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Trump nominees pile up as GOP weighs rule shift once floated by Democrats
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Senate Republicans are getting closer to changing the upper chamber’s rules to allow for a slew of President Donald Trump’s lower-level nominees to be confirmed, and they’re closing in on a revived proposal from Democrats to do it.
The hope among Republicans is that using a tool that Senate Democrats once considered would allow them to avoid turning to the «nuclear option,» meaning a rule change with a simple majority vote.
«The Democrats should support it, because it was their original proposal that we’re continuing on,» Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., told Fox News Digital. «And I wouldn’t be surprised if they won’t. This historic obstruction by the Democrats is all playing to their far-left liberal base, who hate President Trump.»
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Senate Republicans are eyeing a Democratic proposal from years ago to change the Senate’s rules to ram President Donald Trump’s nominees through Senate Democrats’ blockade. (Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Republicans met throughout the week behind closed doors to discuss their options and have begun to coalesce around a proposal that would allow them to take one vote to confirm a group of nominees, also known as «en bloc,» for sub-Cabinet level positions.
So far, the only nominee to make it through the Senate with ease was Secretary of State Marco Rubio in January. Since then, various positions throughout the bureaucracy have stacked up and have not received a voice vote or gone through unanimous consent — two commonly-used fast-track procedures for lower-level positions in the administration.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said that before Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., was in charge of the Democrats, «this was always done in a way where, if you had some of the lower-level nominees in the administration, those were all voted en bloc, they were packaged, they were grouped, they were stacked.»
«This is the first president in history who, at this point in his presidency, hasn’t had at least one nominee clear by unanimous consent or voice vote,» he said. «It is unprecedented what they’re doing. It’s got to be stopped.»
TOP SENATE REPUBLICAN READY TO GO NUCLEAR, ‘ROLL OVER’ DEMOCRATS WITH RULE CHANGE TO CONFIRM TRUMP NOMINEES
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., heads to the Senate chamber on Jan. 22, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
And the number of nominees on the Senate’s calendar continues to grow, reaching 149 picks awaiting confirmation this week. The goal would be to make that rule change before lawmakers leave town for a week starting Sept. 22.
The idea comes from legislation proposed in 2023 by Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Angus King, I-Maine, and former Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md. Republicans are eyeing their own spin on it, such as possibly not limiting the number of en bloc nominees in a group or excluding judicial nominees.
Republicans would prefer to avoid going nuclear — the last time the nuclear option was used was in 2019, when then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., lowered debate time on nominees to two hours — but they are willing to do so, given that Democrats haven’t budged on their blockade.
They may only be making a public display of resistance, however.
«Democrats privately support what Republicans are talking about,» a senior GOP aide familiar with negotiations told Fox News Digital. «They’re just too afraid to admit it.»
Sen. James Lankford, who worked with Thune and Barrasso over the recess to build a consensus on a rule change proposal, told Fox News Digital that his Democratic colleagues acknowledged that they’ve «created a precedent that is not sustainable.»
TRUMP THREATENS LAWSUIT OVER ‘BLUE SLIPS’ AS TOP GOP SENATOR BUCKS DEMAND TO BEND SENATE RULES FOR NOMINEES
The idea comes from legislation proposed in 2023 by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., among others. (Bloomberg/Getty)
«But then they’ll say, ‘but my progressive base is screaming at me to fight however I want to. I know I’m damaging the Senate, but I got to show that I’m fighting,’» the Oklahoma Republican said.
«We feel stuck, I mean, literally,» Lankford continued. «Some of my colleagues have said, ‘We’re not the ones going nuclear. They’re the ones that are going nuclear.’»
Klobuchar told Fox News Digital that she appreciated the prior work she’s done with Lankford on «ways to make the Senate better» but wasn’t ready to get behind the GOP’s version of her legislation.
«When I proposed that, it was meant to pass as legislation, which means you would have needed bipartisan votes, and the reason that’s not happening right now is because the president keeps flaunting the law,» she said.
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Not every Senate Democrat is on board with the wholesale blockade, however.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., told Fox News Digital that lawmakers should all behave in a way in which administrations, either Republican or Democratic, get «those basic kinds of considerations» for nominees.
«That’s not the resistance,» he said. «I just think that’s kind of unhelpful to just move forward. I mean, you can oppose people like the big ones, whether it’s [Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F.] Kennedy or others.»
Fox News Digital reached out to Schumer’s office for comment but did not immediately hear back.
senate,donald trump,chuck schumer,politics
INTERNACIONAL
GOP races to pass ICE, Border Patrol funding bill as priorities pile up, divisions emerge
John Thune blasts Democrats’ DHS shutdown demands
Senate Majority Leader John Thune accuses Democrats of playing politics with the DHS shutdown, explaining how the Senate passed a bill to fund most agencies. He also addresses President Donald Trump’s remarks on rising gas prices.
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A party-line tactic to ram legislation through Congress and bypass the Senate filibuster has become a dumping ground for Republicans’ legislative priorities throughout the year.
Now, as Democrats refuse to fund immigration operations, Republicans are once again readying a budget reconciliation package. The hard part will be getting enough of the GOP on the same page to craft a bill that can pass and survive the strict rules underpinning the process.
Republicans used the same process to pass President Donald Trump’s «big, beautiful bill» last year. It’s a time-consuming, labor-intensive legislative maneuver that nearly blew up and could fail unless both the Senate and House align on what exactly they want to include.
SENATE PASSES BILL TO FUND MOST OF DHS AFTER HOUSE GOP CAVES
President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Washington. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)
Trump officially backed using reconciliation again this week as a way to skirt Democrats’ refusal to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), as Congress inches closer to ending the ongoing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown.
Trump demanded that Republicans get the bill on his desk by June 1.
«We are going to work as fast and as focused as possible to replenish funding for our Border and ICE agents, and the Radical Left Democrats won’t be able to stop us,» Trump said on Truth Social.
Still, Republicans have viewed reconciliation as a vehicle to tackle fraud, affordability, Trump’s tariff authorities, additional tax provisions, healthcare, funding for the Iran war, supplemental agriculture spending and election integrity measures in the months since passing the «big, beautiful bill.»
DHS SHUTDOWN BREAKTHROUGH COMES AT COST FOR REPUBLICANS AS FUNDING FIGHTS NEARS END
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Republicans need to «keep our expectations realistic.» (Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has warned that if reconciliation is going to work — especially given the limited timeframe lawmakers have to start and finish the process — Republicans need to «keep our expectations realistic.»
«Our theory of the case behind all this was to keep that thing as narrow and focused as possible, and that maximizes the speed at which we can do it and the support for it,» Thune said.
«There will probably be some attempts to add things,» he continued. «There are things out there that, obviously, many of us are interested in. But on a reconciliation vehicle like this — which we need to move with haste, as the president has pointed out — it’s probably not a likely magnet for all these other issues.»
Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told voters at an event this week in South Carolina that he is eyeing two new reconciliation packages, which could ease concerns about cramming all the GOP’s priorities into one massive bill.
GOP RAILS AGAINST ‘S— SANDWICH’ DEAL AS ALL EYES TURN TO HOUSE TO END DHS SHUTDOWN
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., walks to the Senate chamber for votes after meeting behind closed doors with fellow Republicans on the Homeland Security budget stalemate, at the Capitol in Washington, March 26, 2026. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)
«We want to do it quick — ICE, Border Patrol — fund it as much as you can, multi-year,» Graham said. «Then there’s another one coming. I just made news. There’s another one coming in the fall, and that’s going to be about going after fraud.»
House Republicans spent their recent policy retreat earlier this year pushing a so-called «reconciliation 2.0,» gearing up to load the package with several provisions that could drain time and struggle to earn support in the Senate — where strict guidelines could kill proposals entirely if they don’t comply with the rules.
The Republican Study Committee (RSC), which has long called for a second reconciliation bill, also wants to add proposals addressing affordability concerns.
«We support pursuing funding for military readiness and Homeland Security through this legislative process, while simultaneously codifying the president’s agenda to deliver lower costs for working families,» the RSC Steering Committee said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
Some Republicans are also pushing to include the latest policy fight: the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. The voter ID and citizenship verification legislation has no chance of passing the Senate given unified Democratic opposition.
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It’s also unlikely to survive the Senate’s reconciliation rules, which allow only provisions that directly impact spending.
«I think we have to set our sights a little bit lower on this reconciliation bill,» Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., told Fox News Digital. «It’s got to be targeted to fund ICE for 10 years — I think that’s the number one thing for us. If we can nibble at the edges of the SAVE Act, that would be great, but the parliamentarian is not going to let us do the SAVE Act. That’s just an impossibility.»
Some of the loudest proponents of the bill in the House GOP acknowledge that adding the SAVE Act to reconciliation would be a challenge — largely because they would prefer to keep the bill intact and push it through the Senate.
«Look, it’s time for them to do a walk-and-talk and filibuster, and let’s make this thing happen,» Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., said. «The American people are watching — piecing it together just to try to get a piece.»
politics, senate, house of representatives politics, donald trump, homeland security
INTERNACIONAL
Un medicamento para la diabetes podría ayudar a controlar el peso en hombres con cáncer de próstata
La metformina es un medicamento utilizado principalmente para tratar la diabetes tipo 2 que ayuda a controlar los niveles de glucosa en sangre.
Científicos de los Estados Unidos identificaron que se le podría dar otro uso al medicamento también. En hombres con cáncer de próstata, el fármaco podría producir un efecto similar al que genera el ejercicio intenso en el cuerpo.
Es porque la metformina eleva los niveles de una molécula clave para el equilibrio energético y el peso, aun cuando los pacientes no realizan actividad física.
El trabajo fue realizado por investigadores del Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, en Miami, un centro especializado en cáncer. Lo publicaron en la revista científica EMBO Molecular Medicine.
Qué motivó a hacer el estudio
Muchos de los pacientes con cáncer de próstata sienten fatiga, dolores o presentan limitaciones físicas que hacen difícil mantener una rutina de ejercicios.
La terapia hormonal, utilizada para combatir el cáncer de próstata, puede alterar el metabolismo y provocar aumento de peso, resistencia a la insulina y riesgo cardiovascular.
Por eso, los científicos buscaron alternativas para ayudar a quienes no pueden moverse con facilidad durante el tratamiento.
El medicamento logró aumentar los niveles de N-lactoil-fenilalanina (Lac-Phe), una molécula que el cuerpo fabrica cuando necesita más energía.
Lac-Phe aparece cuando el lactato, que se produce al hacer esfuerzo, se une a la fenilalanina, un aminoácido que forma parte de las proteínas.
Estudios previos en animales y humanos ya habían relacionado altos niveles de Lac-Phe con menor apetito y mejor control del peso.
Señales del cuerpo, caminos de la medicina
Los investigadores observaron que la metformina elevó Lac-Phe en pacientes sin actividad física, y que los valores alcanzados eran parecidos a los que se ven luego de una sesión exigente de ejercicios.
Este dato llamó la atención porque muestra que ciertas rutas metabólicas pueden activarse incluso cuando no hay movimiento.
El estudio aclara que tomar metformina no reemplaza los beneficios del ejercicio físico, pero ayuda a entender cómo funcionan los mecanismos internos del metabolismo.
El objetivo es explorar si existen formas de proteger la salud metabólica en pacientes que no pueden hacer ejercicio debido a los tratamientos o a otros problemas.
La investigación también comprobó que los niveles de Lac-Phe elevados por la metformina no se vincularon con cambios en el antígeno prostático específico (PSA), el análisis de sangre que se usa para seguir la evolución del cáncer de próstata.
Esto significa que, aunque la molécula se relaciona con el metabolismo y el peso, no afecta directamente al tumor.
Metformina, una aliada inesperada
Además de Lac-Phe, la metformina elevó otra sustancia llamada GDF-15, aunque la relación de esta molécula con los cambios de peso fue menos clara.
El equipo dirigido por Marijo Bilusic, oncólogo y profesor en la Universidad de Miami, señaló que la combinación del trabajo de laboratorio y estudios clínicos permitió unir los resultados moleculares con datos de pacientes reales.
La doctora Priyamvada Rai, experta en biología tumoral, explicó que mantener la salud metabólica puede ser clave para que los pacientes toleren mejor los tratamientos y se sientan mejor en su vida diaria.
En tanto, el profesor David Lombard, del área de epigenética, agregó que estudiar el metabolismo celular ayuda a comprender el impacto de la metformina en personas con cáncer de próstata.
Los resultados se confirmaron en distintos contextos clínicos y también en pacientes tratados con otras terapias metabólicas.
Esto sugiere que Lac-Phe podría reflejar un ajuste más amplio del metabolismo, no solo un efecto exclusivo de la metformina.
La potencial utilidad de la metformina en pacientes con cáncer de próstata abre una nueva línea de investigación sobre cómo los medicamentos pueden apoyar el metabolismo cuando la actividad física no es posible o resulta muy difícil.
soledad,tercera edad,aislamiento,reflexión,vejez,salud mental,personas mayores,sociedad
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‘Credible intelligence’ reveals North Korea’s successor to Kim Jong Un, South Korea says
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South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) thinks that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s daughter has been lined up to be her father’s eventual successor, lawmakers noted on Monday, according to Reuters.
The NIS indicated to lawmakers that its analysis stems from what it characterized as «credible intelligence» that it had gathered, Reuters reported, citing briefings by ruling and opposition party members following a closed-door parliamentary meeting.
Video footage posted last month showed Kim and his daughter on a tank.
KIM JONG UN APPEARS WITH TEENAGE DAUGHTER AT LIVE-FIRE ROCKET TEST IN NORTH KOREA
This photo provided by the North Korean government shows its leader Kim Jong Un, front right, his daughter, reportedly named Kim Ju Ae, and other soldiers on a tank at a military training base in North Korea, on March 19, 2026. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)
The South Korean agency indicated that the scene of the girl driving a tank was meant to emphasize her supposed military aptitude and counter doubts concerning a female successor, lawmakers noted, according to the outlet.
North Korean state-run media KCNA published photos of the North Korean leader and his daughter with a tank last month, following prior images of the girl utilizing firearms, Reuters reported.
The daughter is thought to be about 13 years old and named Ju Ae.
IRAN’S WAR AGAINST THE US AND ISRAEL IS BEING FUELED BY NORTH KOREAN WEAPONS, EXPERT WARNS
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un’s daughter, center, tries out a new pistol at a factory producing pistols and other light arms at an undisclosed place in North Korea Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
The outlet reported that ruling Democratic Party lawmaker Park Sun-won indicated that the scenes are meant to pay «homage» to the North Korean leader’s military appearances years ago when he was being set up to succeed his father as regime leader.
Korea Institute for National Unification analyst Hong Min said the tank scene is not enough to determine that she has been established as her father’s successor, pointing out that she appeared with her father rather than independently, unlike her father’s independent military appearances as he was being groomed to take the helm.
NORTH KOREA TESTS SOLID-FUEL MISSILE ENGINE AS KIM BOOSTS THREAT TO US MAINLAND
This picture taken on December 20, 2025, and released by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on Dec. 23, 2025, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (R) and his daughter Ju Ae (L) inspecting the Milyong Hotel, which was recently completed in the Samjiyon tourist district of Ryanggang Province. (KCNA VIA KNS / AFP via Getty Images)
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North Korea is one of the world’s only nuclear-armed nations.
world, north korea, kim jong un
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