit deal, Fox News has learned.

A source also said that Biden spoke with Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

The revelation came after McCarthy sounded optimistic earlier in the day. 

‘We do not have a deal,’ McCarthy told reporters. ‘We are not there yet. We did make progress, we worked well into early this morning. And we’re back at it now.’

Biden, who traveled to Camp David late in the week before heading to his Delaware home, told reporters, ‘It’s very close and I’m optimistic.’ 

The Texas House of Representatives voted Saturday to impeach Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton over charges of bribery, disregard of official duties and abuse of public trust after hours of debate in an afternoon session — sending the case to the state Senate.

The House voted 121-23 to impeach him, meaning he will step down temporarily as he faces trial in the upper chamber. A simple majority was required to impeach him. 

The House’s Committee on General Investigating had initiated an inquiry in March after Paxton and his office asked the legislature for $3.3 million to settle a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by whistleblowers in the office. The former employees had called in 2020 for an investigation into Paxton’s actions regarding an Austin real estate investor who had his home searched by the FBI. They accused Paxton of using his office to protect him by authorizing an investigation into the FBI.

The articles of impeachment allege that the settlement delayed the discovery of facts and testimony to Paxton’s advantage.

‘Over the course of several months, the Committee and staff set out to determine if payment of the settlement was warranted because of the lack of discovery in the litigation and because Paxton and his office were not forthcoming about his conduct regarding the whistleblower’s good faith reports of his violations of his constitutional and statutory duties,’ a committee memo this week said.

The Republican-led investigation has presented findings that Paxton recommended the developer, Nate Paul, employ a woman with whom Paxton was allegedly having an affair, and that Paul aided Paxton with a renovation of his home in exchange for favorable legal help from Paxton’s office. Paxton is also accused of obstruction of justice and false statements in official records.

It is the latest allegation of wrongdoing against the conservative firebrand — who has launched a number of high-profile lawsuits in support of conservative causes and against the Biden administration. He was indicted on securities fraud charges in 2015, but has yet to stand trial.

Paxton has dismissed the impeachment push as ‘political theater’ based on ‘hearsay and gossip, parroting long-disproven claims.’

Ahead of the vote, Paxton secured the backing of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who called the proceedings ‘a travesty.’

‘For the last nine years, Ken has been the strongest conservative AG in the country. Bar none. No attorney general has battled the abuses of the Biden admin more ferociously—and more effectively—than has Paxton.’

‘That’s why the swamp in Austin wants him out,’ he continued. ‘The special interests don’t want a steadfast conservative AG. I understand that people are concerned about Ken’s legal challenges. But the courts should sort them out.’

Former President Donald Trump also gave his backing to the AG, saying on Truth Social: ‘Free Ken Paxton.’

‘Hopefully Republicans in the Texas House will agree that this is a very unfair process that should not be allowed to happen or proceed — I will fight you if it does,’ he warned.

Democrats in the House had presented their case against Paxton, with Rep. Ann Johnson accusing Paxton of being ‘desperate to keep this case in the court of public opinion.’

‘Because he has no ability to win in a court of law. See, in a court of law, a judge will provide over that case and he will be treated just as any other civil or criminal defendant,’ she said.

While some Republicans have backed impeachment, others had expressed concern about the method of the investigation and impeachment, calling it rushed and politicized.

‘I don’t think today is about whether there’s guilt or innocence, it’s about process,’  Rep. Tony Tinderholt said.

A two-thirds majority is required in the Senate to remove him from office. As the trial goes on, Gov. Greg Abbott will appoint an interim replacement.

Fox News’ Kyle Morris and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Nearly two dozen Republican-led states have backed Florida’s legal challenge to a Biden administration policy that allowed for the release of migrants into the U.S. interior without court dates — but was blocked just hours before the expiration of the Title 42 public health order.

‘The Administration’s en masse parole of aliens violates federal immigration law and abdicates its responsibility to secure the nation’s borders,’ the 23 states, led by Virginia, said in an amicus brief filed this week.

The policy, known as ‘parole with conditions’ was outlined in a May 10 memo and came a day before the end of Title 42. The policy set out how migrants can be allowed into the country on parole – a process typically reserved for ‘urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit’ – if Customs and Border Protection (CBP) faced overcrowding. 

Migrants released under the policy were required to make an appointment with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or request a Notice to Appear by mail. The use of parole had been authorized if a sector capacity goes above 125%, if agents apprehend 7,000 a day over 72 hours or if average time in custody goes above 60 hours.

It had been adopted just as authorities were seeing over 10,000 migrants a day ahead of the ending of the Title 42 public health order. Numbers have dropped since the ending of the order. In a court filing, the administration said nearly 9,000 migrants were released under the policy while it was in effect.

Florida quickly sued and it was blocked on May 11, with the judge accepting arguments that the policy was ‘materially identical’ to a similar policy blocked by the same judge in March. The judge has since granted a preliminary injunction enjoining the policy as the case continues.

DHS had said it would comply with the ruling but called it harmful and warned that it would ‘result in unsafe overcrowding at CBP facilities and undercut our ability to efficiently process and remove migrants, and risks creating dangerous conditions for Border Patrol agents and migrants.’

As the case goes on, the 23 states are backing the lawsuit in a supporting amicus brief, warning of the damages it says the states will face if the policy was allowed to resume.

‘The en masse parole of aliens imposes huge, unrecoverable costs on Amici States, including surging expenses for education, law enforcement, and emergency medical care. It also threatens to overwhelm their public infrastructure and degrade their ability to provide critical services to their own citizens,’ they write. 

‘Further, the Administration’s failure to secure the border has greatly exacerbated the severe problems of transnational crime, including the smuggling of Chinese-manufactured fentanyl that is killing more than 100,000 Americans per year, as well as human trafficking and the exploitation of minors,’ they say.

They also put the blame for the ongoing migrant crisis on the administration’s policies.

‘In short, the Administration’s failure to enforce federal immigration law and secure the border has imposed severe and irreparable harm on Amici States. The district court’s order enjoining the Administration’s unlawful policy should be left in place as the litigation proceeds,’ they say.

The legal battle is just one of a handful the administration is facing on immigration. It is also facing legal challenges from the left and right targeting its asylum rule to limit who can claim asylum at the southern border.

Despite those challenges, the administration has touted a 70% drop in encounters at the border since Title 42 ended — while calling on Republicans in Congress to provide more funding and to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he would be ‘welcoming’ of a measure from Congress to defund the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) if he’s elected president next year.

The comments from DeSantis, who officially announced this week that he would seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, came during a conversation with radio host and Second Amendment advocate Dana Loesch on The Dana Show.

During the interview, DeSantis was asked whether he would sign a measure from Congress to abolish the IRS through funding means, as well as what he would replace the system with.

‘Are you for a fair tax, a flat tax, where do you stand on that?’ Loesch asked DeSantis.

‘So, the answer’s yes. I think the IRS is a corrupt organization and I think it’s not a friend to the average citizen or taxpayer,’ DeSantis responded. ‘We need something totally different.’

‘I’ve supported all of the single rate proposals, I think they would be a huge improvement over the current system and I would be welcoming to take this tax system, chunk it out the window and do something that’s more favorable to the average folks.’

DeSantis, who has repeatedly taken aim at the IRS for its unfair practices and crackdown on the middle class, said last August that an effort from the Biden administration to expand the IRS with 87,000 new agents was an indication of disrespect.

‘Of all the things that have come out of Washington that have been outrageous, this has got to be pretty close to the top,’ DeSantis said at the time. ‘I think it was basically just the middle finger to the American public, that this is what they think of you.’

DeSantis – highlighting the notion that Washington is ‘going after you’ – also suggested at the time that the new agents would be more out to target those with small businesses or those who work to make ends meet through ordinary, day-to-day jobs.

‘They are going to go after independent contractors, they’re going to go after small business people, they’re going to go after someone that may be driving an Uber or a handyman or all these things,’ DeSantis added at the time. ‘Why would they do that? Because you’re not going to be able to contend with the audit, so they’re going to crush a lot of people by doing that.’

Discussing the same subject that month, DeSantis, who was commenting on the FBI’s raid of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate at the time, wrote in a tweet: ‘The raid of MAL is another escalation in the weaponization of federal agencies against the Regime’s political opponents, while people like Hunter Biden get treated with kid gloves. Now the Regime is getting another 87k IRS agents to wield against its adversaries? Banana Republic.’

During a 2013 appearance on Fox News, DeSantis said from a ‘policy perspective’ that he believes the IRS ‘is really past its point of usefulness.’

‘I think we need to move to a fair or flat tax and give the government less power,’ DeSantis, then a member of the House Oversight and Judiciary committee, said at the time.

Ahead of DeSantis’ announcement that he will seek the White House, several of his detractors, including a super PAC supporting former President Donald Trump’s 2024 endeavors, took aim at the governor over his support for a national sales tax during his time representing the Sunshine State’s 6th Congressional District in the House from 2013 to 2018.

‘In Congress, Ron DeSantis backed a national sales tax, a 23% tax hike on almost everything you buy … from the gas station to the grocery store,’ stated an ad from MAGA Inc., the leading super PAC aligned with Trump’s candidacy in the 2024 race for the White House.

While it is true that DeSantis supported a bill that proposed introducing a 23% federal sales tax, key details were omitted from the ad. In accordance with the bill’s proposed federal sales tax, all other federal taxes, including the income tax, would have been eliminated if the bill had passed.

Known as the Fair Tax Act, or HR25, a version of the bill has been introduced in Congress multiple times since 1999. DeSantis co-sponsored the bill in 2013, 2015 and 2017.

‘In Congress, the governor supported the concept of a Fair Tax, a plan to lower the overall tax burden on an individual by replacing all federal taxes —  including income tax — with a lower tax,’ Bryan Griffin, the DeSantis political team press secretary, said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital last week. ‘The plan also sought to end the IRS, which, at the time, was being weaponized by the Obama administration.’

With the sunset of the ‘Widow’s Tax’ earlier this year, Gold Star families are seeking to end another vestige of military family life: a remarriage penalty. 

The Love Lives On Act of 2023, introduced in the House of Representatives this week by congressional representatives Dean Phillips, D-Minn., and Richard Hudson, R-N.C., would allow Gold Star spouses to retain their survivors benefits after remarrying.

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, surviving spouses only remarry in 5% of cases, citing financial concerns about losing benefits.

A surviving spouse must wait until the age of 55 to remarry and still retain survivor benefits like TRICARE or the Fry Scholarship. 

Advocates of the Love Lives on Act claim that the current statute is stunting both the personal and professional goals of Gold Star spouses, many of whom rely on benefits to support their children after the loss of their service member. 

A House of Representatives cosponsor, Congressman Dean Phillips, D-Minn., is a Gold Star son whose mother remarried after his father, U.S. Army Capt. Artie Pfefer, died in the Vietnam War.

‘Spouses of those who die in service to our nation make unimaginable sacrifices and deserve unending respect and support in return,’ Phillips said. ‘The  Love Lives on Act  is part of my mission to ensure military families have access to every single benefit they are owed.’

The bill was also cosponsored in the House this week by the Republican Congressman from North Carolina who represents Fort Bragg, Richard Hudson.

‘We must support surviving spouses who choose to remarry and remove the fear of losing the benefits paid for by their late spouses’ sacrifice,’ Hudson said.

In the Senate, the bill was cosponsored by senators Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and Raphael Warnock, D-Ga.

‘I have heard from surviving spouses in my state who desire to remarry and provide their children with a father or mother figure but feel they must put off marriage because the financial risk of losing their benefits is too great,’ Moran, the lead senator on the Veterans Affairs Committee, told Fox News Digital.

Warnock, who also cosponsored the bill in April, noted the timing of the bill’s introduction. 

‘As our nation comes together to commemorate Memorial Day, it’s important for all of us to remember that it’s not just service members who show up,’ Warnock said. ‘Their families make tremendous sacrifices for our country as well.’

‘As our nation comes together to commemorate Memorial Day, it’s important for all of us to remember that it’s not just service members who show up. Their families make tremendous sacrifices for our country as well.’

— Sen. Raphael Warnock

Current VA law declares that a Gold Star spouse is no longer the responsibility of the military once he or she remarries, which includes health care. A spokesperson for the Department of Defense confirmed in an email with Fox News Digital that ‘TRICARE benefits for [a] surviving spouse end when they remarry.’

Amy Dozier is a surviving spouse of SFC Jonathan Dozier, and the Love Lives On Act would benefit her if signed into law.

‘To remarry would mean to lose the benefits I paid into and earned as Jonathan’s wife and now widow,’ Dozier said.

‘The downstream effect, especially in this economy, would be detrimental not only to our financial stability, but, more importantly, to the growth [my daughter and I] continue to have on this journey.’

‘Choosing to remarry should not impact a surviving spouse’s ability to pay bills. They should not have to choose between another chance at love and financial security,’ TAPS, or Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, added in an email to Fox News Digital.

The Love Lives On Act of 2023 awaits a vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate ahead of Memorial Day Weekend and the annual congressional recess. 

Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. may be here to stay as new polling shows Democratic voters are unenthusiastic about re-electing President Biden 2024. 

Kennedy’s polling numbers have remained steady since he launched his 2024 presidential campaign, and the most recent Fox News Poll from this week shows the challenger commanding 16% of the Democratic primary vote, a sizable chunk for a primary challenger against an incumbent president. 

Biden’s other primary challenger, author Marianne Williamson, took 8% of the vote while the president stagnated, maintaining 62% of Democratic primary voters’ support since April.

Williamson shifted down one point from controlling 9% of Democratic primary voters.

Although Kennedy’s Fox News polling numbers are 3% lower than where he found himself in April, maintaining double-digit support since April shows President John F. Kennedy’s nephew has some political staying power. 

The polls also suggest that even many Democratic voters remain unenthusiastic about backing the 80-year-old president for another term.

Other polling shows Kennedy’s share of blue primary voters staying in the same range, with CNN’s most recent polling showing the environmental lawyer controlling 20%.

Biden does not fare much better in the CNN poll either, receiving support from 60% of Democratic primary voters while Williamson took 8%.

The president can breathe a sigh of relief though. The Democratic National Committee announced it would not be hosting primary debates for the 2024 cycle.

Still, a lack of primary debates does not mean Biden is out of the woods.

With enough money and support, Kennedy could potentially mount an independent campaign without the Democratic Party’s backing that could damage Biden’s re-election effort.

Kennedy could be a spoiler in the election if he keeps his momentum up, plays his cards right and keeps up his media push that will likely take him to Twitter for an interview with billionaire owner Elon Musk.

That possibility also becomes more of a reality should Williamson drop out of the race and the majority of her supporters fall into Kennedy’s camp.

However enticing that path may be to some, becoming a presidential spoiler in America’s two-party system is a rare feat that requires that a candidate spend a lot of money and for the planets to align.

Still, Biden’s political bleeding serves as a warning to his campaign that his re-election is not as buttoned-up as the campaign may believe it is.

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was shouted down and faced a partially hostile crowd during a Friday town hall where some participants were upset about the Democratic socialist legislator’s positions on immigration Ukraine funding and the debt limit.

Speaking to constituents in Corona, Queens, The ‘Squad’ member was disrupted several times as some heckled and booed her, and in turn, her supporters shouted down those protesters. 

‘American citizens before migrants,’ one man shouted as he walked toward Ocasio-Cortez holding small American flags. ‘Where are you on the migrant issue? You’re a piece of s–t.’

He was led away by security personnel. 

The man also repeated a debunked claim that military veterans were being kicked out of New York City hotels to make room for migrants. One man who said he was an Iraq War veteran tried to calm the crowd down in support of the congresswoman. 

‘Immigrants have nothing to do with vets,’ the man said, holding a microphone after Ocasio-Cortez allowed him to speak. ‘We all came through Ellis Island. Things are different. Things change over time.’

During a discussion about the June 5 debt default deadline, Ocasio-Cortez stated she believes the Biden administration should eliminate the debt limit. She has claimed that a failure to raise the limit would cause massive chaos in the U.S. economy. 

‘I don’t like that Republicans passed a $1.7 trillion tax cut on the wealthiest people in this country,’ she said at one point.

Protesters noted that the U.S. has provided billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine. The Biden administration has provided Ukraine with nearly $40 billion in military aid since Russia invaded in late February 2022.

‘We are at war with Russia,’ one woman said. ‘We’re on the verge of nuclear war. Are you going to stop this war?’

‘Stop funding this war,’ one woman is heard saying while being escorted away. ‘There’s a lot of communities that need help and need that money. I’m from that community.’

President Biden on Friday told a crowd gathered at the White House that he has ‘four granddaughters,’ but failed to mention his fifth granddaughter born out of wedlock to Hunter Biden and Lunden Roberts.

‘Look, there’s an awful lot — an awful lot to be proud of, and the way in which women’s sports has come along is just incredible. And you’re changing the — it’s not just in sports. It’s across the board, in every single thing, and it’s really neat to see since I’ve got four granddaughters,’ Biden said during an event celebrating the LSU women’s basketball team winning the national championship.

Biden has repeatedly refused to acknowledge Hunter’s estranged 4-year-old daughter whenever he speaks about his grandchildren, most recently during a Take Our Kids to Work Day event at the White House last month. 

December 2022 marked the second Christmas season in a row that the White House left the granddaughter out of a Christmas stocking display, and before that, in 2020, Biden incorrectly said he and First Lady Jill Biden had five grandchildren, forgetting about then-newborn Beau Biden, but completely leaving out the fifth granddaughter.

The stumble later forced a correction from the first lady, who said they have six grandchildren, still leaving out the granddaughter, who would bring their total number of grandchildren to seven.

Earlier this month, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre rebuffed a reporter’s question about the granddaughter, saying she was ‘not going to speak to that’ from the podium when asked why Biden has yet to acknowledge her.

Roberts met Hunter while working as a stripper at a Washington, D.C. club while he was dating Hallie Biden – the widow of his late brother, Joseph R. ‘Beau’ Biden III – according to the New York Post.

Roberts also reportedly wants the granddaughter to be able to use the Biden surname. Hunter continues to litigiously fight the name change as well.

Fox News’ Joe Schoffstall and Charles Crietz contributed to this report.

Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is escalating his attacks on President Donald Trump accusing the former president of ‘running to the left,’ claiming that he is a ‘different guy today’ than his previous campaign in 2016 and 2020. 

Speaking with Tennessee conservative radio host Matt Murphy, DeSantis slammed Trump’s campaign saying it is showing more signs of leaning towards the left’s ideology rather than sticking with conservative values. 

‘It seems like he’s running to the left, and I have always been somebody that’s just been moored in conservative principles,’ DeSantis said in an interview with Matt Murphy. 

‘These will be interesting debates to have, but I can tell you, you don’t win nationally by moving to the left,’ he continued. ‘You win nationally by standing for bold policy. We showed that in Florida. I never watered down anything I did.’

The Florida governor claimed that his presidential rival ‘is a different guy today.’

‘I don’t know what happened to Donald Trump,’ DeSantis said. ‘This is a different guy today than when he was running in 2015 and 2016, and I think the direction that he’s going with his campaign is the wrong direction.’

‘At the end of the day,’ DeSantis told Murphy, ‘he is going left on a lot of the fiscal, he’s going left on culture, he’s even sided with Disney against me.’

DeSantis and Trump have exchanged barbs this week following DeSantis’ official entry into the 2024 Republican presidential primary, with the Florida governor amplifying his attacks against the former president. 

On Thursday, May 25, DeSantis sharply criticized Trump over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, arguing he ‘destroyed millions of people’s lives’ by turning the country over to Dr. Anthony Fauci. 

‘I think [Trump] did great for three years, but when he turned the country over to Fauci in March 2020 that destroyed millions of people’s lives,’ DeSantis said. ‘And in Florida, we were one of the few that stood up, cut against the grain, took incoming fire from media, bureaucracy, the left, even a lot of Republicans, had school open, preserved businesses. ‘

In turn, Trump has ramped up his attacks on the governor, saying that DeSantis presidential election announcement was a ‘disaster.’ 

‘Wow. The DeSanctus TWITTER launch is a DISASTER!’ Trump wrote on the Truth Social media platform. ‘His whole campaign will be a disaster. WATCH!’

Trump, who in November launched his third straight White House campaign, for a couple of months has been the clear front-runner in the GOP presidential nomination polls. 

National polls released this week by Fox News and Quinnipiac University both indicated Trump topping DeSantis by over 30 percentage points – and new national surveys by Marquette Law School also suggesting the former president holding large double-digit leads over the Florida governor.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.