Conservative lawmakers were infuriated on Thursday morning after the Senate’s de facto ‘scorekeeper’ for President Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ ruled that key parts of the GOP agenda bill must be stripped out.

‘The Senate Parliamentarian is not elected. She is not accountable to the American people. Yet she holds veto power over legislation supported by millions of voters,’ Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., wrote on X. ‘It is time for our elected leaders to take back control.’

He called on Vice President JD Vance to ‘overrule the Parliamentarian and let the will of the people, not some staffer hiding behind Senate procedure, determine the future of this country.’

The Constitution names the vice president as president of the Senate as well, though it is a largely ceremonial role save for when they are needed to cast a tie-breaking vote in the chamber.

The Senate parliamentarian is typically appointed by the Senate majority leader and serves at their pleasure, with no term limit. 

Their role is to make apolitical judgments about Senate rules and procedure. In the budget reconciliation process, which Republicans are working through now, the parliamentarian’s job is to rule on whether aspects of the bill fall within the necessary guidelines to qualify for reconciliation’s simple majority passage threshold.

However, with several rulings that found key portions of Trump’s agenda do not fall into reconciliation’s budgetary guidelines, Republicans on the other side of Capitol Hill – in the House of Representatives – are urging the Senate to break norms and disregard several of the parliamentarian’s decisions.

‘They ought to heed the advice of the president – don’t change the bill,’ Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital earlier this week. 

Meanwhile, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., even called for the parliamentarian to be fired.

‘The Senate Parliamentarian also ruled that ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS are eligible for federal student loans. Does she not realize that our student loan crisis is already out of control??? ZERO taxpayer dollars should go towards student loans for ILLEGALS,’ he wrote on X.

‘THE SENATE PARLIAMENTARIAN SHOULD BE FIRED ASAP.’

And Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital, ‘The House Freedom Caucus fought tooth and nail for Medicaid reforms that would save taxpayers billions and protect the program for those who truly need it. But now, the unelected parliamentarian has struck down key provisions of [the bill.]’

‘The Senate must act quickly to correct this failure,’ Burlison said.

Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., wrote on X on Wednesday evening, ‘Respecting the rules matters, but so does respecting the voters. They didn’t give an unelected staffer the power to decide what is in the budget—that’s the job of Congress.’

‘It doesn’t have to be this way. The Republicans senators are not required to adhere to anything she says,’ Van Drew said.

Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, said on the platform, ‘The rogue Senate Parliamentarian should be overruled, just like activist judges.’

Despite calls from irate House Republicans and some senators, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has stood firm in his position that he would not seek to overrule the parliamentarian.

‘That would not be a good outcome for getting a bill done,’ he told reporters. 

When asked about the parliamentarian’s ruling on the provider taxes, Thune said that there were things that Republicans can do to get ‘to that same outcome.’ 

‘I mean, we may not have everything that we want in terms of provider tax reforms, but if we can get most of the reforms there, get the savings that come with it,’ he said. ‘This is all about saving taxpayers money and reforming these programs in a way that makes them not only more fiscally sustainable long-term, but strengthening and getting rid of the waste, fraud, and abuse in the programs.’

Senate Democrats vowed to inflict as much pain as possible through the process known as the ‘Byrd Bath,’ which tests if each provision, line-by-line, is compliant with the Byrd Rule that governs the budget reconciliation process. 

So far, Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough has ruled several key provisions, including oil and gas leasing, public land sales, changes to the cost-sharing formula for food benefits, among others, as being out of compliance with the Byrd Rule. 

However, it was a slew of rulings unveiled Thursday morning the gutted numerous changes Senate Republicans made to the widely-used Medicaid program that triggered conservatives. 

Among the axed provisions was the Senate GOP’s harsher crackdown on the Medicaid provider rate, or the amount that state Medicaid programs pay to providers on behalf of Medicaid beneficiaries, which proved even a divisive policy among some in the conference. 

Other provisions that were nixed included denying states Medicaid funding for having illegal immigrants on the benefit rolls, preventing illegal immigrants from participating in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and preventing Medicaid and CHIP funding from going toward gender-affirming care. 

Republicans viewed those as key cost-saving changes, and their removal has likely set back their plan to put the mammoth bill on Trump’s desk by July 4. 

Five months into Vice President JD Vance’s tenure inside the White House, Fox News Digital spoke to several of his colleagues about his specific role and accomplishments, including some that his peers say have been overlooked by most media outlets. 

Several in Vance’s political circle used words like ‘Swiss army knife’ and ‘utility player’ to describe a vice president, who they say flexibly steps into a variety of roles, including being a key voice on Capitol Hill guiding the president’s Cabinet nominees successfully through the Senate.

‘He was very much involved in that, he made phone calls, he listened to people, he provided advice and thoughts and would talk things out with people,’ GOP Sen. Marsha Blackburn said, adding that Vance does not get enough credit for the ‘level of engagement’ with his former colleagues in the Senate. 

Ohio GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno told Fox News Digital that Vance has been an ‘enforcer’ in the Senate, not just when it came to confirming President Donald Trump’s Cabinet in a heated political climate, but also playing a significant role helping the president’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ make its way through Congress. 

If he [Trump] needs help with nominees, he is going to come over and do that, if he needs help with a Big Beautiful Bill, because obviously President Trump has got a lot on his plate, he’ll come over to talk to his colleagues,’ Moreno said. ‘If he has to lobby one on one, he’s built good relationships.’

Moreno, who ran against Vance for Senate in 2022 before dropping out and endorsing him and then running successfully in 2024 with Vance’s endorsement, went on to say that he has not heard ‘one negative comment’ from Republicans in the Senate about Vance’s performance.

In fact, one senator said to me today that their impression after the lunch yesterday was that he really started to look really presidential and how impressive he is,’ Moreno said. 

A senior White House official praised Vance’s ‘direct impact’ in the Senate when it comes to legislative efforts and Cabinet confirmations, adding that Trump’s domestic agenda is where his ‘impact has been felt the most.’ 

JD Vance throughout the whole transition, was always going to bat for Hegseth and for different nominees,’ the official said. ‘So he played a very active role making sure all the various Cabinet officials got confirmed.’

Vance’s influence has been felt on the foreign policy front, as well as the vice president making high-profile trips to India, the Vatican and Germany outlining the president’s ‘America First’ agenda. 

In India, Vance was involved with and touted progress made toward a U.S.-India trade deal, saying a partnership between the Trump administration and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi would ensure a 21st century that’s ‘prosperous and peaceful.’ 

Vance delivered a speech in Germany in February when he directly called out the organizers of the Munich conference, who he said had ‘banned lawmakers representing populist parties on both the left and the right from participating in these conversations.’

The speech sparked a social media firestorm, drawing criticism from some and praise from others, including Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley, who described Vance’s remarks as a ‘Churchillian’ moment for free speech. 

As the war between Russia and Ukraine raged on, Vance took an active role in the dialogue between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and was front and center in the viral White House blowup between the two leaders, calling out the Ukrainian leader for ‘lack of respect.’

Vance, who has been labeled as an ‘attack dog’ for Trump dating back to the campaign trail last year, gave several interviews outlining his belief that, at the time, Zelenskyy was impeding the peace process. 

Former Trump senior advisor Jason Miller told Fox News Digital that Vance has been influential when it comes to helping promote the president’s foreign policy agenda.’

That influence was on full display in recent weeks as the United States bombed several nuclear sites in Iran, causing a stir with conservatives on social media on the merits of getting involved in a foreign conflict after Trump and Vance campaigned against drawn-out foreign wars of the past. 

‘Going into the conflict with Iran, I think was pretty notable for a couple of things. One, just the fact that the way he was elevated and was at the president’s side for the entire time, really how he had a seat at the table as part of the decision-making and the driving force for what happened,’ Miller said. 

‘But then also, the fact that the vice president played such an important role of talking to people from across the MAGA coalition, people who are very much into America First and may have initially been skeptical with regard to Iran and being kind of the one of the main people in the admin who can kind of talk with both camps,’ he continued. ‘And as we saw with his Twitter posts both before the action and then even afterwards being able to really articulate, lay out the rationale for what President Trump is doing and make sure that the people across the coalition have a clear understanding of it.’

Vance was front and center following the strike on Iran, sitting down for an interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier on ‘Special Report’ outlining the reasoning for the strike as news broke that a ceasefire had been negotiated with the countries involved. 

The White House official told Fox News Digital that when the president ‘calls a play,’ Vance ‘makes sure it’s run’ even if the two may have a different perspective, which is a sentiment that Miller echoed, saying that Trump promotes a ‘team environment’ to get perspective from all sides, even though he is ultimately the one who makes the final decision.

I think that the president and the vice president are very much in lockstep when it comes to the ultimate goals that they’re trying to accomplish,’ Miller said. 

In terms of the media’s portrayal of the relationship between Trump and Vance, Moreno told Fox News Digital that ‘any story that says there’s daylight between what Trump believes and what JD believes can be rejected out of hand, because it’s not actually how it works.’

‘JD doesn’t view himself as the person who’s there to enact his agenda. He’s there to enact President Trump’s agenda.’

When it comes to Vance’s accomplishments on foreign and domestic policy in the first five months of the administration, both Miller and Moreno expressed the belief that the vice president has gotten more done in half a year than former Vice President Kamala Harris accomplished in four years. 

You’re talking about literally polar opposites between her and JD,’ Moreno said. ‘Even a mentally diminished Biden understood what a great liability Kamala Harris was, he basically froze her and put her in the basement. President Trump realizes, because he’s a very smart guy, because he’s the one that made the decision to pick JD Vance realizes that JD is very effective for him and isn’t looking to overshadow or take the spotlight, but rather move his agenda forward.’

Miller agreed, saying that ‘Vice President Vance is easily the best vice president and most notable Vice President we’ve had in the last 30 plus years and is light years of improvement over Kamala Harris.’

While speculation has run rampant about what the Republican Party will look like after Trump completes his second term and whether Vance is the heir apparent in a crowded Republican field, Miller told Fox News Digital that Vance is not focused on that but has been ‘crushing it’ on the campaign trail raising money for the party. 

He’s a huge draw out on the midterm fundraising trail and he’s someone who many people view as the future of the movement,’ Miller said. 

Ultimately, Moreno told Fox News Digital that he does not think Vance gets enough credit for being one of the most ‘grounded’ politicians he has encountered who genuinely cares for his friends and family and always keeps his humble beginnings in Middletown, Ohio, at the forefront of the decisions he makes. 

‘America First, and I said it when I nominated him in Wisconsin, it’s not a political slogan, it’s his North Star,’ Moreno said. ‘It’s why he is doing what he’s doing. I don’t think people realize that. I think people don’t know enough about him as a man.’

A Senate Republican wants to build a paper trail of former President Joe Biden’s autopen usage with the end goal of calling more hearings, passing legislation or amending the Constitution to best address ‘a mentally incapacitated president.’

Sen. Eric Schmitt, chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, is requesting special access under the Presidential Records Act to a trove of Biden-era documents and memos that chronicle his usage of an autopen.

In a letter to Secretary of State and Acting National Archivist Marco Rubio exclusively obtained by Fox News, Schmitt argued that creating a paper trail of key directives made toward the end of his presidency would help in ‘deciding which legislative remedy is most appropriate.’

‘In particular, the increased use of the autopen to sign pardons, executive orders, and other documents as his Presidency progressed became a poignant symbol of President Biden’s mental decline and has created questions about the validity of those orders and pardons if President Biden did not direct the use of the autopen,’ he wrote.

Schmitt requested access to a slew of documents, including memos about procedures for usage of the autopen, who was granted authority to use the autopen and emails from staff authorizing or requesting authorization for autopen usage.

He also requested access to all White House records after Nov. 1, 2024, that refer or relate to presidential pardons; that prioritize briefing books, memos and decision memos for pardons; and, eventually, access to all White House records after Nov. 1.

‘With that information, the subcommittee will be better positioned to ensure that any potential proposed amendment will be sufficiently comprehensive so as to address any plausible contingency concerning a mentally incapacitated President,’ Schmitt wrote. 

‘It would be challenging enough to amend the Constitution once — much less more than once if it then subsequently turned out not all contingencies around presidential incapacity were adequately considered.’

Schmitt’s letter comes after the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing on Biden’s alleged mental decline while in office and how the autopen could have played a central role in his inner circle’s alleged attempt to skirt the Constitution while continuing to carry out the duties of the office.

It also explicitly mentions the closed-door, transcribed hearing with Biden’s former director of the Domestic Policy Council, Neera Tanden, conducted by the House Oversight Committee this week.

A source told Fox News Digital that during the transcribed interview, which lasted five hours, Tanden testified she had ‘minimal interaction with President Biden’ in her role as staff secretary and that to obtain autopen signatures, she would send decision memos to members of Biden’s inner circle.

She said during the interview she was not aware of what actions or approvals happened between the time the memo was sent out and returned with approval.

However, Tanden’s opening statement, shared with Fox News Digital by her lawyer, Michael Bromwich, said that, as staff secretary, she was responsible for ‘handling the flow of documents to and from the President’ and that she was authorized to direct that autopen signatures be ‘affixed to certain categories of documents.’

‘We had a system for authorizing the use of the autopen that I inherited from prior Administrations,’ Tanden said. ‘We employed that system throughout my tenure as Staff Secretary.’

She was later named director of Biden’s Domestic Policy Council and said she was no longer responsible for the flow of documents and was no longer involved in decisions related to the autopen. 

‘I would note that much of the public discussion on the subject matter of this hearing has conflated two very different issues: first, the president’s age and second, whether President Bident was in command as President,’ she said. ‘I had no experience in the White House that would provide any reason to question his command as President. He was in charge.’   

Schmitt requested that access to the swathe of memos and communications be granted no later than July 16.

‘It is important for this subcommittee to have a clear picture of President Biden’s decision-making capacity at the end of his presidency and to know the extent to which members of his inner circle possibly usurped the President’s decision-making authority,’ he wrote.

Fox News Digital’s Liz Elkind contributed to this report. 

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., accused Trump Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought of being responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of children due to the budget cuts he has overseen under the Trump administration.

Vought faced a high-intensity grilling from both Democratic and GOP senators in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday over a package of proposed budget cuts – called a rescissions package – the administration sent to the legislative branch earlier this month.

Democratic committee members, as well as some Republicans, appeared very frustrated with the administration over the proposed cuts. At one point during the hearing, several protesters stood and began shouting, causing the proceedings to briefly come to a halt. It was unclear what the protesters were objecting to.

While Vought claimed that the administration’s cuts to USAID and PEPFAR have not halted lifesaving treatment, Merkley asserted that the claim is a ‘huge deception.’

According to Merkley, a Boston University School of Public Health study claims that some 246,000 children have died due to the various foreign aid programs cut by DOGE.

‘We are talking a quarter million children because of your irresponsible shutdown of programs that Congress had fully authorized, and you unconstitutionally shut down in partnership with Elon Musk and the Secretary of State,’ fired Merkley. ‘How do you feel about being responsible for hundreds of thousands of children dying because of your sudden interruption in these key programs?’

Vought soundly rejected the assertion, saying that every administration ‘has the ability to do a programmatic review when they come into office’ and to make changes based on ‘new spending priorities.’

Before he could finish, Merkley cut Vought off, saying, ‘I find your response both ignorant and callous.’

‘You chose to shut down programs in the middle that have resulted in hundreds of thousands of children dying in the last few months. I find that abhorrent, and few Americans have ever had such a devastating and disastrously impact,’ Merkley exclaimed.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., also confronted Vought, accusing the administration of trying to illegally maneuver around Congress to make its cuts, which she said undermine American interests abroad.

‘Will you tell us specifically where, the Philippines, Pacific islands, Jordan, you’re planning to undermine American interests?’ she asked, to which Vought responded: ‘Of course not. We’ve been very clear in all the administration’s priorities that all of our commitments with regard to Jordan and Egypt are maintained.’

Before Vought could finish, Murray cut in again, saying, ‘I assume you’re unwilling to share which humanitarian crisis this administration plans to walk away with, which is what we would be voting on, and that is critical information.’

But it wasn’t just Democrats taking Vought to task during the hearing.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, also voiced frustration over the Trump administration’s DOGE cuts, taking particular issue with cuts to public broadcasting, which she said plays an important emergency services role in her state.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., also voiced objections to the cuts to foreign aid, which he said were opportunities to project American soft power.

‘Instead of creating efficiency, you’ve created vacuums for adversaries like China to fill responsible investments in soft power, prevent conflict, preserve American influence, and save countless of lives at the same time,’ said McConnell.

For his part, Vought said that ‘it is critical that this body and the American people writ large, understand that many foreign aid programs use benevolent-sounding titles to hide truly appalling activity that is not in line with American interests.’

Vought said the ‘entire federal government must be responsible with each taxpayer dollar that comes to Washington.’

‘The American people voted for change. President Trump stands ready to put our fiscal house back in order and put the American taxpayer first,’ he said, adding, ‘A vote for rescissions is a vote to show that the United States Senate is serious about getting our fiscal house in order. I hope that the Senate will join us in that fight.’

The White House social media team stepped up its meme game with a new spoof on a viral moment from the NATO Summit in which Secretary General Mark Rutte called President Donald Trump ‘daddy.’

A video set to the Usher hit ‘Daddy’s Home’ showed Trump arriving home aboard Air Force One being cheered on by supporters. It also showed clips from the summit, the president arriving at the Dutch palace, his meetings with world leaders and his handshake with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Like the moment when Rutte made the comment one day earlier, the White House clip set social media ablaze. 

‘Presidential meme game reaching unprecedented levels,’ internet personality Mario Nawfal wrote X. 

‘This is easily the best thing on the internet,’ added political commentator Benny Johnson. 

Others were less enthused. 

‘An official product of the WH communications office —’ ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl wrote along with the clip. 

‘This is super straight and super alpha male. Uh huh,’ wrote former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, an anti-Trump Republican. 

During a bilateral meeting with Trump in The Hague, Netherlands, Rutte defended Trump’s use of an expletive to criticize Israel and Iran as they threatened the ceasefire he brokered. 

‘Daddy has to sometimes use strong language.’ 

Outside the White House Tuesday morning, a frustrated Trump told reporters Israel and Iran ‘have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f— they’re doing.’ 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio cracked up laughing when a reporter asked about the comment during a news conference at the summit Wednesday.

Rutte and Trump have found common cause in pushing NATO allies to increase defense spending. During the summit, the alliance agreed to Trump’s longtime demand that each member state boost defense spending to 5%. 

Following the uncovering of a massive bribery scandal at USAID, the Small Business Administration (SBA) is ordering a full audit of all government contracting officers who have exercised grant-awarding authority under the agency’s business development program over the last 15 years.

In a letter obtained by Fox News Digital, SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said the scale of the USAID fraud is a ‘damning reflection of systemic failures in oversight and accountability.’ She further said that the fraud ‘was not an isolated incident.’

In response, Loeffler instructed Associate Administrator Tre Pennie, who oversees government contracts awarded by SBA, to ‘act decisively’ to crack down on any potential similar abuses in the agency.

Loeffler instructed Pennie to immediately initiate a full-scale audit of the agency’s awarding officers back to 2010.

‘The role of federal government contracting officers is not ceremonial or self-dealing; rather, it is a position of immense authority and fiduciary responsibility,’ said Loeffler. ‘The contracting process must be transparent and built on merit, not personal gain.’

This comes after USAID, an agency tasked with administering civilian foreign aid, was essentially dismantled by the DOGE waste, fraud and abuse cuts made under Elon Musk and President Donald Trump. The move was met with massive protests from Democrats who claimed that cutting USAID would impoverish and harm recipients across the globe.

Despite claims of how much good the agency was doing, it was recently discovered that an influential contracting officer at USAID named Roderick Watson was able to carry out a massive, long-term bribery scheme dating all the way back to 2013.

Watson, 57, pleaded guilty to ‘bribery of a public official,’ according to a DOJ press release.

According to the DOJ, Watson sold his influence starting in 2013, with contractors Walter Barnes, owner of Vistant, and Darryl Britt, owner of Apprio, funneling payoffs through subcontractor Paul Young to hide their tracks. 

A DOJ press release said that Britt and Barnes ‘regularly funneled bribes to Watson, including cash, laptops, thousands of dollars in tickets to a suite at an NBA game, a country club wedding, downpayments on two residential mortgages, cellular phones, and jobs for relatives. The bribes were also often concealed through electronic bank transfers falsely listing Watson on payroll, incorporated shell companies, and false invoices.’

The statement said that Watson is alleged to have received bribes ‘valued at more than approximately $1 million as part of the scheme.’

Vistant was awarded in November 2023, as part of a joint venture, a contract worth up to $800 million with one of the focuses of that contract being to address ‘a variety of issues affecting the root causes of irregular migration from Central America to the United States,’ an issue that President Joe Biden tasked then-Vice President Kamala Harris with during his presidency.

Several days later, that contract was canceled after USAID published a notice that said Vistant was excluded from government contracting due to ‘evidence of conduct of a lack of business honesty or integrity.’

The joint venture then successfully sued the government over being put on that exclusion list and was re-awarded the contract and given a $10,000 payment in August 2024. 

In her letter, Loeffler said the USAID scandal ‘represents a collapse in the very safeguards that are supposed to protect American taxpayer dollars and ensure fair access for legitimate small businesses.’

She slammed the Biden administration for awarding the $800 million contract to Vistant despite the business being labeled by USAID as lacking ‘honesty and integrity.’

‘The fact that a federal official was able to act as the linchpin of a persistent, large-scale fraud operation speaks to a failure in internal controls and a breakdown in the contracting environment that demands immediate correction,’ said Loeffler.

She said that SBA plays a ‘critical role’ in federal contracting and ‘will no longer stand by while abuses are perpetrated at the expense of taxpayers and deserving small businesses.’

Loeffler said the agency’s audit will begin with high-dollar and limited competition contracts within SBA’s 8(a) business development program. The findings will be referred to the U.S. Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the DOJ.

Any officials or businesses found in violation of the SBA’s ethical standards or who have committed criminal misconduct will be referred to the appropriate authorities and SBA will assist the DOJ in recovering misappropriated funds, Loeffler said.

‘We will not allow public trust to be quietly eroded by backdoor deals and unchecked discretion,’ said Loeffler.

‘We owe it to America’s small businesses to get this right,’ she went on. ‘Your office has the authority, and now the mandate, to act decisively.’