The House gave final approval to President Donald Trump’ s request to claw back about $9 billion for public broadcasting and foreign aid early Friday as Republicans intensified their targeting of institutions and programs they view as bloated or out of step with their agenda.
The White House suggested it will make more such demands to claw back congressionally appropriated funding. Some Republicans were uncomfortable with the encroachment on their constitutional spending authority, but approved the cuts anyway rather than cross Trump's team.
Trump meanwhile is threatening to sue the Wall Street Journal for reporting that he sent a sexually suggestive letter to Jeffrey Epstein, and fans of Steven Colbert are dismayed that CBS is cancelling ‘The Late Show.’ Colbert announced the cancellation Thursday night, only days after he described the CBS parent company’s $16 million settlement offer to Trump as a “big fat bribe.”
Here's the latest:
Trump threatens to sue Rupert Murdoch over WSJ report on Epstein birthday note
Trump threatened on social media to sue the Wall Street Journal and its owners, News Corp, after the paper reported on his alleged involvement with a 50th birthday gift to Jeffrey Epstein.
The newspaper said it had reviewed a typewritten letter bearing Trump’s signature, framed by the seemingly hand-drawn outline of a naked woman, that Ghislaine Maxwell included in a 2003 birthday album. Trump denied writing the letter or drawing the picture, calling it “false, malicious, and defamatory.”
Trump specifically went after its billionaire owner, Rupert Murdoch, who also owns the Fox Corporation that controls Fox News.
“I look forward to getting Rupert Murdoch to testify in my lawsuit against him and his ‘pile of garbage’ newspaper, the WSJ,” Trump said on Truth Social. “That will be an interesting experience!!!”
Senate Intelligence Chairman seeks Pentagon review of Chinese contractors
Republican Sen. Tom Cotton is seeking an investigation into the hiring practices of Department of Defense contractors to see if they have hired Chinese citizens to perform sensitive tech work.
The Arkansas Republican requesting information about any contractors that employee people in China to perform services for U.S. defense systems. Hiring employees living in China could unwittingly put sensitive systems and information at risk of Chinese espionage, Cotton wrote.
“The U.S. government recognizes that China’s cyber capabilities pose one of the most aggressive and dangerous threats to the United States, as evidenced by infiltration of our critical infrastructure, telecommunications networks, and supply chains,” Cotton wrote.
Cotton’s request comes after national security officials have linked China’s government to hacking campaigns targeting and critical U.S. systems.
For Sale: Trump is leveraging power of his office to reap profits for family businesses
If one theme has emerged in Trump’s second term, it’s how he’s for personal gain unlike anyone before in history.
From crypto coins to bibles, overseas development deals to an upcoming line of cellphones, Trump family businesses have raked in hundreds of millions of dollars since his election, an unprecedented flood of often shadowy money from with interests
The dealmaking is a rejection of Trump’s first-term pledge to “drain the swamp.”
“It’s the Mount Everest of corruption” said Sen. Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat.
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Republicans grasp for response to demands for Epstein case transparency
The final House vote early Friday approving Trump’s request to claw back billions in congressionally approved spending came after hours of debate over a response to the administration’s handling of records in the sex trafficking case. The GOP ultimately settled on putting forth a resolution for a vote that could come next week. It nods to the but carries no legal weight.
With Trump now dismissing the entire Epstein story as the House resolution demonstrates that practically no one is moving on from Attorney General Pam Bondi’s
Republican leader praises ‘fiscal sanity.’ Democrat says ‘no one is buying’ the GOP line
Republicans who approved Trump’s request to claw back about $9 billion in congressionally approved spending praised the early Friday vote as a strong move to eliminate government bloat.
“We need to get back to fiscal sanity and this is an important step,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.
Opponents voiced concerns about Congress ceding its spending powers to the executive branch. These cuts are just a sliver of federal spending and come after Republicans also muscled through Trump’s tax and spending cut bill without any Democratic support. The Congressional Budget Office has projected that measure will increase the U.S. debt by about $3.3 trillion over the coming decade.
“No one is buying the the notion that Republicans are actually trying to improve wasteful spending,” said Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Wall Street Journal reports a sexually suggestive Trump letter to Epstein
The president promised a lawsuit after described a sexually suggestive letter that the newspaper says bore Trump’s name and was included in a 2003 album for Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday.
Trump denied writing the letter, calling it “false, malicious, and defamatory.” The newspaper report comes amid an uproar among Trump supporters over the administration's about-face on releasing criminal case files from the Epstein investigations. .
Just look at Trump's legs
Swollen legs led to the President being diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency. It’s among older adults but requires a thorough checkup to rule out more serious causes of the swelling.
Colbert blames Trump deal for cancelation of ‘The Late Show’
CBS is . The talk show host told his audience that their last show will be next May, shuttering a decades-old TV institution and removing from air one of Trump’s most prominent and persistent late-night critics.
Thursday’s announcement followed Colbert’s of a , parent company of CBS, over a “60 Minutes” story.
In his monologue Monday, Colbert said he was “offended” and joked that the technical name in legal circles for the deal was “big fat bribe.”
Paramount and CBS executives said in a statement that the cancellation “is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”
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Inside the cuts to foreign aid
Among the foreign aid cuts are $800 million for a program that provides emergency shelter, water and family reunification for refugees and $496 million to provide food, water and health care for countries hit by natural disasters and conflicts. There also is a $4.15 billion cut for programs that aim to boost economies and democratic institutions in developing nations.
Democrats argued that the Republican administration’s animus toward foreign aid programs would hurt America’s standing in the world and create a vacuum for China to fill.
The White House argued that many of the cuts would incentivize other nations to step up and do more to respond to humanitarian crises and that the rescissions best served the American taxpayer.
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Recission cuts are a heavy blow to local radio stations across rural America
The cancellation of $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting represents the full amount it is due to receive during the next two budget years.
The White House says the public media system is politically biased and an unnecessary expense.
The CPB distributes more than two-thirds of the money to more than 1,500 locally operated public television and radio stations, with much of the remainder assigned to National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service to support national programming.
Lawmakers with large rural constituencies voiced particular concern about what the cuts to public broadcasting could mean for some local public stations in their state.
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House gives final approval to Trump’s clawing back of $9 billion in appropriated funds
The package cancels about $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and nearly $8 billion for a variety of foreign aid programs, many designed to help countries where drought, disease and political unrest endure.
The vote marked the first time in decades that a president has successfully submitted such a rescissions request to Congress, and the White House suggested it won’t be the last. Some Republicans were uncomfortable with the cuts, yet supported them anyway, wary of crossing Trump or upsetting his agenda.
The House passed the bill by a vote of 216-213. It now goes to Trump for his signature.
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