Category: Congress

White House proposes drastic cuts to State Department and funding for UN, NATO and other groups

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House’s Office of Management and Budget has proposed gutting the State Department’s budget by almost 50%, closing a number of overseas diplomatic missions, slashing the number of diplomatic staff, and eliminating funding for nearly all international organizations, including the United Nations, many of its agencies and for NATO headquarters, officials said. The proposal, which was presented to the State Department last week and is still in a highly preliminary phase, is not expected to pass muster with either the department’s leadership or Congress, which will…

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Federal benefits face possible cuts in House Republicans’ budget resolution

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Although the details of House Republicans’ narrowly approved budget framework are still up in the air, some initial proposals show the possibility of changes to federal benefits, mainly in retirement and health care. As part of the GOP budget resolution, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is looking at cuts of at least $ 50 billion from its mandatory spending, according to the framework that lawmakers approved in a vote of 216-214 on Thursday. That level of spending cuts would almost certainly dig into federal benefits, the National Active…

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Five years after congressional report, national service recommendations face test

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A bipartisan congressional commission released its recommendations to strengthen all forms of service to meet the country’s needs just as COVID shut down the country in 2020. Now, five years later, Congress received an update on progress and unfinished business. Federal News Network’s Terry Gerton spoke with Dr. Joe Heck, the former chair of the Commission on the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service, on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin to get his take on how times have changed and why his recommendations still matter. Interview transcript: Joe…

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Trump abruptly fires the 4-star general who headed the National Security Agency

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has abruptly fired the director of the National Security Agency, according to U.S. officials and members of Congress, but the White House and the Pentagon have provided no reasons for the move. Senior military leaders were informed Thursday of the firing of Air Force Gen. Tim Haugh, who also oversaw the Pentagon’s Cyber Command, the officials said. They received no advance notice about the decision to remove a four-star general with a 33-year career in intelligence and cyber operations, according to the officials, who…

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Congress struggles to keep up with the Trump cavalcade of action

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The Trump-DOGE-Musk fast-moving agenda prods Congress into action. This week, members reacted to several of the latest administrative executive orders and other moves. Loren Duggan, deputy news director of Bloomberg Government, joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin to give the rundown. Interview transcript: Tom Temin: And Loren, there is a House vote this week on nationwide injunctions. What’s going on there? Loren Duggan: Right. This is a reaction to what some judges have done in the Trump administration. He’ll put forward an executive order or other action and a…

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Signal leak dominates confirmation hearing for top Pentagon nominees

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As President Donald Trump’s administration continues to manage the fallout from the Signal incident, four nominees for top Pentagon positions faced questions about their own history of handling sensitive and classified information during their confirmation hearing on Thursday.  The leak of a Signal group chat where members of the Trump administration discussed operational details for upcoming strikes against the Houthis in Yemen has sent shock waves throughout Washington, overshadowing what was shaping up to be a routine confirmation hearing. While Trump administration officials maintained that no classified information was shared…

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