Leading members of President Donald Trump’s political team met Wednesday behind closed doors with House Republicans to offer what’s being described as a ‘clear and simple’ message to sell the GOP’s sweeping domestic policy package to Americans.

The sales pitch, from top Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio, senior Trump political aide James Blair, and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, is part of an ongoing effort by the president and his team to rebrand the massive tax cuts and spending measure, which polls indicate isn’t popular with Americans.

‘The best marketer out there is our president,’ National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) chair Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina told Fox News’ Aishah Hasnie following the meeting.

Hudson noted that Trump ‘used the name One Big Beautiful Bill to help get it passed. And now, to try and explain to the American people, he’s suggesting we call it the Working Families Tax Cut, which is exactly what it is. It’s a big component of it.’

But the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) argued that ‘the so-called rebrand of the Big, Ugly Law is an admission that the GOP’s signature legislative ‘achievement’ is a toxic failure.’

‘Only Republicans seem surprised that ripping away health care and gutting rural hospitals just to hand billionaires a massive tax break is completely out of step with what the American people want,’ DCCC spokesperson Justin Chermol claimed in a statement to Fox News Digital.

The package narrowly passed through the Republican-controlled Congress earlier this summer, nearly entirely along party lines, and Trump signed it into law during a July 4 ceremony at the White House.

For months, Trump touted his Big Beautiful Bill, but at a Cabinet meeting last week he seemed to acknowledge the difficult sales job he and his party face.

‘I’m not going to use the term great, big, beautiful – that was good for getting it approved, but it’s not good for explaining to people what it’s really about,’ Trump said.

And he described the package as a ‘major tax cut for workers.’

The measure is stuffed full of Trump’s 2024 campaign trail promises and second-term priorities on tax cuts, immigration, defense, energy and the debt limit. 

It includes extending the president’s signature 2017 tax cuts, which were set to expire later this year, and eliminating taxes on tips and overtime pay. 

The shift in branding that Trump noted last week has already been reflected by Vice President JD Vance, who has been stopping in key 2026 midterm states to sell the measure.

At his earlier stops on his tour, Vance called the package the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill.’ But the vice president now refers to the measure repeatedly as the ‘Working Families Tax Cut.’

The package also provides billions for border security and codifies the president’s sweeping and controversial immigration crackdown.

And the new law also restructures Medicaid — the almost 60-year-old federal program that provides health coverage to roughly 71 million low-income Americans. 

The changes to Medicaid, as well as cuts to food stamps, another one of the nation’s major safety net programs, were drafted in part as an offset to pay for extending Trump’s tax cuts. The measure includes a slew of new rules and regulations, including work requirements for many of those seeking Medicaid coverage.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the new law could result in roughly 10 million people losing health coverage, and $3.4 trillion added to the nation’s already massive federal deficit. Republicans dispute those projections.

Regardless, some Republican House members who’ve held town halls this summer have faced vocal constituents angry over the social safety net cuts in the GOP’s measure.

And Democrats for months have repeatedly blasted Republicans over those social safety net changes. They charge it will gut Medicaid, forcing rural hospitals and nursing homes to close their doors. 

‘Rural hospitals were already on the brink of collapse thanks to Donald Trump, but now he has put the last nail in the coffin for rural hospitals with his billionaire budget bill,’ Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair Ken Martin claimed.

Republicans have pushed back on the Democrats’ criticism.

‘Overall, most people’s awareness comes from the lies they’ve heard from Democrats and our mainstream media. But when they hear the details of what’s in the actual bill, it’s very, very popular,’ Hudson told Fox News.

According to sources in the room, the president’s political advisers urged House Republicans to court low-propensity Trump voters who supported the president in 2024 but traditionally don’t turn out for midterm elections. 

The GOP is aiming to defend its fragile House majority in next year’s midterms, when the party in power normally faces political headwinds and ends up losing congressional seats. 

‘We got a lot of good information about where voters are on the working families tax cuts,’ Hudson said.

And the NRCC chair highlighted, ‘There’s a segment of our voting population that only vote in presidential elections. There’s also a very specific group that show up for President Trump.’

‘I don’t need all of them to show up, but I need some of them to show up. And the good news is, we know who they are. We know what they care about. And the message today was, communicate with them and let them know what we’re doing,’ Hudson said.

The House Budget Committee has begun having early discussions on a second Republican megabill, eyeing more potential reforms to Medicaid, sources told Fox News Digital.

Republicans on the panel are expected to hold closed-door talks in the coming days, as lawmakers return from the August recess, three people familiar with the matter said. 

Two sources familiar with discussions said the committee has begun early talk on mapping out further reforms to Medicaid, including revisiting and modifying measures that did not make the Senate’s final version of the bill. 

‘I think you can kind of put this puzzle together, but I think we were talking about things that last time didn’t go through,’ one person said.

Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., said committee Republicans would meet this week to discuss ‘Medicaid reform.’

‘Same thing we debated before, same thing that we were fighting for,’ Norman told Fox News Digital. ‘I don’t know that the appetite is there right now, but we’ll see.’

Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, chair of the House Budget Committee, confirmed to Fox News Digital that his panel had begun laying the groundwork for a second reconciliation package.

‘Reversing the curse is a continuous effort when you’re $36-plus trillion in the hole,’ Arrington said, referencing the national debt. ‘It’s going to take more than one reconciliation bill to get out of it. So that process is underway.’

He added that details remain fluid, with ongoing talks between his committee and leaders of other House panels on what should be included.

When asked about Medicaid specifically, Arrington said he supported proposals potentially blocking federal dollars from covering transgender medical procedures and from going to illegal immigrants.

‘I’d be shocked if those don’t go back in, in some form,’ he said. ‘They also happen to be 80-20 issues, like 80% of the American people would expect that that already happens and are shocked that it’s not happening.’

Arrington suggested that more contentious ideas, such as altering the federal-state cost sharing ratio for Medicaid — known as FMAP — would likely not be central to the new bill. Conservative Republicans had pushed for changes to FMAP during the first reconciliation effort, but the proposal divided the party.

‘I guess the two big ones would be the transgender procedures and then prohibiting states from using federal funding, which is fungible, to support their extending Medicaid services to illegals. Those are absolutely two that should be included,’ Arrington said. 

‘The FMAP is, it’s unfortunately an unfair situation set up by Democrats through the Obamacare expansion, and I think a lot of members feel like it should be addressed. But again, it was debated, and it wasn’t included in the first one, so I don’t know how much time we’ll be spending on it.’

Republicans have long argued that Medicaid is plagued by waste, fraud, and abuse, framing reforms as necessary to protect benefits for the most vulnerable.

Any final decisions on policy related to Medicaid would have to go through the House Energy & Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over federal healthcare programs. 

A spokesperson for that committee told Fox News Digital, ‘Energy and Commerce Republicans have not proposed policies to be considered for a potential second reconciliation effort.’

The first reconciliation bill — signed into law on July 4 — advanced several of President Donald Trump’s campaign priorities, including tax cuts on tipped and overtime wages, increased immigration enforcement, and rollbacks of green energy initiatives.

Trump branded the package his ‘one big, beautiful bill,’ though he later sought to shift that to reflect its middle- and working-class tax relief. The legislation also imposed 20-hour-per-week requirements for some able-bodied adults on Medicaid and strengthened work requirements for federal food benefits.

The White House has not been making a public push for a second bill, however.

Democrats have seized on the GOP’s Medicaid proposals as a political weapon, accusing Republicans of pushing millions off the program to fund tax breaks for the wealthy. GOP lawmakers have pushed back on that charge and even accused Democrats of lying about the bill.

The path forward remains uncertain, however, with skepticism about whether both chambers have the appetite for another reconciliation bill. 

The first package, though a major GOP victory, took months of negotiation and internal wrangling.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., declined to directly assess the odds of a second reconciliation bill when asked Tuesday.

‘If we’re going to go down the road of a second reconciliation bill, we suggest cancel the healthcare cuts and save our hospitals,’ Jeffries said. ‘That should be the focus of a second reconciliation bill. It’s something that Democrats will broadly support.’

Budget reconciliation allows the party in power to pass vast pieces of policy legislation while sidelining opposition, in this case Democrats, by lowering the Senate’s passage threshold from 60 votes to 51. It can only be used three times in a single congressional term.

Leading members of President Donald Trump’s political team met Wednesday behind closed doors with House Republicans to offer what’s being described as a ‘clear and simple’ message to sell the GOP’s sweeping domestic policy package to Americans.

The sales pitch, from top Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio, senior Trump political aide James Blair, and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, is part of an ongoing effort by the president and his team to rebrand the massive tax cuts and spending measure, which polls indicate isn’t popular with Americans.

‘The best marketer out there is our president,’ National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) chair Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina told Fox News’ Aishah Hasnie following the meeting.

Hudson noted that Trump ‘used the name One Big Beautiful Bill to help get it passed. And now, to try and explain to the American people, he’s suggesting we call it the Working Families Tax Cut, which is exactly what it is. It’s a big component of it.’

But the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) argued that ‘the so-called rebrand of the Big, Ugly Law is an admission that the GOP’s signature legislative ‘achievement’ is a toxic failure.’

‘Only Republicans seem surprised that ripping away health care and gutting rural hospitals just to hand billionaires a massive tax break is completely out of step with what the American people want,’ DCCC spokesperson Justin Chermol claimed in a statement to Fox News Digital.

The package narrowly passed through the Republican-controlled Congress earlier this summer, nearly entirely along party lines, and Trump signed it into law during a July 4 ceremony at the White House.

For months, Trump touted his Big Beautiful Bill, but at a Cabinet meeting last week he seemed to acknowledge the difficult sales job he and his party face.

‘I’m not going to use the term great, big, beautiful – that was good for getting it approved, but it’s not good for explaining to people what it’s really about,’ Trump said.

And he described the package as a ‘major tax cut for workers.’

The measure is stuffed full of Trump’s 2024 campaign trail promises and second-term priorities on tax cuts, immigration, defense, energy and the debt limit. 

It includes extending the president’s signature 2017 tax cuts, which were set to expire later this year, and eliminating taxes on tips and overtime pay. 

The shift in branding that Trump noted last week has already been reflected by Vice President JD Vance, who has been stopping in key 2026 midterm states to sell the measure.

At his earlier stops on his tour, Vance called the package the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill.’ But the vice president now refers to the measure repeatedly as the ‘Working Families Tax Cut.’

The package also provides billions for border security and codifies the president’s sweeping and controversial immigration crackdown.

And the new law also restructures Medicaid — the almost 60-year-old federal program that provides health coverage to roughly 71 million low-income Americans. 

The changes to Medicaid, as well as cuts to food stamps, another one of the nation’s major safety net programs, were drafted in part as an offset to pay for extending Trump’s tax cuts. The measure includes a slew of new rules and regulations, including work requirements for many of those seeking Medicaid coverage.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the new law could result in roughly 10 million people losing health coverage, and $3.4 trillion added to the nation’s already massive federal deficit. Republicans dispute those projections.

Regardless, some Republican House members who’ve held town halls this summer have faced vocal constituents angry over the social safety net cuts in the GOP’s measure.

And Democrats for months have repeatedly blasted Republicans over those social safety net changes. They charge it will gut Medicaid, forcing rural hospitals and nursing homes to close their doors. 

‘Rural hospitals were already on the brink of collapse thanks to Donald Trump, but now he has put the last nail in the coffin for rural hospitals with his billionaire budget bill,’ Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair Ken Martin claimed.

Republicans have pushed back on the Democrats’ criticism.

‘Overall, most people’s awareness comes from the lies they’ve heard from Democrats and our mainstream media. But when they hear the details of what’s in the actual bill, it’s very, very popular,’ Hudson told Fox News.

According to sources in the room, the president’s political advisors urged House Republicans to court low-propensity Trump voters who supported the president in 2024 but traditionally don’t turn out for midterm elections. 

The GOP is aiming to defend its fragile House majority in next year’s midterms, when the party in power normally faces political headwinds and ends up losing congressional seats. 

‘We got a lot of good information about where voters are on the working families tax cuts,’ Hudson said.

And the NRCC chair highlighted, ‘There’s a segment of our voting population that only vote in presidential elections. There’s also a very specific group that show up for President Trump.’

‘I don’t need all of them to show up, but I need some of them to show up. And the good news is, we know who they are. We know what they care about. And the message today was, communicate with them and let them know what we’re doing,’ Hudson said.

The Restoration of America Foundation (ROAF) is calling on the Senate Finance Committee to hold Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. accountable at Thursday’s 10 a.m. hearing, demanding answers about the removal of safety protocols for the abortion pill mifepristone.

In a letter provided exclusively to Fox News Digital, ROAF argues the rollback leaves women more vulnerable and shifts costs to taxpayers.

ROAF argues that the Biden-era rollback of Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) requirements, safeguards in place for more than two decades, endangers women by allowing abortion pills to be prescribed via telehealth and delivered through the mail.

‘The removal of key Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) requirements for mifepristone has eliminated essential safeguards that protected women’s health for over two decades,’ said Doug Truax, founder and CEO of the Restoration of America Foundation. ‘We urge the Senate to demand clear answers about why these safety protocols were removed and when they will be reinstated.’

The Food and Drug Administration originally required mifepristone to be dispensed in person to ensure women were screened for potential complications such as ectopic pregnancy. That changed under the Biden administration, when telehealth prescribing and mail-order delivery were permitted for the first time.

Truax warned that ‘allowing these powerful drugs to be ordered online and sent through the mail without proper medical screening puts women at serious risk.’ He added, ‘Women deserve to know about potential complications and have immediate access to emergency care if needed.’

The U.S. military is strengthening its Navy presence near Venezuela, as President Donald Trump seeks to stop the flow of drug trafficking from the Latin American country.

U.S. naval and air assets have been sent to the region to take on drug trafficking and protect regional maritime routes, with some already used this week to target alleged narco-terrorists.

A Marine strike on Tuesday struck a vessel in the southern Caribbean Sea while allegedly carrying members of Tren de Aragua smuggling narcotics headed for the U.S.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has deployed several assets to the region, including USS Iwo Jima, USS Lake Erie, USS Jason Dunham, USS Gravely and USS Sampson, to target criminal organizations and narco-terrorism, Fox News can confirm.

‘In support of the President’s directive to dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs), Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), and counter narco-terrorism to defend the homeland, the Secretary of Defense directed the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group/22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit and the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70) to the U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) area of responsibility (AOR),’ Col. Chris Devine, a spokesman for the Defense Department, told Fox News.

‘Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Jason Dunham (DDG 109), USS Gravely (DDG 107), USS Sampson (DDG 102) and embarked U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment teams are currently operating in the region,’ he continued.

Hegseth also sent air assets ‘to strengthen U.S. whole-of-government detection, monitoring, and interdiction capabilities to sustain pressure on TCO networks throughout the region,’ according to Devine.

‘The enhanced U.S. force presence in the USSOUTHCOM AOR  will bolster U.S. capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States homeland and our security in the Western Hemisphere,’ he said. ‘These forces will enhance and augment existing Joint Interagency Task Force – South and USSOUTHCOM capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle TCOs and FTOs.’

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court Wednesday to quickly make a decision on whether President Donald Trump has the authority to impose his sweeping tariffs under federal emergency law.

This appeal is a result of a federal appeals court ruling 7-4 that a vast majority of Trump’s tariffs were illegal according to the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act even though it allowed the duties to remain until the case was resolved.

Many states and small businesses challenged Trump’s tariffs in a lawsuit saying they were causing serious economic harm.

‘These unlawful tariffs are inflicting serious harm on small businesses and jeopardizing their survival,’ said Jeffrey Schwab, an attorney with the Liberty Justice Center.

The Trump administration, however, countered the appeal, arguing that striking down the tariffs could cause serious economic harm.

‘That decision casts a pall of uncertainty upon ongoing foreign negotiations that the President has been pursuing through tariffs over the past five months, jeopardizing both already negotiated framework deals and ongoing negotiations,’ the Trump administration argued in its appeal. ‘The stakes in this case could not be higher.’

Officials also pointed out that the levies have raised $159 billion since late August, a figure that has more than doubled from the previous year.

Although the Constitution does give Congress the power to set tariffs throughout the years many lawmakers have delegated those authorities to the White House. Although Trump has been seen to use this to his advantage, some of his duties on steel, aluminum, autos, and earlier tariffs on China were left in place by former President Joe Biden and are not part of this case.

Legal experts have noted that the government has also warned that if the courts strike down these tariffs, the U.S. Treasury could be forced to refund billions that have already been collected.

The Supreme Court is expected to decide soon on whether they will take up the case directly, which will potentially set up a major ruling on the limits of presidential power over trade.

President Donald Trump’s America First trade agenda is working, and China is feeling the heat.  

While the legacy media has spent months lying about slow growth, Trump’s tariff agenda is already reshaping how the U.S. competes with China — and America’s industrial and agricultural sectors are benefiting as a result. New tariff protections are prompting the reshoring of critical production and strengthening the U.S. economy. 

The president has so far sent a clear message: the days of America propping up Beijing’s rise are over. Thanks to Trump’s leadership, we’re finally winning again. U.S. manufacturing is rebounding, investment is flowing into strategic industries and American farmers are getting the protection they need from unfair Chinese competition and emerging bio-threats.  

For years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has targeted the foundations of our economy, hollowed out our manufacturing sector, cheated our farmers and manipulated global markets with impunity.  

Under the Biden administration, Washington operated on the belief that economic engagement with China would bring reform and stability. That bet never paid off. Instead, we’ve seen mass intellectual property theft, industrial manipulation, and an alarming pattern of biosecurity breaches that could seriously harm American agriculture and our food supply. 

U.S. federal prosecutors recently revealed that a fungus called ‘Fusarium graminearum’ was illegally trafficked into the country by individuals connected to CCP-aligned research institutions. This fungus is a well-known biological agent that renders crops inedible, threatens livestock and causes reproductive damage to humans and livestock. This wasn’t a minor violation or mistake; it was a coordinated effort to smuggle a dangerous agricultural pathogen onto U.S. soil to wreak havoc on our food supply chain and public health. 

Those involved included two Chinese nationals who were tied to American research institutions. The potential consequences of their actions were anything but small — as American farms and food systems could have suffered widespread contamination, economic loss, and long-term damage. 

Unfortunately, this isn’t an isolated episode. Just last year, five Chinese nationals were caught surveilling a U.S. military site in Michigan. Additionally, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported that in recent years, numerous Chinese college-age individuals have been caught taking photos of vital defense sites in the U.S. Taken together, these incidents point to something bigger than isolated wrongdoing. They suggest an ongoing strategy aimed, originating in Beijing, at weakening key sectors of the American economy from the inside out. 

This is why America must protect our supply chain and produce our most crucial farm inputs here at home. In a recent poll by the Protecting America Initiative, 71% of Americans said they would like to see our farm inputs, like pesticides, produced domestically instead of relying on imports from China. 

So, what are we doing to combat this growing and very serious threat? 

Thankfully, we have a leader who is taking this challenge seriously. Trump’s policies have reshaped how the United States deals with China and the results are starting to show.  

With Trump’s America First tariff agenda, the world is seeing that the U.S. is no longer afraid to defend its own interests.  

When Europe was flooding our markets and ripping off the U.S. with unfair trade deals, Trump didn’t hesitate; he hit back with tariffs. For the first time in years, the EU stopped treating American markets like a dumping ground. They came to the table, and American industries got breathing room. 

Now, Trump is using that same proven strategy to take on the CCP. He is restoring balance to a relationship that for too long has tilted in China’s favor. 

China, like the European Union before it, is learning that the days of taking advantage of the American economy are coming to an end. When these deals are finalized, both Beijing and Brussels will be operating on terms that respect U.S. workers, innovation and strength. 

Just last year, five Chinese nationals were caught surveilling a U.S. military site in Michigan. 

Trump’s bold tariff agenda isn’t only a winning economic policy; it’s a national security imperative. It protects our farmers, revitalizes our factories and sends a message to the world that America will never be bullied or bought.  

The path to a stronger America runs through tough trade enforcement, and President Trump is the one who is leading us there. 

Ashley Biden, daughter of former President Joe Biden and former first lady Jill Biden, wrote on social media that it was ‘one of the hardest summers of my life.’

The post comes after a summer during which the former first daughter faced two main challenges: her divorce and her father’s cancer diagnosis.

‘August 2025. The summer of 2025 was one of the hardest summers of my life. I have been preparing for the fall (my fav season) and now ready for the RISE,’ she wrote as the caption of a carousel of summer photos. ‘Grateful for the support of friends and family. Grateful that I took the time/space to grieve, process and heal. Grateful for peace of mind, new beginnings, new seasons, and a rediscovered strength and love for myself.’ 

She ended the caption with ‘#SturgeonMoon2025’ – a reference to the August full moon – followed by a string of emojis.

Last month, Ashley Biden shared a photo of her with her ex-husband and another woman, who the former first daughter identified as the doctor’s ‘girlfriend.’

She captioned the Instagram story, ‘my husband and his girlfriend holding hands,’ and posted it with the Notorious B.I.G. song ‘Another,’ featuring Lil’ Kim, the New York Post reported. 

The outlet also noted that the Instagram story was posted just hours before Ashley Biden filed for divorce from her husband of 13 years. 

The story appeared on Aug. 10 and was deleted shortly after it was posted. While it appeared to be aimed at her husband, the people in the image faced away from the camera and were not immediately identifiable.

The Post also reported in August that in a separate Instagram story, which was also deleted, Ashley Biden posted herself walking through a park giving a thumbs-up while ‘Freedom’ by Beyoncé played.

Ashley Biden’s divorce filing states the marriage is ‘irretrievably broken’ and requests spousal support while the divorce is pending, according to filings reviewed by Radar Online.

She married Dr. Howard Krein in 2012 with a ceremony blending her Catholic faith with his Jewish heritage, followed by a reception at the Biden family’s lake house in Wilmington. 

At the time, then–Vice President Joe Biden praised his future son-in-law, telling People magazine: ‘This is the right guy. And he’s getting a helluva woman.’

At the 2024 Democratic National Convention, Ashley Biden recalled her father’s role in her wedding to Krein, saying, ‘At the time, my dad was vice president, but he was also that dad who literally set up the entire reception. He was riding around in his John Deere 4-wheeler, fixing the place settings, arranging the plants, and by the way, he was very emotional.’

In May, Biden’s office confirmed he had been diagnosed with an ‘aggressive form’ of prostate cancer.

‘While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management. The [former p]resident and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians,’ Biden’s team shared in a statement.

Ashley Biden made a similar Instagram reflection post at the end of May, writing: ‘May 2025. Heartbroken yet HOPEFUL. MAY I have the courage to handle all that life throws at me (us). So very grateful for all the love + support.’

‘Life is tough my darling, but so are YOU,’ she added at the time.

On the same day, she also posted a picture of herself with her parents and seemingly pushed back against rumors that her family had covered up her father’s cancer diagnosis while he was in the White House.

Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.

Senate Republicans are grappling with President Donald Trump’s move to cancel $4.9 billion in foreign aid funding and what the ramifications could be on the looming deadline to fund the government.

Senate Democrats previously warned after the GOP’s first go-round with clawbacks that any further attempt to gut congressionally-approved funding would be a red line, and that it could lead to Democratic lawmakers withholding their support for a short-term government funding extension, known as a continuing resolution (CR).

The Trump administration’s decision last week to go forward with a pocket rescission, which skirts the 45-day window needed for a typical clawback package, rattled Senate Democrats and has alarmed some Republicans about finding a path forward to keep the government open.

‘The last thing in the world we need to do is to give our Democrat colleagues any reason not to try to move forward with the appropriations process,’ Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said.

‘That does concern me, and once again, we need to get the appropriations process back on track,’ he continued. ‘We’re going to do whatever we can to get this thing through this year. We’re committed to it. It’s better if Congress takes back its authority on this. Quit doing continuing resolutions, do the appropriations process.’

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., on the other hand, was all for the move and wasn’t worried about the impact it could have on a shutdown.

‘I’m concerned about more spending from those negotiations,’ he told Fox News Digital. ‘Again, you’re not going to get me concerned about anything that cuts spending or reduces the size and scope across government. I’m all for it, no matter how we do it.’

Still, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., will likely need Democratic support to advance any spending bills, let alone a CR by Sept. 30, through the upper chamber’s filibuster threshold, given that a handful of Republicans never vote for funding extensions.

Rounds and other members of the Senate Appropriations Committee are in favor of barreling forward with passing spending bills and have so far been successful in advancing three with bipartisan support.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who in July warned that Trump’s first $9 billion clawback package would have ‘grave implications’ on the appropriations process, has maintained that congressional Democrats were united in their desire to continue working on spending bills with Republicans.

He warned that Republicans would ‘face their greatest test under the Trump administration,’ to either work across the aisle or face a shutdown.

‘However, as near the funding deadline, Republicans are once again threatening to go at it alone, heading our country towards a shutdown,’ Schumer said.

Thune has also remained committed to seeing lawmakers pass the dozen bills needed to fund the government, but acknowledged ‘inevitably, it looks like [we] need a CR for some time for the foreseeable future.’

And he warned that Democrats may try to use the latest clawback package ‘as an excuse’ to not fund the government.

‘That’s all it’ll be is an excuse, because they know that I’m committed, Sen. [Susan] Collins is committed, our conference is committed to working constructively to try and fund the government through the normal appropriations process,’ he said.

Meanwhile, some Republicans questioned if turning toward clawbacks was the best way to tackle spending cuts and argued that such measures were already baked into the annual appropriations process.

When news of the package surfaced, Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, charged that efforts to claw back ‘appropriated funds without congressional approval is a clear violation of the law.’

Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., told Fox News Digital he wasn’t worried about the legality of the move so much as whether turning to the clawbacks was ‘the most efficient way to get at spending cuts.’

‘I think the appropriations process is a better way, and we’ve had some success, and I’d like to keep that momentum going and try to, you know, avoid a shutdown and get back to regular order,’ he said.