Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito Jr. on Thursday warned that Congress could defund the high court, hamstringing its ability to carry out its operations, The Hill reported.

“Congress can turn off the lights at the Supreme Court and stop everything from happening if they want to defund their activities. And there are many, many, many other things that they can do, or at least try to do,” Alito said during remarks at the Federalist Society’s Antonin Scalia Memorial Dinner, the outlet reported.

“So, it is important to preserve the independence of the judiciary,” he reportedly said. “If that is eliminated, then the Constitution as adopted in 1789 will no longer be the same.”

ALITO REITERATES HE’S NOT RETIRING, IS COMMITTED THROUGH END OF CURRENT SUPREME COURT TERM

While Congress could target the Supreme Court’s funding, the U.S. Constitution explicitly protects the pay of high court justices.

“The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office,” Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution reads.

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Alito indicated that lower-level judges have at times handed down “unjustified” orders obstructing the policies of presidents during recent years, The Hill reported.

“They are dedicated, and they are skillful, but they’re not perfect, and they make mistakes,” he said, according to the report. “And in some instances, I think they have gone far astray in abuse of their powers.”

DOJ LAUNCHES CRIMINAL PROBE INTO SUPREME COURT LEAK THAT EXPOSED RULING OVERTURNING ROE V WADE

Alito, who has served on the Supreme Court since early 2006, was nominated by Republican President George W. Bush.

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DENVER — A mile above much of the country, and leagues away from Washington, D.C., Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is facing a progressive rebellion that threatens his grip on power.

The challenge is being led by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who has served under Schumer since 2017. And he is willing to go further than Schumer ever has on one issue: terminating the filibuster.

Years ago, Schumer tried and failed to narrowly change the Senate’s rule to pass a sweeping voting rights package. Republicans have toyed with it over the last two years, but never pulled the trigger.

SCHUMER’S FORMER ALLY MOUNTS LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE AS DEMOCRATS FACE RARE INTERNAL POWER STRUGGLE

Van Hollen said, “We need democracy in the United States Senate, and that means allowing, ultimately, a majority of senators to answer the call of the American people.

“So, that means 51 votes. So, my personal view has been all along that the filibuster is an anti-democratic … provision. It’s not in our Constitution,” Van Hollen added. 

“It was put in there by senators to enhance their power over the power of the people.”

Van Hollen announced his challenge against Schumer, who has led Senate Democrats for nearly a decade, Thursday night after a listening campaign with Senate Democrats. It presents a rare opportunity for Senate Democrats since there hasn’t been a contested Democratic leadership election since 1994.

Just a week earlier, Van Hollen was mulling higher office, but now he’s giving up a potential bid for the White House in 2028 to do one thing: beat Schumer and grapple with President Donald Trump.

“I’m no longer pursuing that,” Van Hollen told reporters at the What’s Next conference in Denver, where Democratic leaders, strategists and activists gathered to debate the party’s direction after its midterm wins.

Van Hollen framed his challenge to Schumer as a response to voters’ calls for change after Democrats’ sweeping wins and President Donald Trump’s policies.

“I did discuss this with Senator Schumer,” Van Hollen told Fox News Digital. “We understand that this will be a competition. I think it’s important to give Senate Democrats a choice.”

DEMS ADMIT UNCOMFORTABLE ELECTION SWEEP TRUTH AS PARTY DESCEND ON DENVER TO SHAPE 2028 WITHOUT A FRONTRUNNER

Voters “chose change,” he said, adding that the Democratic caucus needs “new ideas” and “a different way of governing.”

Van Hollen has also criticized Schumer for limiting votes on legislation popular with Democrats, including a bill to boost unions. He said the incoming majority should pass the bills candidates campaigned on and challenge Trump to respond.

“We shouldn’t wait to hear what President Trump may or may not do,” Van Hollen said. “We should answer the call of the American people.”

Toppling Schumer will be an uphill climb. As the incumbent leader, he has an established network of support and can offer colleagues leadership posts. 

Either candidate will need 28 votes in the secret ballot contest expected in early December or 29 if Democrats win Alaska, where ballots are still being counted in the Senate race between Democratic nominee Mary Peltola and incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.

THE MISTAKE NEWLY ELECTED DEMS ADMIT THEY CAN’T AFFORD TO MAKE WITH TRUMP AFTER SWEEPING 2026 WINS

Some What’s Next attendees said Van Hollen could deliver the Senate leadership shake-up they want.

“We definitely want change. We don’t want to go back to the way things have been. This is a turning point for our country,” Jenny, a Denver resident, said, adding it was time for Schumer to go. 

“This is the time for us to really, really go after what is right for everyone, not the status quo.”

Ara, also of Denver, was optimistic about Van Hollen’s chances, saying she believes he already has significant support.

“I think there’s a really good chance,” Ara told Fox News Digital. “I think there were a lot of people that were already willing to support him. So I feel very good about this,” she added.

Zoe said Van Hollen’s willingness to stand up for his constituents is the kind of fight young people want from their representatives.

“He goes out there, and he puts his body on the line for his constituents. And I think that’s what we’re looking for, the kind of fight we’re looking for from our representatives as young people,” Zoe told Fox News Digital.

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Protesters confronted Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., presumed to be the next House speaker, as he spoke at a Democratic conference in Colorado on Friday.

While speaking at a panel event moderated by political consultant Jessica Tarlov at the “What’s Next” conference in Denver, Jeffries was repeatedly interrupted by protesters heckling him.

“When is it time for a Green New Deal?” protesters shouted at Jeffries. “When is it time for Medicare-for-all?”

DEMS ADMIT UNCOMFORTABLE ELECTION SWEEP TRUTH AS PARTY DESCENDS ON DENVER TO SHAPE 2028 WITHOUT A FRONTRUNNER

Various videos from the conference posted to social media show different viewpoints of the hecklers.

“You are a f—ing liar,” one protester yelled at the New York Democrat.

“Hakeem Jeffries … I’m a young person, and I am scared for my future,” the protesters yelled during the panel discussion.

THE MISTAKE NEWLY ELECTED DEMS ADMIT THEY CAN’T AFFORD TO MAKE WITH TRUMP AFTER SWEEPING 2026 WINS

Jeffries’ office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request seeking comment Friday.

What’s Next bills itself as a “major post-election gathering of the Democratic Party, where the leaders, ideas and debates that will shape the party through 2028 and beyond take center stage,” according to a statement on the conference’s website.

“Together, we’ll absorb what happened in 2026 and chart where the party goes next,” the statement said. “What’s Next, presented by majority Democrats and sponsored by MD PAC, is the defining convening of the post-election season, bringing together the people who will write the party’s next chapter.”

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The What’s Next conference comes after the Democratic Party made major gains in the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

Jeffries said in a post Thursday on X that House Democrats “will clean up the mess in Washington, get big money out of politics and ban members of Congress from trading stocks.”

House Democrats are scheduled to vote on their leadership slate Nov. 18, and Jeffries is running unopposed for the party’s nomination for speaker.

A White House Situation Room meeting reportedly turned into a blowout between two of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet secretaries after news broke that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had an affair with a suspect Chinese spy.

Tempers apparently boiled over regarding claims Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick dragged his feet on placing restrictions on a company run by a suspected Chinese spy with whom Huang admitted to having an affair, even after the Cabinet official received an intel memo informing him of the potential threat.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly confronted Lutnick about that in the meeting, and other Cabinet officials took Bessent’s side, according to Axios.

Trump has for months called to place companies suspected of supplying China with Nvidia’s complex AI chips on what is called the Entity List, a Department of Commerce export control list that identifies companies the U.S. government believes pose a serious risk to national security.

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Three times — in May, August and last Thursday — Trump approved taking action against companies believed to be diverting Nvidia chips to China, according to Axios.

One of those companies is Singapore-based Megaspeed International, which is reportedly one of Nvidia’s largest customers. Suspected Chinese spy Alice Huang, with whom the former Nvidia CEO admitted to having an affair, is an executive at Megaspeed.

Lutnick was accused of slow-rolling in putting Megaspeed on the Entity List, which prompted Bessent to lose his patience.

When the news of Jensen Huang’s affair broke, Lutnick, Bessent, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer reportedly convened in the Situation Room.

Bessent confronted Lutnick about why the export controls had not already been put into place, and others in the room took Bessent’s side, according to the Axios report.

REBECCA GRANT: JENSEN HUANG OWES AMERICA AN APOLOGY, AND NVIDIA OWES INVESTORS ANSWERS

Lutnick said he would have to discuss it with the president despite Trump’s May and August orders to proceed.

The group then met with Trump later in the day at the Oval Office. The president reportedly gave the order again, saying, “Let’s get it done.”

Still, Lutnick wouldn’t proceed.

“I’ll develop some options and come back,” he said. The group replied that Trump’s decision was final and that Lutnick must “go f—ing execute.”

Lutnick is at the center of the scandal, especially after it was revealed he received a memo informing him about U.S. intelligence that Huang had a relationship with a suspected Chinese spy and still did nothing to put the company she ran on the Entity List.

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A spokesperson for the Commerce Department didn’t directly address the report of Lutnick’s confrontation with Bessent. 

“The Department of Commerce and the Department of the Treasury have a great working relationship and are committed to advancing President Trump’s agenda,” Kristen Eichamer told Fox News.

She also said Lutnick has proactively decided to appear before the Senate Banking Committee to answer questions on the matter. A hearing is scheduled for Dec. 10.

Bessent appeared on CNBC’s “Sqwuak Box” Thursday morning, where he was asked about the reported blowout.

He said there was coordination between the various agencies about putting Megaspeed on the Entity List but then referred further questions to the Commerce Department and Bureau of Industry and Security.

“You will have to ask them about their internal proceedings,” Bessent said. 

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Jensen Huang resigned from his post as Nvidia CEO Thursday morning, and the company has reportedly opened an investigation into the affair.

The Treasury Department and White House did not return Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Fox News Digital reached out to Nvidia.

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Senate Democrats are getting an opportunity they haven’t had in decades: a different option for who their leader could be.

Even before the blue wave crashed over Republicans and Democrats emerged with a commanding majority in the Senate, the rumblings for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to step aside were there.

Now, he’s got a challenger in Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., a familiar face in Washington, D.C., who framed his bid against Schumer as one answering the call for change voters demanded. It’ll be the first time that a Senate Democratic leadership race will be contested since 1994.

DEMOCRATS TURN ON SCHUMER AFTER HISTORIC ELECTION WINS AS POTENTIAL CHALLENGER EMERGES

Van Hollen’s emergence, at 67, as the lone challenger to Schumer, 75, comes after lawmakers and candidates demanded a change in Democratic leadership before the election. That call has only intensified in the week after Democrats won the midterms, with Van Hollen interpreting the seismic political shift as an indictment of President Donald Trump that can only be acted on if Senate Democrats go in a new direction.

The challenge is already dividing Senate Democrats.

In an interview with MS NOW, Van Hollen didn’t offer a sharp policy contrast to Schumer, and cast doubt on Democrats’ ability to pass key progressive desires, like Medicare for All.

“But it should be very clear: While, you know, voters have rejected the Trump policies, they’ve not yet hired Democrats — they’ve given us a chance, we have to earn their trust,” Van Hollen said. “My view is that you can’t earn that trust with old leadership. You need to move on to new leadership.”

Van Hollen acknowledged that he was an “underdog,” but revealed during the interview that he had over 10 Senate Democrats in his corner and believed more were to come. Right now, either lawmaker will need 28 secret ballot votes to win the job — that could bump up to 29 if Democrats flip Alaska, where ballots are still being counted in the Senate race between Democratic nominee Mary Peltola and incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. And it could get messy over the next few weeks before the early December, closed-door election.

And he’s got the backing of the progressive standard-bearer in the Senate: Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and new faces of the progressive movement, like Sens.-elect Abdul El-Sayed, who Van Hollen endorsed early on in his campaign, and Peggy Flanagan, who said on X that Van Hollen was the “leader and fighter we need to bring about real change, so no American is left behind.”

VAN HOLLEN CHALLENGES SCHUMER FOR SENATE LEADERSHIP AFTER DEMOCRATIC ELECTION SWEEP

Ultimately, either candidate’s success will likely break down on how well they both work with and push back against President Donald Trump.

Early in Trump’s second term, Van Hollen won praise from progressives when he traveled to El Salvador for a welfare check on Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident who was mistakenly deported by the administration.

But Schumer has dealt with Trump for years, and told the Washington Sun that his strategy heading into the new Congress will be to put bill after bill on the floor, like restoring Obamacare subsidies or banning insider trading, and dare Republicans to vote them down — Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., used a similar strategy over the last two years.

“In a certain sense, it’s a win-win. I’d rather get things done, but it’s not going to stop us,” Schumer said. “We are going to move forward with or without Trump, with or without the Republicans.”

Despite the demands for change, Van Hollen is very much a creature of Washington, having served in Congress since 2003.

He’s the son of diplomats, and served in House Democratic leadership under former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He was chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the House Democrats’ campaign arm, for two cycles, and was quickly tapped by Schumer to lead the Senate’s campaign operation when he ascended to the upper chamber in 2017.

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And he spent his entire career in the Senate behind Schumer, who first became leader in 2017, and he has rarely broken with him on key votes. He has, however, emerged as a staunch critic of Israel and criticized Schumer’s ties to the crypto industry and meddling in Democratic primaries.

He currently serves on four committees in the Senate: Appropriations, Foreign Relations, Budget and Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, and throughout his career in Congress has focused on budget issues and foreign affairs.

Still, outside progressive groups are beginning to back him.

The progressive Sunrise Movement is all in on Van Hollen. The organization announced its support for the lawmaker on Bluesky, and wrote, “Young people voted for change on election night.”

“Chuck Schumer can’t give us that, but Chris Van Hollen might,” they said. “The truth is, the ‘blue tsunami’ could easily become the blue mirage in the wrong hands. And Schumer’s hands are too full of billionaires’ money to hold young people’s future.”

Another progressive group, the 50501 protest movement, also declared its support for Van Hollen Thursday night in a post on Bluesky, urging voters to pressure their senators to “vote Chris, NOT CHUCK.”

There are a bevy of other outside groups that have opposed Schumer, including Indivisible, MoveOn and the Working Families Party, and the 600,000-member International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers sent the top Democrat a letter demanding he step aside.

But Schumer has remained confident about retaining his position.

“I welcome any discussion about the future of our caucus and the important work ahead,” Schumer said on X. “I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished together—55 seats and counting is an amazing result—and I have the votes to continue serving as Democratic Leader.”

His allies have leaned into sports metaphors to describe why he should keep the job, with both Sens. Angus King, I-Maine, and Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., comparing it to a successful manager in baseball.

“When the manager takes you to the World Series, you give them another contract,” Gallego said.

Fox News Digital reached out for comment from both Schumer and Van Hollen.

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