Budget fight tests the limits of Trump loyalty in Congress
CNN
GOP Rep. Ryan Zinke is a Donald Trump loyalist.
GOP Rep. Ryan Zinke is a Donald Trump loyalist. Yet even the former Trump Cabinet secretary isn’t currently willing to go along with party leaders’ plans to muscle the president’s deficit-busting agenda through Congress with hardly any attempt to pay for it. Zinke was among multiple Republicans privately raising doubts about the Senate’s budget plan in a tense GOP meeting Tuesday morning, voicing concerns about passing pricey tax cuts with only $4 billion in spending reductions — all while raising the nation’s borrowing limit by another $5 trillion. “The math doesn’t add up,” a frustrated Zinke told fellow Republicans, according to two people in the room. Zinke is not alone, with at least a dozen House Republicans saying they were willing to reject the Senate’s budget plans despite the hard push from Trump himself, who is eager to show tangible progress on his agenda to battered financial markets as his big reciprocal tariffs take effect. Their collision is the latest reminder that some Republicans on Capitol Hill who consider themselves “true believers” on fiscal conservatism are still adjusting to following a president who has never made battling the deficit a top priority.
Admirers of Cesar Chavez and public officials are scrambling to respond to claims about the man who has been honored with holidays, statues and school names in communities around the country.
The co-founder of Super Micro Computer and two others were charged with diverting $2.5 billion worth of servers with Nvidia’s artificial intelligence chips to China, in violation of US laws barring exports to that country without a license.
The Treasury Department will begin to manage federal student loans in default, taking on a key function of the Education Department as the Trump administration further pushes to dismantle it.
The Justice Department on Thursday seized several websites it says were used by Iran as part of “psychological operations” targeting perceived advisories and spreading terrorist propaganda.
Sen. Thom Tillis on Thursday blasted talk of ending the Senate filibuster to pass the “SAVE America Act” as a “foolish and lazy idea” and warned his party that pushing the president’s priority through the so-called talking filibuster would hand control to Democrats.
On two major occasions, the Trump administration has gestured at Israel being mostly responsible for major inflection points in the Iran war — even though the evidence on both counts isn’t totally clear.
Conservative hardliners who supported subpoenaing Attorney General Pam Bondi in the House Oversight Committee’s Jeffrey Epstein probe are now indicating that they are open to changing their position after Bondi met with the panel for a briefing that turned contentious with Democrats.
Cracks emerge in GOP over Iran war cost as administration floats more than $200B request to Congress
Cracks are emerging among congressional Republicans over the Iran war with key lawmakers skeptical about spending hundreds of billions of dollars to prolong the conflict and several refusing to support any money without a clear White House strategy.
Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime employee and attorney Darren Indyke testified on Thursday that he “had no knowledge whatsoever” of the convicted sex offender’s wrongdoing and rejected “any suggestion” he assisted or facilitated his former boss’ crimes.
Democratic Sen. John Fetterman cast the deciding vote Thursday to advance Markwayne Mullin’s nomination to serve as US Department of Homeland Security secretary, crossing party lines to send President Donald Trump’s nominee to the full Senate for consideration.
A US F-35 fighter jet made an emergency landing at US air base in the Middle East after it was struck by what is believed to be Iranian fire, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
In 2025 a record number of more than 22,000 Cubans arrived in Uruguay, according to to the National Migration Agency. CNN’s Dario Klein reports.
For over a month, Transportation Security Administration employees have been showing up to work at US airports without getting paid.