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Year: 2025

White House sending $9.4B DOGE cuts package to Congress next week

White House sending .4B DOGE cuts package to Congress next week

The White House is expected to send a federal spending cut proposal to Congress next week, two Republican sources told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. It is the latest move by Republican officials to make good on promises to slash government spending, a project spearheaded by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The proposal is called a “rescissions package,” a vehicle for the president to block funds that were already allocated by Congress in its yearly appropriations process. Once transmitted to Capitol Hill, lawmakers have 45 days to take it up before it’s voided. An Office of Management and Budget (OMB) official told Fox News Digital the package is expected to total roughly $9.4 billion. MIKE JOHNSON, DONALD TRUMP GET ‘BIG, ‘BEAUTIFUL’ WIN AS BUDGET PASSES HOUSE It will primarily target federal funding to NPR, PBS and the U.S. Agency for International Development, the official said, confirming details first reported by Axios. A third GOP source told Fox News Digital that House GOP leaders had asked the White House to wait until their chamber finished their consideration of Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” to send its spending-cut package. The House passed the massive piece of tax-and-spending legislation last week after an all-night session of debate and procedural votes, sending it to the Senate for further consideration. SCOOP: HOUSE GOP MEMO HIGHLIGHTS REPUBLICAN WINS IN TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ That bill, which is being advanced under the budget reconciliation process, primarily deals with mandatory government funding that Congress must change by amending the law itself. A rescissions package targets discretionary government funding, which Congress sets the levels of every year in its annual appropriations process. The White House referred Fox News Digital to OMB when reached for comment. The package is expected to get to Congress just as Musk is beginning to step away from his role leading DOGE – but is apparently still keeping a close eye on governmental affairs. The billionaire tech founder criticized Republicans’ “big, beautiful bill” on “CBS News Sunday Morning,” saying in a preview clip that he was “disappointed” by it. “I think a bill can be big, or it could be beautiful. But I don’t know if it could be both,” Musk said. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., vowed the House would do more to codify DOGE cuts in a statement after Musk’s message. “The House is eager and ready to act on DOGE’s findings so we can deliver even more cuts to big government that President Trump wants and the American people demand. We will do that in two ways,” Johnson wrote on X. “1. When the White House sends its rescissions package to the House, we will act quickly by passing legislation to codify the cuts. 2. The House will use the appropriations process to swiftly implement President Trump’s 2026 budget. In the meantime, we have been working around the clock as we prepared for those processes. The House made sure to build on DOGE’s success within the One Big Beautiful Bill.” Musk’s commentary, meanwhile, divided House Republicans on Wednesday. “This is why Mr. Musk has no place in Congress. He wants to codify discretionary cuts. He didn’t find enough waste, fraud, and abuse to fund [the Small Business Administration], let alone reduce our debt,” one House GOP lawmaker granted anonymity to speak freely told Fox News Digital. “This was a gimmick, he got used, he’s now upset.” Meanwhile, House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., who voted “present” on the legislation last week, told Fox News Digital that he believed Musk was right. “I share Mr. Musk’s concerns about the short-term adverse effect on the federal deficit of the limited spending reductions in the BBB. Debt markets remain concerned about US total debt and annual deficits,” Harris said. The House is expected to begin working on fiscal year (FY) 2026 appropriations next week, though the rescission package deals with FY 2025 funding. Additionally, the 45-day deadline for that is not the only marker on the horizon – identical FY 2026 spending bills must pass the House and Senate by the end of the current fiscal year on September 30 to avert a partial government shutdown.

DHS video honors Marine killed by Mexican cartel, touts Trump’s crackdown on ‘terrorists’

DHS video honors Marine killed by Mexican cartel, touts Trump’s crackdown on ‘terrorists’

FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Homeland Security released a video honoring late Marine Corps veteran Nicholas Quets and highlighting his death at the hands of the Sinaloa Cartel, which the department says it is taking “decisive action” to address.  “Drug cartels are being called what they truly are: foreign terrorist organizations,” the two-and-a-half-minute video states before showing an interview with retired Army Lt. Col. Warren D. Quotes Jr. and Patricia Quets, whose son Nicholas was shot and killed at a Sinaloa Cartel checkpoint on his way to Rocky Point, Mexico, with friends on Oct. 18, 2024.  The cartel members attempted to steal Quets’ pickup truck before shooting him in the back through the heart, ending his life at 31 years old.  “I felt validated and vindicated,” Quets’ father says in the video, explaining how Trump spoke with him about his son’s death after receiving no feedback from the Biden administration or the Kamala Harris campaign. TRUMP SANCTIONS ARE ‘FULL-FRONTAL ASSAULT’ ON ORGANIZED CRIME AT THE BORDER, EXPERT SAYS “Designating all those organizations as foreign terrorist organizations, it makes things safer for us and puts them on the defensive. We want to send a message that targeting Americans anywhere has legal consequences. I thank President Trump and [DHS] Secretary [Kristi] Noem for dedicating their lives to protecting others and for being good stewards of the American taxpayers’ dollars, efforts and resources.” Quets’ mother says in the video, “I want to thank everybody for putting this together and giving us a voice.” In a press release, DHS outlined the ways it has “taken decisive action to dismantle drug cartels,” including the president signing an executive order on his first day in office to “designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations,” giving law enforcement the ability to “crack down” on sex trafficking operations from the cartels in the United States.  SINALOA CARTEL LEADERS CHARGED WITH NARCO-TERRORISM AFTER AUTHORITIES SEIZE 1.65 TONS OF FENTANYL Additionally, on what would have been Quets’ 32nd birthday, the Treasury Department announced sanctions on six individuals and seven entities that were allegedly operating a money-laundering scheme that supported the Sinaloa Cartel.  “Nicholas Quets was a patriot who served our country honorably and was killed by these cartel cowards who shot him in the back. President Trump and Secretary Noem are honoring his memory by dismantling the Sinaloa cartel and other drug cartels that profit from trafficking, violence, and lawlessness,” Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “President Trump’s strong leadership and these arrests and prosecutions of scum-of-the-earth cartel leaders are delivering results. The days of unchecked cartel violence are over.” In an interview with Fox News Digital leading up to the presidential election, Quets’ father said, “I do believe in Donald Trump as a man of his word – not the TV character, not the billionaire – but a person who I looked at face to face and talked with.” “America got a little bit weaker. My family was destroyed, but America got a little bit weaker. Mexico got a little bit weaker. Those cartels got a little bit stronger. And the only way to reverse that is to go after these people.”  Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.

Russia says ‘Trump is not being sufficiently informed’ after calling Putin ‘absolutely CRAZY’

Russia says ‘Trump is not being sufficiently informed’ after calling Putin ‘absolutely CRAZY’

Russia is claiming President Donald Trump is “not being sufficiently informed” about the war in Ukraine after he recently said Russian President Vladimir Putin has “gone absolutely CRAZY!”  Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov made the remark in an interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin, according to Turkey’s Anadolu Agency.  “Trump says a lot of things. We, naturally, read and follow all of this. But in many ways, we come to the conclusion that Trump is not being sufficiently informed about what is really happening in the context of the Ukrainian-Russian confrontation,” Ryabkov reportedly said.  Ryabkov added that Trump is not being kept up to date with Ukrainian strikes on Russian cities – which he described as “terrorist attacks” — and said Trump also “does not fully understand that the Russian Federation is striking exclusively at Ukrainian military infrastructure facilities or military-industrial complex facilities,” the news agency reported.  TRUMP WARNS PUTIN IS ‘PLAYING WITH FIRE’ AFTER DECLARING THE RUSSIAN PRESIDENT HAS ‘GONE ABSOLUTELY CRAZY’  The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.  Trump has unsuccessfully been aiming to help broker peace between Russia and Ukraine.  “I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY! He is needlessly killing a lot of people, and I’m not just talking about soldiers,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday.  GOP LAWMAKER BLASTS ‘DUMB’ TRUMP COMMENT ON ZELENSKYY DESPITE ‘PERFECT’ CRITICISM OF PUTIN  “Missiles and drones are being shot into Cities in Ukraine, for no reason whatsoever. I’ve always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that’s proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia! Likewise, President Zelenskyy is doing his Country no favors by talking the way he does. Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I don’t like it, and it better stop,” Trump continued.  “This is a War that would never have started if I were President. This is Zelenskyy’s, Putin’s, and Biden’s War, not ‘Trump’s,’ I am only helping to put out the big and ugly fires, that have been started through Gross Incompetence and Hatred,” Trump also said. 

AOC fundraises on trying to abolish ICE amid Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration

AOC fundraises on trying to abolish ICE amid Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration

Republicans are ripping progressive New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for renewing her call to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in a recent fundraising email.  “I believe that ICE, an agency that was just formed in 2003 during the Patriot Act era, is a rogue agency that should not exist,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a fundraising email obtained by Fox News Digital.  The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), House Republicans’ campaign arm, criticized the potential 2028 presidential candidate in an X post for fundraising on wanting to abolish ICE, a progressive rallying cry that rejects President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.  “House Democrat Minority Leader AOC is doubling down on their party’s most extreme, unhinged agenda, while the rest of her party is bending their knee to the radical wing. At this rate, the Democrat platform in 2026 will be a fever dream of defunding the police, wide open borders, and far-left hellscapes,” NRCC Spokesman Mike Marinella told Fox News Digital in a statement.  TRUMP BORDER CZAR FIRES BACK AT AOC OVER DOJ PROBE REMARKS: ‘WHY DOESN’T SHE PASS SOME LEGISLATION?’ “Why are you considered to be extreme?” Ocasio-Cortez asked in the fundraising email. It’s a strategy often deployed by the progressive New Yorker, according to a Fox News Digital review of Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign emails.  ICE TOUTS RECORD-BREAKING IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT DURING TRUMP’S FIRST 100 DAYS Ocasio-Cortez says she is considered “extreme” because she supports Medicare for All, champions the Green New Deal, challenges Democratic Party leadership, believes in “democratic socialism,” is funded by small-dollar donations and believes ICE should “not exist.” The potential 2028 candidate was at the forefront of the “abolish ICE” movement, a rejection of Trump’s immigration policies in his first administration, during her 2018 congressional campaign when she unseated longtime Democrat incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley.  While older, moderate Democrats haven’t been as vocal about abolishing ICE, another young progressive, who has faced heat within his party for a plan to primary challenge older Democratic incumbents in safe blue districts who are “asleep at the wheel,” DNC vice chair David Hogg, has also called to “abolish ICE.” “We must acknowledge the terrifying moment that we are in right now, and that what we are hearing and seeing with our own eyes is, in fact, happening. We are watching as our neighbors, students and friends are being fired, targeted and disappeared. It is real. People we love are being targeted and harassed for being LGBTQ. Our co-workers, U.S. citizens and immigrants alike are being disappeared off the street by men in vans with no uniform,” Ocasio-Cortez told a crowd in Montana on Sen. Bernie Sanders’ “Fighting Oligarchy” Tour.  Ocasio-Cortez has an ongoing feud with Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, as the New York congresswoman instructs her constituents how to impede ICE arrests. Ocasio-Cortez is facing a potential Department of Justice probe for a webinar she hosted in February on how to handle ICE agents.  The Trump administration has led a robust crackdown on illegal immigration since returning to the White House this year. During the first 100 days of Trump’s second term, ICE arrested 66,463 illegal immigrants and removed 65,682, according to ICE. The agency said three in four of those arrests of illegal immigrants involved someone accused of committing a crime.  CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The Fox News Voter Analysis in 2024 found that 52% of voters said Trump was the better candidate to handle immigration, while just 36% said Harris. Additionally, it was a top issue for voters, with 20% saying it was the most important issue facing the country.  Ocasio-Cortez, Homan, DHS and the DCCC did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.  Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch contributed to this report. 

Jeanine Pirro sworn in as interim US attorney, pledging ‘no more mercy for criminals’

Jeanine Pirro sworn in as interim US attorney, pledging ‘no more mercy for criminals’

Jeanine Pirro took the oath of office to serve as the interim U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C. during an event in the Oval Office on Wednesday. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi administered the oath alongside President Donald Trump. Pirro is serving as the interim U.S. attorney following the resignation of Ed Martin, Trump’s initial pick to serve in the role. “We need to send a message that justice will be honored in the District of Columbia,” Pirro said after taking the oath. “My voice should be heard loud and clear: No more. No more tolerance of hatred. No more mercy for criminals.” “Violence will be addressed directly with the appropriate punishment, and this city will again become a shining city on a hill in an America that President Trump has promised to make great again and will make safe again,” Pirro added. WHERE TRUMP STANDS WITH AMERICANS 4 MONTHS INTO HIS 2ND TERM Trump tapped “The Five” co-host for her new role earlier this month. Pirro has left Fox News Channel and a rotation of Fox News personalities will fill her seat on “The Five” until a new co-host is named. The president noted Pirro’s career in both the legal and media spaces ahead of her swearing in. “Jeanine Pirro has been a wonderful addition to The Five over the last three years and a longtime beloved host across FOX News Media who contributed greatly to our success throughout her 14-year tenure. We wish her all the best in her new role in Washington,” a spokesperson for FOX News Media said in a statement. DEMOCRATS EYE 2028 JUST MONTHS INTO TRUMP’S 2ND TERM Pirro remarked on the recent murder of two Israeli embassy staffers on the streets of Washington during her address. She vowed justice would be brought to the “cold blooded murderer” who was responsible. FOX NEWS CHANNEL FINISHES HIGHEST-RATED FIRST 100 DAYS IN CABLE NEWS HISTORY WITH DOMINANT APRIL Pirro served as the assistant district attorney and district attorney in New York’s Westchester County and became the first woman to serve as a judge in Westchester County Court.  She joined Fox News Channel in 2006 and hosted “Justice with Judge Jeanine” for 11 years before joining “The Five,” which has emerged as the most-watched show on cable news. This is a developing story. Check back soon for updates.