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Top Senate Armed Services Republican says Trump OMB’s budget ‘shreds to the bone’ military capabilities
The Senate’s top Armed Services Republican eviscerated President Donald Trump’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) shortly after the White House released details of its government funding proposal for fiscal year 2026.
«President Trump successfully campaigned on a Peace Through Strength agenda, but his advisers at the Office of Management and Budget were apparently not listening,» Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said in a statement.
«The Big, Beautiful Reconciliation Bill was always meant to change fundamentally the direction of the Pentagon on programs like Golden Dome, border support, and unmanned capabilities – not to paper over OMB’s intent to shred to the bone our military capabilities and our support to service members.
House Armed Services Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers echoed Wicker’s complaints.
«I am very concerned the requested base budget for defense does not reflect a realistic path to building the military capability we need to achieve President Trump’s Peace Through Strength agenda,» the Alabama Republican said in a statement.
«I look forward to working with the President and the Senate to achieve real growth in the defense budget and put America on track to realize the President’s goal of investing five percent of GDP on defense for NATO countries.»
BILLIONS SPENT, WARFIGHTERS WAIT: INSIDE THE PENTAGON’S BROKEN BUYING SYSTEM AND THE PLAN TO FIX IT
Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., tore into OMB for the Trump budget. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images.)
The Trump OMB’s «skinny budget,» released on Friday, proposes cuts to non-defense funding by $163 billion but increases defense funding from $893 billion to $1.01 trillion – a 13% increase. That includes $892.6 billion in discretionary spending, but will be supplemented by $119.3 billion in mandatory spending that is expected to be passed in the upcoming reconciliation bill.
Senior officials told Fox News the Trump administration needed to get creative to get a $1 trillion-plus budget over the finish line: Republican majorities have historically been forced to offer one-to-one increases in non-defense spending to secure increases in defense spending.
However, by keeping discretionary defense spending at $892.6 billion, the same level as fiscal year 2025, the budget that would be presented to Democrats would essentially reflect an unchanged defense discretionary budget with a smaller non-defense discretionary budget of about $557 billion – a 22.6% decrease.
The White House and congressional Republicans would then pursue the reset of the defense spending through the budget reconciliation process that is linked to the tax cut package.
HEGSETH ORDERS SWEEPING ARMY OVERHAUL AND CONSOLIDATION AIMED AT COUNTERING CHINA AND GOLDEN DOME CAPABILITIES
He claimed the Office of Management and Budget, led by Director Russell Vought, intended to «shred to the bone» U.S. military capabilities. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
But Wicker isn’t satisfied.
«OMB is not requesting a trillion-dollar budget. It is requesting a budget of $892.6 billion, which is a cut in real terms. This budget would decrease President Trump’s military options and his negotiating leverage,» he said.
«I have said for months that reconciliation defense spending does not replace the need for real growth in the military’s base budget.»
OMB Director Russ Vought said in a post on X: «The President wants to increase defense spending to $1 trillion, a 13% increase to keep our country secure. This budget provides that level while ensuring that only Republican-votes are needed by using reconciliation to secure those increases without Democrats insisting on increasing wasteful government.»
To account for spending decreases across government, all departments were asked to provide recommended budget cuts except for the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Transportation, which were excluded to protect veterans’ services as well as NASA and space exploration programs.
Hegseth has yet to weigh in on OMB’s defense spending proposal. ( (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images))
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Congress will have to hammer out its own budget plan – which could take months – with the White House’s framework as a suggestion.
Both Wicker and Rogers have long aimed to grow U.S. defense spending to 5% of the GDP, up from around 3.5 percent.
The Mississippi senator suggested he would ignore the OMB guidelines and work to achieve «real growth» within the defense budget.
Fox Business’ Edward Lawrence and Eric Revell contributed to this report.
Armed Forces,Senate,Donald Trump,White House,Defense Spending & Budget News,Executive Budgets
INTERNACIONAL
El secreto peor guardado de Vladimir Putin en Ucrania tras cuatro años de invasión rusa
El Ejército ruso ha perdido más de 300.000 hombres en los cuatro años de guerra en Ucrania, según fuentes independientes. Aunque las bajas rusas son un secreto a voces, el Kremlin mantiene silencio para no instigar aún más el creciente descontento entre los rusos con la campaña militar.
La última vez que el Ministerio de Defensa ruso informó sobre muertos en acción –Cargo 200– fue en septiembre de 2022 -cuando los situó en 5.937-, justo antes de la movilización de reservistas que provocó el exilio de más de un millón de hombres en edad militar.
Fuentes occidentales, desde la OTAN a la inteligencia estadounidense y británica, estiman en un millar las bajas diarias en las filas rusas y en más de 30.000 las pérdidas mensuales. Además, enero sería el primer mes en el que el Ejército ruso no puede reponer las bajas con voluntarios.
Los militares rusos caídos se llaman Cargo 200 desde la guerra de Afganistán (1979-1989). Entonces, el talón que acompañaba al cargo ponía 200, ya que ese era el peso máximo del féretro de zinc permitido por el Ministerio de Defensa de la Unión Soviética.
El conocido bloguero militar Yuri Podoliak, que ha sido invitado a recepciones en el Kremlin, fue el que rompió la baraja al abordar en enero en YouTube el sensible tema del Cargo 200.
Podoliak admitió que el Ejército ruso podría haber perdido hasta 415.000 hombres entre soldados, voluntarios y antiguos presidiarios reclutados por el grupo Wagner.
Además, situó las bajas totales en más de 800.000 de los más de dos millones de rusos que han participado en la conocida como ‘operación militar especial’. Ese número de pérdidas humanas contrasta con las conquistas territoriales: apenas un 12% del territorio ucraniano desde el 24 de febrero de 2022.
Según los expertos occidentales, ningún país ha sufrido tantas bajas en un conflicto desde el fin de la Segunda Guerra Mundial en 1945. De hecho, las tropas rusas han sufrido más bajas en estos cuatro años que en todos los conflictos anteriores desde la contienda mundial, lo que incluye las dos sangrientas guerras chechenas.
El portal independiente Mediazona, en colaboración con Meduza y la BBC, cifra los combatientes rusos muertos e identificados con nombres y apellidos en más de 168.000.
A esta cifra hay que sumar los muertos aún no identificados, pero incluidos, entre otros, en los certificados de defunción y hereditarios de acceso público, datos de servicios funerarios o denuncias de desaparición. De hecho, Mediazona admite que, según sus cálculos aproximados, esa cifra rondaría ya los 300.000, a falta de los datos de este año.
En los primeros meses la mayoría de muertos eran soldados profesionales -efectivos de las fuerzas aerotransportadas y de las brigadas motorizadas-, después los presidiarios y a partir de mediados de 2023, los voluntarios.
Mientras, el Centro de Estudios Estratégicos e Internacionales de EE.UU. publicó a principios de año un informe en el que aseguraba que “desde febrero de 2022 las fuerzas rusas han sufrido casi 1,2 millones de bajas (325.000 muertos), más que ninguna otra potencia en cualquier campaña desde la Segunda Guerra Mundial”.
En cuanto a Ucrania, según las estimaciones del centro, habría sufrido entre 500.000 y 600.000 bajas y entre 100.000 y 140.000 muertos.
“A este ritmo, las bajas rusas y ucranianas combinadas podrían alcanzar los 2 millones para la primavera de 2026”, destacó.
Al contrario que el Kremlin, el presidente de Ucrania, Volodímir Zelensky, sí admitió recientemente más de 55.000 muertos en las filas de su ejército.
El Kremlin ha intentado ocultar por todos los medios esta información, lo que incluye el cese de la publicación de datos oficiales sobre mortalidad en Rusia, pero también otros indicadores demográficos que permitirían calcular los muertos en combate.
El presidente ruso, Vladímir Putin, prohibió la publicación de datos de bajas en las filas de las Fuerzas Armadas en mayo de 2015, después de que soldados irregulares rusos fueran desplegados en el este de Ucrania para apoyar la sublevación prorrusa.
De esta forma, los rusos no tienen acceso a datos sobre las pérdidas humanas en el ejército tanto en tiempos de paz, como durante operaciones militares especiales.
Con todo, la censura no es infalible. El segundo tribunal militar del Distrito Occidental admitió a finales de enero, contra la versión oficial, que el buque insignia de la Flota del Mar Negro, el ‘Moskvá’, había sido hundido en abril de 2022 en un ataque ucraniano con torpedos.
Además, el fallo admitió la muerte de 20 marineros, identificados con nombres y apellidos, a lo que hay que añadir ocho desaparecidos.
(Con información de EFE)
War,Europe,Military Conflicts
INTERNACIONAL
Major drug lord ‘El Mencho’ killed in Mexican military operation with US intelligence support
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Major Mexican drug lord Nemesio Oseguera, known as «El Mencho,» was killed in a military operation Sunday morning, the country’s Defense Department announced, marking one of Mexico’s most significant blows to organized crime amid pressure from President Donald Trump to intensify the crackdown on drug cartels.
The announcement came as government officials warned of clashes in Jalisco state and widespread criminal activity across the country, prompting the U.S. Embassy in Mexico to issue shelter-in-place advisories for multiple states.
On Sunday, Mexican troops reportedly conducted operations in Tapalpa, Jalisco, targeting Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, a former police officer who became the elusive leader of the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), a major supplier of fentanyl to the United States.
Known as «El Mencho,» Oseguera Cervantes carried a $15 million U.S. bounty and rose to power following the arrest of Joaquín «El Chapo» Guzmán, the former head of the Sinaloa Cartel. Over the past 15 years, CJNG has grown from a local criminal group into a global trafficking organization operating out of its stronghold in Jalisco.
A MEXICAN DRUG KINGPIN YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF IS INFILTRATING SMALL-TOWN AMERICA
El Mencho was killed during a Mexican operation in Jalisco on Feb. 22, 2026. (Drug Enforcement Administration)
«I’ve just been informed that Mexican security forces have killed ‘El Mencho,’ one of the bloodiest and most ruthless drug kingpins,» U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said in a post on X. «This is a great development for Mexico, the US, Latin America, and the world. The good guys are stronger than the bad guys.»
The Mexican Defense Department said the operation was conducted as part of bilateral coordination and cooperation with the U.S., whose authorities provided complementary intelligence that contributed to Oseguera Cervantes’ capture.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that the U.S. «provided intelligence support to the Mexican government in order to assist with an operation in Talpalpa, Jalisco, Mexico, in which Nemesio ‘El Mencho’ Oseguera Cervantes, an infamous drug lord and leader within the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, was eliminated.»
«‘El Mencho’ was a top target for the Mexican and United States government as one of the top traffickers of fentanyl into our homeland. Last year, President Trump rightfully designated the Jalisco New Generation Cartel as a Foreign Terrorist Organization — because that’s exactly what it is. In this operation, three additional cartel members were killed, three were wounded, and two were arrested,» she wrote on X.
Smoke rises into the sky over Puerto Vallarta during an operation targeting cartel activity on Feb. 22, 2026. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
During the capture, the CJNG ringleader became wounded and died en route to Mexico City, the Defense Department said.
Four others were reportedly killed at the scene of a shootout between Mexican troops and criminal suspects in Jalisco, with Oseguera Cervantes among three additional individuals who were wounded and later died.
Authorities said they detained two other members of the criminal organization and seized a range of weaponry, including armored vehicles and «rocket launchers capable of downing aircraft and destroying armored vehicles.»
Consequently, three members of the armed forces became injured and are receiving treatment.
TOURISTS IN MEXICAN SEASIDE CITY TOLD TO STAY ON RESORT AS GOVERNMENT WARNS OF ‘CLASHES’
Four others were reportedly killed in a Jalisco shootout during the operation (Gabriel Trujillo/Reuters)
Widespread criminal activity has been reported in Jalisco, the cartel’s stronghold, as well as in northern regions that serve as key border and transit corridors for the organization.
The Security Cabinet of the Government of Mexico noted that multiple buildings were reportedly damaged during the «violent incidents,» including roughly 20 branches of Banco del Bienestar, a state-run banking institution.
At least 21 highways remain blocked, with authorities reporting that five have already been reopened.
Photos showed numerous roadblocks and burning vehicles, with dark smoke rising into the sky, across the country – tactics officials say cartels often use to slow or block military operations.
Photos and videos shared with Fox News Digital show thick, dark smoke rising over the skyline of the tourist city of Puerto Vallarta on Mexico’s Pacific Coast in Jalisco.
ALLEGED SINALOA CARTEL FENTANYL PRODUCER CHARGED IN NEWLY UNSEALED FEDERAL INDICTMENT
Widespread criminal activity has been reported in Jalisco, the cartel’s stronghold. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
«I’m watching the scenes of violence from Mexico with great sadness and concern. It’s not surprising that the bad guys are responding with terror. But we must never lose our nerve,» Landau said.
The Mexican National Guard and Army units from central Mexico and states neighboring Jalisco are currently mobilizing to reinforce security, the Defense Department said.
«We remain in Code Red. We reiterate the recommendation to avoid leaving your homes. The clashes are occurring in several federal entities,» Jalisco state Governor Pablo Lemus Navarro added.
At least 21 highways remain barricaded. (Michelle Freyria/Reuters)
Travel warnings have been issued for Jalisco, including Puerto Vallarta, Chapala, and Guadalajara; Tamaulipas, including Reynosa and other municipalities; and parts of Michoacán, Guerrero, and Nuevo León.
«Due to ongoing security operations and related road blockages and criminal activity, U.S. citizens in the named locations should shelter in place until further notice,» the U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Mexico said.
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Complementary intelligence from U.S. authorities aided in the operation. (Michelle Freyria/Reuters)
The operation against Oseguera follows sustained pressure from the Trump administration on President Claudia Sheinbaum’s government, urging Mexico to step up its fight against drug trafficking amid threats of potential U.S. intervention.
mexican cartel violence,location mexico,drugs
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