Happy New Year 2025

Tag: Leaders

  • Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti 2025 Wishes: PM Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi and Other Leaders Extend Greetings on Shivaji Maharaj’s Birth Anniversary

    Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti 2025 Wishes: PM Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi and Other Leaders Extend Greetings on Shivaji Maharaj’s Birth Anniversary

    Today, February 19, is the birth anniversary of the great Maratha King, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Born on this day in 1630. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s legacy is honoured and remembered on this day. Additionally, Maharashtra observes Shiv Jayanti as a dry day. On the occasion of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti, politicians across party lines took to social media to remember the Maratha king. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said, “I bow to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti on his Jayanti,” while Congress leader Rahul Gandi said that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj inspired all to raise their voice with fearlessness and full dedication. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Maharashtra Deputy Chife Minster Eknath Shinde and several other leaders also paid tributes to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti 2025 Date: All About Shiv Jayanti That Marks The Birth Anniversary of the Founder of the Maratha Empire.

    ‘I Bow to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti on His Jayanti’

    His Life Will Always Be a Source of Inspiration for All of Us, Says Rahul Gandhi

    ‘His Valour and Visionary Leadership Laid the Foundation for Swarajya’

    Tributes to the Virtuous, Righteous and Wise King

    Tribute to the Adorable Deity of United India

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  • Trump warns agency leaders against ‘wasteful spending’ in new memo

    Trump warns agency leaders against ‘wasteful spending’ in new memo

    President Donald Trump issued an unsmiling warning to bureaucrats on Tuesday, ordering that leaders of government agencies begin to be “radically transparent” about spending.

    The White House published a memo entitled “Radical Transparency About Wasteful Spending” on Tuesday afternoon, directed at the heads of executive departments and agencies.

    The memo begins by arguing that the American government “spends too much money on programs, contracts, and grants that do not promote the interests of the American people.”

    “For too long, taxpayers have subsidized ideological projects overseas and domestic organizations engaged in actions that undermine the national interest,” the note continues. “The American people have seen their tax dollars used to fund the passion projects of unelected bureaucrats rather than to advance the national interest.”

    HOMAN TAKES VICTORY LAP AFTER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CROSSINGS PLUMMET DURING TRUMP ADMIN: ‘HE IS DELIVERING’

    U.S. President Donald Trump steps from Air Force One upon arrival in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., February 16, 2025. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

    “The American people have a right to see how the Federal Government has wasted their hard-earned wages.”

    Trump continued the memo by ordering that all heads of executive departments and agencies must “take all appropriate actions to make public, to the maximum extent permitted by law…the complete details of every terminated program, cancelled contract, terminated grant, or any other discontinued obligation of Federal funds.”

    “Agencies shall ensure that such publication occurs in accordance with all applicable laws, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the underlying contract, grant, or other award,” Trump continued.

    EMMANUEL MACRON CALLS ‘EMERGENCY MEETING’ FOR EUROPEAN LEADERS TO DISCUSS TRUMP: REPORT

    Trump signs executive order

    President Donald Trump speaks to reporters in the Oval Office of the White House, where he signed an executive order, on Thursday, Feb. 13. (AP/Ben Curtis)

    The memo came as Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) commission continues to audit government agencies with a mission to reduce waste. On Monday night, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared on “Hannity” to express support for DOGE’s audits.

    “[L]isten to the words from those Democrat politicians, you would think you are listening to President Trump, Elon Musk and our entire administration, who are saying the exact same things that Democrat politicians promised the American people they would do for decades,” Leavitt said. “President Trump is just the first president in our lifetimes to actually do it.”

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    President-Trump-departs-White-House

    U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media before boarding Marine One at the White House in Washington, D.C. on January 31, 2025. (BRYAN DOZIER/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

    “And now you see the Democrat Party and the mainstream media spiraling out of control about a very simple promise: rooting out waste, fraud and abuse from our federal bureaucracy,” she continued. “This is a promise President Trump campaigned on. He is now delivering on it.”

    Andrea Margolis is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Readers can send story tips to [email protected].

  • Euro leaders offended by Vance should ‘have a beer with’ their people to understand concerns: US conservatives

    Euro leaders offended by Vance should ‘have a beer with’ their people to understand concerns: US conservatives

    European leaders upset by Vice President JD Vance’s recent remarks in Munich should consider listening to their own citizens’ concerns instead of worrying about fellow elites, say U.S. conservatives who attended a global conference in London.

    Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., and Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts spoke to a group of reporters after the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship conference in London on Tuesday evening GMT. The conference is intended to bring together those with a vision of citizen empowerment throughout the world and is associated with Canadian psychologist and media commentator Jordan Peterson.

    Vance had previously told the Bavarian confab of world leaders that “the threat that I worry the most about vis-à-vis Europe is not Russia; it’s not China. It’s not any other external actor – What I worry about is the threat from within the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America.” 

    TRUMP’S UKRAINE ENVOY PULLS NO PUNCHES WITH EUROPE, SAYS EU MIGHT NOT HAVE PLACE IN RUSSIA PEACE TALKS

    Vance also criticized what he called “cavalier” and “shocking” fearmongering about a right-wing German party in the upcoming chancellor elections.

    “What JD Vance was saying to Munich just the other day was a recognition that it is not for our governments to control our lives and in order to make sure that we have the freedom and liberties that we need to order our own lives and make our own decisions,” Hageman said. 

    The Wyoming lawmaker, who unseated Liz Cheney in what was similarly seen as a populist win over the political establishment, spoke of what she called a “new hope” for global conservatism to prevail against “backsliding” governments that put in place onerous regulations instead of listening to the people.

    GREEN GOVERNANCE IS THE NEW GUISE FOR MERCANTILISM: KEVIN ROBERTS

    Roberts, meanwhile, offered advice to world leaders like German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who expressed outrage at Vance’s speech – in which the vice president warned of such proverbial backsliding from the West’s “most fundamental values,” like free speech and government responsiveness to the populace.

    Roberts said the reaction appears limited to a “small number of very vocal European leaders like [Scholz] and unfortunately, is emblematic of what we’ve seen the last few years.”

    “[Scholz] and particularly [France’s Emmanuel Macron] and a couple of other leaders like to wag their finger at Americans and say we must do more to defend their interests when they themselves don’t make enough sacrifices to spend the requisite spending for defense as part of their annual budgets,” Roberts said.

    “And that’s the kind of commonsense revolution that [Vance and President Donald Trump] are bringing to both domestic politics and foreign policy.”

    VANCE SPEAKS AT CPAC

    Referencing conversations he’s had while in London and at the conference, Roberts said he and Hageman are “translating” American conservative policies outlined by people like Vance to the Europeans – and they are being receptive.

    “The translation would be easier if more of these European leaders were more engaged in common sense,” he said.

    “Maybe having a beer with everyday Germans rather than spending so much time in Brussels (at the EU).”

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    Scholz had expressed outrage at Vance’s nod to the right-wing Alternativ für Deutschland (AfD) party in Berlin’s upcoming elections. The party, while aligning with some of the global right’s economic principles, also has what critics consider select callbacks to the Nazi Party, which was banned in Germany post-World War II.

    “Today’s democracies in Germany and Europe are founded on the historic awareness and realization that democracies can be destroyed by radical anti-democrats,” Scholz said this week.

    “And this is why we’ve created institutions that ensure that our democracies can defend themselves against their enemies and rules that do not restrict or limit freedom but protect it.”

    Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital. 

    He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant. 

    Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.

    Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to [email protected].

  • Car driver in Munich plows into crowd 1 day before Vance and world leaders gather for security conference

    Car driver in Munich plows into crowd 1 day before Vance and world leaders gather for security conference

    At least 20 people were injured on Thursday when a car driver drove into a crowd in Munich, Germany, the BBC reported. Police say the driver was detained at the scene and there is no further danger at this time.

    This incident comes just hours before Vice President JD Vance and other world leaders will arrive in the city for a security conference that is set to take place on Friday.

    This is a developing story, please check back for updates.

    Rachel Wolf is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and FOX Business.

  • House leaders press ahead with Trump budget bill despite GOP infighting

    House leaders press ahead with Trump budget bill despite GOP infighting

    The House and Senate are headed for a collision course on federal budget talks as each chamber hopes to advance its own respective proposals by the end of Thursday.

    Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters Tuesday that the House Budget Committee would take up a resolution for a massive bill to advance President Donald Trump’s agenda later this week. The panel then scheduled its meeting on the matter for 10 a.m. ET on Thursday. 

    Senate Republicans, meanwhile, resolved to push forward with their own legislation after the House GOP missed its self-imposed deadline to kick-start the process last week. 

    And while the two chambers agree broadly on what they want to pass via reconciliation, they differ significantly on how to get those goals over the finish line. 

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

    Johnson is working to pass Trump’s agenda. (Getty Images)

    “What’s the alternative, the Senate version?” Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., said when asked if House Republicans could come to an agreement. “When has the Senate ever given us anything conservative?”

    House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, caught some members of the Republican conference by surprise at their closed-door meeting on Tuesday morning when he announced to the room that his panel would be advancing a reconciliation resolution, two lawmakers told Fox News Digital.

    House and Senate Republicans are aiming to use their congressional majorities to pass a massive conservative policy overhaul via the budget reconciliation process.

    By reducing the Senate’s threshold for passage from two-thirds to a simple majority, where the House already operates, Republicans will be able to enact Trump’s plans while entirely skirting Democratic opposition, provided the items included relate to budgetary and other fiscal matters.

    GOP lawmakers want to include a wide swath of Trump’s priorities, from more funding for border security to eliminating taxes on tipped and overtime wages.

    House Republicans’ plans to advance the bill through committee last week were scuttled after fiscal hawks balked at initial proposals for baseline reductions in government spending – frustrating rank-and-file lawmakers.

    House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington wants to advance a reconciliation bill this week.

    House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington wants to advance a reconciliation bill this week. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

    “This is a mechanism that needs to happen that some people are getting hung up on,” one exasperated House GOP lawmaker said. “Some people are acting as if this – you know, I appreciate they’re taking this seriously, but this is just getting the clock started.”

    More recent proposals traded by the House GOP would put that minimum total anywhere between roughly $1 trillion and $2.5 trillion.

    Meanwhile, the Senate’s proposal is projected to be deficit-neutral, according to a press release. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., hopes to advance it by the end of Thursday.

    Johnson told reporters Tuesday that bill would be dead on arrival in the House.

    “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,” the speaker said.

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

    Tensions are growing, however, with Johnson’s critics beginning to blame his leadership for the lack of a definitive roadmap.

    “We’re totally getting jammed by the Senate. Leaders lead, and they don’t wait to get jammed,” Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital. “If I had somebody who was arguing with me about a top-line number, and if I was speaker, they wouldn’t be in that position anymore.”

    Sen. Lindsey Graham

    Sen. Lindsey Graham speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on July 31, 2024. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

    “And I would figure out a way to be resourceful working with the conference and working lines of communication, as opposed to hiding everything and then being three weeks late on the top-line number.”

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    Johnson told reporters that details of a plan could be public as soon as Tuesday night.

    The Senate’s plan differs from the House’s goal in that it would separate Trump’s priorities into two separate bills – including funding for border security and national defense in one bill, while leaving Trump’s desired tax cut extensions for a second portion.

    House GOP leaders are concerned that leaving tax cuts for a second bill could leave Republicans with precious little time to reckon with them before the existing provisions expire at the end of this year.

    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]

  • Vance tells world leaders AI must be ‘free from ideological bias,’ American tech won’t be censorship tool

    Vance tells world leaders AI must be ‘free from ideological bias,’ American tech won’t be censorship tool

    Vice President JD Vance told world leaders in Paris that AI must be free from ideological bias, and that American tech wont be a censorship tool. (Credit: Reuters)

    Vice President JD Vance told world leaders in Paris on Tuesday that the United States intends to remain the dominant force in artificial intelligence (AI) and warned that the European Union’s far tougher regulatory approach to the technology could cripple it. 

    Vance warned that the technology should be free from ideological bias and that President Donald Trump’s administration would ensure that the most powerful artificial intelligence systems would be built in the United States. He added that Washington wanted to partner with the world in the industry.

    “We feel very strongly that AI must remain free from ideological bias and that American AI will not be co-opted into a tool for authoritarian censorship,” said Vance, at his first scheduled trip abroad since taking office.

    Vice President JD Vance told world leaders in Paris that the United States intends to remain the dominant force in AI and warned that the EU’s far tougher regulatory approach to the technology could cripple it. (REUTERS/Benoit Tessier / Reuters)

    MUSK-LED GROUP OF INVESTORS SUBMIT UNSOLICITED BID OF $97.4B TO TAKE OVER OPENAI: REPORT

    “We believe that excessive regulation of the AI sector could kill a transformative industry just as it’s taking off, and we’ll make every effort to encourage pro-growth AI policies and I’d like to see that deregulatory flavor making its way into a lot of the conversations at this conference.”

    Vance was speaking at the AI Action Summit where world leaders, top tech executives and policymakers gathered to discuss the technology’s impact on global security, economics and governance. French President Emmanuel Macron, Indian Prime Minister Shri Modi and Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing were among those in attendance. 

    The summit comes weeks after Trump announced a new $500 billion AI infrastructure project called Stargate. 

    Vance said that Europe’s online privacy rules, known by the acronym GDPR, meant endless legal compliance costs for smaller firms.

    European lawmakers last year approved the bloc’s AI Act, the world’s first comprehensive set of rules governing the technology. Tech giants and some capitals are pushing for it to be enforced leniently.

    jd vance ai summit

    Vice President JD Vance speaking at the summit on Tuesday.  (LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

    ELON MUSK AND TECH LEADER SAM ALTMAN GET INTO WAR OF WORDS OVER AI INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT

    Vance has previously suggested the U.S. should reconsider its NATO commitments if European governments impose restrictions on Elon Musk’s social media platform, X.

    “Many of our most productive tech companies are forced to deal with the EU’s Digital Services Act and the mass of regulations it created about taking down content and policing so-called misinformation,” Vance said. 

    “And of course, we want to ensure that the internet is a safe place, but it is one thing to prevent a predator from preying on a child on the internet, and it is something quite different to prevent a grown man or woman from accessing an opinion that the government thinks is misinformation.

    Vance said that hostile foreign adversaries have weaponized AI software to rewrite history, surveil users, censor speech and undermine other nations’ national security. He said the Trump administration will work to safeguard American AI and chip technologies from theft and misuse.

    He also said American workers will be central to the United States’ policies on AI.

    Artificial intelligence logo

    Vance said American workers will be central to the United States’ policies on AI. (iStock / iStock)

    “We believe – and we will fight for policies that ensure – that AI is going to make our workers productive, and we expect that they will reap the rewards, with higher wages, better benefits and safer and more prosperous communities,” Vance said. “From law to medicine, manufacturing, the most immediate applications of AI almost all involved supplementing – not replacing – the work being done by Americans.”

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    The U.S. and the U.K. did not sign the Paris AI Summit’s declaration entitled “Statement on Inclusive and Sustainable Artificial Intelligence.”

    The communiqué prioritizes “ensuring AI is open, inclusive, transparent, ethical, safe, secure and trustworthy, taking into account international frameworks for all” and “making AI sustainable for people and the planet.”

    It wasn’t immediately clear why the U.S. and the U.K. did not sign up. 

    Reuters contributed to this report. 

  • Trump budget bill standoff prompts GOP rebels to mutiny House leaders

    Trump budget bill standoff prompts GOP rebels to mutiny House leaders

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    The hard-line conservative House Freedom Caucus has released its own proposal to enact President Donald Trump’s agenda via the budget reconciliation process.

    The plan would pair a debt ceiling increase and increased border security funding with deep spending cuts through welfare work requirements and rollbacks on progressive Biden administration initiatives.

    It’s a sign that House GOP leaders have still not found consensus within the conference on a path forward, despite ambitious plans to get a bill through the chamber at the end of the month.

    House and Senate Republicans are aiming to use their congressional majorities to pass a massive conservative policy overhaul via the budget reconciliation process.

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

    The House Freedom Caucus during the 118th Congress (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images)

    By reducing the Senate’s threshold for passage from one-third to a simple majority, where the House already operates, Republicans will be able to enact Trump’s plans while entirely skirting Democratic opposition, provided the items included relate to budgetary and other fiscal matters.

    GOP lawmakers want to include a wide swath of Trump priorities from more funding for border security to eliminating taxes on tipped and overtime wages.

    But fiscal hawks have also demanded the package be deficit-neutral or deficit-reducing. Congressional leaders can afford little dissent with their razor-thin majorities and guaranteed lack of Democratic support.

    The Freedom Caucus’s plan would follow through on conservatives’ pleas for deep spending cuts, pairing $200 billion in annual new spending for the border and national defense with $486 billion in spending cuts for the same 10-year period.

    It would also include a $4 trillion increase in the debt ceiling, something Trump demanded be part of Republicans’ fiscal negotiations.

    Spending cuts would be found in codifying rollbacks to the Biden administration’s electric vehicle mandates and imposing Clinton administration-era work requirements for certain federal benefits, among other measures.

    US-POLITICS-TRUMP-DEPARTURE

    Republicans are working to pass President Trump’s agenda via reconciliation. (ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)

    The legislation leaves out one critical component of Trump’s reconciliation goals – the extension of his 2017-era Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

    House GOP leaders and Republicans on the Ways & Means Committee had pushed for them to be included alongside border security, debt ceiling, defense and energy measures in one massive reconciliation bill. 

    They argued that leaving them for a second bill, which the House Freedom Caucus plan would do, will allow Trump’s tax cuts to expire at the end of this year before Congress has time to act.

    The two-track approach is also favored by Senate Republicans, who are moving forward with their own plan this week.

    Conservatives on the House Budget Committee pushed back against GOP leaders’ initial proposals for baseline spending cuts to offset new spending in the reconciliation plan, forcing the House to punt on plans to advance a resolution through the House Budget Committee last week.

    Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., later announced plans to advance his own proposal through his committee by Thursday.

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

    “”The biggest loser this weekend wasn’t at the Super Bowl, but rather the American people,” Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., told Fox News Digital. “The clock is ticking, and we are no closer to a budget deal, which is why the House Freedom Caucus released our Emergency Border Control Resolution Budget to secure our border and address Trump’s America First Agenda.”

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris, R-Md., said in a statement, “Given the current delay in the House on moving a comprehensive reconciliation bill, moving a smaller targeted bill now makes the most sense to deliver a win for the President and the American people.”

    Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas, said, “The American people voted for Donald Trump to see action – not for Congress to sit on its hands while our short window to pass his America-First agenda closes.”

    Supporters of the two-bill approach have said it would secure early wins on issues Republicans agree most on while leaving more complex matters like tax cuts for the latter half of the year.

  • Ramabai Ambedkar Jayanti 2025: Leaders Pay Tributes to Dr BR Ambedkar’s Wife on Her Birth Anniversary, Hail Her Steadfast Support to Babasaheb

    Ramabai Ambedkar Jayanti 2025: Leaders Pay Tributes to Dr BR Ambedkar’s Wife on Her Birth Anniversary, Hail Her Steadfast Support to Babasaheb

    Ramabai Ambedkar was the wife of Dr BR Ambedkar, the father of the Indian Constitution. She is fondly remembered as Ramai or Mother Rama because of her humility and compassion. Ramabai was born to a poor Dalit family on February 7, 1898. On the occasion of her birth anniversary, several leaders such as Union Leaders Nitin Gadkari, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Uttar Pradesh Deputy CM KP Maurya, and NCP (AP) MP Sunetra Pawar paid tributes to Ramabai Ambedkar. Mahaparinirvan Diwas 2024: Mallikarjun Kharge, Yogi Adityanath and Other Leaders Pay Tribute to Dr BR Ambedkar on His Death Anniversary.

    Ramabai Ambedkar Jayanti 2025

    Arjun Ram Meghwal Pays Tribute

    UP Deputy CM Remembers Ramabai Ambedkar

    Sunetra Pawar Pays Tribute

    Ramabai Ambedkar Jayanti 

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  • Trump spells out tax plan for House GOP leaders in White House meeting

    Trump spells out tax plan for House GOP leaders in White House meeting

    President Donald Trump gathered with House Republican leaders at the White House on Thursday to relay his tax priorities. 

    In the meeting, he told House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., and others that he wants to fulfill his campaign promise to stop taxing tips. 

    White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt updated reporters as the lengthy meeting was still ongoing, detailing that Trump wants “no tax on seniors, Social Security, no tax on overtime pay.”

    TRUMP, GOP SENATORS TO DINE AT MAR-A-LAGO BEFORE CAMPAIGN RETREAT

    Johnson and other House GOP leaders have preferred one large reconciliation bill. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

    Additionally, she said, he wants to renew his tax cuts from 2017 in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). The legislation’s provisions begin to expire later this year. 

    Leavitt added that Trump is focused on also adjusting the cap on State and Local Tax (SALT) deductions, which has been a sticking point for Republicans in states with high costs of living. 

    Further, Trump laid out to House Republicans that he is looking to “eliminate all the special tax breaks for billionaire sports team owners; close the carried interest tax deduction loophole,” and institute “tax cuts for Made in America products.”

    INSIDE SEN. TOM COTTON’S CAMPAIGN TO SAVE TULSI GABBARD’S ENDANGERED DNI NOMINATION

    Karoline Leavitt speaks at White House press briefing

    Leavitt shared the tax priorities with the press. (AP/Evan Vucci)

    “This will be the largest tax cut in history for middle-class working Americans. The president is committed to working with Congress to get this done,” Leavitt said. 

    Trump’s meeting with the House GOP leaders on taxes comes as the lower chamber attempts a one-bill budget plan that includes all of the president’s agenda priorities, including both the border and taxes. 

    LEADER THUNE BACKS SENATE GOP BID TO SPEED PAST HOUSE ON TRUMP BUDGET PLAN

    Mike Johnson leads a press conference on the second full day of President Donald Trump's second term

    House leaders joined Trump at the White House. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

    The budget 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.

    The House Republicans have yet to move forward with a plan for the budget, however, allowing the Senate GOP to move out ahead of them. 

    SENATORS LEAPFROG HOUSE REPUBLICANS ON ANTICIPATED TRUMP BUDGET BILL

    Lindsey Graham, Donald Trump, Mike Johnson

    A plan to leapfrog House Republicans on the reconciliation process was unveiled to senators on Wednesday.  (Reuters)

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    On Wednesday, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., announced his intent to push a first bill on border, defense and energy through next week. Taxes would be addressed later in the year as part of a second budget resolution. 

    The move threatened the House Republicans’ positioning to lead the process and spearhead a one-bill approach. 

    Julia Johnson is a politics writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business, leading coverage of the U.S. Senate. She was previously a politics reporter at the Washington Examiner. 

    Follow Julia’s reporting on X at @JuliaaJohnson_ and send tips to [email protected].

  • ‘America has DOGE fever’: States from NJ to TX draft similar initiatives as federal leaders celebrate

    ‘America has DOGE fever’: States from NJ to TX draft similar initiatives as federal leaders celebrate

    The spread of DOGE-centric legislation and bureaucracies has taken off like a SpaceX rocket in several states across the country since Elon Musk and lawmakers like Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., began their work on that front this year.

    Bean, chair of the bipartisan DOGE Caucus, was asked about copycat initiatives popping up around the country and remarked, “America has DOGE fever.”

    “As elected officials, we must ensure we are good stewards of taxpayer dollars. This means we must identify, investigate and eliminate wasteful spending.”

    With a governor’s race in November and President Donald Trump only losing their state by a historically small margin, Garden State Republicans appeared bullish this week as they put forth a proposal to “bring DOGE to New Jersey.”

    ‘DOGE MEETS CONGRESS’: LAWMAKER LAUNCHES NEW PANEL ON GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY

    The Congressional DOGE Caucus is led by Rep. Aaron Bean. (House of Representatives/Getty)

    GOP Assemblymen Alex Sauickie and Christopher DePhillips recently introduced Resolution 213 to create the NJ Delegation on Government Efficiency within the Treasury Department.

    Sauickie quoted former President Ronald Reagan’s 1985 retort that “government is like a baby – an alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other.”

    “Except babies, if raised and disciplined rightly, grow into adults who usually become productive members of society. Those adopting our state budgets show no such discipline,” Sauickie said, adding that it is time for “grownups to take responsibility and say ‘no’” to reckless spending.

    Some Trenton lawmakers have painted New Jersey’s financial outlook as a “fiscal cliff,” and DePhillips blamed outgoing Gov. Phil Murphy for claiming he inherited the problem from Republican Gov. Chris Christie.

    “Taxpayers want accountability for how their hard-earned money is spent,” DePhillips said.

    He also called on Murphy to “stop fighting Trump” and lower New Jersey’s business taxes before the third-founded state in the union “loses out” on the potential upswing of the new administration.

    Republican state Sen. Joe Pennacchio added in a recent Fox News Digital interview that he would be forming a DOGE committee in the state legislature.

    “We’re mirroring what the federal government and what [Musk is] doing,” said Pennacchio.

    TOP DOGE LAWMAKER SAYS TRUMP ALREADY RACKING UP WINS

    trenton_makes_bridge_NJ

    The “Trenton Makes” bridge that spans the Delaware River between Trenton, New Jersey, and Morrisville, Pennsylvania. (Getty)

    This week, Kentucky lawmakers also prioritized government efficiency measures, with Republican state Rep. Jared Bauman forwarding a bill to establish a working group to help the state treasury modernize its tax collections and accounting.

    In Texas, lawmakers in both the state Senate and House are working on DOGE-centric initiatives.

    Senate President Pro-Tempore Brandon Creighton, a Republican, first oversaw the passage of the strongest DEI ban in the U.S. during the 2023 session, which eliminated billions in taxpayer-funded waste and refocused public universities on education over social issues.

    After DOGE formed at the federal level, Creighton said Texas is already a model for how a jurisdiction that prioritizes government efficiency will work.

    “Seeing the swift action by President Trump and Elon Musk with DOGE is a welcome and necessary new era in Washington, D.C. – and I know they are just getting started,” Creighton told Fox News Digital on Wednesday.

    “Many have said that Washington should take notes from Texas – because the Texas economic engine is proof that when government is committed to efficiency, accountability and conservative results, taxpayers win.”

    Meanwhile, Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, officially the president of the Senate, announced a bill late last month called “Texas DOGE – Improving Government Efficiency,” according to Bloomberg.

    Another reported bill by Republican state Sen. Bryan Hughes would form a DOGE office in the executive branch.

    Meanwhile, the Texas House is considering forming a DOGE committee to analyze government efficiency through a 13-member panel.

    St. Louis

    The St. Louis, Missouri, skyline along the Mississippi River (Getty)

    It would investigate fraud claims, inefficient use of tax dollars, and the use of AI, according to FOX-7.

    In Missouri, Republican state Rep. Ben Baker told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Missourians believe the state government is not as efficient or responsive as it should be.

    “We want to look into that,” said Baker.

    Baker recently announced he was named to lead the state’s new DOGE Standing Committee, adding his work will “align with federal efforts.”

    In New Hampshire, newly-inaugurated Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s first executive order created a 15-member Commission on Government Efficiency (COGE).

    “COGE will make us smarter than ever before when it comes to saving taxpayer dollars and finding better ways to serve the people of our state,” she said in her inaugural address.

    It will be led by former Gov. Craig Benson and businessman Andy Crews.

    North Carolina also sought to get in on the DOGE trend.

    Republican House Speaker Destin Hall unveiled the new NC Select Committee on Government Efficiency.

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    Cape hatteras in North Carolina

    Cape Hatteras, North Carolina (Reuters)

    State Reps. Keith Kidwell and John Torbett, both Republicans, will lead the initiative, looking into waste, duplication, mismanagement and constitutional violations.

    “As the new Trump administration rightfully takes aim at Washington D.C.’s wasteful spending and inefficient bureaucracy, it is time for us in Raleigh to do the same,” Kidwell said in a statement.

    Bean, the U.S. House’s DOGE leader, further remarked on the collective efforts: 

    “It’s exciting to see states pick up the DOGE baton, and I applaud their efforts to improve government efficiency and stop the abuse of taxpayer dollars.”

    Some in Congress, however, have cast doubt on DOGE. Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., said at an anti-DOGE rally that some of the actions at the federal level are “completely illegal.”

    Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital. 

    He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant. 

    Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.

    Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to [email protected].