NationalWatch

President Donald Trump is set to deliver a primetime speech from the White House Wednesday that’s expected to reflect on his administration’s accomplishments in the past year, while simultaneously looking toward the next three years. 

“My Fellow Americans: I will be giving an ADDRESS TO THE NATION tomorrow night, LIVE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE, at 9 P.M. EST. I look forward to ‘seeing’ you then. It has been a great year for our Country, and THE BEST IS YET TO COME!” Trump wrote.

Trump did not specify exactly what he will discuss during the address. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, however, said on Fox News’ “American Reports” Tuesday that he will address his accomplishments since reclaiming the Oval Office in January, adding that he might “tease some policy that will be coming in the new year, as well.”

“I was just in the Oval Office with the president discussing it,” she said. “He’s going to talk a lot about the accomplishments over the past 11 months, all that he’s done to bring our country back to greatness and all he continues to plan to do, to continue delivering for the American people over the next three years.”

TRUMP ANNOUNCES PRIMETIME ADDRESS TO THE NATION

Trump previously held a White House address in November, when two members of the National Guard were shot, killing one and seriously injuring the other in the attack. He also held another White House address in June, flanked by Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, when the U.S. military carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. 

The speech comes after Trump traveled to Pennsylvania earlier in December as part of an anticipated tour promoting his economic policies. The administration has come under scrutiny for its messaging on the economy, most notably since the November off-year elections that handed left-wing Democrats ballot box wins after they ran on platforms of “affordability.”

TRUMP ASKS WHEN HE’LL BE CREDITED WITH CREATING ‘PERHAPS THE GREATEST ECONOMY’ EVER IN US HISTORY

“They caused the high prices, and we’re bringing them down,” Trump told the crowd in attendance at a casino resort in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, in December. “Lower prices, bigger paychecks — you’re getting lower prices, bigger paychecks, we’re getting inflation — we’re crushing it — and you’re getting much higher wages. The only thing that is really going up big – it’s called the stock market and your 401(k)s.” 

The president has celebrated that tariffs leveled on foreign nations, massive deals attracting businesses to open shop in the U.S., unleashing American energy by cutting red tape surrounding oil and other resources, tax cuts under the “big, beautiful bill,” among other initiatives are already lowering prices or will in the coming weeks. 

Voters, however, have reported that they are feeling an economic squeeze. 

Some 76% of voters reported that they view the economy negatively, up from the 67% who reported the same in July and the 70% who said the same at the end of former President Joe Biden’s term, a November Fox News national survey found. 

The survey found that voters overwhelmingly blamed Trump over Biden for the economic anxiety. About twice as many voters polled reported that Trump, rather than Biden, is responsible for the current economy, with three times as many voters reporting that Trump’s economic policies have hurt them, on par with their feelings during Biden’s final year in office. 

In the fall, a handful of elections — most notably the Virginia gubernatorial, New Jersey gubernatorial and New York City mayoral races — handed Democrats sweeping wins. Each Democrat campaigned on the platform of affordability, vowing to address the housing crisis woes and prices at checkout lines while slamming Trump and other Republicans as promoting policies that hurt the average family’s pocketbook. 

TRUMP COMPARES REAL WAGES UNDER HIS ADMIN VERSUS BIDEN’S DURING SPEECH CALLING OUT DEM AFFORDABILITY ‘HOAX’

Following the Democrat wins, the president and his administration increasingly have leaned into pinning blame for economic concerns on policies from the Biden administration that have affected the economy in the long run. 

WHITE HOUSE TURNS UP HEAT ON BIDEN’S ECONOMIC RECORD AS VOTERS SOUR ON ‘AFFORDABILITY’

“The word affordability … I inherited a mess,” Trump told Politico in December. “I inherited a total mess. Prices were at an all-time high when I came in. Prices are coming down substantially. Look at energy. You and I discussed before the interview, energy … energy has come down incredibly. When energy comes down, everything… ’cause it’s so much bigger than any other subject. But energy has come down incredibly. Prices are all coming down. It’s been 10 months. It’s amazing what we’ve done.”

Trump has floated sending payments of $2,000 from tariff revenues to Americans as he touts the nation’s economic outlook, while administration officials have said that households will feel tax breaks from the “big, beautiful bill” in 2026. 

“The bill was passed in July,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier in December. “Working Americans didn’t change their withholding, so they’re going to be getting very large refunds in the first quarter,” Bessent told NBC10. “I think we’re going to see $100 (billion)-$150 billion of refunds, which could be between $1,000 and $2,000 per household.

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“Then they’ll change their withholding, and they’ll get a real increase in their wages. So, I think 2026 can be a very good year.”

Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report. 

The Senate confirmed billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman Wednesday in a 67-30 vote to serve as NASA administrator, months after President Donald Trump withdrew the same nomination during his public feud with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

The confirmation places Isaacman, an investor in SpaceX and leader of two private spaceflight missions, at the helm of the nation’s space agency. Reuters reported that Isaacman becomes NASA’s 15th administrator and is known as an advocate of Mars missions.

Trump previously pulled Isaacman’s nomination in May, citing what he described at the time as “a thorough review of prior associations.” 

Fox News Digital reported at the time that the decision was made amid escalating tensions between Trump and Musk, who had recently departed his role leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and publicly criticized Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill.”

TRUMP TEASES MUSK AT FORUM AS ONCE-FROSTY DYNAMIC SEEMS TO TAKE A TURN

Isaacman later suggested the timing of the withdrawal was no coincidence. 

Speaking on the “All-In Podcast,” he said, “I don’t need to play dumb on this. I don’t think that the timing was much of a coincidence.” He added that “there were some people that had some axes to grind, I guess, and I was a good, visible target,” Fox News Digital previously reported.

The nomination was revisited in the fall as relations between Trump and Musk appeared to thaw. In October, NASA officials confirmed Isaacman was again under consideration after meetings with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who was tasked with vetting candidates for the permanent NASA role at Trump’s direction.

Trump formally renominated Isaacman in November, praising him in a social media post.

“Jared’s passion for Space, and his commitment to American Leadership in Space, make him ideally suited to lead NASA into a bold new Era,” Trump wrote.

DOGE VS DC: INSIDE TRUMP AND MUSK’S AMBITIOUS SWAMP-DRAINING DREAM THAT ENDED IN A BITTER FEUD

Fox News Digital has extensively reported on the broader Trump-Musk feud that surrounded the nomination’s earlier withdrawal. In May and June, the two men publicly exchanged harsh words over Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill.” 

Musk accused Trump of pushing a “disgusting abomination,” while Trump said Musk had gone “CRAZY” and was “wearing thin.” 

Signs of reconciliation followed when Trump and Musk shook hands and spoke briefly at Charlie Kirk’s memorial, with Trump later saying, “We had a little conversation. We had a very good relationship, but it was nice that he came over.” 

Musk also attended a White House dinner hosted by Trump and appeared at other administration events.

Trump later teased Musk publicly, telling an audience, “You’re so lucky I’m with you, Elon. I’ll tell you. Has he ever thanked me properly?” 

Musk responded on X by saying, “I would like to thank President Trump for all he has done for America and the world.”

Axios reported Tuesday that Musk has begun financially backing Republican House and Senate candidates ahead of the 2026 midterms, showing warming relations after what the outlet described as a “messy breakup” earlier this year. 

Politico similarly reported that Musk has said his relationship with Trump “went up in flames” in June but has since been rebuilt.

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Isaacman’s confirmation brings that arc to a close, cementing his leadership role at NASA. 

Isaacman previously commanded Inspiration4, the first all-civilian mission to orbit Earth, and later led the Polaris Dawn mission, both in partnership with SpaceX. 

The White House and representatives for Musk and Isaacman did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

President Donald Trump said during his address to the nation Wednesday night before Christmas that nearly 1.5 million military service members will be receiving a Christmas bonus. 

While touting his administration’s agenda from the White House, Trump said the nation’s more than 1,450,000 military service members will receive a “warrior dividend” in honor of our nation’s founding roughly 250 years ago. 

“And the checks are already on the way,” Trump said. “Nobody deserves it more than our military. And I say congratulations to everybody.”

TRUMP GETS FRESH DIGS IN AT BIDEN, OBAMA WITH NEW PLAQUES ADDED TO WHITE HOUSE PRESIDENTIAL WALK OF FAME

Trump also touted “record enlistment” in the military under his leadership, adding that last year, under Joe Biden, the military saw some of “the worst” annual recruitment numbers “in our military’s history.”

“What a difference a year makes,” Trump quipped.

Trump’s address from the White House Wednesday night was a tour de force of the president’s accomplishments since retaking the White House.

DEFENSE BILL BANS MALES FROM WOMEN’S SPORTS AT MILITARY ACADEMIES

In addition to economic achievements, Trump also zeroed in on victories with immigration, crime, women’s rights, healthcare costs, slimming down the federal bureaucracy and more. 

“After just one year, we have achieved more than anyone could have imagined,” Trump said during his address. “We just needed a new president.”

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President Donald Trump touted the work his administration has done since January in an address to the nation on Wednesday night as he labeled the U.S. the “hottest country in the world.” 

Trump blamed his predecessor Joe Biden and reiterated claims that his administration inherited a “mess” as he praised the work done since taking office to improve the economy, curb the influx of drugs into the U.S., and support the U.S. military. 

“Here at home, we’re bringing our economy back from the brink of ruin,” Trump said. “The last administration and their allies in Congress looted our treasury for trillions of dollars, driving up prices and everything at levels never seen before. I am bringing those high prices down and bringing them down very fast.” 

Trump also said that Americans would start to see the benefits of his massive tax and domestic policy bill that was signed into law in July. The bill included key provisions that permanently established individual and business tax breaks included in Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and incorporated new tax deductions to cut duties on tips and overtime pay.

TRUMP SAYS ECONOMY WILL ‘ROCKET’ AFTER SIGNING ‘BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL’: ‘IT’S GOING TO BE REALLY GREAT’

“Next year, you will also see the results of the largest tax cuts in American history that were really accomplished through our great, big, beautiful bill, perhaps the most sweeping legislation ever passed in Congress,” Trump said. 

Trump also touted the strength of the U.S. military under his administration, citing strong recruitment numbers across the services. As a result, Trump said that military service members will receive a new so-called “Warrior Dividend” before Christmas to send troops $1,776 in honor of America’s founding in 1776. 

“We are sending every soldier $1,776. Think of that,” Trump said. “And the checks are already on the way.”

TRUMP SET TO ADDRESS THE NATION IN PRIMETIME WHITE HOUSE SPEECH AS AMERICANS REPORT ECONOMIC SQUEEZE 

Trump signed off his address claiming that the U.S. is respected once again, and is the “envy of the entire globe” as he wished Americans a “Merry Christmas.” 

“Our nation is strong. America is respected and our country is back stronger than ever before,” Trump said. “We’re poised for an economic boom, the likes of which the world has never seen. Soon we will host the World Cup and the Olympics, both of which I got. But most importantly, we will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.” 

The speech comes as Trump has launched a new effort focusing on his economic policies, amid criticism surrounding how his administration has handled messaging on economic issues. Scrutiny intensified following the November elections that delivered Democrats wins in several key elections – including the New York mayoral race, and the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races – where Democrats focused on “affordability.” 

While Trump told Politico in December that he would grade his economy an “A+++++,” voters don’t share the same optimism. For example, 76% of voters reported that they view the economy negatively, an increase from 67% who reported the same in July and the 70% who said so following former President Joe Biden’s term, a November Fox News national survey found.

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Trump has previously held several White House addresses, including in November after two members of the National Guard were shot in Washington, and another in June after the U.S. military launched strikes targeting Iranian nuclear facilities. 

Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump rattled off how his economic policies have pulled America from “the brink of ruin” following former President Joe Biden’s tenure during his primetime address to the nation on Wednesday. 

“Here at home, we’re bringing our economy back from the brink of ruin,” Trump said Thursday. “The last administration and their allies in Congress looted our Treasury for trillions of dollars, driving up prices and everything at levels never seen before. I am bringing those high prices down and bringing them down very fast.” 

Trump said that under the Biden administration, car prices rose by at least 22%, gasoline rose 30% to 50%, hotel rates by 37% and airfares by 31%, and mortgage prices up $15,000 under “Democrat rule.”

“Now, under our leadership, they are all coming down and coming down fast,'” Trump continued. “Democrat politicians also sent the cost of groceries soaring, but we are solving that too.”  

TRUMP SET TO ADDRESS THE NATION IN PRIMETIME WHITE HOUSE SPEECH AS AMERICANS REPORT ECONOMIC SQUEEZE

The president announced his primetime address Tuesday as his administration zeroes in on its economic messaging following Democrats latching onto a winning campaign strategy of “affordability” while slamming Trump and Republicans for allegedly rolling out policies that have caused the housing crisis to worsen and costs at the checkout lines to rise. 

Following a handful of high-profile elections in November handing wins to Democrats who campaigned on the platform, Trump has turned up the heat that Biden administration policies continue to haunt the current economy. 

“11 months ago, I inherited a mess. And I’m fixing it. When I took office, inflation was the worst in 48 years. And some would say in the history of our country, which caused prices to be higher than ever before, making life unaffordable for millions and millions of Americans. This happened during a Democrat administration, and it’s when we first began hearing the word affordability,” Trump said at the start of his speech. 

TRUMP TO TOUT ACCOMPLISHMENTS SINCE TAKING OFFICE IN PRIMETIME ADDRESS

While costs rose under Biden, Trump touted the savings Americans are seeing under his leadership. 

“The price of a Thanksgiving turkey was down 33% compared to the Biden last year,” Trump said. “The price of eggs is down 82% since March, and everything else is falling rapidly. And it’s not done yet. But boy, are we making progress. Nobody can believe what’s going on.” 

“Under Biden, real wages plummeted by $3,000. Under Trump, the typical factory worker, we’re seeing a wage increase of $1,300. For construction workers, it’s $1,800. For miners, e’re bringing back clean, beautiful coal, is $3,300. And for the first time in years, wages are rising much faster than inflation,” he continued. 

GAS PRICES ARE FALLING — SO WHY ISN’T TRUMP REFILLING THE OIL RESERVE FASTER? WH BLAMES BIDEN-ERA ‘DAMAGE’

Trump’s address included announcing the rollout of “Warrior Dividends” to all U.S. military members in honor of the 250th anniversary of the U.S.’ founding in 1776. 

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“We are sending every soldier $1,776. Think of that,” he said. “And the checks are already on the way.” 

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, introduced legislation that would compel the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to create a public directory of federal government employees, including their salaries, job descriptions and other details. 

Ernst’s introduction of the Where’s the Workforce At Listed by Duties and Office (Where’s WALDO) Act follows a report from conservative fiscal watchdog group Open The Books showing that the swamp has gotten bigger, richer and more secretive since 2020. Besides raking in massive paychecks, including close to 800,000 non-War Department employees who make $100,000 or more per year, hundreds of thousands of government workers’ names and information were redacted from the information Open The Books was able to obtain for it’s “Mapping The Swamp” report. 

“Like a twisted game of reverse Secret Santa, taxpayers are gifting paychecks to bureaucrats who remain anonymous,” said Ernst. “The American people should not be forced to play ‘Where’s Waldo’ when it comes to figuring out where federal workers are during the workday. I will be embracing the Christmas spirit by creating a list, that anyone can check twice, to clearly state where every federal employee is and how much they are being paid.”

Open The Books, a project of American Transparency, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, nonpartisan charitable organization, closely tracks government spending and released an expansive report last month that analyzed all publicly disclosed federal salaries for fiscal year 2024. The group found a total of 2.9 million civil service employees with a total payroll of $270 billion, plus an additional 30% for benefits.

DEPT OF ED SPENDING SOARED 749% DESPITE DOWNSIZING, NEW DOGE-INSPIRED INITIATIVE REVEALS

According to the data, while the total number of employees rose by 5% since 2020, payroll grew nearly five times as much. 

The current federal workforce is costing American taxpayers $673,000 per minute, $40.4 million per hour and just under $1 billion per day, according to Open The Books. This includes almost 1,000 workers who are making more than the president’s $400,000 per year salary, 31,452 non-War Department federal employees who made more than every governor of all 50 states and 793,537 people making $100,000 or more. Those making $300,000 or more have seen an 84% increase since 2020, while there has similarly been an 82% increase in those earning $200,000 or more, the report points out. 

During Open The Book’s investigation, the fiscal watchdog group also found that the names of 383,000 federal workers across 56 different agencies were redacted, amounting to a total of $38.3 billion in pay.

AOC’S CAMPAIGN POURS MASSIVE CASH INTO LUXURY PUERTO RICO HOTELS, PRICEY CATERING AND BAD BUNNY VENUE RENTAL

“The Trump administration has a historic opportunity to bring transparency to the administrative state. While federal employees don’t add as much to the debt as safety net programs or defense spending, they do cost us a billion dollars per day. Their performance for taxpayers can be the difference between efficient, effective services and a vicious cycle of administrative bloat,” Open The Books CEO John Hart told Fox News Digital.

“Our investigators found far too many redactions and blind spots, including a vast ecosystem of contractors, that DOGE could have fixed. Accountability for taxpayers is impossible without real-time transparency. Making these disclosures a routine responsibility of OPM is an excellent step toward the real-time transparency our founders would have written into the Constitution had they been alive today.”

When reached for comment, an OPM spokesperson told Fox News Digital that it “is proud to support” Ernst’s new bill, describing the legislation’s suggested measures as “common sense.”

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“Transparency and accountability in the federal workforce are essential to maintaining public trust,” the spokesperson said. “Providing the public with clear, standardized information about federal positions, duties, and compensation while appropriately protecting employee privacy is an important part of good government.”

Ernst’s Where’s WALDO Act would include both direct employees of the government and federal contractors. Once the bill has passed, OPM will have 18 months to develop the directory. 

The directory, according to the bill, must include each worker’s name, job title, description of duties, agency of employment, primary duty station, their annual rate of pay including bonuses, and the date at which the individual started working in their position. 

Federal officials announced Wednesday that the suspect accused of causing a massive fatal pileup in Tennessee last week was an illegal immigrant who obtained a commercial driver’s license (CDL) in the “sanctuary state” of New York.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) said the suspect, 54-year-old Yisong Huang, illegally entered the country from Mexico in 2023. Officials added that Huang, who reportedly could not speak English, was released under the Biden administration and provided work authorization papers.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who has previously warned that illegal immigrants are obtaining commercial driver’s licenses (CDL), said this incident represents yet another example.

“It’s not just that Joe Biden let millions of migrants flood into our country illegally,” Duffy said in a statement Wednesday. “His administration doled out the documentation these unqualified foreign drivers needed to obtain trucking licenses and operate 40-ton missiles on the highway. The fact that this individual failed a basic English test also calls into question how he even got the license in the first place.”

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CAUGHT DRIVING COMMERCIAL TRUCK WITH VALID NEW YORK CDL AT CALIFORNIA CHECKPOINT

Investigators reported that, on Dec. 9, Huang was driving an empty bus on a major highway when he became “distracted by a video on his phone.” 

The New York Post reported Huang was operating a tour bus. He allegedly rear-ended a tractor-trailer and triggered a chain-reaction crash that led to two injuries and the death of one American citizen, Kerry Smith, according to officials. 

Huang was later arrested and charged with vehicular manslaughter, according to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office.  

Huang entered the U.S. illegally two years ago, according to the DHS. Officials said he admitted to Border Patrol agents that he was a Chinese national but was later released and given work authorization papers and a Social Security card. This allowed Huang to get a Class B CDL, a process that ultimately led to the deadly multi-vehicle crash, the agency alleges.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT TRUCK DRIVER IN FATAL CALIFORNIA CRASH SHOULD NEVER HAVE HAD LICENSE: DOT REPORT  

The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles told Fox News Digital Wednesday that Huang’s license was issued on April 11, 2025, and that he presented all the proper federal documents to obtain one. His papers established a “lawful presence” until July 15, 2029, the agency said. 

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement on Tuesday, “Far too many innocent Americans have been killed by illegal aliens driving semitrucks and big rigs. And yet, sanctuary states around the country have been issuing illegal aliens commercial driver’s licenses. The Trump Administration is ending the chaos. The brave men and women of ICE are working nonstop to get criminal illegal aliens out of our communities and off our roads.”

Duffy announced Friday that a nationwide audit found more than 50% of New York’s non-domiciled trucking licenses — commercial licenses issued to non-legal residents of the state — were issued illegally.

According to Duffy, the state DMV “has been routinely issuing CDLs to foreign drivers illegally. The federal audit exposed a shocking 53% failure rate in the records sampled, indicating a total collapse in the administration of New York’s CDL program.”

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In response, New York State DMV spokesperson Walter McClure said Friday, “Secretary Duffy is lying about New York State once again in a desperate attempt to distract from the failing, chaotic administration he represents. 

“Here is the truth: Commercial drivers Licenses are regulated by the Federal Government, and New York State DMV has, and will continue to, comply with federal rules.  Every CDL we issue is subject to verification of an applicant’s lawful status through federally-issued documents reviewed in accordance with federal regulations. This is just another stunt from Secretary Duffy, and it does nothing to keep our roads safer. We will review USDOT’s letter and respond accordingly.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, Tennessee Highway Patrol and the Tennessee DOT for more information.

Senate Republicans inched closer to history on Wednesday after blowing past yet another procedural obstacle on their way to confirming nearly 100 of President Donald Trump’s nominees.

As part of their mad dash from Washington ahead of the upcoming holiday recess, Senate Republicans advanced a tranche of 97 of Trump’s picks. The successful party-line vote puts the GOP one step away from confirming the batch of nominees.

The final confirmation vote is expected on Thursday, barring an agreement with Senate Democrats to speed up the process.

SENATE GOP BARRELS PAST BLOCKADE TO ADVANCE NEARLY 100 TRUMP NOMINEES

And if that vote is successful, which it is expected to be, Senate Republicans will have confirmed more of Trump’s picks than any other president in one year.

The current nominees package would place Trump at 415 total confirmed during the first year of his second term, which leapfrogs his total of 323 during his first term. It also blows past former President Joe Biden, who, at the same period at the end of his first year in office, had 365.

Senate Republicans have rapidly confirmed hundreds of Trump’s picks since changing the Senate’s rules surrounding the confirmation process in September in a bid to smash through Senate Democrats’ blockade against advancing even the most low-level positions throughout the Trump administration.

SENATE REPUBLICANS PUSH MAJOR RULE CHANGE TO FAST-TRACK TRUMP NOMINEES IN BATCHES THIS WEEK

The GOP went nuclear — the fourth time in the Senate’s history — to lower the threshold for certain picks to just a simple majority, rather than the typical, 60-vote filibuster.

That change has allowed Republicans to quickly move through sub-cabinet level positions at a brisk pace and to tee up Trump’s expected historic moment.

Among the list of nominees are former Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, R-N.Y., to serve as inspector general at the Department of Labor and two picks for the National Labor Relations Board, James Murphy and Scott Mayer, along with several others across nearly every federal agency.

TRUMP RENOMINATES MUSK ALLY JARED ISAACMAN TO LEAD NASA AFTER EARLIER REVERSAL

Lawmakers also separately confirmed Trump’s choice to run the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), billionaire Jared Isaacman, and his pick for a spot on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Douglas Weaver.

Isaacman’s confirmation sailed through on a bipartisan 67-30 vote but served as the second go-round for the upper chamber to ruminate on his ascension atop NASA.

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Trump had previously nominated him to run the nation’s space agency in December last year, but he was pulled earlier this year after a “thorough review of prior associations.”

But Isaacman was later renominated in November for the same post, where Trump lauded his “passion for space, astronaut experience, and dedication to pushing the boundaries of exploration, unlocking the mysteries of the universe, and advancing the new space economy.”

Nearly two-thirds of voters and parents support banning social media for children under 16 and removing cellphones from K-12 classrooms, with Republicans showing the strongest backing, according to a new Fox News poll.

The survey is based on interviews with 1,001 registered voters randomly drawn from a national voter file. Respondents participated by landline, cellphone or through an online questionnaire sent by text.

When asked about banning social media for children under 16, 64% favored the measure, while 35% opposed it.

The numbers did not waver among parents, with 64% in favor of banning social media for children under 16 – 36% were opposed.

FOX NEWS POLL: AS PRICES PINCH, VOTERS SEE TRUMP FOCUSED ELSEWHERE

Among party groups, 73% of Republicans supported the ban compared with 56% of Democrats.

Participants were also asked about banning cellphones in K-12 classrooms, and 69% supported the idea while 31% opposed it.

Among parents, 63% supported the ban and 37% opposed it. Support was even higher among Republicans at 81%, compared with 59% of Democrats.

AFTER AUSTRALIA PASSES SOCIAL MEDIA BAN LAWMAKERS PROBED ON WHY CONGRESS HASN’T DONE MORE TO PROTECT KIDS

The results were released a week after Australia’s landmark new social media age requirement took effect, barring anyone under 16 from holding an account. The measure is now among the world’s strictest online safety rules.

The Australian government’s Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act passed in November 2024 and began being enforced on Dec. 10, 2025.

“From Dec. 10, if you’re under 16, you’re no longer allowed to have a social media account,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a video statement played in classrooms ahead of the restrictions, according to 9 News Australia. “You’ll know better than anyone what it’s like growing up with algorithms, endless feeds and the pressure that can come with that.”

USHA VANCE BACKS BOOKS OVER PHONES AS MORE SCHOOLS IMPLEMENT NO-CELL POLICIES

Platforms banned for youth in Australia include Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, Twitch, X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube.

Australia’s eSafety commissioner, the country’s independent online safety regulator, says the new minimum-age rule requires platforms to take “reasonable steps” to stop anyone under 16 from holding an account. That includes deploying age-assurance tools, removing existing underage users and blocking attempts to re-register through methods such as VPN detection.

Companies that fail to comply face penalties of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars, or roughly $32 million.

AUSTRALIAN MOTHER CALLS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA AGE RESTRICTIONS AFTER DAUGHTER’S SUICIDE

In the U.S., concerns about youth social media use have grown, with lawmakers in both parties warning about its impact on children’s mental health.

At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last week, lawmakers argued that tech companies have not done enough to protect children from online exploitation.

Senators pressed experts on whether stronger age restrictions, tougher accountability rules for social media platforms and changes to Section 230 are needed to better protect young people online.

LAWMAKERS UNVEIL BIPARTISAN GUARD ACT AFTER PARENTS BLAME AI CHATBOTS FOR TEEN SUICIDES, VIOLENCE

An April 2025 Pew Research Center report found growing concern among parents and teenagers about social media’s impact on youth well-being, with nearly half of teens saying it has a mostly negative effect on people their age.

A separate 2023 Gallup survey of more than 1,500 adolescents found that 51% of U.S. teens spend at least four hours a day on social media, with the average teen logging 4.8 hours across seven major platforms.

“Across age groups, average daily social media use runs from 4.1 hours for 13-year-olds to 5.8 hours for 17-year-olds. Girls spend nearly an hour more on social media than boys (5.3 vs. 4.4 hours),” the survey said.

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The latest Fox News poll was conducted from Dec. 12-15, 2025, under the direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R). Results are based on the full sample and have a margin of sampling error of ±3 percentage points, with higher error margins for subgroups. Beyond sampling error, question wording and order can influence results.

Fox News Digital’s Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report.

A new national poll is raising alarms for Democrats as the party works to rebound from last year’s election setbacks.

Only 18% of voters questioned in a Quinnipiac University survey released on Wednesday said they approve of the way Democrats in Congress are handling their job, while 73% percent disapproved.

That’s the lowest job approval rating for the Democrats in Congress since the Quinnipiac University Poll began asking this question 16 years ago.

The poll, the latest this year to indicate the Democratic Party brand hitting historic lows, comes as the party works to win back congressional majorities in next year’s elections.

CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS WIDEN 2026 BATTLEFIELD

Helping to fuel the sinking approval rating for congressional Democrats is their own party. Only 43% of Democrats questioned in the poll gave a thumbs up for the job Democratic lawmakers in Congress were doing, with 48% disapproving.

But in a silver lining for Democrats, 47% of voters questioned in the survey said they would want to see the Democratic Party win control of the House in next year’s midterm elections, with 43% hoping the GOP holds its majority.

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“A family squabble spills over into the holidays. Democratic voters want their party to hold the reins of the House but are not the least bit happy about what they are doing at the moment,” Quinnipiac University polling analyst Tim Malloy said.

The Democratic Party has been in the political wilderness since last year’s elections. Not only did the party lose control of the White House and Senate and fail to win back the House majority, but Republicans made gains among Black, Hispanic and younger voters, all traditional members of the Democratic Party’s base.

Since President Donald Trump’s return to power in January, an increasingly energized base of Democrats is urging party leaders to take a stronger stand in pushing back against the president’s sweeping and controversial second-term agenda. Their anger is directed not only at Republicans but at Democrats they feel aren’t vocal enough in their opposition to Trump.

But Democrats are currently energized, thanks to their decisive victories in last month’s 2025 elections and their overperformances in a slew of special elections this year.

While the Democrats’ numbers are in the gutter, Republicans don’t have much to brag about in the new survey.

Only 35% of voters approved of the way Republicans in Congress were handling their jobs, with 58% disapproving.

But unlike Democratic respondents, Republicans questioned in the poll are giving their members of Congress a big thumbs up.

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Seventy-seven percent of Republicans questioned said they approve of the job GOP lawmakers in Congress were doing, with 18% disapproving.

And according to the poll, which was conducted Dec. 11–15, Trump’s approval stood at 40%, with 54% of respondents disapproving of the job he’s doing in the White House.

President Donald Trump took some not-so-subtle swipes at his predecessors with new plaques under their portraits in the new White House “Presidential Walk of Fame.” 

Former President Joe Biden had already been mocked in the installation, which was unveiled in September, with Trump using a photo of the autopen to represent the 46th president. Now, there are two plaques that include Trump’s nicknames for Biden.

“Sleepy Joe Biden was, by far, the worst President in American History,” the top plaque reads. “Biden oversaw a series of unprecedented disasters that brought our Nation to the brink of destruction. His policies caused the highest Inflation ever recorded, leading the U.S. Dollar to lose more than 20% of its value in 4 years.”

WHITE HOUSE UNVEILS PRESIDENTIAL WALK OF FAME WITH BIDEN PORTRAIT REPLACED BY AUTOPEN IMAGE

“Nicknamed both ‘Sleepy’ and ‘Crooked,’ Joe Biden was dominated by his Radical Left handlers. They and their allies in the Fake News Media attempted to cover up his severe mental decline, and his unprecedented use of the Autopen,” the second plaque reads. “Following his humiliating debate loss to President Trump in the big June 2024 debate, he was forced to withdraw from his campaign for re-election in disgrace.”

Trump also took jabs at former President Barack Obama, calling him “one of the most divisive political figures in American History.”

“As President, he passed the highly ineffective ‘Unaffordable’ Care Act, resulting in his party losing control of both Houses of Congress, and the Election of the largest House Republican majority since 1946,” the first of two plaques reads.

EXCLUSIVE: TRUMP WHITE HOUSE TORPEDOES BIDEN ATTEMPT TO SHIELD ‘AUTOPEN PRESIDENCY’ FILES

“Obama also spied on the 2016 Presidential Campaign of Donald J. Trump, and presided over the creation of the Russia, Russia Hoax, the worst political scandal in American History,” the second plaque reads. “His handpicked successor, Hillary Rodham Clinton, would then lose the Presidency to Donald J. Trump.”

Despite not ever being president, and therefore not being pictured in the “walk of fame,” Hillary Clinton is referenced more than once.

Beneath the picture of former President Bill Clinton, a plaque says, “In 2016, President Clinton’s wife, Hillary Clinton, lost the Presidency to President Donald J. Trump!”

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In November, Trump gave Fox News Channel’s Laura Ingraham a tour of the walk of fame and told her that “beautiful bronze plaques” were going to be installed. He said the plaques would describe the presidents, but did not tease the political jabs written on them.

Senate Republicans blocked an attempt by Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., to force the release of unedited footage to Congress and the public of the U.S. military’s controversial Sept. 2 double-tap strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean.

Schiff’s move Wednesday afternoon followed passage of the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which included a provision to require the Pentagon to release all unedited footage of the strikes in the Caribbean to Congress in exchange for full funding of the Department of War’s travel expenses.

His bill went a step further and was specifically geared toward the early September double strike against an alleged drug boat that has divided lawmakers in recent weeks, particularly over whether the strikes were legal.

PENTAGON WON’T RELEASE ‘TOP SECRET, FULL, UNEDITED’ VIDEO OF SEPTEMBER DRUG BOAT STRIKE, HEGSETH SAYS

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed every senator on the strikes Tuesday, but Senate Democrats left unsatisfied because they weren’t shown the footage of the strikes. Hegseth argued that the Pentagon has a longstanding policy to not release unedited, top-secret footage.

“The public should see this, and I hope that we’ll have support to make it public,” Schiff said after the meeting. “I found the legal explanations and the strategic explanations incoherent, but I think the American people should see this video. And all members of Congress should have that opportunity. I certainly want it for myself.”

But the push was blocked by Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., who argued on the floor that Schiff’s motives may have been politically influenced and that when former President Barack Obama used drones during his administration, there wasn’t near the same level of hand-wringing. 

SENATE SENDS $901B DEFENSE BILL TO TRUMP AFTER CLASHES OVER BOAT STRIKE, DC AIRSPACE

Schiff’s legislation would have given Hegseth 10 days to make the unedited footage available to all members of Congress and 15 days to fully release the footage to the public.

Broadly, Senate Republicans support the release of the footage, either directly to the Senate Armed Services or Senate Intelligence committees, but some have stopped short of demanding a wide rollout.

Mullin argued that only certain lawmakers should get access to the footage who are on the proper committees and who have the necessary security clearances to view it.

DID A MILITARY LAWYER WITNESS THE VENEZUELA ‘DOUBLE-TAP’ BOAT STRIKE? EXPERTS SAY ONE SHOULD HAVE

“There’s a lot of members that are going to walk out of there, that are going to leak classified information, and there’s got to be certain ones that you hold accountable. So, not everybody can go through the same background checks that need to be able to get cleared on this,” he said.

But there is still a desire among the GOP for all of Congress and the public to see the footage.

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Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., contended that the administration has released every other video related to the strikes and that “they brag about killing these people, unarmed people.”

“They brag about how mighty they are and how powerful they are, and they show us the clips almost instantaneously when they blow people up,” he said. “They don’t want to show the image of blowing up people clinging to wreckage, destroying their entire narrative.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., was not satisfied by the classified briefing lawmakers received on Tuesday regarding the Trump administration’s boat strikes. 

“Oh, hell no. That was a joke,” she told Migrant Insider editor Pablo Manríquez. 

MeidasTouch Network senior digital editor Acyn Torabi shared video on X showing the congresswoman respond to questions from Manríquez outside the Capitol after leaving the briefing.

“There was not a single piece of intelligence that was shared that even rises to the level of any other briefing that we’ve seen on Ukraine, China, anything,” Ocasio-Cortez said, adding that it “was not a serious intelligence briefing. This was a communication of opinion.”

PENTAGON WON’T RELEASE ‘TOP SECRET, FULL, UNEDITED’ VIDEO OF SEPTEMBER DRUG BOAT STRIKE, HEGSETH SAYS

She said if President Donald Trump’s “administration wants to go to war… they need to go get it from Congress. And if Republicans want to defend this argument that cocaine is a weapon, they can go vote on that. But… this is just conjecture at this point.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.

TRUMP DECLARES ‘VENEZUELAN REGIME’ A FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION, ORDERS OIL TANKER BLOCKADE

The administration’s policy of blowing up vessels of alleged narcoterrorists trafficking drugs has been controversial.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth were involved in providing briefings to Senate and House members on Tuesday.

AOC’S LUXURY SPENDING BINGE IN PUERTO RICO REIGNITES QUESTIONS ABOUT ‘SOCIALIST’ BRAND: ‘PEAK HYPOCRISY’

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Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said during a Tuesday appearance on the Fox News Channel that his takeaways from the briefing included that the strikes “are legal” and “effective,” that they are based on “exquisitely good” intelligence, and that “checks and balances” are in place to ensure “innocent people who just happen to be in a boat are not hurt.”

The Senate sent a colossal defense package to President Donald Trump’s desk on Wednesday, checking off one of the last remaining items of the year in the process.

Lawmakers banded together to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a roughly $901 billion package crammed to the brim with defense policy that unlocks funding for several of the Trump administration’s national defense priorities.

The measure passed through the upper chamber on a 77-20 bipartisan vote. It’s a perennial legislative exercise lawmakers undertake, and one that normally comes and goes with little fuss, given that Congress typically bookends the year with it.

SENATE ADVANCES $901B DEFENSE BILL AS CONGRESS RACES INTO YEAR-END LEGISLATIVE SPRINT

But this year, the NDAA hit some snags in the House that threatened its survival. And while the drama was not as fiery in the Senate, there were still lingering issues with certain provisions that gave lawmakers heartburn.

Bipartisan frustration erupted over a provision that would roll back some safety standards in the Washington, D.C., airspace. It comes on the heels of the collision between a Black Hawk helicopter and passenger jet near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport earlier this year that killed 67 people.

Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz, R-Texas, sought an amendment to the package that would have stripped the provision and instead included his ROTOR Act that would mandate technology in aircraft to boost awareness of air traffic.

CONGRESS UNVEILS $900B DEFENSE BILL TARGETING CHINA WITH TECH BANS, INVESTMENT CRACKDOWN, US TROOP PAY RAISE

But any amendment to the package would have sent it back to the House. Cruz instead plans to tack on his legislation to spending bills down the line.

“I’m seeking a vote on the ROTOR Act as part of any appropriations measure before the current continuing resolution expires at the end of next month,” Cruz said.

Other provisions, like a requirement for the Pentagon to release the unedited footage of boat strikes in the Caribbean in exchange for fully funding the Department of War’s travel fund, raised eyebrows but didn’t slow down the package’s success.

That provision comes as lawmakers demand more transparency in the Trump administration’s strikes against alleged drug boats, and in particular, as they seek the release of the footage from a Sept. 2 double-strike on a vessel.

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE SAYS SHE WILL VOTE ‘NO’ ON PROPOSED NDAA, BLASTS FOREIGN AID SPENDING

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed all senators on the strikes this week. Senate Republicans left largely satisfied, while Senate Democrats charged that Hegseth wouldn’t show the unedited footage to every lawmaker in the upper chamber.

“He refused,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said. “The administration came to this briefing empty-handed. That’s the major question that we face, and if they can’t be transparent on this, how can you trust their transparency on all the other issues swirling about in the Caribbean.”

Still, the package is filled with several provisions that both sides agree to, including guarantees for Ukrainian assistance, and repeals of the 1991 and 2002 authorizations of use of military force (AUMFs) for the Gulf War and Iraq War, respectively, among several others.

With the NDAA now headed for Trump’s signature, the Senate still has more on its agenda before fleeing Washington until the new year.

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Senate Republicans want to ram through nearly 100 of Trump’s nominees, and both sides are eyeing a five-bill spending package that could alleviate some concerns heading into the looming Jan. 30 deadline to fund the government.

“This defense authorization act, although it doesn’t have as much in there for defense as a lot of us would like, is a step in the right direction,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said. “And I think the defense appropriations bill, which hopefully we’ll vote on later this week, is another example of the investment that we need to be making, to ensure that in a dangerous world, we are prepared to defend America and American interests.”

A terrorist assault on a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, combined with Germany’s arrest of five suspected Islamist militants accused of plotting a Christmas-market attack, is renewing fears that Western democracies are entering a more volatile era marked by ideologically driven violence. 

The incidents, striking symbolic holiday gatherings on opposite sides of the world, have intensified debate across the United States and Europe over whether open societies are prepared for a resurgence of extremist threats.

The sense of unease deepened further after an ISIS-affiliated gunman in Syria killed two U.S. service members and wounded an American civilian working alongside American forces. While the attack took place overseas, national security analysts say it reflects a pattern troubling Western governments: individuals able to inflict harm quickly with minimal planning, animated by broader ideological movements rather than directed by terrorist networks.

TRUMP ENCOURAGES JEWISH AMERICANS TO ‘CELEBRATE PROUDLY’ DURING HANUKKAH AFTER DEADLY BONDI BEACH SHOOTING

In Australia, the Bondi Beach shooting shocked a nation unaccustomed to mass-casualty attacks. Two gunmen opened fire at a public Hanukkah event known as “Chanukah by the Sea,” killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens. 

Police said the younger of the two attackers had previously drawn scrutiny for potential extremist ties but was not considered a current threat. Authorities recovered improvised explosive devices that failed to detonate, prompting Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to condemn the shooting as “pure evil” and declare it an antisemitic terrorist attack.

Hours later, German authorities announced the arrest of five suspected militants accused of planning an attack on a Christmas market in Bavaria — a soft target with deep cultural resonance and a painful history of extremist violence. Investigators said the suspects were inspired by global jihadist movements and had progressed to advanced planning stages.

And over the same weekend, federal authorities in the United States said they disrupted a credible terrorist plot of their own. The FBI arrested four alleged members of a radical pro-Palestinian extremist group accused of planning coordinated New Year’s Eve bombings across Los Angeles using improvised explosive devices. 

A fifth suspect was arrested in New Orleans in what officials described as a separate but ideologically aligned plot.

Together with the killing of American troops in Syria, the incidents have revived a central question: Is the West prepared for a new era of diffuse extremist violence capable of erupting in multiple theaters at once — from major cities to remote patrol bases?

Political pressure is mounting. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., said the Sydney attack underscored the consequences of permissive migration policies. 

“The mass migration of Islamic extremists destroyed Europe. Now, we are witnessing it destroy Australia,” he warned. “We CANNOT allow it to destroy America.”

President Donald Trump has long argued that unrestricted immigration from countries with values he says conflict with the West poses a homeland security risk. During his first term, he designated chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood a foreign terrorist organization. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio framed the threat as ideological rather than geographic, saying last week on Fox News: “Radical Islam has shown that their desire is not simply to occupy one part of the world … they want to expand.” 

Elon Musk amplified the debate further, writing: “Either the suicidal empathy of Western civilization ends or Western civilization will end.”

ISRAELI KNESSET MEMBER SAYS AUSTRALIAN OFFICIALS ‘DID NOTHING’ AMID RISE OF ANTISEMITISM BEFORE SYDNEY ATTACK

Extremism researchers note that the recent incidents reflect a familiar model of modern Islamist violence: attackers exploiting soft targets, acting with limited preparation, and drawing inspiration from global ideological movements even when they lack direct operational ties. The shootings in Sydney, the foiled plots in Germany and the U.S., and the gunman in Syria each demonstrated how quickly such violence can surface, even in countries with strong counterterrorism systems.

Michael Makovsky, president of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, said the Sydney, Germany and Syria incidents reflect a broader trend Western leaders have been slow to confront. 

“Clearly, the threat hasn’t diminished,” Makovsky said, adding that extremist networks appear more energized in the wake of recent Middle Eastern conflicts. 

He criticized governments that he believes underestimated the risks.

“People have been warning the Australian government … there’s a spike in Islamic extremism, and they just didn’t do anything,” he said of the Sydney attack, questioning how such a large public Jewish event lacked stronger security. “I don’t know where the security was in all this and why it took the police so long to respond.”

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Makovsky praised the Trump administration’s efforts to confront a rise in antisemitism but warned that the U.S. may be overlooking risks inherent in its partnership with Syria’s new leader Ahmed al-Shaara, a former wanted terrorist. 

“The administration is very invested right now in Shaara, and seems to want to minimize that the killer was from Shaara’s security forces,” he said. “There are a lot of bad people still around Shaara.”

As investigators in three countries piece together motives and networks, policymakers are confronting a possibility many had hoped was receding: that extremist violence, driven by global ideological currents rather than coordinated plots, may be entering a new phase — one that challenges assumptions Western nations have relied on to keep their citizens safe.

Former special counsel Jack Smith told House lawmakers during a closed-door deposition Wednesday that politics played no role in his investigations and prosecutions of President Donald Trump, directly countering accusations leveled at him by Republicans.

Smith, speaking to House Judiciary Committee members on Capitol Hill during the deposition, also took full ownership of the two criminal cases he brought against Trump regarding the 2020 election and alleged retention of classified documents, according to portions of his opening statement obtained by Fox News Digital.

“The decision to bring charges against President Trump was mine, but the basis for those charges rests entirely with President Trump and his actions, as alleged in the indictments returned by grand juries in two different districts,” Smith said.

He added: “If asked whether to prosecute a former President based on the same facts today, I would do so regardless of whether the President was a Republican or Democrat.”

Smith’s closed-door confrontation with lawmakers could stretch for hours. He is expected to face heated questions from Republicans about seeking gag orders against Trump during his presidential campaign, attempting to fast-track court proceedings and subpoenaing phone data of some GOP members of Congress.

Upon exiting the committee room, Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fl., told reporters the deposition was “boring” so far.

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This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Jessica Sonkin contributed to this report.

Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., one of the few Republicans who voted to impeach President Donald Trump in 2021, announced on Wednesday that he will not seek re-election in 2026.

“This decision comes with no reservations or remorse, only gratitude for the tremendous opportunity to have represented my home state in Congress,” Newhouse wrote in a statement.

“After over 25 years of public service, including more than a decade in the House, I am grateful to the Washingtonians who put their faith in me, as well as the colleagues I have served with on both sides of the aisle,” he added.

Newhouse’s incoming departure means that Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif., is the only remaining House Republican who voted in favor of Trump’s impeachment in 2021.

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Newhouse was one of 10 House Republicans who supported the impeachment effort. In addition to Valadao, the others were Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming; Rep. Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio; Rep. Jamie Herrera-Beutler of Washington; Rep. John Katko of New York; Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois; Rep. Peter Meijer of Michigan; Rep. Tom Rice of South Carolina and Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan.

The latter eight all left Congress before January 2023.

Newhouse won re-election in 2024 despite Trump making an effort to oust him.

“Newhouse has to go! He wished he didn’t do what he did, but it’s too late,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform Tuesday morning, just a week before Election Day.

MODERATE REPUBLICAN ERUPTS ON HOUSE GOP LEADERS, SAYS NOT HOLDING OBAMACARE VOTE IS ‘ABSOLUTE BULLS—‘

Trump also emphasized his support for Newhouse’s rival. “Jerrod Sessler is a fantastic Candidate and will be a GREAT Congressman for Washington State’s 4th Congressional District.”

“He is running against a Weak and Pathetic RINO named Newhouse, who voted to, for no reason, Impeach me,” Trump wrote at the time.

HOUSE GOP TENSIONS ERUPT AS REPUBLICANS TURN ON EACH OTHER HEADING INTO YEAR’S END

Sessler, a Navy veteran, unsuccessfully challenged  Newhouse for Washington’s 4th Congressional District. In addition to Trump, he is also backed by the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus.

At the time, Newhouse argued his vote to impeach Trump wouldn’t be a problem.

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“I worked very closely and successfully with President Trump and his first administration and I feel very confident that I can do that again,” he told the Yakima Herald-Republic.

Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump has largely stayed out of the picture as lawmakers on Capitol Hill scramble to find a healthcare proposal that Republicans can get behind.

It’s a notable contrast from past direction-setting stances from the White House — one that Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., jokingly noted seems out of character for a president known for weighing in on just about any picture.

“I mean, he’s a pretty quiet guy. He just doesn’t get engaged in things much, does he?” Scott quipped.

MODERATE REPUBLICAN ERUPTS ON HOUSE GOP LEADERS, SAYS NOT HOLDING OBAMACARE VOTE IS ‘ABSOLUTE BULLS—‘

Trump’s silence on legislative affairs doesn’t just extend to healthcare. Lawmakers have received little word from the White House in recent months on issues like codifying cuts to government spending, the potential for a second reconciliation package and legislation on affordability.

To Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., the chair of the once hyperactive House DOGE Caucus, that doesn’t mean Trump is absent.

“That’s not my perception,” Bean said when asked if Trump had pulled off a disappearing act. “He’s been there. His people are here; they’re in the room — they were here tonight.”

Although Trump’s direction may ultimately prove necessary to bring the party together on any of those topics, Republicans across both chambers of Congress believe the president is giving legislators latitude to work on key issues while staying plugged in behind the scenes.

Trump’s hands-off approach comes as lawmakers wrestle with whether to extend COVID-19-era federal subsidies used by the vast majority of Obamacare policyholders, let them expire at the end of the year and let health insurance costs jump overnight, or attempt broader reforms to bring the costs of the program down.

HOUSE GOP TENSIONS ERUPT AS REPUBLICANS TURN ON EACH OTHER HEADING INTO YEAR’S END

Republicans have just two weeks to come up with a solution before the subsidies expire. 

“My sense is I think he’s trying to give some room for negotiators to come to something that could get consensus and seize that as a way to be helpful,” Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said.

Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, a group that’s known for its breaks with party leadership, said he expected Trump to get involved eventually to help build consensus when it’s needed. 

“I think that if we get to comprehensive reform in the beginning of the year, then I suspect the White House will get granular,” Harris said.

That’s also the view of Matthew Dickinson, a professor of political science at Middlebury College. Dickinson studies the American presidency and its relationship with Congress. He observed that while it’s unusual for Trump to remain quiet, it’s not outside the norm for other presidents facing legislative forks in the road.

“Typically, presidents like to do so when it is clear their involvement may prove decisive. It may be a bit too early in the process for that to be the case. At this point, Republicans can’t even agree on the outlines of a healthcare proposal,” Dickinson said.

Others view Trump’s relative silence as a more cautious stance brought about by past blunders — especially when it comes to healthcare.

Jon Rogowski, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, said that’s a legislative area that’s left Trump wounded before.

“Trump was not particularly successful in uniting the Republican conference behind major legislative initiatives when his party controlled Congress in his first term. Taking an aggressive posture on a particular bill risks splintering the Republican conference and will make it difficult for Democrats to support the bill,” Rogowski said.

That’s also the view of Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.

“You know, in his first term, that’s the first thing he took up — healthcare,” Massie said. “And that bill was junk. Maybe he learned something from that, you know, to not get on board too quickly.”

HOUSE GOP UNVEILS HEALTHCARE PLAN AHEAD OF VOTE NEXT WEEK AS COST HIKE LOOMS FOR MILLIONS

Massie posited the White House may also just not have direction to give for now. When it comes to something as politically charged as extending the enhanced premium tax credits being utilized by 90% of Obamacare’s 24 million enrollees, does the president know what he wants? 

“Probably not. I don’t know,” Massie said.

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The White House did not respond to a request for comment. 

Gutting the filibuster was once a taboo notion among Senate Republicans, but the idea is gaining traction thanks to President Donald Trump’s repeated calls to throw out the longstanding procedure.

The Senate filibuster is the 60-vote threshold that applies to most bills in the upper chamber, and given the nature of the thin majorities that either party has commanded in recent years, that means legislation typically has to be bipartisan to advance.

It proved a key barrier to reopening the government and advancing several other Republican priorities in recent weeks, like the GOP’s Obamacare fix that was torpedoed by Senate Democrats.

TWO KEY SENATE REPUBLICANS JOIN PUSH TO OVERTURN TRUMP’S FEDERAL UNION ORDER

For years, it’s been viewed as a tool of the minority party in the Senate meant to prevent majorities from ramming through partisan legislation that both Republicans and Democrats have taken advantage of.

But near-monthly prodding from Trump and recent frustration with the 43-day government shutdown has some Republicans rethinking their position on the filibuster.

“It’s something I’m giving serious consideration to now,” Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., told Fox News Digital.

Marshall previously told Fox News Digital, “Never, never, ever, never, none,” when asked if he would consider changing the rules after Trump called on Republicans to nuke the filibuster in October.

Just a few months later, Marshall is reconsidering his position.

KENNEDY URGES GOP TO RESTART SPENDING BATTLE AMID SOARING COST OF LIVING, WARNS AGAINST WASTING MAJORITY

“I think between the last government shutdown and the threat of this one, it makes me pause,” he said. “It seems like the appropriations process is being slowed down. It feels like, with healthcare, that the Democrats, really the Democratic Party, doesn’t want to get anything done. So eliminating the filibuster ends all that.”

He echoed Trump, who on Monday told reporters that he wanted Senate Republicans to “knock out” the filibuster.

“You wouldn’t have January 30th looming, because you have the 30th of January looming, you know that, right? And if we knocked out the filibuster it would be just a simple approval,” he said. “But you have some Republicans — they’re unable to explain why, you know if you ask them why they’re unable to explain, they cannot win the debate, but they should knock out the filibuster.”

The likelihood that such a change crosses the floor in the Senate is low, given that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has routinely remained rooted in his position that the filibuster shouldn’t be touched.

Still, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., a member of Thune’s leadership team, said that his position had also changed on the filibuster.

TRUMP’S ‘NUCLEAR’ DEMAND NOT LANDING FOR SENATE REPUBLICANS AMID SHUTDOWN

Mullin told Fox News’ Will Cain that during a recent meeting with Senate GOP leadership, he asked the room if they truly believed that Senate Democrats wouldn’t try to get rid of the procedural safeguard when they regained a majority again.

“If we believe that they’re going to do it, then why don’t we just go ahead and get it done,” he said.

Other Republicans are more skeptical about the odds of the filibuster getting axed. Some, like Mullin, think it could be narrowly tailored to only apply to spending bills, while others see the move as fantasy. 

“That’s not gonna happen,” Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital.

And Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said that lawmakers weren’t even “using the tools we have right now” to pass Republicans’ agenda.

Kennedy has pushed for another round of budget reconciliation, given that Republicans have two more attempts at the grueling process, to tackle the growing affordability issues in the country.

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He argued that’s how Republicans passed Trump’s signature legislation, the “one, big beautiful bill,” earlier this year.

“Yes, you can’t do everything, but you can do a lot, and that’s what I would be concentrating my energies on,” Kennedy said. “And I’ve said respectfully to the president that I don’t think the United States Senate is going to give up the filibuster or the blue slip. He obviously disagrees, and I respect that reasonable people disagree sometimes, but I’m a pragmatist. I deal with the world as it is, not as I want it to be.”

Former special counsel Jack Smith is set to appear Wednesday on Capitol Hill, where House lawmakers plan to question Smith directly for the first time about his investigations and prosecutions of President Donald Trump.

Smith will meet with House Judiciary Committee members behind closed doors for a deposition, during which both parties will interview him in one-hour increments.

His appearance comes amid the committee’s ongoing probe into his special counsel work and as Republicans have broadly accused Smith of overzealously pursuing Trump over his efforts to challenge the 2020 election results and his alleged retention of classified documents.

Republicans have specifically criticized Smith for seeking gag orders against Trump during his presidential campaign, attempting to fast-track court proceedings and subpoenaing records and phone data of hundreds of Trump-aligned people and entities, including members of Congress.

JACK SMITH SUBPOENAED FOR DEPOSITION WITH HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE

Smith, for his part, plans to address what he views as mischaracterizations about his work, including the subpoenas, sources familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital. Smith will decline to answer questions he believes are covered by grand jury secrecy rules or Judge Aileen Cannon’s seal on certain material related to the classified documents case, the sources said.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, is aiming to eventually release a full transcript of the deposition, another source familiar told Fox News Digital, but that could take time because rules surrounding depositions require Republicans and Democrats to agree to release it or the committee to vote on the release. Smith’s team must also have a chance to review it.

Smith previously told Congress he was willing to appear for a public hearing; however, Jordan subpoenaed him for the private testimony anyway. The chairman told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo he preferred that format because lawmakers and House lawyers would have more time to question Smith.

DEMOCRATS RAMP UP CALLS TO RELEASE JACK SMITH’S SPECIAL COUNSEL REPORT ON TRUMP CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS CASE

Trump has echoed Smith’s preference for a public hearing, telling reporters the former special counsel is a “sick man” and that he would “rather see him testify publicly because there’s no way he can answer the questions.” Jordan said he was open to Smith testifying publicly at a later date.

For several years, Jordan has criticized Smith’s work as a “weaponization” of prosecutorial authority. When he meets with Smith, among the topics Jordan plans to raise are Smith’s subpoenas of the Republican senators and House members who were in contact with Trump around the time of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot. Those subpoenas were issued as part of Arctic Frost, the FBI probe that led Smith to charge Trump over the 2020 election.

“We want to bring in Jack Smith, ask him all kinds of questions, not the least of which is this whole idea that he was going after what appears to be almost half the stinkin’ Republicans in Congress, getting their phone logs, and a bunch of other Americans,” Jordan said.

The targeted lawmakers have blasted the subpoenas as scandalous and a breach of the Constitution’s separation of powers, while Smith has defended them as narrowly tailored and “entirely proper.”

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Smith faced significant obstacles while pursuing the two cases against Trump and ultimately dismissed the charges after Trump won the 2024 election, citing a DOJ policy that discourages prosecuting sitting presidents. Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has repeatedly labeled Smith “deranged” and a “thug” and called for his imprisonment.

The deposition is set to begin at 10 a.m.