A key House Republican says Israel will continue to have bipartisan support from Congress as its conflict with Iran worsens tensions in the Middle East.

‘Yeah, absolutely,’ Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., said when asked about a hypothetical supplemental funding package in the event the crisis became a prolonged conflict. 

‘There’s very, very, very strong bipartisan support, in particular Republican support, for Israel, and I think again, what we are seeing is Israel doing what they need to do to protect themselves from literally being wiped off the face of the planet.’

He also commended President Donald Trump as having handled the volatile situation ‘brilliantly so far.’

The Florida Republican chairs the House Appropriations Committee panel responsible for overseeing foreign aid and State Department funding.

The National Security, Department of State, and Related Programssubcommittee was key to Congress crafting emergency foreign aid packages to Israel, Taiwan, and Ukraine last year — all of which passed Congress with varying degrees of bipartisan support.

Diaz-Balart said he had not spoken with House leaders about the issue, noting most lawmakers were away in their home districts tending to their constituencies this week.

He added, ‘I’ve actually had informal conversations with members.’

He declined to say how those members felt about supplemental Israel funding, however, telling Fox News Digital, ‘I can’t speak for others, but I will tell you that there is a very strong appetite from me to make sure that Israel has all the help that it needs in order to finish the job that it’s doing.’

Meanwhile, he and his fellow subcommittee members have also been crafting their appropriations bill for the next fiscal year coming on Oct. 1.

‘We’re going to do what we’ve been consistently doing, is just, we’re going to be helping Israel. And if there is a need to do more, obviously you’re going to see strong support, whether it’s in the appropriation… bills, or if we need a supplemental, I think you would see strong bipartisan support,’ he said.

Last year, the House authorized just over $26 billion in emergency U.S. funding for Israel, humanitarian aid in the region, and shore up American military operations. The bill passed in an overwhelmingly bipartisan 366 to 58 vote — an increasingly rare occurrence for major legislation in the current political climate.

Twenty-one House Republicans and 37 Democrats voted against the measure at the time.

But since then, Democrats have continued to grow increasingly critical of Israel’s war in Gaza and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conservative government.

At the same time, there’s been a growing skepticism of foreign aid among the House GOP — particularly with the national debt climbing toward $37 trillion.

Diaz-Balart, however, was still optimistic that a hypothetical aid package could pass if brought up in Congress, when asked about both of those factors.

Israeli officials said Iran was dangerously close to having a nuclear weapon when its military launched an attack on Tehran that killed the Islamic regime’s top military figures and hit nuclear sites in and around the capital.

Since then, both sides have exchanged rocket fire, with fatalities reported on both sides.

Fox News Digital reached out to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., for comment on the possibility of supplemental funding to Israel.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., doesn’t envision, nor want, the U.S. military becoming directly involved in the conflict between Israel and Iran, but that hinges on whether the Islamic Republic rejoins the negotiating table.

‘Dismantling Iran’s nuclear program is what this is all about,’ Thune told Fox News Digital from his office in the Capitol. ‘And that can happen one of two ways. It can happen diplomatically — voluntarily —or can happen via force.’

Thune’s comments come as questions and concerns swirl on Capitol Hill among lawmakers about whether the U.S. will take a bigger, more direct role in the burgeoning conflict in the Middle East. There are active conversations among senators about what role Congress should play in whether to thrust the U.S. into an armed conflict or if that power should be ceded to the president. 

‘The Israelis may not have the military capability to do everything that’s necessary,’ he continued. ‘If the Iranians are smart, they’ll come to the table and negotiate this in a way in which they choose to end or disavow their nuclear program.’

Israel and Iran traded missile strikes for a fifth day following the Jewish State’s late-night strike last Thursday, where critical infrastructure that would aid Iran in its pursuit of creating a nuclear weapon was damaged or destroyed. Notably, Israel has been unable to damage the heavily fortified Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. 

Bipartisan resolutions requiring that Congress gets to weigh in and take a vote on going to war with Iran and disavowing an armed conflict entirely have circulated this week, while some lawmakers believe that the U.S. should go all in to snuff out Iran’s nuclear capabilities and back up Israel as fighting rages.

President Donald Trump has so far refused to say whether the U.S. would use direct military force to prevent Iran from creating or obtaining a nuclear weapon, and he has continued to urge Iranian leaders to negotiate a nuclear deal.

Still, the president met in the White House’s Situation Room on Tuesday with his National Security Team after leaving the G7 Summit in Canada early.

Ahead of that meeting, he said on his social media platform, Truth Social, ‘We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran.’ In that same post, he noted that the U.S. was aware of where Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was ‘hiding,’ but was not prepared to strike, ‘at least not for now.’

But Thune was more cautious, and contended that ‘we’ll wait and see what they do.’

‘I think right now, they’re definitely on their heels,’ he said. ‘Their command and control has been taken out. Nobody knows who’s really in charge.’

‘We’ll see. If they’re smart, they’ll come to the table.’

However, he hoped to see Iranians begin to rise up against the Ayatollah and believed that’s when the ‘seeds of change’ would begin to appear. He also noted that there are ‘a lot of things here that suggest to me, this may be that moment in time that we haven’t seen since 1979,’ a reference to the Iranian Revolution that saw the overthrow of the monarchy in Iran and the subsequent creation of the Islamic Republic. 

Asked whether lawmakers would put forward a supplemental spending package to further aid Israel, Thune said, ‘We’ll cross that bridge if and when we come to it.’ But he envisioned that if one were necessary, it would be dealt with after the budget reconciliation process, when lawmakers work to fund the government during fiscal 2026 appropriations.

‘I think, for right now, everybody is wishing the Israelis success and, again, hoping that the U.S. doesn’t have to get further involved, but realizing what’s at stake, and not only for Israel but for the region and the world,’ he said. 

Allegations that the Chinese Communist Party manufactured fake driver’s licenses and shipped them to the U.S. in a scheme to influence the 2020 presidential election in favor of Joe Biden are being investigated by the Senate Judiciary Committee after the FBI revealed its own probe into the potential bombshell Monday night.

FBI Director Kash Patel located and declassified the document at the request of Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley in late May and transmitted it to the committee Monday evening.

Grassley, R-Iowa, is demanding further information about the document, which alleges the plot sought to deliver fake driver’s licenses to Chinese sympathizers in the U.S. who would cast a vote for candidate Biden. The document does not say whether any ballots were cast as part of the scheme.

‘Chairman Grassley is in receipt of an FBI document (response) to a request he made based on legally protected whistleblower disclosures,’ a Grassley spokesperson told Fox News Digital. ‘The document alleges serious national security concerns that need to be fully investigated by the FBI.’ 

Fox News Digital has reviewed the declassified document, which includes a ‘warning’ section, stating it ‘is an information report, not finally evaluated intelligence.’

‘It is being shared for informational purposes but has not been fully evaluated, integrated with other information, interpreted or analyzed,’ the document states.

‘Receiving agencies are requested not to take action based on this raw reporting without prior coordination with the FBI,’ the document states. ‘Unless a conviction in a criminal proceeding occurs, a presumption of innocence exists for any person being reported in this IIR.’ 

The subject states, ‘[REDACTED] Chinese Government Production and Export of Fraudulent US Drivers Licenses to Chinese Sympathizers in the United States, in Order to Create Tens of Thousands of Fraudulent Mail-In Votes for US Presidential Candidate Joe Biden, in late August 2020.’ 

The ‘source’ of the document is ‘a collaborative source with indirect access, none of whose reporting has been corroborated for less than one year.’ 

The ‘context’ states that ‘the source obtained the information from an identified sub-source, who claimed they obtained the information from unidentified PRC government officials.’ 

The document states that ‘in late August 2020, the Chinese government had produced a large amount of fraudulent United States drivers licenses that were secretly exported to the United States.

‘The fraudulent drivers licenses would allow tens of thousands of Chinese students and immigrants sympathetic to the Chinese Communist Party to vote for US Presidential Candidate USPER Joe ((Biden)), despite not being eligible to vote in the United States.

‘China had collected private US user data from millions of TikTok accounts, to include name, ID and address, which would allow the Chinese government to use real US persons’ information to create the fraudulent drivers license,’ the document states. 

‘The fraudulent drivers licenses were to include true ID number and true address of US citizens, making them difficult to detect,’ the document adds. ‘China planned to use the fraudulent drivers licenses to account for tens of thousands of mail-in votes.’ 

FBI notations on the document, however, show the bureau had some questions. 

In one spot, the agency wrote that ‘a persons address information was not a valid field when creating a TikTok account. It was unspecified how China would attain US address data from the application.’ 

Another FBI comment on the document states, ‘[REDACTED] Source is available for re-contact.’ 

The next page of the document states, ‘SUBSTANTIVE RECALL’ of the information, which took place Sept. 25, 2020 — just a day after then-FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before Congress that the FBI had not seen any coordinated voter fraud ahead of the 2020 election. 

The ‘context’ section of the document states, ‘[REDACTED] The source obtained the information from an identified sub-source, who claimed they obtained the information from unidentified PRC government officials.’ 

The ‘warning’ section of the document repeats the first warning that the allegations are part of ‘an information report, not finally evaluated intelligence.’ 

The document stated the ‘report was recalled in order to re-interview the source.’ It also states that ‘recipients should destroy all copies of the original report and remove the original report from all computer holdings.’ 

‘Recipients should also ensure that any citation of the information in finished intelligence products draws on the SUBSTANTIVE RECALL of this report rather than the previous version.’ 

More information is being requested from the FBI as part of the Senate’s investigation.

‘Grassley is requesting additional documentation from the FBI to verify the production and is urging the FBI to do its due diligence to investigate why the document was recalled, who recalled it and inform the American people of its findings,’ a Grassley spokesperson told Fox News Digital. 

The remainder of the document is heavily redacted. 

‘Thanks to the oversight work and partnership of Chairman Grassley, the FBI continues to provide unprecedented transparency at the people’s Bureau,’ Patel said upon declassifying the document and transmitting it to Grassley. ‘To that end, we have located documents Chairman Grassley requested, which detail alarming allegations related to the 2020 U.S. election. 

‘Specifically, these include allegations of plans from the CCP to manufacture fake driver’s licenses and ship them into the United States for the purpose of facilitating fraudulent mail-in ballots — allegations which, while substantiated, were abruptly recalled and never disclosed to the public.’ 

Patel added, ‘In accordance with Chairman Grassley’s request for documents, I have immediately declassified the material and turned the documents over to the Chairman for further review.’

But Grassley is seeking more information specifically related to the FBI’s decision under the leadership of former Director Wray to recall the document to ‘re-interview the source,’ and ‘destroy all copies of the original report and remove the original report from all computing holdings.’ 

Grassley is demanding Patel turn over all records relating to the follow-up interview, including all communications between and among agents and intelligence analysts. 

‘In addition, please describe all investigative steps the FBI has taken, or will take, to determine the veracity of the allegations in the IIR as well as who recalled the IIR and the basis for the recall, if that basis extends beyond the request for the source to be re-interviewed,’ Grassley wrote in a letter Tuesday to Patel. 

‘Lastly, explain why the FBI under your predecessor required the original IIR to be destroyed, whether this practice is consistent with the FBI’s past and current practice, and how it comports with federal record preservation requirements.’ 

The FBI reporting document came just a month after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the International Mail Facility at Chicago O’Hare International Airport seized nearly 20,000 fraudulent driver’s licenses. 

From January 2020 through June 30, 2020, CBP officers at that location reported seizing 1,513 shipments of fraudulent documents that included a total of 19,888 counterfeit US driver’s licenses. 

‘The majority of these shipments were arriving from China and Hong Kong,’ CBP posted in a July press release.

It was not immediately clear if the seizure had any relation to the document’s allegations.

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem was taken to the hospital on Tuesday after suffering an allergic reaction, according to a DHS spokesperson.

She was transported to the hospital out of an abundance of caution, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital.

It is unclear what triggered the event.

Noem is said to be alert and recovering.

Bruce LeVell, former Executive Director of President Donald Trump’s National Diversity Coalition, took to social media to send Noem well wishes.

‘My dear friend @Sec_Noem, our fearless Secretary of Homeland Security, was just rushed to the hospital,’ LeVell wrote on X. ‘My heart is with her during this challenging time, but I know her strength and determination will shine through. Please join me in keeping Kristi in your prayers for a swift and full recovery. 

‘She has been tirelessly spearheading @realDonaldTrump initiative to uphold law and order and utilize ICE to keep our country safe from criminals. Let’s stand strong for her, just as she’s stood strong for America.’

Charlie Kirk, Founder and CEO of Turning Point USA asked his followers to ‘Pray for Kristi.’