Republicans in the House and Senate are anxiously watching whether President Donald Trump will take a more aggressive approach in corralling GOP lawmakers in favor of his «big, beautiful bill.»

«President Trump is the leader of the Republican Party, isn’t he? I think it’s incumbent upon him to make sure everybody in the Senate understands that this is a signature piece of legislation that essentially 77 million Americans voted for,» Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., told Fox News Digital.

The Senate is working through a massive piece of legislation advancing Trump’s agenda on tax, immigration, energy, defense and the national debt — which the president has said he wants on his desk by the Fourth of July.

Trump has been pushing Republicans on the bill in public, addressing it at back-to-back events on Thursday and Friday while also posting on his Truth Social platform. 

148 DEMOCRATS BACK NONCITIZEN VOTING IN DC AS GOP RAISES ALARM ABOUT FOREIGN AGENTS

Congressional leaders have said they’ve been in near-constant contact with Trump or his White House staff about the legislation. Indeed, numerous White House officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Vice President JD Vance, to push Senate Republicans to stay on course. 

But some House Republicans want him to be as forceful as he was when their chamber passed the bill by just one vote in May. Trump summoned multiple groups of Republicans to the White House on several occasions in the lead-up to that vote, and even made a rare trip to Capitol Hill to gin up support within the House GOP.

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., told Fox News Digital that when the House was going through the motions of advancing the mammoth legislation, it «looked all but impossible» to get it across the finish line. 

But it was because of Trump, he said, that the bill succeeded. 

«He’s our closer in the bullpen right now,» he said. «His arm is getting warmed up, and we’ll bring him in here in the ninth inning, and he’s going to throw heat. And so far, he’s pitched a no-hitter.»

It’s worth noting that several senators who have expressed concerns about the bill have spoken individually with Trump.

Sen. Steve Daines said Trump was Republicans’ ‘closer in the bullpen.’ (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

But Republicans who spoke with Fox News Digital showed varying degrees of enthusiasm when asked whether the president should repeat the intense involvement he had in the House.

When asked by Fox News Digital whether it’s time for the president to get involved, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas., said, «That’s up to the White House. It’s up to the president.»

But Roy added, «I think the Senate needs to deliver, and I think the Senate ought to make good on the agreement that the majority leader had with us and with the speaker to work with us to achieve that level of spending cuts.»

Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Penn., said Trump is «always involved, so he’ll stay involved because we do want to get it done by July 4th.»

Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis., said he was not being kept aware of how involved Trump was, but said the president’s deal-making skills would likely be needed.

«I mean, I think it’s gonna take that type of horsepower to kind of bring everybody together,» Fitzgerald said.

But some Republicans in the upper chamber are resistant.

NONCITIZEN LA RIOTERS COULD BE DEPORTED UNDER NEW HOUSE BILL

Senator Rick Scott said, ‘I’m not voting for something unless I know what I’m voting on.’ (Reuters)

«It doesn’t matter what he says, of course not,» Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital. «I mean, I’m not voting for something unless I know what I’m voting on.»

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Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., wouldn’t say whether he believed that Trump should put a finger on the scales more. But he told Fox News Digital that he was appreciative of the effort that Thune and Senate Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, had put into getting feedback from Senate Republicans, but said that at a certain point, lawmakers just needed to vote on the bill. 

«We have cussed and discussed this bill for a long, long time, and at some point you move from careful, rational deliberation into the foothills of jackassery,» Kennedy said. «And that’s where we are now. It’s time to vote. If people are unhappy, they can offer amendments.»

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

La República Democrática del Congo y Ruanda firmaron este viernes un acuerdo de paz -facilitado por Estados Unidos- que intentará poner fin a décadas de mortíferos combates en el este del Congo, a la par que buscará brindar al gobierno estadounidense y a empresas del país acceso a minerales críticos en la región.

El pacto, alcanzado tras meses de negociaciones, marca un paso significativo en los esfuerzos por frenar la violencia que ha devastado al este congoleño y que involucra a más de 100 grupos armados, entre ellos facciones respaldadas por Ruanda, provocando millones de muertes desde la década de 1990.

Precisamente, el documento suscrito prevé disposiciones sobre la protección de la integridad territorial, una prohibición de hostilidades y medidas concretas como la desmovilización, el desarme y la integración condicional de grupos armados no estatales.

De acuerdo con los términos del acuerdo, las partes se comprometen a respetar las fronteras internacionales y cesar acciones militares entre sí y contra sus ciudadanos y bienes. Además, se establecen mecanismos de verificación y seguimiento orientados a prevenir incursiones transfronterizas y el resurgimiento de la violencia, tradicionalmente alimentada por disputas étnicas, históricos resentimientos, y el control de los ricos yacimientos minerales de la región.

La ministra de Relaciones Exteriores del Congo, Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, celebró la noticia y aprovechó el momento, junto a su par ruandés, Olivier Nduhungirehe, para evocar la magnitud de la tragedia humanitaria vivida por la población congoleña.

“Algunas heridas sanarán, pero nunca desaparecerán por completo. Aquellos que han sufrido más están observando. Esperan que este acuerdo sea respetado, y no podemos fallarles”, dijo, en referencia al historial de acuerdos previos fracasados, así como al impacto profundo y sostenido de las hostilidades en la niñez, las comunidades desplazadas, sectores rurales, y en la estructura social y económica local.

Por su parte, Nduhungirehe valoró el potencial positivo de esta cooperación y sostuvo que “el crecimiento compartido y la cooperación transfronteriza desbloquearán dividendos tangibles para ambos países”.

“Debemos reconocer que hay una gran incertidumbre en nuestra región y más allá, porque muchos acuerdos anteriores no se han implementado, y no hay duda de que el camino que nos espera no será fácil. Pero con el apoyo continuo de Estados Unidos y otros socios, creemos que se ha alcanzado un punto de inflexión”, sumó el canciller ruandés.

El secretario de Estado estadounidense, Marco Rubio, también se expresó tras el anuncio y describió el acontecimiento como “un momento importante tras 30 años de guerra”, enfatizando no solo en las aspiraciones de paz de los pueblos afectados por el conflicto, sino también en los intereses internacionales involucrados en la estabilidad regional y el acceso de su país a los recursos estratégicos.

En tanto, el presidente Donald Trump destacó durante una conferencia de prensa que gracias a su intervención en “una de las peores guerras que cualquier persona haya visto” logró “reunirlos (a los bandos enfrentados) y negociarlo (el acuerdo)”.

“Y no solo eso, estamos obteniendo para Estados Unidos muchos de los derechos minerales del Congo”, sumó, en referencia al nuevo caudal de minerales críticos para sectores tecnológicos claves al que tendrá acceso en adelante, en medio de la carrera con China por la influencia y la explotación del continente africano.

Durante las negociaciones, la participación de Qatar también resultó clave; el país árabe del Golfo ofreció respaldo logístico y político para acercar las posiciones de las partes enfrentadas, a petición de la Casa Blanca y otras entidades internacionales.

(Con información de AP)

The Pentagon unveiled details of its $961 billion budget request on Thursday, a budget roadmap that may deprioritize new F-35 fighter jets in favor of next-generation aircraft and drones. 

The budget would reach that figure through $848.3 billion in its discretionary defense budget and an additional $113 billion through reconciliation, the «One Big Beautiful Bill» the Trump administration is trying to muscle through Congress right now. 

The parallel budget requests include $25 billion for Golden Dome, President Donald Trump’s homeland missile defense initiative. 

And as the Trump administration moves forward with the Air Force’s 6th-gen fighter jet, dubbed the F-47, the budget calls for a reduction in the next purchase of F-35s from 74 to 47. It requests $3.4 billion for the F-47 program. 

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Officials are still unsure whether the Navy’s next-gen fighter jet, F/A-XX, will move forward.

«Waiting for a decision from the secretary of the Navy, secretary of defense, and the president,» a defense official told reporters. «That’s an active conversation, whether to continue with the program or not.»

The program will proceed right now with «minimal funding» for design, the official said. 

Asked whether other service branches may get a different variant of the F-47 instead of entirely separate programs, the official said the idea is under consideration. 

«I would say pretty much everything is under consideration to get the [tactical] air capability that our war fighters need as quickly as possible, and that’s really what we’re looking at the most, is the schedule of all these programs.»

The budget requests funding for three new Navy ships through the discretionary request and another 16 through the reconciliation request. 

REPUBLICANS SQUABBLE OVER TRUMP SPENDING PLAN AS FISCAL YEAR 2026 LOOMS: ‘STAY UNTIL WE PASS IT’

The budget boosts spending on low-cost small drones, which have proven effective in the war between Russia and Ukraine.  (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)

The proposed budget seeks $197.4 billion for the Army, $292.2 billion for the Navy, $301.1 billion for the Air Force and $170.9 billion defense-wide. In the Air Force budget request is $40 billion for Space Force, a 30% increase from fiscal year 2025. 

The unusual budget structure, which officials classify as «one budget, two bills,» is part of a broader $1 trillion defense strategy when combined with national security spending at the Department of Energy. Administration officials have been working overtime to convince lawmakers to pass the One Big Beautiful bill by July 4. 

The budget asks for a 3.8% pay raise for troops, and it reveals plans to cut its civilian employee workforce by 7,286 people.

The Pentagon plans to continue to invest in munitions and weapons systems: the Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile – Extended Range and Long Range Anti-Ship missile, which have longer ranges and may be more effective in the Pacific – but it seeks far fewer Precision Strike Missiles. 

The budget boosts spending on low-cost small drones which have proven effective in the war between Russia and Ukraine. 

In an ideal world, Congress would pass 12 separate appropriations bills before the start of the fiscal year on October 1. But in recent years, it has often punted the headache down the road.  (Reuters/Al Drago)

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The E-7 radar plane will be cut, the senior defense official confirmed, «due to significant delays with cost increases from $588 million to $724 million per aircraft and survivability concerns in this contested environment.»

In an ideal world, Congress would pass 12 separate appropriations bills before the start of the fiscal year on October 1. But in recent years, it has often punted the headache down the road with continuing resolutions, or bills that temporarily fund the government at the previous year’s levels, and omnibuses, sprawling bills that contain funding for all 12 agencies in one up-or-down vote.