Happy New Year 2025

Tag: GOP

Battle of the chambers: Trump budget test vote cleared in Senate as House GOP lags behind

‘Kudlow’ panelists Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, and Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., discuss delivering on President Donald Trump’s agenda.

The Senate pressed on with its effort to pass a key President Donald Trump agenda item before the Republicans in the House of Representatives get a chance to do it their way.

Republicans advanced a budget resolution in a 50-47 vote to tackle part of Trump’s goals on Tuesday night after moving it through the all-important budget committee last week.

“It’s time to act on the decisive mandate the American people gave to President Trump in November. Securing the border, rebuilding our defense, and unleashing American energy. That starts this week with passing Chairman [Sen. Lindsey Graham’s] budget. Let’s get it done,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., wrote in a post on X ahead of the vote.

MCCONNELL’S MENTAL ACUITY TARGETED BY TRUMP AFTER EX-SENATE LEADER JOINS DEMS AGAINST CABINET NOMINEES

The Senate maneuvered past a procedural hurdle on its preferred Trump budget bill after leapfrogging the House Republicans who were expected to take the lead on the process. (Getty Images / Getty Images)

The progress on the Senate GOP’s preferred two-pronged budget reconciliation approach adds fuel to the growing dispute between the upper and lower chambers on how to proceed. The House and Senate GOP’s have favored different ways to use the crucial reconciliation process to achieve Trump’s priorities quickly, and up until recent weeks, the lower chamber was expected to take the lead.

The reconciliation process lowers the threshold to advance a bill in the Senate from 60 votes to just 51. And with a 53-vote majority in the upper chamber, Republicans are poised to push policies through with only support from the GOP conference.

In the Senate Republicans’ plan, the first reconciliation bill would include Trump’s priorities for border security, fossil fuel energy and national defense. The second bill, drawn up later in the year, would focus on extending Trump’s tax policies from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). The cuts begin to expire at the end of 2025.

DEMS TORCHED OVER DOGE SECURITY CLAIMS AFTER ALLOWING ‘WIDE-OPEN’ BORDER, ‘EMPOWERING IRAN’

House Republicans have long-favored one large reconciliation bill that includes all of Trump’s agenda items, from border security to tax cuts.

However, the lower chamber failed to move before its Senate counterpart.

“I’m afraid it’s a nonstarter over here. And, you know, I’ve expressed that to him. And there is no animus or daylight between us. We all are trying to get to the same achievable objectives. And there’s just, you know, different ideas on how to get there,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., previously said of the Senate’s bill.

Johnson said the bill would be dead on arrival in the House. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Ahead of the Senate’s Tuesday test vote, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., called on Republicans to pass the House bill, “It’s time to act on ALL of the powerful mandates the American people gave to [Trump] in November: Securing the border, opening up American energy to lower costs, keeping tax rates low (including no tax on tips), strengthening our national defense, a two-year extension of the debt ceiling, and passing into law DOGE’s identified waste in government.”

“All of Trump’s priorities in one big, beautiful bill start moving when we pass [Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington’s] budget. Let’s go Make America Great Again!” Scalise added.

TRUMP AGRICULTURE PICK CONFIRMED AS PRESIDENT RACKS UP CABINET WINS

In the upper chamber, facing pressure as the Senate Budget Committee chairman, Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., brought up the first bill of two in his committee last week as Trump officials stressed an urgent need for border funding to Congress. The House GOP recently moved its own large bill through committee.

Republicans in the lower chamber have held that taking on two bills as opposed to one would leave them vulnerable to failure when it comes to passing tax cuts later in the year. With a slim and sometimes unruly Republican majority, the House Republicans expect they would have better odds with a one-bill reconciliation approach.

Graham moved the budget bill through his committee last week. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images / Getty Images)

Despite this, the Senate appears to be pressing forward on its two-pronged bid, setting up a potential “vote-a-rama” in the coming days.

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The Senate budget vote triggered a 50-hour clock for debate on the reconciliation measure. A marathon of votes on an unlimited number of amendments is expected to follow at some point during the days-long debate. Senators can offer up as many amendments as they want to the resolution, forcing Republicans to take a large number of potentially uncomfortable votes.

As long as senators keep offering amendments, the Senate has to keep voting on them, one after another. Once the budget debate clock runs out, the Senate can vote on actually passing the reconciliation resolution.

February 19, 2025
MAGA loyalists take aim at GOP senator as key Trump defense post sparks controversy: ‘Why the opposition?’

A key Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee is reportedly on the fence about one of President Donald Trump’s Defense nominees over his stance on a nuclear Iran – a potential roadblock to his confirmation given the GOP’s slim Senate majority.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., is reportedly hesitant about the nomination of former Defense official Elbridge Colby to serve as the under secretary of defense for policy, a key Defense post that remains unmanned amid the ongoing confirmation process.

“Senator Cotton is focused on ensuring all defense nominees commit to supporting President Trump’s position that Iran must not have a nuclear weapon, and Cotton will be addressing this in meetings and hearings with the nominees,” a source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital.

Colby has previously suggested that the U.S. living with a nuclear Iran is more plausible than countering the country’s nuclear assets, a position that reportedly is causing concern from the key Senator whose support could determine his confirmation.

MCCONNELL’S MENTAL ACUITY TARGETED BY TRUMP AFTER EX-SENATE LEADER JOINS DEMS AGAINST CABINET NOMINEES

Sen. Tom Cotton serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)

Cotton’s potential opposition to the Trump nominee sparked debate among prominent MAGA figures on social media.

RUMP’S KEY TO CABINET CONFIRMATIONS: SENATE-TURNED-VP VANCE’S GIFT OF GAB

“Why the opposition to Bridge? What does he think Bridge will do?” Elon Musk wrote in a post on X of reports that Cotton was not on board with the nomination.

“The effort to undermine President Trump continues in the US Senate @SenTomCotton is working behind the scenes to stop Trump’s pick, Elbridge Colby, from getting confirmed at DOD,” Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, said on X. “Colby is one of the most important pieces to stop the Bush/Cheney cabal at DOD. Why is Tom Cotton doing this?”

“Is Tom Cotton’s resistance to Bridge Colby more about IRI than anything else? As in maybe Cotton’s blocking Colby ain’t that principled. . .” American Majority CEO Ned Ryun posted on X.

Elbridge Colby speaks at the National Conservative Conference in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, July 9, 2024. (Dominic Gwinn)

“Cotton has other problems that he doesn’t want exposed. He’ll support Colby,” former Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn claimed on X.

Vice President JD Vance expressed support for the Trump nominee, writing that “Bridge has consistently been correct about the big foreign policy debates of the last 20 years.”

“He was critical of the Iraq War, which made him unemployable in the 2000s era conservative movement. He built a relationship with CNAS when it was one of the few institutions that would even hire a foreign policy realist,” Vance said.

Vice President JD Vance delivers a speech during the plenary session of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Summit at the Grand Palais in Paris on Feb. 11, 2025. (Reuters)

Colby, who worked in the Pentagon during Trump’s first term, has also received endorsements from other members of the Senate.

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“.@ElbridgeColby is a fighter who will execute President Trump’s mandate to end decades of DC foreign policy failures and stop forever wars abroad—The reason the establishment fears him is because he’s 100% aligned with Trump’s agenda,” Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, wrote on X. “Senate Republicans should confirm him ASAP!”

Colby’s Senate confirmation hearing remains unscheduled as the chamber works to confirm more of Trump’s cabinet nominees.

Fox News Digital reached out to Colby for comment.

Aubrie Spady is a Writer for Fox News Digital.

February 18, 2025
MAGA loyalists take aim at GOP senator as key Trump defense post goes unmanned: ‘Why the opposition?’

A key Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee is reportedly on the fence about one of President Donald Trump’s Defense nominees over his stance on a nuclear Iran – a potential roadblock to his confirmation given the GOP’s slim Senate majority.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., is reportedly hesitant about the nomination of former Defense official Elbridge Colby to serve as the under secretary of defense for policy, a key Defense post that remains unmanned amid the ongoing confirmation process.

“Senator Cotton is focused on ensuring all defense nominees commit to supporting President Trump’s position that Iran must not have a nuclear weapon, and Cotton will be addressing this in meetings and hearings with the nominees,” a source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital.

Colby has previously suggested that the U.S. living with a nuclear Iran is more plausible than countering the country’s nuclear assets, a position that reportedly is causing concern from the key Senator whose support could determine his confirmation.

MCCONNELL’S MENTAL ACUITY TARGETED BY TRUMP AFTER EX-SENATE LEADER JOINS DEMS AGAINST CABINET NOMINEES

Sen. Tom Cotton serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)

Cotton’s potential opposition to the Trump nominee sparked debate among prominent MAGA figures on social media.

RUMP’S KEY TO CABINET CONFIRMATIONS: SENATE-TURNED-VP VANCE’S GIFT OF GAB

“Why the opposition to Bridge? What does he think Bridge will do?” Elon Musk wrote in a post on X of reports that Cotton was not on board with the nomination.

“The effort to undermine President Trump continues in the US Senate @SenTomCotton is working behind the scenes to stop Trump’s pick, Elbridge Colby, from getting confirmed at DOD,” Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, said on X. “Colby is one of the most important pieces to stop the Bush/Cheney cabal at DOD. Why is Tom Cotton doing this?”

“Is Tom Cotton’s resistance to Bridge Colby more about IRI than anything else? As in maybe Cotton’s blocking Colby ain’t that principled. . .” American Majority CEO Ned Ryun posted on X.

Elbridge Colby speaks at the National Conservative Conference in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, July 9, 2024. (Dominic Gwinn)

“Cotton has other problems that he doesn’t want exposed. He’ll support Colby,” former Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn claimed on X.

Vice President JD Vance expressed support for the Trump nominee, writing that “Bridge has consistently been correct about the big foreign policy debates of the last 20 years.”

“He was critical of the Iraq War, which made him unemployable in the 2000s era conservative movement. He built a relationship with CNAS when it was one of the few institutions that would even hire a foreign policy realist,” Vance said.

Vice President JD Vance delivers a speech during the plenary session of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Summit at the Grand Palais in Paris on Feb. 11, 2025. (Reuters)

Colby, who worked in the Pentagon during Trump’s first term, has also received endorsements from other members of the Senate.

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“.@ElbridgeColby is a fighter who will execute President Trump’s mandate to end decades of DC foreign policy failures and stop forever wars abroad—The reason the establishment fears him is because he’s 100% aligned with Trump’s agenda,” Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, wrote on X. “Senate Republicans should confirm him ASAP!”

Colby’s Senate confirmation hearing remains unscheduled as the chamber works to confirm more of Trump’s cabinet nominees.

Fox News Digital reached out to Colby for comment.

Aubrie Spady is a Writer for Fox News Digital.

February 18, 2025
California sheriff and Trump supporter launches GOP bid to succeed Gov. Newsom

A tough-on-crime Republican sheriff who was a supporter of President Donald Trump in last year’s election on Monday launched a campaign for California governor.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco announced his candidacy at an event Monday in Riverside, California, about 50 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, in the 2026 race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.

“As Californians we want leadership that actually cares about the cost of living …and leaders who will do something about it,” Bianco said in his address, according to prepared excerpts.

He emphasized that “we want homes we can afford. We want air conditioning when it’s hot, not rolling blackouts. We want water for the crops and animals that feed us. We want the opportunity to achieve the California Dream, not be prevented from it because of red tape and regulation from government. We want honesty and transparency from our elected officials. We want lower taxes and less government waste. We want sanity restored and common sense to prevail.”

TOP TRUMP OFFICIAL TEASES CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL BID IF FORMER VP HARRIS RUNS

Sheriff Chad Bianco of Riverside County speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on May 15, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

Bianco, a vocal critic of Newsom and other state Democratic leaders when it comes to the issues of crime and punishment, was one of the leaders who helped push California’s Proposition 36 ballot measure to a landslide victory in last November’s elections. The measure, which took effect in December, mandates stiffer penalties and longer sentences in California for certain drug and theft crimes.

“I am running for Governor because our beautiful state – which I absolutely love – is heading down the wrong track and has been for years. Everyone knows it, except those sitting in the Sacramento echo chamber. For decades the party in complete control of our state government has tried the same failed ideas and implemented the same failed policies,” Bianco argued, as he took aim at Newsom and the Democratic majorities in the state legislature.

Bianco, who has worked in law enforcement for more than three decades, was first elected sheriff in 2018. He’s been openly flirting with a 2026 gubernatorial run since at least last spring.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana., center, listens to Sheriff Chad Bianco of Riverside County, Calif., speak during a news conference in the U.S. Capitol to recognize law enforcement as part of Police Week on Wednesday, May 15, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

It’s been nearly two decades since a Republican won statewide office in heavily blue California. You have to go all the way back to former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2006 re-election victory.

There has been plenty of speculation since former Vice President Kamala Harris’ election defeat last November to Trump regarding her next political move, with the two potential options likely being launching a 2026 gubernatorial run in her home state of California or seeking the presidency again in 2028.

MAJOR CALIFORNIA DEMOCRAT PREEDICTS FORMER VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS WOULD CLEAR GUBERNATORIAL FIELD

Harris served as San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general and U.S. senator before becoming vice president.

Sources in the former vice president’s political orbit say no decisions have been made about any next steps.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, at the PNC Music Pavilion in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The Democrats’ field for governor in the heavily blue-leaning state is already crowded.

Among the more than half-dozen candidates already running for governor are Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, a Harris ally, and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

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Former Rep. Katie Porter, who unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic Senate nomination last year, has expressed interest in launching a campaign.

Additionally, former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, who served in Congress and as California attorney general before joining the Biden administration, is also seen as a potential contender.

Former Fox News Channel host and conservative commentator Steve Hilton is considering a Republican run for California governor.

And one of Trump’s top aides is floating a potential bid for California governor if Harris also runs.

Ric Grenell, U.S. envoy for special missions in President Trump’s second administration, speaks on stage on the third day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 17, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Richard Grenell, a longtime Trump loyalist who is serving as U.S. envoy for special missions in the president’s second administration, told reporters late last week, “If Kamala Harris runs for governor, I believe that she has such baggage and hundreds of millions of dollars in educating the voters of how terrible she is, that it’s a new day in California and that the Republican actually has a shot.”

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Grenell, who served as ambassador to Germany and as acting director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term, considered a run for California governor during the 2021 recall election that Newsom eventually ended up easily winning, but he ultimately decided against launching a campaign.

In California, unlike most other states, the top two finishers in a primary, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the general election.

Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in New Hampshire.

February 17, 2025
Trump ally Ramaswamy to announce 2026 GOP campaign for Ohio governor in one week

Vivek Ramaswamy will launch his 2026 campaign for Ohio governor in one week, sources confirm to Fox News.

The multi-millionaire biotech entrepreneur, who went from long shot to contender for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination before dropping out 13 months ago and becoming a top supporter and surrogate of now-President Donald Trump, will announce his candidacy on Feb. 24 in his hometown of Cincinnati.

Ramaswamy will kick off his campaign – in the race to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Mike DeWine – at CTL Aerospace just outside of Cincinnati. AP was first to report the news.

Sources with knowledge say CTL Aerospace, a privately held company that specializes in aviation repair and original equipment manufacturing, symbolizes Ramaswamy’s push for a new age of growth of industry in Ohio.

RAMASWAMY DONE AT DOGE AS HE HEADS BACK ON CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Vivek Ramaswamy, who is expected to launch a Republican campaign for Ohio governor in the 2026 race to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Mike DeWine, is seen arriving at Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 5, 2024. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The candidate is expected to make stops over the following two days in the Columbus, Toledo and Cleveland areas.

Ramaswamy, who’s now 39 years old, launched his presidential campaign in February 2023 and quickly saw his stock rise.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON VIVEK RAMASWAMY

He campaigned on what he called an “America First 2.0” agenda and was one of Trump’s biggest supporters in the field of rivals, calling Trump the “most successful president in our century.”

Ramaswamy dropped his White House bid in January of last year after a distant fourth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses and quickly endorsed Trump, becoming a staple for the former and future president on the campaign trail during the general election.

Vivek Ramaswamy endorses former President Donald Trump during a campaign event in Atkinson, New Hampshire, on Jan. 16, 2024. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump, in the days after his November presidential election victory, named Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, along with Ramaswamy, to steer the Department of Government Efficiency initiative, which is better known by its acronym DOGE.

But late last month, as Trump was inaugurated, the new administration announced that Ramaswamy was no longer serving at DOGE. Ramaswamy’s exit appeared to clear the way for Musk, Trump’s top donor and key ally, to steer DOGE without having to share the limelight.

“It was my honor to help support the creation of DOGE. I’m confident that Elon & team will succeed in streamlining government. I’ll have more to say very soon about my future plans in Ohio. Most importantly, we’re all-in to help President Trump make America great again!,” Ramaswamy wrote at the time.

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy were named by President Donald Trump to lead the Department of Government Efficiency. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Ramaswamy and Musk sparked a firestorm among Trump’s hard core MAGA supporters over their support for H-1B temporary worker visas for highly skilled workers from foreign countries. Ramaswamy’s comments criticizing an American culture that he said “venerated mediocrity over excellence” received plenty of pushback from some leading voices on the right as well as some in Trump’s political circle.

DeWine announced last month that Lt. Gov. Jon Husted would fill the U.S. Senate seat that was held by JD Vance, Trump’s 2024 running mate, until he stepped down ahead of the inauguration.

Before the Senate announcement, Husted had planned to run for governor in 2026 to succeed DeWine. Ramaswamy, for his part, had expressed interest in serving in the Senate.

Gov. Mike DeWine announces his appointment of Lt. Gov. Jon Husted to fill the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by JD Vance, on Jan. 17, 2025, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Julie Carr Smyth)

DeWine’s decision to choose Husted to fill the vacant Senate seat appeared to accelerate Ramaswamy’s move toward launching a run for governor.

Top members of Vance’s political team – including advisors Andy Surabian and Jai Chabria, who played major roles in Vance’s 2022 Senate race and in his vice presidential campaign last summer and autumn – are helping Ramaswamy as he runs for governor.

Tony Fabrizio, the veteran Republican pollster who worked on Trump’s 2016 and 2024 campaigns, as well as Vance’s 2022 Senate campaign, is also on board, as is Arthur Schwartz, a close ally to Vance and Donald Trump Jr.

The race for the GOP gubernatorial nomination could be competitive. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, 68, announced last month his candidacy for governor.

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“This is my heart, my home,” Yost said in a press release announcing his candidacy. “I work for the people of Ohio, and I love my bosses. From the time I get up in the morning until I go to bed at night, I’m thinking about them and our future.”

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost speaks at the Columbiana County Lincoln Day Dinner in Salem, Ohio, on March 15, 2024. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Yost also brought in staff from Trump’s political world, announcing that former Trump campaign official Justin Clark had joined the campaign as a general consultant.

Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel, a well-known former Ohio State University head football coach who was sworn in last month to succeed Husted, appears to be mulling a gubernatorial run.

Former Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton is currently the only Democrat in the race.

Ohio, which was once a top general election battleground, has shifted red over the past decade as Republicans have dominated statewide elections.

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Ramaswamy was raised in Evendale, Ohio, in suburban Cincinnati by parents who emigrated from India. His father worked as an engineer at General Electric Aviation and his mother was a geriatric psychiatrist. Ramaswamy and his family currently live in suburban Columbus.

The soon-to-be candidate filed paperwork on Friday with the Ohio secretary of state’s office ahead of his campaign launch.

Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in New Hampshire.

February 17, 2025
GOP chairman responds after protesters are tossed from USAID spending hearing

A group of protesters attempted to derail a USAID hearing at the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday, demanding that President Donald Trump’s administration restore aid funding.

Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., poked fun at the protesters for being behind the times after they interrupted opening statements from witnesses before the committee.

“PEPFAR saves lives. Restore AIDS funding now,” the protesters chanted as they were forced out of the chamber.

“I guess these guys don’t watch the news. They didn’t realize that PREPFAR was one of the many programs that did prove to be life-saving so the funding was restored,” Mast said. “Somebody better give them a link to, I don’t know, maybe Fox News or something like that.”

RUBIO PAUSES FOREIGN AID FROM STATE DEPARTMENT AND USAID TO ENSURE IT PUTS ‘AMERICA FIRST’

Chairman Brain Mast suggested protesters should read more news articles. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

PEPFAR is a global AIDS relief program that has been credited with saving over 20 million lives since it was created under President George W. Bush.

The program received a waiver from Trump’s administration to continue its work despite the wider funding freeze impacting USAID and state department aid programs.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also created a wider exemption for “life-saving medicine, medical services, food, shelter, and subsistence assistance, as well as supplies and reasonable administrative costs as necessary to deliver such assistance,” Congressional Republicans noted in a memo.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio gave an exemption to the funding freeze for programs that are “life-saving,” among other things. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)

Republicans have blasted the wider wasteful spending at USAID and the state department, however.

NONCITIZEN VOTER CRACKDOWN LED BY HOUSE GOP AHEAD OF 2026 MIDTERMS

The memo also highlighted funding programs including “$39,652 to host seminars at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on gender identity and racial equality through the State Department” and “$425,622 to help Indonesian coffee companies become more climate and gender friendly through USAID.”

USAID has been folded into the State Department. (Getty Images)

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Other priorities listed included “$14 million in cash vouchers for migrants at the southern border through the State Department,” “$446,700 to promote the expansion of atheism in Nepal through the State Department” and “$32,000 for an LGBTQ-centered comic book in Peru.”

Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to [email protected], or on Twitter: @Hagstrom_Anders.

February 13, 2025
Trump budget bill faces key vote after rocky reception from House GOP

The House GOP’s proposal for a massive conservative policy overhaul has already gotten a rocky reception from Republican lawmakers, and with their current majority, Republicans will need to vote in near lock-step to pass anything without Democratic support.

“I think it’s probably going to have to be modified in some way before it comes to the floor,” House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., told Fox News Digital.

Other members of the GOP hardliner group also balked at the bill. Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., called it a “pathetic” attempt at cutting spending.

“We’ll still be accelerating towards a debt spiral,” Burlison said.

SCOOP: KEY CONSERVATIVE CAUCUS DRAWS RED LINE ON HOUSE BUDGET PLAN

House Speaker Mike Johnson is navigating fraught House GOP dynamics to advance Trump’s agenda. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, Photo by Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu via Getty Images/Fox News Channel)

House and Senate Republicans are working to use their majorities to advance President Donald Trump’s agenda via the budget reconciliation process. By reducing the threshold for passage in the Senate from two-thirds to a simple majority, which the House is already at, it allows the party in power to pass budgetary and fiscal legislation without help from the opposition.

The first step in the process is to advance a framework through the House and Senate budget committees, which then gives directions to other committees on how much funding they get to implement their relevant policy agendas.

The Senate Budget Committee approved its own plan on Wednesday night, while the House counterpart is poised to meet on their proposal Thursday morning.

It’s not immediately clear if that bill will pass, however. Four conservatives on the House Budget Committee – Reps. Chip Roy, R-Texas, Ralph Norman, R-S.C., Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., and Josh Brecheen – did not commit to voting for the 45-page proposal backed by GOP leaders that was released on Wednesday morning.

Roy said he was “not sure” if the legislation could advance on Thursday morning when asked by Fox News Digital.

“We’ll see,” Norman said when asked if the bill would pass out of committee.

Clyde and Brecheen similarly would not say how they felt about the proposal when leaving the speaker’s office on Wednesday afternoon.

Rep. Chip Roy is one of the Budget Committee members unhappy with the bill. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

If all four voted against the legislation, it would be enough to block the resolution from advancing to the House floor.

Other conservatives also expressed reservations. Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., told Fox News Digital, “I’m not super happy with it.”

“It just doesn’t do enough to address fiscal cuts,” Crane said.

The House’s 45-page bill would mandate at least a $1.5 trillion reduction in federal spending over the next 10 years, coupled with $300 billion in new spending for border security and national defense over the same period.

It would also raise the debt ceiling by $4 trillion – something Trump had demanded Republicans deal with before the U.S. runs out of cash to pay its debts, projected to happen by the spring if Congress does not act.

BLACK CAUCUS CHAIR ACCUSES TRUMP OF ‘PURGE’ OF ‘MINORITY’ FEDERAL WORKERS

And while hardline conservatives wanted deeper spending cuts written into the bill, Republicans on the House Ways & Means Committee are uneasy about the $4.5 trillion allocated toward extending Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 – which expires at the end of 2025.

“Let me just say that a 10-year extension of President Trump’s expiring provisions is over $4.7 trillion according to CBO. Anything less would be saying that President Trump is wrong on tax policy,” Ways & Means Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., told The Hill earlier this week.

A member of the committee, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital, “I have some concerns regarding Ways & Means not being provided with the largest amount to cover President Trump’s tax cuts — especially [State and Local Tax deduction (SALT)] relief and a tax reduction for senior citizens, which are both also priorities of mine.”

Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, said he had not read the legislative text but that Smith believed the $4.5 trillion figure was “about a trillion off from where we need to be in order to make it work.”

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The resolution’s first big test comes at 10 a.m. ET on Thursday.

Republicans are aiming to use reconciliation to pass a broad swath of Trump’s priorities, from more funding for law enforcement and detention beds at the U.S.-Mexico border to eliminating taxes on tipped and overtime wages.

The Senate’s plan would advance border, energy, and defense priorities first while leaving taxes for a second bill.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., called that plan a “nonstarter” this week, however. House leaders are concerned that leaving tax cut extensions for a second bill could allow those measures to expire before lawmakers reach an agreement.

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to [email protected]

February 13, 2025
‘Makes sense’: GOP, Dems unite behind Trump’s plan to fire the penny

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Washington D.C. – Democratic and Republican lawmakers found consensus about President Donald Trump in his decision to eliminate the penny, telling Fox News Digital on Capitol Hill that it “makes sense” to stop making cents.

Trump announced on Sunday that he was instructing the Treasury Department to stop producing new pennies, writing in a Truth Social post that it costs more than two cents to mint a single one-cent coin.

Fox News Digital asked members of Congress for their two cents about Trump eliminating the coin, with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle saying they agree with his decision.

Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., speaking to Fox News Digital, said eliminating the penny “might be the best” thing Trump has done since taking office.

HOW TRUMP MIGHT GET RID OF THE PENNY – AND WHAT COULD COME NEXT FOR YOUR POCKET CHANGE

Democratic and Republican lawmakers spoke with Fox News Digital on Capitol Hill about whether they agree with President Donald Trump’s elimination of the penny. (Fox News Digital)

“In all the things he’s done in his first month in office, that might be the best,” Moskowitz told Fox. “We haven’t printed the penny since 2023, so I’m good with him eliminating it.”

DEMOCRAT SENATOR BACKS TRUMP’S ‘COMMON SENSE MOVE’ TO FIRE THE PENNY

Standing with Moskowitz was Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md. “I agree with eliminating the penny,” he said.

Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin said he supports Trump stopping production on the penny. (Fox News Digital)

“It costs more to make a penny than it’s worth, so if that’s what he wants to do, that’s fine,” another Democrat, Rep. Ami Bera, D-Calif., said.

According to the U.S. Mint, the government agency that makes coins, the Treasury Department lost more than $85 million on the pennies they produced in 2024.

“If it takes two cents to make one cent, it kinda makes sense, doesn’t it?” Rep. Carlos Giménez, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital.

Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., said it “makes financial sense” given that the cost to make a penny is more than the coin is worth.

Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani said he supports doing away with the penny. (Fox News Digital)

Rep. George Latimer, D-N.Y., said he is talking to local businesses in his communities, and will support the route that best accommodates them.

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“I’ve talked to some local businesses in our community to see how that affects them. And the question would be, does it make their life easier or more difficult?” Latimer said. “If they tell me, it’s easier, then it’s a good decision. They tell me it’s more difficult when they have to calculate sales tax and things that don’t even out to zeros or fives, then it’s not a good idea.”

February 13, 2025
Trump supporting California sheriff to launch GOP run for governor in race to succeed Newsom: sources

A tough-on-crime Republican sheriff in southern California who was a supporter of President Trump in last year’s election will launch a campaign for Golden State governor, a source familiar confirms to Fox News.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco is expected to announce his candidacy at a scheduled event Monday in Riverside, California, about 50 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, in the 2026 race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Bianco, a vocal critic of Newsom and other state Democratic leaders when it comes to the issues of crime and punishment, was one of the leaders who helped push California’s Proposition 36 ballot measure to a landslide victory in last November’s elections.

WHAT SHERIFF CHAD BIANCO TOLD FOX NEWS

Sheriff Chad Bianco of Riverside County speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on May 15, 2024. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

The measure, which took effect in December, mandates stiffer penalties and longer sentences in California for certain drug and theft crimes.

MAJOR CALIFORNIA DEMOCRAT PREEDICTS FORMER VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS WOULD CLEAR GUBERNATORIAL FIELD

Bianco, who has worked in law enforcement for more than three decades, was first elected sheriff in 2018. He’s been openly flirting with a 2026 gubernatorial run since at least last spring.

House Speaker Mike Johnson listens to Sheriff Chad Bianco speak during a news conference in the U.S. Capitol on May 15, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

When asked late last year in a Fox News interview if he knew of anyone who might be capable of producing change in Sacramento – California’s capital city – Bianco responded, “I might, I might know someone that would go there with nothing but common sense and the betterment of the citizens of California rather than some crazy ideological agenda that truly makes absolutely no sense to any of us.”

The news regarding Bianco was first reported by Politico.

It’s been nearly two decades since a Republican won statewide office in heavily blue California. You have to go all the way back to former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2006 re-election victory.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is term-limited and cannot seek re-election in 2026. (California Governor Gavin Newsom YouTube channel)

There has been plenty of speculation since former Vice President Kamala Harris’ election defeat last November to Trump regarding her next political move, with the two potential options likely being launching a 2026 gubernatorial run in her home state of California or seeking the presidency again in 2028.

Harris served as San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general and U.S. senator before becoming vice president.

Sources in the former vice president’s political orbit say no decisions have been made about any next steps.

Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks at the Democratic National Committee’s holiday reception in Washington, D.C., Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

The Democrats’ field for governor in the heavily blue-leaning state is already crowded.

Among the more than half-dozen candidates already running for governor are Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, a Harris ally, and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

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Former Rep. Katie Porter, who unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic Senate nomination last year, has expressed interest in launching a campaign.

Additionally, former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, who served in Congress and as California attorney general before joining the Biden administration, is also seen as a potential contender.

Former Fox News Channel host and conservative commentator Steve Hilton is considering a Republican run for California governor.

In California, unlike most other states, the top two finishers in a primary, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the general election.

Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in New Hampshire.

February 13, 2025
Investor tells CNBC the time of ‘white flag’ GOP is over as DOGE targets wasteful spending

Investor and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale defended the Department of Government Efficiency, arguing it brings much-needed tech sector sensibility to the American government.

Investor and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale defended the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) hasty process to overhaul government spending, arguing that a few mistakes are all part of the process.

Lonsdale was interviewed on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday, where he touted the success of DOGE targeting wasteful or frivolous government spending, arguing that, “in 20 days, we’ve done what we couldn’t do in multiple generations.”

The entrepreneur suggested that previous efforts by lawmakers in the Reagan era to curb spending failed because they were not tech experts like those at DOGE, “and so when they went to the bureaucracy, and they asked questions, there’s so many ways of obscuring and blocking and deterring, and so what Elon did is he got root access, and he went to the tech systems themselves.”

CNBC co-host Rebecca Quick warned that as much as she agrees with cutting waste in theory, cancer payments and legitimate aid to those starving in Africa may be affected amid DOGE’s efforts.

Investor and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale defended DOGE’s approach during a lengthy interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” (CNBC)

DOGE SLASHES OVER $100M IN DEI FUNDING AT EDUCATION DEPARTMENT: ‘WIN FOR EVERY STUDENT’

“I think the legitimate stuff needs to be turned back on,” Lonsdale agreed, but argued, “I do think Africa can now pay for more of this themselves. South Africa is spending money suing Israel. They’re spending money supporting political parties calling for the death for White people. Maybe they should redirect that money to pay for their own clinics.”

“I just think there’s a question about how careful either Elon or others need to be,” co-host Andrew Sorkin said.

Another co-host of the show, Joe Kernen, replied, “Slash and burn a lot of this stuff.”

Lonsdale argued, however, that changing times call for new tactics.

“Andrew, we’ve been careful for 50 years, right? You have a bunch of white flag Republicans, you have a bunch of people on the left making money off of it, people on the right making money off it too. Everyone wants to be careful and keep it going. You’re not going to get perfect answers in life. I think this is by far the best thing for our civilization is to very boldly confront this,” he said. “And this is more, I guess, of a tech world way than a D.C. way.”

Elon Musk arrives on Capitol Hill on December 5, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images / Getty Images)

PALANTIR CEO TOUTS ELON MUSK’S DOGE, ABILITY TO HOLD ‘SACRED COW OF THE DEEP STATE’ ACCOUNTABLE

“You’re probably right that there are going to be some things that need to be turned back on. There’s going to be some things that were mislabeled that no one knew what they were. But it’s a mess. And so, it’s a mess. And it’s such a mess that I think being bold is the right answer. I get it’s going to have a few mistakes, but I’d rather have those few mistakes and fix it.

He later appeared to reference Musk’s SpaceX ambitions and quipped, “Being careful and slow isn’t how we get to Mars.”

DOGE Caucus founder Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., on Elon Musk’s efforts to curtail government spending and a discovery regarding social security.

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February 13, 2025