White House warns against tariff retaliation, says Trump ‘has a spine of steel and he will not break’
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted Tuesday that “all options are on the table for each country” when it comes to making deals over the latest U.S. tariffs, but warned to those who retaliate that President Donald Trump “has a spine of steel and he will not break.” Leavitt said since Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcements, 70 countries have already reached out to the president to begin negotiations. “On the other hand, countries like China who have chosen to retaliate and try to double down on their mistreatment of American workers are making a mistake. President Trump has a spine of steel and he will not break,” Leavitt added, referencing 34% retaliatory tariffs that China unveiled against the U.S. last week. Leavitt told Fox News Senior White House Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich that Trump is “very much focused on ensuring that these deals are good for the American worker, they are good for American manufacturing” and “that they tackle these crippling deficits with these countries. DEMOCRAT GOVERNORS REVOLT AGAINST TRUMP’S ‘LIBERATION DAY’ TARIFFS “All options are on the table for each country,” she said. “But again, these are going to be tailor-made deals. They are not going to be off the rack deals as the president has called it. And he has directed his entire trade team to be part of this effort.” Leavitt also said “Countries are falling over themselves to reform their unfair trade practices and free open their markets to our country. TRUMP SAYS HE HAD ‘GREAT CALL’ WITH SOUTH KOREAN LEADER, SUGGESTS DEAL POSSIBLE “Why? Because these countries greatly respect President Trump and the sheer power of the American market. These countries realize they’ve gotten filthy rich over the past few decades by imposing substantial tariffs on American made products and ridiculous non-monetary barriers to block out American industry,” she continued. “The jig is up. Past American presidents sat by and let this happen. But President Trump stood up for our country. And he is saying no more.” “The president’s message has been simple and consistent from the beginning to countries around the world. Bring us your best offers and he will listen. Deals will only be made if they benefit American workers and address our nation’s crippling trade deficits,” Leavitt declared. “America does not need other countries as much as other countries need us. And President Trump knows this. He’s going to use the leverage of our markets and our country to the advantage of the people he was sworn in to represent.”
Dem accuses Trump admin of ‘fire sale approach’ as GOP aims to lower federal gov’s real estate portfolio
A Democrat on the House Oversight Committee accused the Trump administration of offloading federal real estate in a haphazard “fire sale” as Republicans aim to cut wasteful government spending by selling unused or underutilized government buildings. Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., the ranking Democrat on the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) subcommittee, took issue with the Trump administration’s approach during a hearing on Tuesday on reducing the federal real estate portfolio. “The Trump administration is currently taking a fire sale approach of looting the federal government and stripping it for parts to pay for tax cuts that we know will come up in their reconciliation deal,” the lawmaker said. DOGE is working with the federal government’s General Services Administration (GSA) to “rightsize” its portfolio and cut wasteful spending. GSA has produced the most savings across federal agencies, according to the official DOGE website. AMERICANS GRADE DOGE AND ELON MUSK’S EFFORTS WITHIN THE FIRST 100 DAYS OF THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION The GSA’s cost-cutting efforts have already resulted in nearly 700 lease terminations, eliminating 7.9 million square feet of federal office space and saving taxpayers approximately $400 million, according to subcommittee chair Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. John Hart, CEO of Open the Books, testified that $1 billion could be saved on furniture alone by not renewing leases on government buildings that are set to expire in 2027. David Marroni, director of physical infrastructure at the U.S. Government Accountability Office, testified that no government agency “had a great track record in terms of the utilization” of their physical headquarters’ footprints. Marroni said there could be substantial savings in reducing government workspaces. “It’s about $8 billion a year on owned and leased office space, so any reduction is going to generate a lot of money,” he said. DOGE HELPS COAST GUARD SAVE NEARLY $33M BY ELIMINATING ‘INEFFECTIVE IT PROGRAM’ Democrats at the hearing lobbed criticism at President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, who is leading the DOGE effort, with Stansbury accusing DOGE of being “a front” to support billionaires “who are trying to privatize public services.” “And just this week, we have seen, as Elon Musk is on his exit out of the federal government, he has secured billions of dollars in new contracts across the federal government. Conflict of interest? Yes, absolutely,” Stansbury said. The congresswoman claimed that Musk has secured contracts and promises for contracts at the Department of Defense and NASA, and is asking to install SpaceX’s Starlink Wi-Fi at federal agencies. Starlink, which is a subsidiary of Musk-owned SpaceX, was reportedly installed at the White House last month. “And we understand that there is the potential to potentially deploy his AI technology across the federal agencies to replace the tens of thousands of federal employees that have recently been illegally fired,” Stansbury claimed. As of Tuesday, DOGE claims on its site that it has saved Americans $140 billion, or about $870 per taxpayer. Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller and Deirdre Heavey contributed to this report.
Elbridge Colby confirmed to top Pentagon policy post after hesitation from GOP hawks
Elbridge Colby will now assume the Pentagon’s number three post after a contentious Senate battle ended in a vote to confirm him to the role. The Senate voted 51 to 45 to confirm the national security strategist as Defense Department undersecretary for policy, with three Democrats joining most Republicans in voting in his favor. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was the lone Republican no vote. Colby successfully overcame skepticism from GOP hawks like Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who worried over his previous statements on Iran, even as he lost the former Senate majority leader. “Elbridge Colby’s long public record suggests a willingness to discount the complexity of the challenges facing America, the critical value of our allies and partners, and the urgent need to invest in hard power to preserve American primacy,” McConnell said in a statement after the vote. “The prioritization that Mr. Colby argues is fresh, new, and urgently needed is, in fact, a return to an Obama-era conception of à la carte geostrategy. Abandoning Ukraine and Europe and downplaying the Middle East to prioritize the Indo-Pacific is not a clever geopolitical chess move. It is geostrategic self-harm that emboldens our adversaries and drives wedges between America and our allies for them to exploit.” Colby, a co-founder of the Marathon Initiative and a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development under the Trump administration, is best known for his role in authoring the 2018 National Defense Strategy, which reoriented long-term military strategy toward a great power competition with China. VANCE VISITS CAPITOL HILL TO URGE SENATORS TO CONFIRM ELBRIDGE COLBY FOR PENTAGON NO. 3 POST He has long argued the U.S. military needs to limit its resources in the Middle East to pivot to the Indo-Pacific region. Colby had staunch backing from Trump’s inner circle, which turned up the heat on Senate Republicans to get behind his confirmation. Colby had tempered some of his earlier statements, including one that suggested living with a nuclear Iran was safer than bombing Iran’s nuclear sites, and one that suggested the U.S. could “live without” Taiwan. Pressed by Cotton during his confirmation hearing, Colby said he believes Iran to be an “existential” threat to the U.S. “Yes, a nuclear-armed Iran – especially, Senator, given that… we know they’ve worked on ICBM-range capabilities and other capabilities that would pose an existential danger to the United States,” Colby said. MAGA LOYALISTS TAKE AIM AT GOP SENATOR AS KEY TRUMP DEFENSE POST SPARKS CONTROVERSY: ‘WHY THE OPPOSITION?’ He promised to provide “credible good military options” to the president if diplomacy with Iran fails. “The only thing worse than the prospect of an Iran armed with nuclear weapons would be [the] consequences of using force to try to stop them,” Colby had said in 2012. “I would say a lot of what I was arguing against at the time, these conversations 15 years ago, a lot of the opponents I felt had a casual or in some cases even flippant attitude toward the employment of military force,” Colby explained at the hearing. “That’s a lot of what I was arguing against. Was my wording always appropriate? Was my precise framing always appropriate? No.” “Your views on Taiwan’s importance to the United States seems to have softened considerably,” Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., told Colby at one point during the hearing. “What I have been trying to shoot a signal flare over is that it is vital for us to focus and enable our own forces for an effective and reasonable defense of Taiwan and for the Taiwanese, as well as the Japanese, to do more,” said Colby.
‘Many failures’: Whistleblower exposes how fired Biden-era official was soft on China, prioritized DEI
FIRST ON FOX: A former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) senior staffer is speaking out about problems at the agency under the Biden administration, including diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and failures to combat China flooding the U.S. market with illicit vapes after the FDA’s top tobacco official was removed from his position. “I think many of us had been anticipating it for quite some time, we knew that change was drastically needed at FDA when it came to tobacco control, because tobacco control had really gotten out of control,” David Oliveira, who recently left the FDA after six years, said in response to FDA chief tobacco regulator Brian King being removed from his post earlier this month. “There were many, many failures in the key core missions for the center that needed dramatic change in new leadership. Many of us, whether it be from public health, consumers, small business owners, industry, including even Senator Dick Durbin, who last year at a hearing said to Brian King, ‘It looks to me like you have fallen down on the job.’ So really it runs the spectrum with the people that are unhappy with what’s gone on recently with the FDA in terms of tobacco regulation.” One of the most prominent missteps at the FDA over the past few years, according to Oliveira, was the influx of illicit Chinese vapes into the U.S. market, which he says made him feel like a “canary in a coal mine” as he warned about the potential dangers and little was done. ‘DEEP TIES TO THE CCP’: MEET THE VAPING LOBBYIST RAMPING UP PRESSURE ON TRUMP TO SAVE ‘ILLICIT’ VAPE INDUSTRY Although the rate of youths smoking cigarettes is now at an all-time low, according to the CDC, youth use of Chinese vapes has increased dramatically since 2020, as China has become the world’s leading producer of e-cigarettes, often promoting illicit vapes with flavors appealing to children. Sales of unauthorized, flavored disposable vapes in the United States amounted to around $2.4 billion in 2024, or 35% of the e-cigarettes from outlets such as convenience stores and supermarkets, Reuters reported. That compares to sales worth $3.2 billion in 2023 and $2.8 billion in 2022, the data, which comes from market research firm Circana, shows. “We have set up a regulated system, which most of the American players have said, okay, these are the rules of the road, we will obey them, we will comply, and we expect, we hope that our products will be authorized,” Oliveira explained. “The Chinese have said, well, forget that. There’s huge consumer demand for these products for billions of dollars, and we will shamelessly, recklessly, irresponsibly market these products, dump them on our shores because they know there’s billions of dollars to be had. And then, unfortunately, the FDA was ill-equipped, ill-prepared. Didn’t have the skill to go after and shut that down. And now we have an industry that’s absolutely out of control with these products.” Oliveira told Fox News Digital that the agency has been delegating too much power to other departments like Border Patrol and Department of Justice rather than using the authority it has to crack down with boots on the ground against China’s market flooding, adding that a “lack of focus” and “cavalier attitude” has left the U.S. behind the 8-ball. 21,000% SPIKE IN MA VAPE SEIZURES THROWS CIGARETTE BAN INTO QUESTION, EX-ATF OFFICIAL SAYS Oliveira says that the FDA approves or authorizes only about two products a year, which has allowed China to dominate the market. Under King, the FDA rejected applications for millions of flavored e-cigarettes, citing insufficient data that the products would help adult smokers. Those rejections have resulted in multiple lawsuits against the FDA from vape makers, including one that was argued before the Supreme Court in December. Another issue under King, Oliveira explained, was that DEI became a prominent focus that ultimately led to less focus on getting the job in front of them done correctly. “I think we saw a lot more of that once Brian King came in and the fact of the matter is his version of DEI was some of the things that many people don’t find appealing,” Oliveira said. “The idea of virtue signaling or doing it just to be able to wear it on your sleeve and talk about it. So you just do things around the edges like, oh, let’s change and stop using the word grandfathered because of the historical overtones and origins of that term. And then let’s have everyone put their pronouns in their email.” The FDA recently removed DEI materials from its website amid President Donald Trump signing executive orders to rid the practice from the federal government and instead focus on meritocracy. Oliveira told Fox News Digital that DEI was a distraction from the mission at the FDA. “I think it made some people uncomfortable just because of the focus on it when we knew that our work was so critical to helping people live healthier lives, that there was so much work to be done, that we were behind the 8-ball because of all the mistakes and because of this very fast-moving industry that government will always struggle to keep up with the technology. There was much work to be done. There was so more that we could have been doing that we weren’t doing. So anytime you have anything that you feel like takes your eye off the ball a little bit, that can be frustrating in the workplace for sure.” Oliveira also told Fox News Digital that the FDA under King in the Biden years was beholden to the “crusade” against menthol cigarettes, led by prominent voices like billionaire Michael Bloomberg, which he says was based more on a “paternalistic” attitude toward the Black community than it was about making a positive difference. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP In recent years, the FDA’s tobacco center has been besieged by criticism from all sides. Politicians,
Trump admin unveils plan costing migrants massive fine for every day they don’t self-deport
The Trump administration plans to begin fining illegal immigrants subject to a deportation order $998 a day if they do not leave the United States. “Illegal aliens should use the CBP Home app to self-deport and leave the country now. If they don’t, they will face the consequences,” Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Tuesday. “This includes a fine of $998 per day for every day that the illegal alien overstayed their final deportation order.” Using a 1996 law that was not enforced until President Donald Trump’s first term in 2018, the administration plans to apply the penalties retroactively to illegal immigrants for up to five years, resulting in fines of more than $1 million, an administration official told Reuters, who was first to report on the fines. BLUE STATE SHERIFFS COMBINE FORCES TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST SANCTUARY LAWS The administration could also seize property from illegal immigrants who fail to pay the stiff penalty, the report noted. A flyer provided to Fox News Digital shows the “benefits” and “consequences” for illegal immigrants who fail to self-deport via the CBP Home app. “Self-deportation is safe,” the flyer reads. “Leave on your own terms by picking your departure flight.” JD VANCE TORCHES MEDIA, DEMS’ ‘DISGRACEFUL SET OF PRIORITIES’ ON DEPORTATION OF ACCUSED MS-13 GANG MEMBER Other benefits of self-deporting include allowing non-criminal illegal immigrants to keep money they earned in the U.S. and allowing illegal immigrants to maintain eligibility for potential future legal immigration, while some illegal immigrants may even be eligible for subsidized flights if they have trouble affording a ticket. Meanwhile, the “consequences” section of the flyer warns that those who fail to self-deport will be “apprehended by DHS with no opportunity to get your affairs in order beforehand.” The flyer also spells out the potential fines, including the $998 per day fine for failing to comply with final removal orders and a fine of $1,000 – $5,000 for failing to self-deport after “claiming that you will.” “If you fail to self-deport, you may be subject to jail time,” the flyer concludes, adding that illegal immigrants would also later be “prohibited from reentering the U.S. through the legal immigration system.”
House Republicans worry even Trump can’t save them as tax cuts, budget bill hang in balance
House Republicans are in disarray ahead of an expected Wednesday afternoon vote to advance the Senate’s version of a massive bill advancing President Donald Trump’s agenda. Several people who spoke with Fox News Digital said they were concerned that even the president may not be able to sway holdouts ahead of a planned Wednesday vote – despite Trump’s ability to do so on key pieces of legislation on multiple occasions this year. “This one is tough to tell,” one senior House Republican said when asked if Trump could persuade enough critics to pass the legislation. “There’s a level of distrust, historically – that from [$1.5 trillion] to $4 billion, it’s like, why did we go so low?” Fiscal hawks’ chief concerns with the bill lie in the differences between minimum mandatory spending cuts. HOUSE FREEDOM CAUCUS CHAIR URGES JOHNSON TO CHANGE COURSE ON SENATE VERSION OF TRUMP BUDGET BILL The House’s version, which the chamber passed in late February, calls for at least $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion in federal spending cuts to offset the new spending for Trump’s priorities on defense, the border and taxes. The Senate passed an amendment to the House version over the weekend that, while closely mirroring the lower chamber, called for at least $4 billion in spending cuts. Sources told Fox News Digital that there are as many as 30 to 40 people who have at least shared serious concerns about the bill. Some skeptics are expected to be part of a group of House Republicans heading to the White House on Tuesday afternoon to meet with Trump. But at least three lawmakers who have shared concerns about the bill – Reps. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., Ralph Norman, R-S.C., and Keith Self, R-Texas – said they were not invited. SENATE GOP PUSHES TRUMP BUDGET FRAMEWORK THROUGH AFTER MARATHON VOTE SERIES Meanwhile, House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., signaled to reporters that he turned the invitation down. “There’s nothing I don’t understand about this issue. So, you know, let the president spend time with people who maybe will change their mind,” Harris said. He said of Trump’s influence, “It’s not going to help getting enough votes to pass this week. It’s just, there too many members who are just not going to vote for it, no matter what.” “I don’t see it happening,” a second House Republican told Fox News Digital when asked if Trump could get the legislation over the line. Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., said, “I love the president,” but similarly doubted whether the legislation could pass a Wednesday afternoon vote. “I think that because what the Senate sent over is so financially immoral, that it doesn’t matter how much pressure, there’s so many of us that can’t swallow it,” he told reporters. Congressional Republicans are working on a massive piece of legislation that Trump has dubbed “one big, beautiful bill” to advance his agenda on border security, defense, energy and taxes. Such a measure is largely only possible via the budget reconciliation process. Traditionally used when one party controls all three branches of government, reconciliation lowers the Senate’s threshold for passage of certain fiscal measures from 60 votes to 51. As a result, it has been used to pass broad policy changes in one or two massive pieces of legislation. MEET THE TRUMP-PICKED LAWMAKERS GIVING SPEAKER JOHNSON A FULL HOUSE GOP CONFERENCE Trump publicly called for House Republicans to fall in line to pass the Senate version on Monday night. “There is no better time than now to get this Deal DONE! The House, the Senate, and our Great Administration, are going to work tirelessly on creating ‘THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL, BILL,’ an appropriate name if Congress so likes. Everyone is going to be happy with the result,” he wrote on Truth Social. “THE HOUSE MUST PASS THIS BUDGET RESOLUTION, AND QUICKLY – MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” House GOP leaders have argued that passing the Senate’s version is a critical step to unlocking the main portion of the reconciliation process, where the relevant committees find ways to enact conservative policy goals in line with the funding set out by Republicans’ reconciliation framework. They’ve also insisted that passing the Senate’s version does not impede the House from working toward its more conservative goal. “The budget resolution is not the law, OK? All this does is it allows us to continue the process, begin drafting the actual legislation that really counts. And that’s the one big, beautiful bill. Number two, the Senate amendment makes no changes to the reconciliation instructions that we put into the budget resolution. So our objectives remain intact,” Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said during his weekly press conference. “Number three, any final reconciliation bill has to include historic spending reductions that we included in our resolution, while also safeguarding essential programs.” But fiscal hawks critical of the bill, like Harris, are pushing Republican leaders to allow the House to begin working on its reconciliation bill now and forcing the Senate to reckon with that proposal. And some Republican holdouts are optimistic that Trump could get them to a point where they can support the legislation Wednesday. “I sure hope he can,” Norman told Fox News Digital. “We’re in favor of what he’s doing.” Fox News Digital reached out to White House for comment but did not immediately hear back.
Here’s the list of books the Naval Academy removed from its library during DEI purge
The U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, has purged hundreds of books from its library — including “How to be Anti-Racist” by Ibram X. Kendi — as part of a push to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)-related content. The Naval Academy weeded out these books on March 31, in keeping with instructions from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, following executive orders from President Donald Trump. The Naval Academy also threw out another book Kendi authored, “Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America,” as well as “Our Time is Now: Power, Purpose, and the Fight for a Fair America,” by former Georgia Rep. Stacey Abrams. Kendi, the former founding director of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research, attracted national attention in 2020 for his books following the 2020 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis by police officers. NAVAL ACADEMY TOSSES 400 BOOKS FROM LIBRARY FOLLOWING TRUMP DEI EXPULSION ORDERS Kendi joined Boston University that year but announced in January that he would head to Howard University to continue his research instead. Meanwhile, Boston University is poised to shut down its research center in June once contracts expire. The Naval Academy also purged “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings” by American writer and poet Maya Angelou, an autobiography detailing Angelou’s childhood and life during the Jim Crow era. Other books booted by the Naval Academy are “Women with Mustaches and Men Without Beards: Gender and Sexual Anxieties of Iranian Modernity” by Afsanah Najmabodi; “Critical Race Theory and Education: A Marxist Response” by Mike Cole; “Men in Wonderland: The Lost Girlhood of the Victorian Gentleman” by Catherine Robson; and “Bodies in Doubt: An American History of Intersex” by Elizabeth Reis. Although Trump’s January executive orders banned DEI content in K–12 schools receiving federal funds, military service academies were exempt since they are not classified as K–12 institutions. NAVAL ACADEMY CLOSING DEI OFFICES TO ALIGN WITH TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDERS: MEMO However, Hegseth’s office instructed the service academy to eliminate the materials ahead of a visit to the institution on April 1, The Associated Press reported. It is unclear if Hegseth issued the directive himself or if it came from a staffer. The Navy confirmed to Fox News Digital that nearly 400 books were ditched as part of the effort. “We can confirm the U.S. Naval Academy has removed nearly 400 books from their Nimitz Library collection in order to ensure compliance with all directives outlined in executive orders issued by the president,” a Navy spokesperson told Fox News Digital Wednesday. “Nimitz Library houses roughly 590,000 print books, 322 databases, and over 5,000 print journals and magazines to support the academic inquiries and intellectual development of Midshipmen.” The U.S. Naval Academy trains undergraduate midshipmen to pursue careers as officers in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. Here is the full list of books the Naval Academy pitched out during the purge: The Associated Press and Fox News’ Rachel del Guidice contributed to this report.
House Democrat says he’d vote to protect Trump’s tariff plan, worries White House will stand down
Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, indicated he’d vote to protect President Trump’s tariff plan if legislation killing the economic measure was brought to the House floor. Speaking with Axios, Golden said he’s worried Trump will end up caving to pressure and wind up not implementing the tariff plan. “My biggest worry is that they’re going to do this and lose faith and political will and back away,” Golden said. When Golden was asked about the mixed reaction from the stock market on the tariff plan, Golden responded “The vast majority of Americans have no stocks.” PRICE TAG: HOW MUCH AMERICANS COULD PAY BETWEEN TARIFFS AND TAX CUTS EXPIRING Trump on April 2 announced a baseline duty of 10% on every import to the United States, along with additional tariffs for countries which have high tariffs on American exports. Golden also complained that there aren’t more Democrats in favor of Trump’s tariff plan. “I remember Dems being outraged by the World Trade Organization, NAFTA, all these trade deals, even as recently as TPP,” Golden added. “Now all of a sudden it’s like a complete 180 degree flip here where we’re staunchly defending the importance and relevance of the stock market to the American economy and defending free trade deals.” When asked about Rep. Greg Meeks’, D-N.Y., bill that would remove Trump’s tariffs, Golden said “I’d be a ‘no’ on that.” GOP DEFECTORS HELP SENATE ADVANCE RESOLUTION TO CANCEL TRUMP TARIFFS DESPITE WHITE HOUSE VETO WARNING Golden is one of the few, if not the only, House Democrat in favor of the tariff proposal. “When they’re searching under every couch cushion for ways to re-appeal the party to working class, coming out against this so strongly,” Golden said as he chided fellow Democrats for standing against the proposal. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., said in a video posted to X, that he’s staunchly opposed to the tariffs. “I think a wrong-for-decades consensus in Washington on free trade has been a race to the bottom,” Deluzio said. “The president’s tariff announcement, though, his trade strategy — it’s been chaotic, it’s inconsistent.” Fox News Digital’s Julia Johnson and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
SCOOP: Treasury Secretary Bessent to huddle with key Republican caucus as Trump enacts tariff plan
FIRST ON FOX: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will be on Capitol Hill again on Wednesday to meet with a key Republican caucus, Fox News Digital has learned. A source familiar with the planning told Fox News Digital that Bessent is among the speakers at the Republican Study Committee’s weekly lunch on Wednesday. Discussions are likely to focus on tariffs and the budget reconciliation process, the source anticipated. It comes as House Republicans wrestle with a way forward on both fronts. SENATE GOP PUSHES TRUMP BUDGET FRAMEWORK THROUGH AFTER MARATHON VOTE SERIES On tariffs, some Republican lawmakers have said they would like more clarity from the White House on President Donald Trump’s plans – including whether his sweeping import taxes on friends and foes are a negotiation tactic or a matter of long-term policy. One GOP lawmaker told Fox News Digital that Trump’s messaging has been “well-received” but added, “It would be nice to have more information.” Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., who is leading a bipartisan bill to retake Congress’ power on tariffs, told reporters on Tuesday, “I don’t like the thought of waging a trade war with the entire world, and that’s what we’re doing right now.” “I mean, I surely support tariffs on China. It’s not that I oppose all tariffs, I think there are some countries that would need it. But I question why on Canada,” Bacon said. MEET THE TRUMP-PICKED LAWMAKERS GIVING SPEAKER JOHNSON A FULL HOUSE GOP CONFERENCE Others, like Rep. Mike Haridopolos, R-Fla., were more supportive – though he also signaled he saw it as more of a negotiating tool. “I believe in fair and free trade, I really do, but what we have right now is not fair, and it’s not free – we pay a disproportionate tax to other nations,” Haridopolos told Fox News Digital. “Whatever you tax me, I’ll tax you. Even better, if there’s no tax between the two countries, that’s a win for the United States in general.” “I think the president has taken a strong position to say, ‘We’re a very generous country, and….all we’re asking for is for our trading partners to treat us the way they want to be treated.’” The Republican Study Committee has more than 170 members and acts as the House Republican conference’s de facto think tank at times. Bessent, meanwhile, opened the door to using tariffs as a hardball tactic in trade talks with other countries – likely welcome news for Republicans who were concerned about the long-term impact on their districts. He told CNBC on Tuesday morning that he and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer were tapped to lead talks with Japan. He also said Trump himself would be “directly involved in those negotiations.” “There are 50, 60, maybe almost 70 countries now who have approached us. So it’s going to be a busy April, May, maybe into June. And Japan is a very important military ally,” Bessent said. “And the U.S. has a lot of history with them, so I would expect that Japan’s going to get priority, just because they came forward very quickly. But it’s going to be very busy.” HOUSE FREEDOM CAUCUS CHAIR URGES JOHNSON TO CHANGE COURSE ON SENATE VERSION OF TRUMP BUDGET BILL On the other end, the White House is working with House GOP leaders to convince critics of the Senate’s version of a sweeping bill to advance Trump’s agenda. Republicans are aiming to use their majorities to pass a massive piece of legislation dealing with border security, energy and defense, as well as extending Trump’s 2017 tax policies. Fiscal hawks are angry that the Senate’s version of the bill mandates a minimum of $4 billion in cuts, whereas the House plan calls for at least $1.5 trillion. Fox News Digital reached out to the Treasury Department but did not immediately hear back.
Supreme Court rules on status of tens of thousands of fired probationary employees
The Supreme Court on Tuesday sided with the Trump administration and upheld the mass firing of tens of thousands of probationary federal employees, granting a request for an emergency administrative stay on a lower court order blocking the firings. The majority of the high court ruled that the plaintiffs, nine non-profit organizations who had sued to reinstate the employees, lacked standing to sue. “The District Court’s injunction was based solely on the allegations of the nine non-profit-organization plaintiffs in this case. But under established law, those allegations are presently insufficient to support the organizations’ standing,” the court said in an order. Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson would have denied the application for a stay. JUDGE BOASBERG POISED TO HOLD TRUMP ADMIN IN CONTEMPT, TAKES DOWN NAMES OF DHS OFFICIALS: ‘PRETTY SKETCHY’ In their final brief to the Supreme Court, government attorneys argued that lower courts overstepped their authority by ordering the reinstatement of probationary employees last month. The legal battle stems from the termination of an estimated 16,000 probationary federal employees since President Donald Trump took office, prompting a wave of lawsuits from Democrat-led states and former workers. Probationary employees are particularly vulnerable to termination because they lack the civil service protections granted to full-time federal workers, which typically take effect after a designated period of service. Justice Department lawyers have warned that forcing the government to rehire those employees would create “chaos” across federal agencies. They have also maintained that the firings were tied to poor performance – an allegation the dismissed employees strongly dispute. JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP ADMIN FROM FIRING FEDERAL PROBATIONARY WORKERS Last month, a federal judge in Baltimore ordered the Trump administration to reinstate probationary employees who had been fired across multiple government agencies. Chief Judge James Bredar also directed the administration to return within seven days with a list of the affected employees and an explanation of how the agencies were complying with the reinstatement order. In their Supreme Court filing, the plaintiffs argued that the Trump administration’s “decimation” of probationary staff had caused deep and lasting harm at key federal agencies. At the Department of Veterans Affairs – already plagued by chronic understaffing – the layoffs have “already had and will imminently continue to have” serious negative consequences for those who rely on its services, the plaintiffs wrote. “Similarly, cuts to the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management have already harmed and will continue to harm the ability of Respondent environmental and outdoor organizations to enjoy and protect a wide range of federal lands and resources,” they said. SUPREME COURT GRANTS TRUMP REQUEST TO LIFT STAY HALTING VENEZUELAN DEPORTATIONS The plaintiffs, represented by the American Federation of Government Employees, argued that the terminations have already caused significant disruption across the federal government, impairing agencies’ ability to carry out critical functions. Most recently, a federal judge in Maryland expanded an order this week requiring the Trump administration to rehire terminated probationary federal employees. The ruling also barred the administration from carrying out future mass firings of probationary staff unless done in accordance with federal laws governing employee removals. That includes providing affected employees with a 60-day notice period, as required under current civil service regulations. In a Supreme Court filing, Solicitor General John Sauer argued that the lower court’s injunction had forced the Trump administration to rehire federal workers “despite agencies’ judgments about what best serves their missions.” “Courts do not have license to block federal workplace reforms at the behest of anyone who wishes to retain particular levels of general government services,” the government wrote in its brief. The administration argues that reinstatement is not an appropriate remedy in this case, claiming it exceeds the court’s authority – and that even if the terminations were deemed “unlawful,” that still wouldn’t justify such a sweeping order.