Joe Biden diagnosed with ‘aggressive form’ of prostate cancer with metastasis to the bone
Former President Joe Biden’s office confirmed on Sunday that he is undergoing treatment for prostate cancer. “Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms,” Biden’s team shared in a statement. “On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone.” “While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management. The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians,” the statement continued. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Rubio teases details of potential Trump, Putin in-person meeting after Russia-Ukraine ceasefire talks stall
Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed the timing of a potential face-to-face meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin regarding a ceasefire deal in Ukraine in an interview that aired Sunday. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday while returning to Washington, D.C., from Abu Dhabi that no peace in Ukraine would be reached until he met with Putin in person. The president added in a Truth Social post on Saturday that he planned to speak with Putin on the phone on Monday, followed by a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and some NATO leaders. Meanwhile, Rubio — who attended Pope Leo XIV’s inaugural mass in Rome on Sunday — said the Vatican has offered to host a direct meeting between Ukraine, Russia and possibly other parties. “Obviously, the Vatican has made a very generous offer to host anything — by the way, not just a meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin, but any meeting, including at a technical level, you know — any meetings that need to be hosted, they’ve expressed a willingness to do so. So it’s a very generous offer that may be taken up on,” Rubio told CBS’ “Face the Nation” in an interview that was recorded on Saturday. “I mean, it would be a site that all parties would feel comfortable. So hopefully we’ll get to that stage where talks are happening on a regular basis, and that the Vatican will have the opportunity to be one of the options.” ZELENSKYY SHEDS DETAILS ON MEETING WITH VANCE, RUBIO IN ROME AFTER RUSSIA PEACE TALKS STALL Rubio had a phone call with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on Saturday after Putin was a no-show to a face-to-face meeting the Russian leader called with Zelenskyy in Turkey last week. Despite Putin’s absence, the Ukrainian and Russian delegations did agree to a prisoner exchange of 1,000 people from each side, though a broader ceasefire or peace deal failed to materialize. CBS host Margaret Brennan asked Rubio if he spoke with Lavrov about lining up a face-to-face meeting between Trump and Putin. “Well, we talked about a variety of things,” said Rubio. “I wanted to get his readout on his view of how the talks went yesterday. They were not a complete waste of time. For example, there were 1,000 prisoners that are going to be exchanged, and that, from a humanitarian standpoint, is very positive. He explained to me that they are going to be preparing a document outlining their requirements for a ceasefire that would then lead to broader negotiations.” Rubio said the Ukrainians will be working on their own proposal coming soon, and he hoped proposals from both sides would be “serious and viable.” “So we’ll have to wait and see. But he wanted me to know, and he communicated in our call, that their side will be working on a series of ideas and requirements that they would have in order to move forward with a ceasefire and further negotiations,” he said. Rubio said the U.S. is “testing” whether the Russian are just “tapping” them along, as Trump has suggested could be the case. ZELENSKYY SPEAKS WITH TRUMP, ALLIES AFTER RUSSIA PEACE TALKS BROKER NO CEASEFIRE “On the one hand, we’re trying to achieve peace and end a very bloody, costly and destructive war. So there’s some element of patience that is required. On the other hand, we don’t have time to waste,” Rubio said. “There are a lot of other things happening in the world that we also need to be paying attention to. So we don’t want to be involved in this process of just endless talks — there has to be some progress, some movement forward. And if at the end of this, in the next few days, we get a document produced by both sides, and it shows that both sides are… making concessions and being realistic and rational in their approach, then I think we can feel good about continuing to remain engaged.” “If, on the other hand, what we see is not very productive, perhaps we’ll have a different assessment. I also agree that, ultimately, one of the things that could help break this logjam — perhaps the only thing that can — is a direct conversation between President Trump and Vladimir Putin. And he’s already openly expressed a desire and a belief that that needs to happen, and hopefully that’ll be worked out soon as well,” he added. Pressed on whether the in-person talks between Trump and Putin were being planned, Rubio reiterated that the president had already made that offer publicly. “The mechanics of setting that kind of meeting up would require a little bit of work, so I can’t say that’s being planned as we speak in terms of picking a site and a date,” Rubio said. “But the president wants to do it. He wants to do it as soon as feasible. I think the Russian side has also expressed a willingness to do it. And so, now it’s just a question of bringing them, bringing everyone together, and figuring out where and when and that meeting will happen and what it will be about.” Rubio joined Vice President JD Vance in meeting with Zelenskyy at the U.S. ambassador’s residence in Rome on Sunday. Vance and Rubio later met with Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for discussions on trade, the war in Ukraine and NATO spending, according to a spokesperson for the vice president. “The individual countries within Europe are important allies of the United States. But, of course, we have some disagreements, as friends sometimes do, on issues like trade, and we also have many agreements and many things we can work on together, and I’m looking forward to the conversation,” Vance told reporters at the top of the meeting. After the meeting, the vice president’s office released a statement saying that “the leaders discussed their shared goal of ending
Hitchhiker’s Guide to where the ‘big, beautiful bill’ stands, and what happens Sunday in the Budget Committee
Multiple conversations are ongoing on Sunday — some in person but most on the phone — as House Republicans try to lock in agreements for the big, beautiful bill. Three areas are outstanding overall. Two are specific to the Budget Committee, which reconvenes Sunday night. Republicans are trying to work out a final pact on green energy tax credits, which could be a major payfor in the bill. The other item is work requirements for Medicaid recipients — and when those kick in. Fox News is told that prospective deals on this front will likely be handshake pacts or “gentlemen’s agreements,” as it was phrased to Fox News. REPUBLICANS READY LATE-NIGHT SESSION ON TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ AFTER GOP MUTINY The other issue in question is the SALT deduction. That refers to state and local tax breaks for high-tax states. That provision is of the utmost importance to court the votes of moderate Republicans from New York and California. The “SALT caucus” wanted a tax write-off, which might cost as much as $600 billion. The new proposal only costs $230 billion. Fox News is told they are trying to forge a compromise which grants a higher SALT deduction at the beginning of the bill’s implementation — and then dials that back over the 10-year budgetary window for the bill. Remember, this measure must not add to the deficit over that decade-long budgetary timeframe in order to qualify for a special process to avoid a filibuster in the Senate. Fox is told that nothing will change in the bill before the Budget Committee on Sunday night. The White House is currently addressing how to implement possible changes with a “manager’s amendment” before the Rules Committee later this week. That would finalize and lock in stone the actual text of the bill. Fox is told that the GOP leadership believes they are certainly within range. The GOP brass is generally feeling good at where they stand, “so long as people don’t start adding things,” said one senior House Republican leadership source. HOUSE GOP UNVEILS MEDICAID WORK REQUIREMENTS IN TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ The overall goal is to post the text of the bill early this week and go to the Rules Committee on Wednesday with a possible vote on Thursday. But one senior GOP source told Fox the timetable could be expedited with a Tuesday Rules Committee meeting — where changes would be made — and maybe go to the floor on Wednesday. Now, on to what will likely happen on Sunday night in the Budget Committee: The resolution, mashing together the text from all the other committees, failed on Friday afternoon. The process can’t move forward unless they get the measure out of the Budget Committee. Hence, Sunday’s 10 p.m. ET meeting. There will be little if any debate — it’s only about that math. Either the GOP leadership and the White House have satisfied the concerns of those who voted nay or they haven’t. In fact, if things go swimmingly, this could be wrapped up after 20 minutes or so. Here’s what it will look like: The first vote is the “motion to reconsider” the failed Friday vote. If that fails, they are stuck. But if they get over that hurdle, it’s on to an actual re-vote of what failed on Friday. This is the key vote. If the Budget Committee greenlights the package at this stage, it’s on to the Rules Committee this week and then the floor. There will be five non-binding votes after that key vote on issues we don’t need to worry about.
Johnson pushes ‘aggressive’ timetable for House to pass Trump’s budget bill after GOP mutiny: ‘We cannot fail’
House Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday defended the “aggressive” timetable he is pushing to advance President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” saying the House remains on track to pass the “historic” legislative package by Memorial Day. The House Budget Committee will reconvene at 10 p.m. Sunday night after a vote to advance the more than 1,100-page “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” failed Friday, when five Republicans sided with committee Democrats to sink Trump’s sweeping tax bill. “We’re on track, working around the clock to deliver this nation-shaping legislation for the American people as soon as possible,” Johnson said during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday” regarding ongoing negotiations. “All 11 of our committees have wrapped up their work, and they spent less and saved more than even we’ve projected initially. This really is a once in a generation opportunity that we have here.” WH STUDY WARNS 9 MILLION AMERICANS COULD LOSE HEALTH INSURANCE IN ‘MAJOR’ RECESSION IF TRUMP BUDGET BILL FAILS After the bill advances through the budget committee, Johnson said the plan is to move the legislative package to the House Rules Committee by mid-week and then to the House floor by the end of the week “so we meet our initial, our original Memorial Day deadline.” “It’s very important for people to understand why we’re being so aggressive on the timetable and why this really is so important,” Johnson said. “This is the vehicle through which we will deliver on the mandate the American people gave us during the last election. You’re going to have historic savings for the American people, historic tax relief for American workers, historic investments in border security. “At the same time, we’re restoring American energy dominance, and we’re rebuilding the defense industrial base, and we’re ensuring that programs like Medicaid and SNAP are strengthened for U.S. citizens who need and deserve them and not being squandered away by illegal aliens and persons who are ineligible to receive them and are cheating the system,” he added. Johnson reiterated that making Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent by 2026 is critical and stressed that the package also eliminates taxes on overtime and tips – a 2024 Trump campaign promise. He said it also includes new tax relief for seniors on Social Security and cuts taxes on “job creators, so that will help everybody across the country at the same time as incentivizing American-made production and manufacturing.” HANDFUL OF REPUBLICANS SINK TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ IN KEY HOUSE COMMITTEE “This is a big thing. We cannot fail, and we’ll get it done for the American people,” Johnson said. South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman and Texas Rep. Chip Roy are among critics from Johnson’s own party who say the speaker is not serious about cutting spending. They want work requirements for able-bodied adult Medicaid recipients to be implemented sooner than 2029 – a view Johnson told “Fox News Sunday” that he shares, but the speaker added there is concern over the ability of the states to “retool their systems and ensure the verification process” can be enforced. “We’re working through all those details, and we’ll get it done, but I’ll tell you what, this is the largest spending reduction in at least three decades, probably longer. It’s historic,” Johnson said, adding that the package has the support of Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, as well as “nearly 500 organizations across the conservative spectrum” including fiscally responsible groups who believe “that we’ve got to turn the tide in spending.” “We are. This is our opportunity to do it. It’s once in a generation, as I’ve said, and we can’t squander it,” Johnson said. The speaker said that while he is confident he will be able to reach a compromise on the Medicaid work requirement to squash internal disputes, Republican leadership does not expect a single Democrat to vote for the bill. “Which means that they will be on record apparently supporting the largest tax increase in U.S. history, which is what will happen by default after the end of this year if we do not get this job done. We have to accomplish this mission, and we will.,” Johnson said.
Biden’s woes converge: Last-minute pardons under fire, calls for prosecution mount following Hur tape release
The release of audio recordings of former President Joe Biden‘s interview with special counsel Robert Hur have intensified criticism of the administration’s use of an autopen on official presidential orders and pardons. The damning tapes, which bring Biden’s alarming mental decline into sharp relief, were kept under wraps by Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland. Now that Biden’s cognitive problems have been bared, some are calling for Garland to face prosecution for rejecting Congressional demands to release the tapes when he ran the Department of Justice (DOJ). “Key decisions made in the final days of the Biden presidency, including using autopens to issue blanket pardons for the Biden Crime Family, must be fully examined. There are serious concerns that President Biden lacked the mental capacity to authorize those actions,” House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., posted to X on Saturday. Axios released hours of Biden’s interview with the special counsel’s office on Saturday – a year and a half after the interviews were held across a two-day period in the fall of 2023. The recordings showed the former president tripping over his words, slurring sentences, taking long pauses between answers and struggling to remember key moments in his life, including the year his son Beau Biden died of cancer. The recordings have further bolstered conservative outrage stretching back years that Biden’s mental acuity had cratered and that the Delaware Democrat who had served in the Senate for decades had become a “shadow” of himself and was unfit to lead the country as president. CRITICISMS MOUNT THAT BIDEN IS A ‘SHADOW’ OF HIMSELF AFTER DISASTROUS DEBATE: ‘NOT THE SAME MAN’ FROM VP ERA The flurry of pardons Biden allegedly signed by autopen in the waning days of his administration included ones for his son Hunter Biden, his siblings and their spouses, retired Gen. Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and members and staff of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, told Fox News Digital in a phone interview on Sunday that he has long sounded the alarm over the validity of Biden’s pardons, as many lacked specifically what charges an individual was protected against. Instead, many of the pardons outlined blanket protections, such as preemptively pardoning Milley and Fauci from potential prosecution and blanket pardons for unidentified members of Congress who served on the J6 select committee. “I’ve been long of the position that the pardons, many of the pardons, are not valid based on the fact that they don’t pardon anything. It’s just a pardon for conduct that’s unnamed … it’s further confirmation that the pardons are not valid,” said Fitton, who had sued for the release of the audio recordings. WHAT IS AN AUTOPEN? THE SIGNING DEVICE AT THE HEART OF TRUMP’S ATTACKS ON BIDEN PARDONS “A competent president would say, ‘How is it I could pardon someone for nothing?’” he continued. Fitton added that “more importantly, Biden should still be prosecuted” after he was “mollycoddled” by the Biden DOJ during the investigation into the documents he possessed from his days in the Senate and when he served as vice president. “The audio shows he was mollycoddled by the Justice Department, you know, because Hur was working for the Justice Department. … There’s an argument that the records he had as vice president, he could have. But that wasn’t the position of Justice Department. But certainly he didn’t have the right to have those records from his days of the Senate,” Fitton said. President Donald Trump railed on Truth Social that the release of the audio recordings revealed a “bigger scandal” about the use of an autopen under the Biden White House. “Whoever had control of the “AUTOPEN” is looking to be a bigger and bigger scandal by the moment,” Trump posted to Truth Social on Friday. TRUMP CLAIMS BIDEN PARDONS ARE ‘VOID,’ ALLEGING THEY WERE SIGNED VIA AUTOPEN He added: “THIS IS WHY THE UNSELECT COMMITTEE OF POLITICAL THUGS, WHO WERE GIVEN A FULL AND COMPLETE PARDON BY THE PERSON WHO WIELDED THE NOW ILLEGALLY USED AUTOPEN, DELETED AND DESTROYED ALL EVIDENCE AND INFORMATION FROM THEIR CORRUPT AND VICIOUS WITCH HUNT AGAINST ME, AND MANY OTHER PEOPLE, WHOSE LIVES WERE COMPLETELY SHATTERED AND DESTROYED BY THIS HISTORICALLY CRIMINAL EVENT.” Autopen signatures are automatically produced by a machine, as opposed to an authentic, handwritten signature. The conservative Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project first investigated the Biden administration’s use of an autopen earlier this year and found that the same signature was on a bevvy of executive orders and other official documents, while Biden’s signature on the document announcing his departure from the 2024 race varied from the apparent machine-produced signature. The reports led to speculation that Biden aides had approved of executive orders and sweeping pardons, not the president. Hur led an investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents following his departure as vice president under the Obama administration. Hur announced in February 2024 that he would not recommend criminal charges against Biden for possessing classified materials after his vice presidency, citing that Biden is “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” Although a transcript was released, the White House asserted executive privilege over releasing recordings after Garland urged the administration not to release the recordings, according to a letter obtained by Fox News in May of last year. BIDEN’S ‘AUTOPEN SIGNATURE’ APPEARS ON MOST OFFICIAL DOCS, RAISING CONCERNS OVER WHO CONTROLLED THE WH: REPORT “The audio recordings of your interview and Mr. Zwonitzer’s interview fall within the scope of executive privilege. Production of these recordings to the Committees would raise an unacceptable risk of undermining the Department’s ability to conduct similar high-profile criminal investigations–in particular, investigations where the voluntary cooperation of White House officials is exceedingly important,” Garland wrote in a letter to Biden last year, justifying why the recordings should not be released. PRESIDENT BIDEN PARDONS HIS SIBLINGS JUST MINUTES BEFORE LEAVING OFFICE Comer and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-OH, subpoenaed the
Dems’ hearing meltdowns a play to the base, analysts say, as Trump noms keep pushing back in viral moments
President Donald Trump‘s nominees consistently engage with Democrats who challenge them in increasingly viral hearing moments that analysts say are not intended as gifts to the media, but red meat for their base. The media understands Democrats have little power on a Republican-dominated Capitol Hill, according to Bill D’Agostino, senior analyst for the Media Research Center. “If you were to watch any given night on CNN or MSNBC evening shows, you’ll find a couple of panel discussion segments that are basically just Democratic strategists and the host talking shop,” he told Fox News Digital in a Thursday interview. “The discussion has focused almost entirely on how can Democrats show their voters that they’re trying to fight this, that they’re trying to make a difference, that they’re resisting the Trump administration.” WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY DEFENDS TRUMP’S FIRING OF INSPECTORS GENERAL Partisan politics has come to a point, D’Agostino suggested, where constituents send Democrats to Washington to stop Trump at every turn, regardless of ideological alignment or differences. “Obviously, as the minority party, there’s not much action they can actually offer. So instead, their political futures basically rest on how hard they’re trying to stop Trump.” One of the most contentious exchanges occurred during FBI Director Kash Patel’s January confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., dug into granular language used by Patel after the Capitol riot in regard to a song released by inmates that featured Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Patel told Schiff he stood by prior testimony that he had had nothing to do with the recording of the song, while the Burbank Democrat grilled him over a comment to former Trump adviser Stephen Bannon about “what we thought would be cool… captur[ing] audio” for the song. Schiff asked why he said that, and Patel incredulously shot back “that’s why it says, ‘we’ [as opposed to I] as you highlighted.” Patel denied participating in the digitizing of the song. The exchange was compared to former President Bill Clinton’s grammatical comments about the word “is” during the Monica Lewinsky affair. During Attorney General Pam Bondi’s confirmation, Schiff was at the fore again, demanding she disclose whether she might prosecute former special counsel Jack Smith over his Trump probe. Bondi repeatedly said she wouldn’t answer hypothetical, and dinged Schiff in response for focusing on Smith while his own California is rife with violent crime. Bondi also snapped back at Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., after a grilling on the Fourteenth Amendment and citizenship, saying, “I’m not here to do your homework and study for you.” During Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s hearing, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., delved into Hegseth’s multiple marriages and allegations of untoward behavior. Kaine said Hegseth had “casually cheated” on a former wife shortly after his daughter Gwendolyn was born. Hegseth countered that the situation had been investigated and that Kaine’s claims were “false charges.” “You’ve admitted that you had sex at that hotel in October 2017. You said it was consensual, isn’t that correct?” Kaine went on, probing further. BONDI ANNOUNCES ONE OF LARGEST FENTANYL SEIZURES IN US HISTORY Hegseth also made headlines when he interrupted Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., mid-sentence as she criticized the revolving door among military generals, Pentagon chiefs, and defense contractors. “I’m not a general, senator,” he said, prompting laughter in the gallery. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., also had several similar moments, including when Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., opened his remarks by speaking about the measles and telling the nominee bluntly, “You frighten people.” Kennedy also rejected a line of questioning from Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., claiming that he had compared the Atlanta-based CDC’s work to Nazi death camps. Outbursts and grilling continued in recent oversight hearings, including this past week when Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., got into a tiff with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem about Salvadoran deportee Kilmar Garcia. At one point, Swalwell informed Noem he has a “bull—t detector.” Mark Bednar, a former top aide to ex-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was one of many “sherpas” tasked with guiding nominees through the confirmation process, including meetings with senators. Bednar assisted EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin through his process, which, by comparison to others, was mild. Zeldin’s hearing actually included some bipartisan joking – like when Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., riffed that Zeldin’s cell phone rang unexpectedly because “the fossil fuel industry” was calling him after a line of questioning on the matter. SWALWELL WARNS NOEM HE HAS A ‘BULLS—’ DETECTOR DURING HEATED EXCHANGE ABOUT ABREGO GARCIA Bednar recounted a loud protester in the hall who remained for some time, offering conjecture that the disruptive woman hadn’t yet crossed any legal lines like protesters actually inside hearing rooms like during Kennedy’s confirmation. But Bednar said that many of the other nominees faced Democrats who would rather make a show than “be diplomatic and deliberative over policy.” “I think that is a big indicator to me that the left has no substantive answers for rebuttals to President Trump’s agenda or Republicans’ agenda. And that, to me, is a sign that if you’re a Republican, that that’s encouraging — the public’s on your side, and the far left has been unable to formulate a rational, level-headed response, much less not even be able to articulate one.” Fox News Digital reached out to other sherpas but did not hear back. Meanwhile, Bednar said that it has been interesting to watch the hearing disruptions evolve into larger scenes with similarly little substance or long-term gain. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “I thought I was very rich and pun intended, that Cory Booker delivered a record-breaking speech that the Democrats were basically just grasping for anything to kind of count as a win, even though it didn’t really amount to anything,” he said, after the New Jersey Democrat held an unofficial filibuster – as there was no legislation being held up – for more than a day. That speech, however, precipitated several fundraising emails from the left, Bednar
Zelensky sheds details on meeting with Vance, Rubio in Rome after Russia peace talks stall
Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Ukrainian President Vlodomyr Zelenskyy in Rome Sunday for ongoing peace talks as the war between Russia and Ukraine continues. “During our talks we discussed negotiations in Istanbul to where the Russians sent a low-level delegation of non-decision-makers. I reaffirmed that Ukraine is ready to be engaged in real diplomacy and underscored the importance of a full and unconditional ceasefire as soon as possible,” Zelenskyy shared on X of the meeting. “We have also touched upon the need for sanctions against Russia, bilateral trade, defense cooperation, battlefield situation and upcoming prisoners exchange. Pressure is needed against Russia until they are eager to stop the war. And, of course, we talked about our joint steps to achieve a just and durable peace,” he continued. ZELENSKYY SPEAKS WITH TRUMP, ALLIES AFTER RUSSIA PEACE TALKS BROKER NO CEASEFIRE World leaders converged in Rome this weekend for Pope Leo XIV’s inaugural mass at the Vatican on Sunday, with Vance leading the U.S. delegation. Zelenskyy also attended the mass. The meeting comes after Russian and Ukrainian officials held their first direct peace talks in years last week in Istanbul. The two sides, however, failed to reach a ceasefire agreement for a war that has raged since February of 2022. Hours after the meeting, a Russian drone strike hit a passenger bus in northeastern Ukraine on Saturday. TRUMP SAYS PUTIN IS ‘TIRED’ OF RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR Russia and Ukraine did agree to a large prisoner swap during the meeting last week, despite not reaching a ceasefire. President Donald Trump said on Friday, during his four-day tour of the Middle East, that he wants to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the war “as soon as we can set it up.” Trump added in a Truth Social post on Saturday that he will speak to Putin by phone on Monday, which will be followed by another call to Zelenskyy and NATO leaders as the U.S. continues to work to broker a peace deal between the two nations as negotiations drag. TRUMP, AFTER SKIPPING RUSSIA-UKRAINE PEACE TALKS, WANTS TO MEET PUTIN ‘AS SOON AS WE CAN SET IT UP’ “I WILL BE SPEAKING, BY TELEPHONE, TO PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN OF RUSSIA ON MONDAY, AT 10:00 A.M. THE SUBJECTS OF THE CALL WILL BE, STOPPING THE ‘BLOODBATH’ THAT IS KILLING, ON AVERAGE, MORE THAN 5000 RUSSIAN AND UKRAINIAN SOLDIERS A WEEK,” Trump posted on his Truth Social Saturday. “HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE A PRODUCTIVE DAY, A CEASEFIRE WILL TAKE PLACE, AND THIS VERY VIOLENT WAR, A WAR THAT SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED, WILL END,” Trump said. “GOD BLESS US ALL!!!” Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion contributed to this report.
Republicans ready late-night session on Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ after GOP mutiny
House lawmakers are being summoned to Capitol Hill late Sunday night as Republicans’ self-imposed deadline to pass President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” looms just days away. The House Budget Committee is meeting at 10 p.m. for a vote on advancing the wide-ranging legislation toward a chamber-wide vote later this week. Initial plans to advance the bill on Friday morning were upended in a mutiny by four members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus – Reps. Chip Roy, R-Texas, Ralph Norman, R-S.C., Josh Brecheen, R-Okla., and Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., all joined Democrats in voting against the bill. The fiscal hawks are opposed to aspects of the legislation’s crackdown on Medicaid, which Republicans have said they are only trimming for waste, fraud, and abuse. But Medicaid work requirements for able-bodied people are not set to kick in until 2029, and conservatives have argued that it was a large window of time for those changes to be undone, among other concerns. ANTI-ABORTION PROVIDER MEASURE IN TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ COULD SPARK HOUSE GOP REBELLION They’re also pushing for a more aggressive effort to repeal green energy tax subsidies passed in the former Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). That push has pitted them against Republican lawmakers whose districts have businesses that have benefited from the tax relief. Meanwhile House GOP leaders and the White House have held the bill up as the most significant fiscal reform in decades. Holdouts were expected to negotiate with GOP leaders in Congress and the White House through the weekend. “I really need to see something in writing. You know, we’ve talked enough. They know where we are. And you know, before, if it’s just if it’s the same old thing, that we can’t get [a majority], we’re going to have to pretty much stick with what we have, I’ve got a problem,” Norman told Fox News Digital on Sunday morning He said he and other critics of the legislation were asked to meet with House GOP leaders at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. BROWN UNIVERSITY IN GOP CROSSHAIRS AFTER STUDENT’S DOGE-LIKE EMAIL KICKS OFF FRENZY Republicans are working to pass Trump’s agenda via the budget reconciliation process, which allows the party controlling both Congress and the White House to pass vast pieces of legislation while completely sidelining the minority – in this case, Democrats. It does so by lowering the Senate’s threshold for passage from 60 votes to 51, lining up with the House’s own simple majority. The legislation must adhere to a specific set of rules, however, including only items related to federal spending, tax, and the national debt. Both the House and Senate are dealing with razor-thin margins. That extends to the House Budget Committee as well, where Republicans can only lose two of their own to still advance the legislation. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was confident that Republicans could overcome their differences and stick to their timeline during an appearance on Fox News Sunday. “The plan is to move it to the Rules Committee by midweek, and to the House floor by the end of the week, as we meet our initial, our original Memorial Day deadline,” Johnson said. Johnson said Republicans also “have got to compromise” on Medicaid work requirements, adding he was in contact with states “to make sure what the earliest possible date is.” “This is the biggest spending reduction in three decades, maybe longer,” Johnson said. Norman signaled that significant compromise was going to have to be made on leaders’ parts. “Let’s say they want it to kick in, in a year or six months. It ought to be now, but we’ll look at that. We’re not inflexible,” he said. “But the main thing I want to relay, this isn’t the end-all-catch-all-be-all. Nobody would disagree that the tax cuts are good policy, and nobody would disagree with President Trump’s wanting to phase out Green New Deal scam credits. Anyone we want to do it on day one. So we’re carrying out his policies.” Meanwhile Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought, a close ally of Roy’s, took to X in support of the bill after it failed Friday. “Critics have attacked the House’s One Big Beautiful reconciliation bill on fiscal grounds, but I think they are profoundly wrong. It is truly historic,” Vought said. “The bill satisfies the very red-line test that House fiscal hawks laid out a few weeks ago that stated that the cost of any tax cut could be paid for with $2.5 trillion in assumed economic growth, but the rest had to be covered with savings from reform.” Trump blasted the people holding up the legislation as grandstanders in a Truth Social post Friday. Those rebels and their allies, however, have argued that they are only pushing to fully enact Trump’s agenda. “He campaigned on cutting the Green New Deal. But it’s really a scam…. But this bill to postpone phase-out for seven years, it’s just money we don’t have,” Norman said. Economic Policy Innovation Center founder Paul Winfree wrote on X Saturday, “Several of the Members of Congress negotiating on the OBBB this weekend are trying to make it even better. In fact, there is a significant group that has been fighting all along to make sure that [Trump] gets the biggest win possible.” Moving ahead with Sunday night’s vote is a sign of confidence by House GOP leaders, but it’s not yet clear how it will play out. In addition to the Medicaid and IRA differences, Republicans must also reconcile current disagreements with blue state GOP lawmakers over State and Local tax (SALT) deduction caps. The legislation raised the current $10,000 cap to $30,000, but a handful of blue state Republicans rejected the compromise as insufficient. Meanwhile, conservatives in redder districts are demanding deeper pay cuts if the SALT deduction cap was raised. SALT Caucus member Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., suggested raising taxes on the highest earners to offset the cost – it would likely be an uphill battle to
Trump’s idea to make Americans have babies again gets mixed reviews from experts
President Donald Trump called himself the “fertilization president” during Women’s History Month, but some experts cited claims that “baby bonuses,” such as the $5,000 plan Trump floated, have been tried in the past and had mixed results. Singapore, Hungary and Australia are three examples of countries where such programs have been instituted. Singapore has been subsidizing parenthood for decades, with the latest endowment per child reaching S$ 11,000 (US $8,000) as of 2023, but the tiny Asian nation still has one of the lowest birth rates in the world. Gabriella Hoffman, an official at the Independent Women’s Forum, wrote on social media that baby bonuses did not work in Hungary. DNC VICE CHAIR SLAMS TRUMP AS ‘PUNK’, WOULD-BE DICTATOR AT FIERY PA TOWN HALL “Why would we replicate this here?” she asked. That country, led by Trump-favored President Viktor Orban, also incentivizes its residents to have more kids, including through tax breaks for families with three or more offspring. Hungary’s birth rate rose slightly about a decade ago but returned to and remains close to one. Australia’s program began in 2004 and indexed to inflation in 2008 what was then an A$ 5,000 (US $3,180) for parents per birth. The government’s self-reported birthrate statistic was about 1.5 as of 2023. Paula Lantz, a social demographer from the University of Michigan, told the Guardian that in the U.S., the percentage of families having more than one child has dropped and that “there is something else going on” – including non-financial considerations like quality of life effects. An official at the liberal Center for American Progress told the outlet she had a child a few months ago and that the promised $5,000 credit “wouldn’t do much” even with good insurance and paid occupational family leave. OBAMA SLAMS PRO-TRUMP MEN AT PHILADELPHIA RALLY WHILE SPRINGSTEEN WARNS GOP NOMINEE IS ‘AN AMERICAN TYRANT’ Andrea Ippolito, founder of maternal health tech platform SimpliFed, told Fox News Digital that while the $5,000 is a “nice boost,” the initiative “just lightly scratches the surface of the support that is needed for families, especially in the early years with childcare and healthcare support that is largely missing from the postpartum care experience.” “In order to increase the birth rate, much more is needed to support and ensure that both mom and baby’s health is prioritized,” Ippolito said. “That means both physical health needs (which are not right now as demonstrated with doubling the preeclampsia rate doubling) and mental health needs.” On the other hand, Emily and Nathan Berning – co-founders of crisis-pregnancy support site LetThemLive.org, said that the baby bonus touted by Trump “is a positive step, but it doesn’t go far enough.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Financial aid after delivery is helpful, but the real need is stability throughout pregnancy—rent, food, counseling, and emotional support,” the Bernings said. “If we want to raise birthrates and protect children, we must act earlier and ensure no woman feels forced into a decision out of fear or isolation.” They touted the benefits of pregnancy clinics that are founded by both pro-life and pro-choice advocates, saying that is how to prioritize “compassion over politics.” Meanwhile, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, introduced a proposal for the feds to provide $1,000 in an account for each American child. The “Invest America Act” would create “a private tax-advantaged account,” and Cruz said in a statement last week the investments can be placed in a broad, low-cost fund that tracks the S&P 500, growing tax-deferred until the individual reaches age 18. Distributions after age 18 would be taxed at the capital gains rate. Fox News Digital reached out to Cruz for any comment on claims from critics that past iterations of the accounts have not been successful. Fox News Digital also reached out to the White House for comment on criticisms.
WH study warns 9 million Americans could lose health insurance in ‘major’ recession if Trump budget bill fails
The White House on Saturday released a study estimating that 8.2 to 9.2 million more Americans could be without health insurance as a result of an ensuing recession if President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” on the budget does not pass. The finding comes from a White House Council of Economic Advisers memo titled, “Health Insurance Opportunity Cost if 2025 Proposed Budget Reconciliation Bill Does Not Pass.” The research assumes that the U.S. had approximately 27 million uninsured people in 2025. If the budget bill does not pass, that could increase to approximately 36 million uninsured people, far closer to the approximately 50 million people who were uninsured before the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, in 2010, according to the memo. ‘FAILURE’S NOT AN OPTION’: TRUMP BUDGET BILL WILL BE ‘BIG’ HELP FOR SENIORS, TOP HOUSE TAX-WRITER SAYS The memo says the estimate is “based on the assumption that states which expanded Medicaid with relatively generous eligibility will pull back to meet balanced budget requirements and try to provide more unemployment support during a severe recession.” It also qualifies its conclusions by saying the analysis assumes “no policy countermeasures,” which the White House describes as a “very unlikely but plausible worse case” scenario. The White House projects that the expiration of the 2017 Trump tax cuts in 2026 and other shocks would trigger a “moderate to severe recession.” The economic advisers report that a “major recession” would result in reduced consumer spending as a result of higher individual taxes, lower small business investment and hiring as a result higher pass-through individual taxes, global confidence shock including concerns about U.S. competitiveness, and dollar deflation tightening credit and pushing real interest rates higher. GOP REBEL MUTINY THREATENS TO DERAIL TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ BEFORE KEY COMMITTEE HURDLE According to the advisers’ “upper bound” estimate of the impact of not extending the Trump tax cuts, U.S. GDP could contract by approximately 4% over two years – similar to the 2008 recession. Unemployment could increase by four percentage points, resulting in approximately 6.5 million job losses. Of those 6.5 million job losses, 60% had employer-sponsored insurance, so the White House projects approximately 3.9 million people would lose coverage and become uninsured as a result. The memo also anticipates a loss of individual and marketplace coverage, as those already without employer-sponsored insurance are no longer able to afford to purchase insurance themselves. The White House expects a 15% drop from approximately 22 million enrolled in 2026 to approximately 3.3 million losing coverage. Without the passage of the “big, beautiful bill,” Medicaid and ACA subsidized plan enrollment could experience 10% enrollment frictions, resulting in approximately 500,000 to 1 million people losing or failing to gain coverage, the memo states. The expiration of the 2017 Trump tax cuts would disproportionately affect non-citizens, gig workers and early retirees, according to the White House. The advisers assess that individuals in those working classes without employer-sponsored insurance would no longer be able to afford coverage as a result of a recession, leading to 500,000 to 1 million insurance losses among “vulnerable segments.” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is laboring to get the “One Big Beautiful Act” through the House by a self-imposed Memorial Day deadline despite divisions among Republicans, who maintain control of the lower chamber by a razor-thin margin. The 1,116-page bill includes more than $5 trillion in tax cuts, costs that are partially offset by spending cuts elsewhere and other changes in the tax code, and would make permanent the tax cuts from Trump’s first term. It also realizes many of Trump‘s campaign promises, including temporarily ending taxes on overtime and tips for many workers, creating a new $10,000 tax break on auto loan interest for American-made cars, and even creating a new tax-free “MAGA account” that would contribute $1,000 to children born in his second term. The Associated Press contributed to this report.