Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will advance to the next step in his effort to become Donald Trump’s Health and Human Services Secretary. The vaccine skeptic and environmental crusader who ran for the White House in 2024 before ending his bid and endorsing Trump sustained his bid for a cabinet position in the 47th president’s administration.
The 27-member panel of 14 Republicans and 13 Democrats on the Senate finance committee approved Kennedy’s advancement by a part line vote of 14-13
Kennedy’s controversial nomination has progressed slowly as the president’s other choices have been moving through the upper chamber and several have been confirmed and sworn in. Even Trump’s controversial Defense Secretary pick, Pete Hegseth, made it past committee and ultimately was confirmed with Vice President Vance casting the tie-breaking vote.
TRUMP HEALTH SECRETARY NOMINEE RFK JR. SURVIVES HEATED HEARINGS
Kennedy survived back-to-back combustible Senate confirmation hearings last week, where Trump’s nominee to lead 18 powerful federal agencies that oversee the nation’s food and health faced plenty of verbal fireworks over past controversial comments, including his repeated claims in recent years linking vaccines to autism, which have been debunked by scientific research.
TRUMP HEALTH SECRETARY NOMINEE RFK JR. SURVIVES HEATED HEARINGS
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies during his Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing on Jan. 29, 2025, in Washington, D.C.(Getty Images)
During the hearings, Democrats also spotlighted Kennedy’s service for years as chair or chief legal counsel for Children’s Health Defense, the nonprofit organization he founded that has advocated against vaccines and sued the federal government numerous times, including a challenge over the authorization of the COVID vaccine for children.
While no Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee were expected to vote to confirm Kennedy, the spotlight was on Sen. Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana physician and chair of the Senate Health Committee.
Cassidy issued a last minute endorsement indicating a party line vote for Kennedy.
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“Your past of undermining confidence in vaccines with unfounded or misleading arguments concerns me,” Cassidy told Kennedy at the end of Thursday’s confirmation hearing.
Cassidy’s office confirmed Sunday evening that the senator and Kennedy had been speaking earlier that day.
The 71-year-old Kennedy, a scion of the nation’s most storied political dynasty, launched a long-shot campaign for the Democrat presidential nomination against President Joe Biden in April 2023. But six months later, he switched to an independent run for the White House.
Kennedy made major headlines again last August when he dropped his presidential bid and endorsed Trump. While Kennedy had long identified as a Democrat and repeatedly invoked his late father, former Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, and his late uncle, former President John F. Kennedy – who were both assassinated in the 1960s – Kennedy in recent years built relationships with far-right leaders due in part to his high-profile vaccine skepticism.
Trump announced soon after the November election that he would nominate Kennedy to his Cabinet to run HHS.
Kennedy, whose outspoken views on Big Pharma and the food industry have also sparked controversy, has said he aims to shift the focus of the agencies he would oversee toward promotion of a healthy lifestyle, including overhauling dietary guidelines, taking aim at ultra-processed foods and getting to the root causes of chronic diseases.
“Our country is not going to be destroyed because we get the marginal tax rate wrong. It is going to be destroyed if we get this issue wrong,” Kenendy said Thursday as he pointed to chronic diseases. “And I am in a unique position to be able to stop this epidemic.”
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With Republicans controlling the Senate by a 53-47 majority, Kennedy can only afford to lose the support of three GOP senators if Democrats unite against his confirmation on the floor of the chamber.
Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in New Hampshire.
A key vote to advance a massive conservative policy bill has been delayed, putting House Republicans behind in their ambitious schedule to enact President Donald Trump’s agenda.
The House Budget Committee had initially aimed to go through and approve the legislation this week, but a source familiar with planning told Fox News Digital that is no longer the case.
It comes after conservatives on the panel rejected multiple offers by House GOP leaders on where to set a baseline for cutting federal spending, urging senior Republicans to seek deeper cuts ahead of negotiations with the Senate.
“I guess they want to get the resolution out. I do, too. I want to get it out of committee, have an up or down vote. But if you set that floor too low, that’s all that’s going to be achieved,” Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., who sits on the House Budget Committee, told Fox News Digital on Monday. “I have no confidence that they would exceed whatever level we put in there.”
SCOOP: KEY CONSERVATIVE CAUCUS DRAWS RED LINE ON HOUSE BUDGET PLAN
Speaker Mike Johnson is navigating a razor-thin House majority while trying to enact President Trump’s agenda.(Getty Images)
Norman is one of several members of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus who sits on the budget committee.
With just a razor-thin majority in the House – and by extension, on committees – Republicans can afford dissent from just one or two members to pass anything along party lines.
It’s a significant hurdle facing the GOP as they seek to use their House and Senate majorities to pass a sweeping conservative policy overhaul via the budget reconciliation process.
By lowering the threshold for Senate passage from 60 votes to 51 out of 100, the maneuver allows the party in power to skirt its opposition to advance its agenda – provided the items included relate to budgetary and other fiscal matters. The House of Representatives already has a simple majority threshold.
Republicans are hoping to use reconciliation to pass a broad swath of Trump’s policy goals, from more funding at the border to removing taxes on tipped and overtime wages.
Rep. Ralph Norman is among the conservatives pushing for deeper spending cuts in reconciliation.(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
But conservatives have also demanded that any reconciliation bill also reduce the national deficit by pairing new spending with extreme cuts in federal dollars going elsewhere.
The first step in the reconciliation process is getting the bill through Congress’ budget committees, which then directs other committees to find areas for cuts and policy changes under their specific jurisdictions.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said that guidelines for spending cuts would be a “floor” not a “ceiling.”
Fox News Digital was told that GOP leaders initially presented what amounted to a $300 billion floor for cuts, paired with $325 billion in new defense and border spending.
BLACK CAUCUS CHAIR ACCUSES TRUMP OF ‘PURGE’ OF ‘MINORITY’ FEDERAL WORKERS
Conservatives later rejected another offer that amounted to a rough total of $900 billion in spending cuts, with about $300 billion in new spending, Fox News Digital was told.
Norman said he wanted the floor set to $2 trillion or $3 trillion.
Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., another Freedom Caucus member on the budget panel, said he was optimistic about reaching a deal, but that there were “a lot of conversations about starting the process from the most conservative position possible.”
Rep. Ben Cline said he was optimistic about reaching a deal but that there were ‘a lot of conversations about starting the process from the most conservative position possible.’(Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“The Senate is not as interested in fiscal responsibility, so we recognize the need to set parameters for authorizing committees that encourage that… from the beginning,” Cline said Monday.
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Johnson said he wanted the bill to advance through committee this week with a goal of passing an initial House version by the end of February.
Fox News Digital reached out to Johnson’s office for comment.
The speaker said on “Fox & Friends” Monday morning of reconciliation talks, “Republicans are working right now to negotiate what that looks like. We don’t want to blow a hole in the deficit by extending the Trump-era tax cuts, for example, but we’re definitely going to get that extended. So we got to find those savings.”
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.
President Donald Trump was handed the “opportunity to save Medicare” after the Biden administration rolled out its final Medicare Advantage proposal early in January that experts say underfunds the insurance plan after already facing rate cuts in previous years.
“This is Trump’s opportunity to save Medicare,” former Republican New York Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle, who is also a former nurse and was chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission until 2019, told Fox News Digital in January.
“Medicare Advantage is Medicare for 34 million Americans who choose it. Those seniors are experiencing disruption with their healthcare as a result of two years of cuts — if Trump ensures MA gets funded in line with projected medical cost trends in 2026, he’ll be fixing Joe Biden’s mistake and giving seniors the healthcare they deserve right before the GOP’s midterm elections.”
Medicare Advantage plans are private health insurance plans that contract with Medicare and are used by roughly 34 million Americans. The program mostly enrolls adults older than the age of 65, but also offers benefits to people of all ages with disabilities. Traditional Medicare, conversely, is a federal health insurance program for adults older than the age of 65, as well as younger individuals with disabilities.
The Biden administration previously had made cuts to Medicare Advantage rates, including in April 2024, when experts said enrollees would face an additional $33 a month for out-of-pocket costs, or $396 a year, due to the cuts. Critics at the time said the cuts would be especially devastating to seniors living on fixed incomes who are already coping with ongoing inflation issues.
DON’T LET BIDEN SNEAK IN MORE MEDICARE CUTS ON HIS WAY OUT THE DOOR
The Biden administration previously had made cuts to Medicare Advantage rates, including in April 2024, when experts said enrollees would face an additional $33 a month for out-of-pocket costs, or $396 a year, due to the cuts.(Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Roughly two weeks before leaving office, the Biden administration rolled out its final regulation affecting Medicare Advantage, which did not outright cut rates as it did for 2024 and 2025, but increased the average benchmark payment to Medicare Advantage plans by 2.2%.
The proposal, however, seemingly works as another cut and underfunds Medicare Advantage because the proposed rates are still lower than the current rate of inflation, Buerkle said, with the consumer price index showing a 12-month inflation rate of 2.7%. The proposal also comes on the heels of the Biden administration finalizing a 1.12% cut for fiscal year 2024 and a 0.16% cut for fiscal year 2025.
TRUMP PUTS BIDEN ON DEFENSE FOR MEDICARE ADVANTAGE CUTS
“Underfunding for Medicare Advantage will result in higher premiums, more out-of-pocket costs, and higher deductibles for the 34 million Americans who choose Medicare Advantage,” Buerkle told Fox News Digital. “This, on top of the inflation that the Biden Administration caused by their flagrant spending creates a difficult situation for those seniors on a fixed income.”
The Trump administration has until April 7 to finalize its policy for fiscal year 2026.(Evan Vucci/The Associated Press)
The proposal is not yet locked in, as the newly minted Trump administration has until April 7 to finalize its policy for fiscal year 2026.
“Medicare Advantage saved the federal government $144 billion over the last decade,” Buerkle said.
That is because Medicare Advantage plans “use taxpayer dollars more efficiently than traditional Medicare,” she said. “By managing the care for 34 million seniors, MA plans are able to offer more benefits for the same price as original Medicare. Senior satisfaction rate is high, too, with 96% of seniors reporting their satisfaction with their MA plan. So, making sure MA is funded appropriately is a gift to taxpayers,” Buerkle said.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services touted the proposal when it was released in early January, saying the health plan will continue providing affordable care, while “being a good steward of taxpayer dollars.”
The agency “has worked to ensure that people with Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D have access to stable and affordable offerings,” said Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure. “Today’s Advance Notice continues CMS’ efforts to provide access to affordable, high-quality care in Medicare Advantage while being a good steward of taxpayer dollars. We are also continuing implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act, ensuring people with Medicare Part D have more affordable coverage for their medications.”
A Trump administration official told Fox Digital that staffers are reviewing Biden administration proposals and polices skeptically, but that no policy has been set in stone related to Medicare Advantage.(Getty Images)
Former Republican Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindall, who served as an advisor to the U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services under President George W. Bush’s administration, published an op-ed for Fox Digital in December 2024, warning against the Biden administration issuing any last-minute Medicare Advantage cuts ahead of Trump taking back the Oval Office.
“Over the past two years, the administration has implemented a series of changes that have effectively reduced funding for Medicare Advantage,” he wrote. “These cuts are disguised as ‘payment adjustments,’ but the reality is clear: they are cutting funding for a program that seniors overwhelmingly support. The results? Higher premiums, reduced benefits, and narrower provider networks for many Medicare Advantage enrollees.”
Jindall added that Medicare Advantage can be improved to better serve seniors and other enrollees, but he argued “the left” has resisted improving the system in favor of promoting a government-focused program.
“Members in both parties have called for modifying the calculation of risk adjustments, to improve a system that can be gamed and often rewards companies for documenting patient acuity rather than actually improving outcomes,” he wrote. “But, the left does not want to improve Medicare Advantage — they want to undermine the program to advance their long-term goal of centralizing more health care under the government’s control.”
A Trump administration official told Fox Digital that staffers are reviewing Biden administration proposals and polices skeptically but that no policy has been set in stone related to Medicare Advantage.
Trump joined House Republican lawmakers in Florida on Jan. 27, when he vowed not to cut Medicare or Social Security.
“I will not sign any bill that cuts even a single penny from Medicare or Social Security for our great seniors. We don’t have to do that. We don’t have to do that. We’ll not touch those benefits in any way, shape or form. I want to use that because during the campaign, they had these fake ads that Trump is going to cut Social Security,” he said.
BIDEN-HARRIS MEDICARE CUTS ARE HARMING SENIORS WITH COVERAGE LOSSES, PREMIUM HIKES: FORMER CONGRESSWOMAN
President Donald Trump, left, joined House Republican lawmakers in Florida on Jan. 27, when he vowed not to cut Medicare or Social Security. Roughly two weeks before leaving office, the administration of former President Joe Biden, right, rolled out its final regulation affecting Medicare Advantage. (Getty Images)
Buerkle previously spoke to Fox News Digital that the Biden administration’s cuts for 2024–2025 served as a backdoor attempt to gut Medicare Advantage in an effort to promote “Medicare for All,” a government-focused health system that has long been on a policy wishlist for left-wing lawmakers.
Buerkle said the Biden admin’s latest and last policy proposal on Medicare Advantage “absolutely” serves as another backdoor attempt to push Medicare for All.
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“Medicare for All advocates despise the success of Medicare Advantage because it reveals the flaws in a government-run managed care system,” she said. “The goal is simple: destroy MA as a means to get to Medicare for All.”
OLeary Ventures Chairman Kevin OLeary joins Fox & Friends to discuss his conversation with President Donald Trump regarding the tariffs on Canada and Mexico and Elon Musks claim the U.S. Treasury approved fraudulent payments.
President Donald Trump’s move to impose tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada and add further tariffs on China has sparked reactions from several trade groups, who warned the added taxes on imports will drive up costs for American consumers and producers.
The president signed an executive order on Saturday that authorized a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10% additional tariff on imports from China, to go into effect on Tuesday.
President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address after being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on Jan. 20 in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Pool/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada were both put on hold Monday for another month after the leaders of both countries agreed to concessions and continued discussions with Trump on how a trade war could be averted.
But if an agreement is not reached, the tariffs on the two countries, as well as their threatened retaliatory tariffs on the U.S., could still go into effect.
AUTOMOTIVE GROUPS REACT TO TRUMP TARIFFS ON IMPORTS FROM CANADA, MEXICO, CHINA
Here are the reactions from several trade groups on the new tariffs:
American Farm Bureau Federation
The American Farm Bureau said President Zippy Duvall “expressed alarm about potential harm to farmers” as a result of the new tariffs.
“Farm Bureau members support the goals of security and ensuring fair trade with our North American neighbors and China, but, unfortunately, we know from experience that farmers and rural communities will bear the brunt of retaliation,” Duval said in a statement.
A farmer spreads fertilizer on his field. The AFBF warned that tariffs on Canada will drive up the price of fertilizer for American farmers (Harold Hoch BC Last Look RNP Images (Photo By Harold Hoch/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images) / Getty Images)
The Farm Bureau chief pointed out that more than 80% of America’s supply of potash, a key fertilizer ingredient, comes from Canada, and warned tariffs that increase fertilizer prices “threaten to deliver another blow to the finances of farm families already grappling with inflation and high supply costs.”
HOW TRUMP’S TARIFFS CLOSED THE LOOPHOLE USED BY CHINESE RETAILERS
Duvall further noted that more than 20% of U.S. farm income comes from exports, and Mexico, Canada and China are the top three buyers. Combined, he said, those markets account for nearly half of all exports by value.
Consumer Brands Association
Tom Madrecki, the Consumer Brands Association’s vice president of supply chain resiliency, said the trade association supports an “America First Trade Policy,” but warned tariffs on all imported goods from Mexico and Canada “could lead to higher consumer prices and retaliation against U.S. exporters.”
He added, “We urge leaders in Mexico and Canada to work with President Trump to protect consumers’ access to affordable products and remove tariffs that could contribute to grocery inflation.”
National Association of Home Builders
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) warned that the tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods would hinder home builders and drive up the cost of housing further, and urged the Trump administration to reconsider the move.
The National Association of Homebuilders warned that tariffs on Canada and Mexico would drive up the costs of critical building materials.
“More than 70% of the imports of two essential materials that home builders rely on — softwood lumber and gypsum (used for drywall) — come from Canada and Mexico, respectively,” NAHB Chairman Carl Harris said.
“Tariffs on lumber and other building materials increase the cost of construction and discourage new development, and consumers end up paying for the tariffs in the form of higher home prices.”
National Association of Manufacturers
National Association of Manufacturers President and CEO Jay Timmons praised the success of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement that President Trump implemented during his first term, but warned that tariffs on Canada and Mexico threatened U.S. supply chains.
TRUMP TARIFF THREATS ON CANADIAN OIL COULD IMPACT THREE US REGIONS, GAS ANALYST SAYS
“The ripple effects will be severe, particularly for small and medium-sized manufacturers that lack the flexibility and capital to rapidly find alternative suppliers or absorb skyrocketing energy costs,” Timmons said. “These businesses—employing millions of American workers—will face significant disruptions. Ultimately, manufacturers will bear the brunt of these tariffs, undermining our ability to sell our products at a competitive price and putting American jobs at risk.”
Former U.S. ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker joins ‘Mornings with Maria’ to react to President Donald Trump’s tariffs set to take effect in China, Mexico and Canada as the he vows levying tariffs on the E.U.
National Retail Federation
“We support the Trump administration’s goal of strengthening trade relationships and creating fair and favorable terms for America,” National Retail Federation Executive Vice President of Government Relations David French said in a statement. “But imposing steep tariffs on three of our closest trading partners is a serious step.”
The NRF encouraged “all parties to continue negotiating to find solutions that will strengthen trade relationships and avoid shifting the costs of shared policy failures onto the backs of American families, workers and small businesses.”
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
U.S. Chamber of Commerce leaders warned both before and after Trump’s announcement that tariffs could cause economic harm to Americans.
“The President is right to focus on major problems like our broken border and the scourge of fentanyl, but the imposition of tariffs under IEEPA is unprecedented, won’t solve these problems, and will only raise prices for American families and upend supply chains,” Chamber Senior Vice President and Head of International John Murphy said in a statement following the move.
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Last week, both Murphy and U.S. Chamber President and CEO Suzanne Clark warned against the U.S. imposing blanket tariffs, with Clark saying in a statement, “The bottom line is this: tariffs are a tax paid by Americans, and their broad and indiscriminate use would stifle growth at the worst possible time.’
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TEL AVIV – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday is geared toward bolstering ties with and securing guarantees from the Trump administration primarily over Iran and the war against Hamas, according to current and former Israeli officials.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu’s historic visit to Washington will mark a significant moment in Israel-U.S. relations, setting a tone of close cooperation and friendship between the Israeli government and the Trump administration,” Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter told Fox News Digital.
“The prime minister will be the first foreign leader to visit the White House in President Trump’s second term, and his visit will spur bilateral efforts to promote security and prosperity in the U.S., Israel and the Middle East,” he added.
AMERICAN AMONG THREE HOSTAGES FREED FROM TERROR’S GRIP AFTER NEARLY 500 DAYS
Benjamin Netanyahu leaves Israel for a meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., February 2025.
Leiter, appearing on “America’s Newsroom” last week, told Dana Perino that Iran would be front and center during the Trump-Netanyahu meeting. “We will make the point that to allow Tehran to maintain its nuclear capabilities, which they can raise very quickly toward nuclear weapons, is simply unacceptable,” he stated.
Netanyahu was last at the White House on July 25, 2024, with then-President Biden having only invited the Israeli leader some 20 months after his re-election. This was widely viewed as a snub by Biden, whose party has increasingly distanced itself from traditional bipartisan support for the Jewish state.
Netanyahu told reporters ahead of his departure that it was “telling” Trump chose to meet him first, describing it as “a testimony to the strength of the American-Israeli alliance.”
Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters ahead of his departure that it was “telling” Trump chose to meet him first.(Prime Minister’s Office)
“This meeting will deal with important issues, critical issues facing Israel and our region, victory over Hamas, achieving the release of all our hostages and dealing with the Iranian terror axis and all its components – an axis that threatens the peace of Israel, the Middle East and the entire world,” he said.
There are currently 79 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, including six dual US-Israeli citizens. “Regarding agenda terms, Trump will want Netanyahu to proceed to the second phase of the truce agreement with Hamas. This is very difficult for Israel, since this basically leaves the terror group in power in Gaza,” former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren told Fox News Digital.
Former President Donald Trump shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their meeting at Mar-a-Lago estate, in Palm Beach, Florida, on July 26, 2024.(Amos Ben-Gershom (GPO)/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
While Trump has said he was “not confident” the ceasefire deal would hold, his Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff visited Israel last week and reportedly pushed for the implementation of all three phases. According to Netanyahu, Trump has committed to supporting the resumption of the war if negotiations with Hamas prove “futile.”
“There may also be discussion about the future of the Palestinian issue and ways in which the Trump peace plan unveiled during his first term can be revived, as well as how a normalization push between Israel and Saudi Arabia can be concluded,” Oren said. “I think the major pressure point would be the ‘P’ word, which refers to the Saudis insisting on a pathway to Palestinian statehood. Parts of Netanyahu’s coalition and even some within his own party will not discuss the ‘P’ word.”
IRAN HIDING MISSILE, DRONE PROGRAMS UNDER GUISE OF COMMERCIAL FRONT TO EVADE SANCTIONS
The families of the four released hostages reunite with their daughters on Jan. 25, 2025.(IDF Spokesman’ Unit)
On this point, the two leaders may be aligned, with Trump insisting that Gaza be rebuilt “in a different way.” He also indicated his desire to relocate Gazans to Arab countries. “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out [Gaza] and say, ‘You know, it’s over,’” he said.
During his first term, Trump pulled Washington out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran, which was orchestrated by the Obama administration. However, the Biden administration undid most of Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran – consisting primarily of crippling sanctions – by rehashing many Obama-era policies.
“I believe that Trump is prepared to immediately snap back paralyzing sanctions and issue a credible military threat to bring Iran back to the negotiating table for an agreement on its nuclear infrastructure, ballistic missile testing and terror financing,” Danny Ayalon, former Israeli deputy foreign minister and ambassador to the U.S., told Fox News Digital.
“If not, the Iranians will be subject to a major operation that may be through an American-led coalition or different structures with or without Israel,” he added, while referencing an Axios report last month that the U.S. president might “either support an Israeli military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities… or even order a U.S. strike.” However, Ayalon said Trump will express a preference for a diplomatic solution, possibly placing him at odds with Netanyahu.
BUSY WEEK AHEAD FOR TRUMP, CABINET PICKS
Hamas terrorists watch on as four hostages are released to the Red Cross as part of a ceasefire deal with Israel.(TPS-IL)
Ayalon also noted Netanyahu’s appreciation for Trump’s initiative to punish the International Criminal Court, which in November issued arrest warrants for the Israeli premier and then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over the prosecution of the war against Hamas, while suggesting that normalization between Jerusalem and Riyadh would be raised as part of a broader effort to reshape the Middle East.
“A potential economic corridor from Asia to Europe through Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, maybe even the Palestinian Authority, works very well with Trump’s agenda of countering aggressive Chinese expansionism through the Belt and Road Initiative,” Ayalon said.
Other agenda items might include a possible U.S.-backed push to apply Israeli sovereignty over parts of the West Bank, also known by Israel as Judea and Samaria – a prospect Netanyahu shelved during Trump’s first term in favor of forging the Abraham Accords – and expanding overall defense ties, including by advancing the American president’s goal of developing an Iron Dome-like missile shield for the United States.
“It is very different from the Biden administration. Of course, it is more aggressive but that’s only part of it. Trump sees the problem of Gaza in a wider perspective” that includes the Saudis, Qataris, Egyptians and other regional players, Brig. Gen. (Res.) Hannan Gefen, the former commander of IDF’s elite Unit 8200, told Fox News Digital.
“Trump, in his second term, is repeating his willingness to withdraw from the Kurdish-controlled northeastern part of Syria, which may contrast with Israel’s interest,” he explained. “In Lebanon, there might be a disagreement if Israel sees Hezbollah [violating the ceasefire and] regaining power, and wants to strike terror bases. Regarding the Houthis in Yemen, Israel and the Saudis will try to direct Trump’s policy to be more assertive than Biden was toward the Iranian proxy.”
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Displaced Palestinians arrive in central Gaza after fleeing from the southern city of Rafah on May 9.(AP/Abdel Kareem Hana)
While any gaps between the sides will be overshadowed by the pomp and circumstance accompanying a visit by Netanyahu to D.C., Likud lawmaker Boaz Bismuth told Fox News Digital that the prime minister “won’t make any concessions on issues that relate to Israel’s national security.
“Our national interests come above all else – the state has an obligation toward its civilians and the right to defend itself,” Bismuth said. “Fortunately, Trump has a thriving relationship with Israel and is a great friend of ours.”
As President Trump reportedly weighs his options for accomplishing his campaign promise of eliminating the Department of Education, experts spoke to Fox News Digital about what that process will look like and what hurdles the president will have to overcome.
“The administration is right to push to eliminate the ineffective and unpopular Department of Education,” Jonathan Butcher, Will Skillman Senior Research Fellow in Education Policy at The Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital shortly before the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump officials are mulling an executive order calling for a legislative proposal to get rid of the department.
“One thing I’ll be doing very early in the administration is closing up the Department of Education in Washington, DC, and sending all education and education work it needs back to the states,” Trump said in a 2023 campaign video.
A White House official told Fox News Digital on Monday night that Trump plans to fulfill his campaign promise by reevaluating the future of the department.
TRUMP’S DEPT OF EDUCATION REVERSES BIDEN’S TITLE IX REWRITE: ‘COMMON SENSE RETURNS!’
President Trump vowed on the campaign trail to eliminate the Dept of Education and bring the power back to the states.(Getty Images)
Butcher told Fox News Digital, “Congress should heed the call and advance policy to eliminate most of the agency’s programs and spending while moving remaining programs to other federal agencies.”
“President Trump can declare that the Education Department’s powers are unconstitutional and request a memo from the Department of Justice to support such a position. The president could, conceivably, do the same for specific programs, the Higher Education Act, for example.”
“Another approach would be to relocate the agency someplace away from Washington, DC and require employees work in-person, 5 days per week,” Butcher added. “The White House can still remove any non-essential, or non-exempt, positions in the meantime. Even this process would need congressional support to void union contracts.”
Butcher told Fox News Digital that even with these possible actions from Trump, the executive branch “still has to spend appropriations as required.”
“So, the best-case scenario remains that Congress considers a proposal to close the agency,” Butcher said.
“In the proposal, Congress should consider creating block grants for large spending programs such as Title I so that states have more autonomy over what is best for schools within their borders,” Butcher explained. “And Heritage has proposed moving certain offices that we believe should remain to other agencies, such as the office of civil rights to the Department of Justice.”
Julian Epstein, longtime Democratic operative, attorney, and former chief counsel to the House Judiciary Committee, told Fox News Digital that Trump will “likely need an act of Congress” to eliminate the department since it is a statutory created agency unless he can “figure out how to do it through reconciliation.”
However, Epstein explained that eliminating the department could ultimately cause Trump headaches.
“But Trump may want to think twice before he eliminates the department as it has important clubs to promote his agenda,” Epstein said. “The department is the principal enforcement agency to protect women’s sports, prevent discrimination through DEI quotas for favored groups, stop harboring antisemitism, and to address the rather blatant intellectually intolerant, partisan, anti Western ideological factories they have become. To do that, Trump might be well advised to keep the department of education and its core enforcement functions while scaling down its size.”
The DOE was established under former President Carter in 1979 when he split it from the Health and Human Services Department. It’s charged with regulating federal student aid funds and ensuring equal access to education, among other responsibilities.
TRUMP WANTS TO DISSOLVE THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. EXPERTS SAY IT COULD CHANGE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
The US Department of Education building is seen on August 21, 2024, in Washington, DC.(Tierney L. Cross)
Republicans have called to dismantle the agency for decades since former President Carter established itt in 1979, making the case that decisions regarding schools should be determined at the local level.
Democrats argue the department provides stability and an opportunity to enforce more generalized policies – civil rights protections, reducing educational disparities and addressing systemic inequalities.
Tesla and Space X CEO Elon Musk, who was tasked with leading the Trump administration’s effort to cut back government waste through the DOGE effort, has previously voiced support for eliminating the department.
Experts who spoke to Fox News Digital in November echoed the belief that any effort to fully abolish the department would need the help of Congress.
WISCONSIN MOM URGES TRUMP ADMIN TO LAUNCH ‘PIVOTAL’ PROBE INTO ALLEGED RACE-BASED DISCRIMINATION AGAINST SON
President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office on January 20, 2025, in Washington, DC. Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th President of the United States. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“President Trump does not have the ability to eliminate a federal department. Eliminating it would require congressional action, including a supermajority of 60 votes in the Senate,” Andrew Stoltmann, an attorney and law professor, said.
“So, even if Trump can follow through with what he says, he has to pull in some Democrats in the Senate, and that will likely be impossible.”
Stoltmann explained that Trump‘s “best bet is to appoint somebody who will effectively be a figurehead at the Department of Education.”
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Former administrator of the US Small Business Administration and US education secretary nominee Linda McMahon(Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“This doesn’t eliminate the department, but it effectively neuters it during his term,” Stoltman said.
The timing of a Trump executive order is unclear although some believe the administration will wait until Trump’s pick to lead the department, former SBA Administrator Linda McMahon, is confirmed, although no timetable for that confirmation is currently set.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Aubrie Spady, Liz Elkind, and Taylor Penley contributed to this report
Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to [email protected].
President Donald Trump continues appointing new people to his second administration, naming three recent picks in a series of Truth Social posts on Monday.
Just two weeks after taking office, Trump announced that Michael Ellis will serve as deputy director of the CIA. Ellis, who will not need to be approved by the U.S. Senate, will work under CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
Trump wrote that the incoming deputy director, who is also a lawyer, will help “fix the CIA, and make it, once again, the Greatest Intelligence Agency in the World.”
“During my First Term, Michael served at the White House National Security Council, and helped expose abuses of the ‘unmasking’ process by the Obama Administration at the beginning of the Russia, Russia, Russia, Hoax,” the president wrote. “Michael was also General Counsel of the House Intelligence Committee under Devin Nunes, and was selected to be General Counsel of the National Security Agency before being corruptly purged by the Biden Administration.”
NEW YORK AG LETITIA JAMES ADVISES HOSPITALS TO IGNORE TRUMP EO ABOUT SEX-CHANGE PROCEDURES FOR MINORS
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
In another post, Trump named Joe Kent to serve as director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC). According to the agency’s website, the NCTC operates within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and helps officials by “analyzing, understanding, and responding to the terrorist threat.”
“As a Soldier, Green Beret, and CIA Officer, Joe has hunted down terrorists and criminals his entire adult life,” Trump’s Truth Social post read. “Above all, Joe knows the terrible cost of terrorism, losing his wonderful wife, Shannon, a Great American Hero, who was killed in the fight against ISIS.”
“Joe continues to honor her legacy by staying in the fight. Joe will help us keep America safe by eradicating all terrorism, from the jihadists around the World, to the cartels in our backyard,” the president concluded.
TRUMP’S ULTIMATUM TO FEDERAL WORKERS: RETURN TO OFFICE ‘OR BE TERMINATED’
U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters from the Resolute Desk after signing an executive order to appoint the deputy administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration in the Oval Office at the White House on January 30, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump also signed a memorandum ordering an immediate assessment of aviation safety and ordering an elevation of what he called “competence” over “D.E.I.” (Getty Images)
Finally, Trump named Sean Parnell to serve as the chief Pentagon spokesman, and to work as the assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs.
“A Great American Patriot, Sean is a fearless Combat Veteran, who led one of the most decorated units in the Afghanistan War,” Trump said of Parnell. “He earned two Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart, while his platoon achieved an incredible record of eliminating over 350 enemy fighters.”
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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)
“During my First Term, Sean was also instrumental helping pass the MISSION ACT, the BIGGEST VA Reform in History,” Trump added. “Congratulations to Sean, his wonderful wife, and their five children!”
Andrea Margolis is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Readers can send story tips to [email protected].
President Donald Trump on Monday slammed the FBI as “corrupt” and praised his nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, as the man to “straighten it out” as he declined to answer questions over whether his administration will remove bureau employees involved in the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot.
Asked Monday by Fox News whether he believed anyone involved in the Jan. 6 investigation should be fired, Trump did not answer outright. Instead, he criticized the actions of a bureau he has repeatedly decried as “corrupt,” and one he insists has targeted him specifically.
“I think the FBI was a very corrupt institution, and I’m a victim of it in the true sense,” Trump told Fox News while addressing reporters Monday at the Oval Office. He also added that he believes the bureau’s reputation has been “damaged badly, as has the DOJ’s.”
“But you know what? We have to have pristine, beautiful, perfect law enforcement,” Trump said.
AFTER STINGING ELECTION DEFEATS, DNC EYES RURAL VOTERS AS KEY TO 2026 MIDTERM SUCCESS
U.S. Capitol Police officers stand watch outside the Capitol building as snow falls ahead of a joint session of Congress to certify the results of the 2024 presidential election on Jan. 6, 2025.(SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
“We have to bring the reputation of the FBI not even [back] to what it was, even better than it ever was,” Trump said. “But Kash has to be the one to do it,” he added. “Kash will straighten it out.”
Trump’s remarks come days after Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove directed the acting FBI director to terminate eight FBI employees and identify all current and former bureau personnel assigned to the Jan. 6 and Hamas cases for an internal review.
“I do not believe that the current leadership of the Justice Department can trust these FBI employees to assist in implementing the President’s agenda faithfully,” Bove wrote in the memo, instructing that the eight employees be fired by Monday, Feb. 3, at 5:30 p.m.
Former FBI and Justice Department officials warned in interviews with Fox News Digital that such firings, while within Trump’s authority, could have a chilling effect on the rest of the bureau should the administration move to get rid of the personnel involved in the Jan. 6 investigations.
The Trump administration has not yet said if it will move to take action against the individuals involved.
But new concerns were raised after Bove sent a 12-page questionnaire to FBI personnel across the country asking them to detail their involvement in the Jan. 6 investigations, noting that the department would begin a “review process to determine whether any additional personnel actions are necessary.”
TRUMP’S ULTIMATUM TO FEDERAL WORKERS: RETURN TO OFFICE ‘OR BE TERMINATED’
President Donald Trump(Getty Images)
The remarks come after Trump, in his second term as president, moved to immediately issue a blanket pardon and sentence commutation for all 1,600 criminal defendants in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, who he has repeatedly referred to as “hostages.”
Since taking office, Trump has also fired the inspectors general of 17 separate federal agencies, fired more than a dozen prosecutors involved in the special counsel investigations led by Jack Smith and ordered more than half a dozen FBI officials to either resign or retire from their posts or be fired.
Combined, the actions have sparked new fears that the FBI could see the ousting of decades of expertise from within the bureau’s ranks, including employees well-versed in detecting and responding to counterterrorism threats, organized and violent crime, drug trafficking and more.
DOJ DIRECTS FBI TO FIRE 8 TOP OFFICIALS, IDENTIFY EMPLOYEES INVOLVED IN JAN 6, HAMAS CASES FOR REVIEW
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Others noted that the Jan. 6 investigation was originally launched under the Trump administration, a detail that the president and some of his supporters neglect to mention in their frequent criticisms against it.
“We’re in an extremely precarious time right now in a very chaotic world,” one former Justice Department official said in an interview. “The terrorism front is as concerning as I’ve seen it, ever. So it doesn’t make sense to me why we’d be taking a meat cleaver to agencies that defend against that.”
Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman, David Spunt, Jake Gibson and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
Breanne Deppisch is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the 2024 election and other national news.
Members of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee voted favorably Monday for President Donald Trump’s nominee, Brooke Rollins, to head up the Department of Agriculture (USDA), a widely expected outcome that clears her for a vote in the full Senate later this week.
Rollins was passed favorably out of committee on a unanimous vote.
Rollins, who served as a White House aide during Trump’s first administration and then as the president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, is widely viewed as an uncontroversial nominee.
TRUMP TAPS TEXAN BROOKE ROLLINS AS AGRICULTURE SECRETARY
Brooke Rollins, president and CEO of AFPI, is seen during the America First Policy Institute’s America First Agenda Summit at the Marriott Marquis on Tuesday, July 26, 2022.(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Her nomination earned the backing of a coalition of more than 415 farmers, agricultural, and growers groups earlier this month. Signatories urged the Senate to swiftly confirm Rollins, praising what they described as her foundational knowledge of agriculture, as well as her policy and business bona fides that they said made her uniquely qualified for the role of U.S. agriculture secretary.
The committee vote comes at a crucial time for U.S. growers’ groups and agribusinesses across the country. Lawmakers in Congress have stalled on a new farm bill and on other key priorities for farmers and industry groups.
AFTER STINGING ELECTION DEFEATS, DNC EYES RURAL VOTERS AS KEY TO 2026 MIDTERM SUCCESS
President Donald Trump speaks while Brooke Rollins, of the Texas Public Policy Institute, listens, during a prison reform roundtable in the Roosevelt Room at the White House, on January 11, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
They also failed to secure the full extent of farm aid and agriculture subsidies considered necessary by many groups in their eleventh-hour government spending bill passed late last month.
Rollins vowed at her confirmation hearing that, if approved, she would use her post as agriculture secretary to embark on a “fast and furious” effort to distribute those funds to farmers, ranchers, and rural communities. She also vowed to combat fast-spreading animal disease in the U.S. and North America, including bird flu, which has hampered the poultry industry and sent egg prices soaring.
TRUMP’S ULTIMATUM TO FEDERAL WORKERS: RETURN TO OFFICE ‘OR BE TERMINATED’
United States Department of Agriculture Jamie L. Whitten federal building entrance sign.(Getty Images)
If confirmed, Rollins said last week, she would “immediately begin to modernize, realign, rethink the United States Department of Agriculture.”
“We understand that serving all American agriculture and all the American people means ensuring that our rural communities are equipped and supported to prosper, not just today, but tomorrow and the day after that in the many tomorrows to come,” she told lawmakers.
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Those supporting Rollins’ nomination have also praised her “close working relationship” with the president, which they said will “ensure that agriculture and rural America have a prominent and influential voice at the table when critical decisions are made in the White House.”
Rollins was not expected to face staunch opposition to her nomination to head up the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and lawmakers who have spoken out have largely praised both her experience and strong knowledge of the agriculture sector.
Breanne Deppisch is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the 2024 election and other national news.
President Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee, Pam Bondi, will now move on to a final Senate floor vote for confirmation after senators voted to invoke cloture and limit the remaining floor debate.
Bondi, the former Florida attorney general who also spent 18 years as a prosecutor in Hillsborough County, earned praise this month for her composure during her confirmation hearing, which stretched for nearly six hours. She was also praised for her ability to deftly navigate thorny and politically tricky topics and lines of questioning from some would-be detractors.
If confirmed, Bondi stressed, her primary goal would be to enforce federal law without political considerations.
“Politics has to be taken out of this system,” Bondi told the Senate Judiciary Committee, a refrain she returned to multiple times during her conversations with lawmakers.
“This department has been weaponized for years and years and years, and it has to stop,” she said.
TRUMP AG PICK PAM BONDI CLEARS JUDICIARY COMMITTEE, WILL GET CONFIRMATION VOTE IN SENATE
Pam Bondi, former Florida attorney general, speaks at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing at a U.S. Capitol.(Photo by Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA)
Bondi’s experience and composure in her meetings with lawmakers, as well as during the confirmation hearing itself, won wide praise from Republicans on the panel, as well as some Democrats, who voted last week to approve her nomination.
The vote clears Bondi’s nomination to the Senate floor for a full chamber vote.
Bondi’s experience also earned the backing of former senior officials at the Justice Department, who urged lawmakers in a letter this month to swiftly move to confirm her.
WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY DEFENDS TRUMP’S FIRING OF INSPECTORS GENERAL
President Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee Pam Bondi and Sen. Richard Blumenthal clashed during her confirmation hearing.(Getty Images)
In letters previewed exclusively to Fox News Digital, the more than 110 senior Justice Department officials, including former U.S. attorneys general John Ashcroft, Jeff Sessions, Bill Barr and Edwin Meese, expressed their “strong and enthusiastic support” for Bondi, praising both her commitment to the rule of law and her track record as Florida’s former attorney general that they said make her uniquely qualified for the role.
“It is all too rare for senior Justice Department officials—much less Attorneys General—to have such a wealth of experience in the day-to-day work of keeping our communities safe,” they wrote.
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Pam Bondi, President Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Justice Department as attorney general, listens during her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Jan 15, 2025 in Washington, D.C.(Jabin Botsford/Washington Post via Getty)
She was also backed by dozens of former Republican and Democratic state attorneys general, who sent a letter urging her confirmation earlier this month.
“Many of us have worked directly with Attorney General Bondi and have firsthand knowledge of her fitness for the office,” the former attorneys general said in the letter, also exclusively previewed to Fox News Digital. “We believe that her wealth of prosecutorial experience and commitment to public service make General Bondi a highly qualified nominee for Attorney General of the United States.”
Breanne Deppisch is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the 2024 election and other national news.
