The White House will now oversee which news outlets will be part of the White House press pool, rather than the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA), the White House press secretary said Tuesday. 

While the WHCA customarily has had the authority to choose the rotation of news outlets that have access to the president in the Oval Office and other areas with limited access, the Trump administration is upending that policy. 

‘Legacy outlets who have participated in the press pool for decades will still be allowed to join, fear not,’ White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters during a briefing Tuesday. ‘But we will also be offering the privilege to well-deserving outlets who have never been allowed to share in this awesome responsibility.’ 

But President Donald Trump’s White House isn’t the only one to roll out controversial policies regarding press access. 

In 2023, more than 440 reporters lost press credentials after President Joe Biden’s White House modified its rules for eligibility for permanent passes.

Credentialed White House press members dropped from 1,417 members to 975 members after the White House unveiled new standards requiring an annual renewal of hard passes, Politico reported in 2023. Journalists without hard passes were still authorized to apply for day passes to the White House. 

The Biden White House policy was launched in May 2023 and required reporters to prove employment with ‘an organization whose principal business is news dissemination’ and show that they have ‘accessed the White House campus at least once during the prior six months for work, or have proof of employment within the last three months to cover the White House.’

The Biden White House defended its decision to cut off routine access to these reporters, claiming many of the journalists whose passes expired hadn’t accessed the White House in the previous three months. 

‘At the time we initiated this process in early May, roughly 40% of hard pass holders had not accessed the White House complex in the prior 90 days,’ the White House said in a 2023 statement to Politico. ‘We think this demonstrates we’ve led a thoughtful and thorough process that preserves robust media access to campus for everyone who needs it — whether that be with a hard pass or a day pass.’

Leavitt announced in January that the Trump White House would work to ‘restore the press passes of the 440 journalists whose passes were wrongly revoked by the previous administration.’ 

On Tuesday, Leavitt said the White House’s decision aimed to ‘give the power back to the people’ in an attempt to ensure that ‘all journalists, outlets and voices deserve a seat at this highly coveted table.’ 

In response, WHCA President Eugene Daniels said the WHCA did not receive any notice in advance of the White House’s decision and said the move ‘tears at the independence of a free press in the United States.’

‘It suggests the government will choose the journalists who cover the president,’ Daniels said. ‘In a free country, leaders must not be able to choose their own press corps.’

Fox News’ Gabriel Hays contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday requiring government payments and travel expenses to be justified and made public where possible.

The requirement is part of Trump’s executive order to implement the cost efficiency initiative for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Using modern technology, the order aims to transform spending by putting all federal grants and contracts through rigorous standards to justify their existence. Trump’s order will have federal agencies acting immediately, reviewing all contracts and grants for waste, fraud and abuse.

Travel expenses and government payments are also being analyzed closely, as they must be justified and made public if possible.

The order also tells agencies to treat their credit cards as if they were frozen for 30 days.

‘To the maximum extent permitted by law, all credit cards held by agency employees shall be treated as frozen for 30 days from the date of this order, except for any credit cards held by employees engaged in, or charges related to employees utilizing such credit cards for, disaster relief or natural disaster response benefits or operations or other critical services as determined by the Agency Head, and subject to such additional individualized or categorical exceptions as the Agency Head, in consultation with the agency’s DOGE Team Lead, deems appropriate,’ Trump’s executive order reads.

Working with DOGE, agency heads will review and terminate any contracts deemed unnecessary.

Additionally, the executive order will look at how the government manages property, requiring the General Services Administration to submit a plan for disposing of unnecessary owned or leased properties.

Trump’s order is being implemented to add ‘discipline to a wasteful system.’

‘The existing system fails to safeguard taxpayer dollars or promote merit among contractors and grant recipients,’ White House officials said in a fact sheet, noting that the government spends large sums of money on contracts and grants.

The sheet also notes that in fiscal year 2023, the government committed about $759 billion in contracts.

‘This flood of spending historically had minimal safeguards,’ the fact sheet read. ‘In the Biden Administration, GSA directed its efforts to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) rather than merit and efficiency.’

Since his return to the Oval Office, Trump has set sort of a wildfire on federal government spending, unleashing DOGE, which is led by billionaire Elon Musk.

According to the DOGE website, the total estimated savings as of Tuesday were $65 billion, which is a combination of fraud detection and deletion, contract and lease cancelations, contract and lease renegotiation, asset sales, grant cancelations, workforce reductions, programmatic changes and regulatory savings. The site is updated two times a week.

The DOGE site also has a ‘Wall of Receipts,’ showing a breakdown of how much was saved and where the savings were found.

Hamas released four dead hostages to the Red Cross on Thursday, marking another step in the first phase of the cease-fire between the terrorist group and Israel.

The exchange, which took place in the Gaza Strip, was confirmed by an Israeli security official. Egyptian mediators assisted in the delivery of the caskets, which Israeli officials have begun to identify.

At the same time, Israel released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in a move that was previously delayed. Red Cross convoys assisted with the transport of the detainees.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office previously confirmed the exchange on Wednesday, noting that it was likely to take place without the humiliating ‘ceremonies’ that Hamas has engaged in prior.

On Saturday, Netanyahu temporarily delayed the seventh hostage-prisoner exchange in protest of Hamas’s release ceremonies, which were used to generate propaganda. In one ceremony, hostages were forced to pose with Hamas fighters and kiss militants on the head.

‘In light of Hamas’s repeated violations, including the ceremonies that humiliate our hostages and the cynical exploitation of our hostages for propaganda purposes, it has been decided to delay the release of terrorists that was planned for yesterday until the release of the next hostages has been assured, and without the humiliating ceremonies,’ Netanyahu’s statement said.

Hamas had called the delay a ‘serious violation,’ though the militant group’s treatment of prisoners was condemned by international groups, including the United Nations.

‘Under international law, any handover of the remains of [the] deceased must comply with the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, ensuring respect for the dignity of the deceased and their families,’ the United Nations Geneva said on X last week, attributing the quote to High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.

Israeli United Nations Ambassador Danny Danon told Fox News Digital that Hamas’ ‘ceremonies’ were ‘evil and depraved.’

‘For 16 months, Israel has been fighting a deranged terrorist organization that places no value on human life, especially if it is Israeli or Jewish — all while international institutions like the U.N. refrained from condemning Hamas and formally demanding the immediate return of our hostages,’ Danon said.

The Associated Press and Fox News’ Rachel Wolf and Yael Rotem-Kuriel contributed to this report.

Fox News’ Bill Mears and Shannon Bream contributed to this report.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is staring down a geopolitical tightrope ahead of his meeting with President Donald Trump on Thursday as he looks to stay strong on support for Ukraine, as well as maintaining relations with the U.S. — London’s chief ally. 

But the tense international atmosphere is not the only hurdle Starmer is facing following his waning approval ratings at home.

The U.K. saw a massive political shake-up in July 2024 after voters ended the Conservative Party’s 14-year reign and voted in the Labour Party under Starmer. But in the months following his election, Starmer’s approval ratings reportedly took a historic dip.

Controversial topics like axing a winter fuel repayment program, policy reversals relating to political donations, and partisan uproar over issues like immigration, knife crime and a deal that could hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius along with more than $11 billion, have reportedly contributed to Starmer’s tanking support. 

Colin Brazier, an award-winning retired English journalist and veteran observer of the U.K.’s culture wars, told Fox News Digital that with some eight months in power, there’s a reason why Starmer’s approval ratings have ‘fallen faster than almost any previous incumbent.’

‘Why?’ he asked. ‘New taxes on everything from schools to farms and a sense that Britain is ‘undeveloping’ before our very eyes. Immigration on a scale never before seen is testing the Welfare State, transport network, housing stock and National Health Service to destruction. Starmer’s Labour Party detests MAGA at a cellular level. But their beleaguered leader needs to show statesmanship, and a picture with the president does that.’

But one foreign policy expert believes that the Starmer-Trump meeting could be an opportunity for the prime minister to gain some points at home while also soothing diplomatic ties. 

‘I think what he’s obviously been doing is trying to take the edge off some of President Trump’s sort of more surprising statements… then trying to put Britain in the best positive light when it comes to the president’s considerations,’ Alan Mendoza, Executive Director of the Henry Jackson Society, a non-partisan U.K.-based think tank told Fox News Digital.

‘The polling tells you that President Trump is very unpopular in Britain,’ Mendoza said. ‘But that doesn’t mean that the British government is going to listen to those opinion polls. The British government has to govern.

‘British people may have a certain view of President Trump, but the British government, the British political class, may well have a very different view of what he’s trying to achieve and where they should be positioning themselves,’ he added.

Despite Starmer’s waning ratings and low favorability of Trump among Brits, Mendoza doesn’t think these factors will shape how Starmer approaches his meeting with Trump on Thursday.

Instead, Mendoza pointed to the successful meeting between Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron, as an indicator of how Starmer’s discussions could go.

‘I think there would be a path to great popularity if he’s able to shape President Trump’s thinking on certain subjects,’ Mendoza said. 

Starmer’s ability to make inroads with Trump could have immediate implications as issues that directly impact Brits’ pockets are expected to be top agenda items — including the looming U.S. tariffs on U.K. steel.

The British embassy confirmed to Fox News Digital that while topics involving U.S.-U.K. defense alliances and support for Ukraine are expected to be addressed, topics involving shared economic and trade-based partnerships will also be prioritized. 

Trump’s threat to slap 25% tariffs on U.K. and EU imports is a topic Britain hopes it is uniquely positioned to address given its ‘very specialized’ trading position on steel and aluminum, U.K. secretary for business and trade, Jonathan Reynolds, told the BBC this month.  

A British embassy spokesperson said Starmer will look to highlight the economic ‘synergies’ shared between the U.K. and U.S. when it comes to tech, AI, trade and investments.

‘That’s going to be a big priority,’ spokesman Ed Roman said. 

President Donald Trump’s nominee for labor secretary is expected to pass a key vote before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) on Thursday after picking up Democrat support from Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H. 

Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s past support for the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act jeopardized her confirmation last week, when Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said he would not vote for her if she continued to support the PRO Act. Paul’s reluctance meant Chavez-DeRemer would likely need a Democrat’s vote to pass a key confirmation hurdle. 

Hassan’s support, as a Democrat on the HELP Committee, all but confirms Chavez-DeRemer will pass through her committee vote.

‘The Department of Labor plays an integral role in supporting workers and small businesses alike, and after hearing significant support from constituents, including members of labor unions in New Hampshire, I will support Representative Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination as Secretary of Labor,’ Hassan shared in a statement to Fox News Digital. 

Hassan admitted that she ‘may not agree on everything’ with Chavez-DeRemer, but she is ‘qualified’ to serve and earned ‘significant support’ from New Hampshire voters.

‘Though we may not agree on everything, after meeting with Representative Chavez-DeRemer and listening to her testimony during her confirmation hearing, I believe that she is qualified to serve as the next secretary of labor, and I look forward to working with her to support New Hampshire’s workers and small businesses,’ Hassan added. 

Chavez-DeRemer supported the PRO Act as a representative for Oregon’s 5th Congressional District but told senators during her confirmation hearing that she no longer supports overturning Republican-supported right-to-work laws under the PRO Act.

The PRO Act would effectively kill state-level laws that prevent employers and unions from requiring workers to pay union dues as a condition of their employment. Republicans oppose the PRO Act for overturning right-to-work laws. 

Chavez-DeRemer could still earn back Paul’s vote after she distanced herself from the PRO Act during her Senate hearing. With Hassan’s support, Chavez-DeRemer is no longer reliant on Paul for confirmation. 

‘If she wanted to make a public statement saying that her support for the PRO Act was incorrect and she no longer does, then I’d think about her nomination,’ Paul told Fox News Digital in a statement ahead of Chavez-DeRemer’s hearing. 

‘So you no longer support the aspect of the PRO Act that would have overturned state right-to-work laws?’ Paul asked during the hearing. 

‘Yes, sir,’ she replied. 

Paul’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on how he will vote in committee today.

Chavez-DeRemer testified before the HELP Committee on Feb. 19. If the committee votes to send Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination before the full Senate, Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., can file a motion to end Senate floor debate on the nominee, triggering a cloture vote to halt deliberations. Once debate closes, senators cast their final confirmation vote. 

During her hearing, Chavez-DeRemer advocated for trade school investments to expand ‘educational pathways beyond the traditional four-year degree’ to strengthen the American workforce. She said she is committed to leveling the playing field for American businesses, workers and unions. 

Chavez-DeRemer also thanked Trump and credited him with the ‘single greatest political achievement of our time’ in building a ‘new coalition of working-class Americans.’

‘President Trump has united a new coalition of working-class Americans like never before. With 59.6% of Teamsters backing him, historic support from African-American and Latino voters, and record-breaking turnout in once-solid blue cities and states, Americans are speaking loud and clear. They are calling for action, progress and leadership that puts the American worker first,’ Chavez-DeRemer said.

Trump nominated Chavez-DeRemer for secretary of labor less than three weeks after he was elected president.

‘Lori has worked tirelessly with both Business and Labor to build America’s workforce, and support the hardworking men and women of America,’ Trump wrote.

‘I look forward to working with her to create tremendous opportunity for American Workers, to expand training and apprenticeships, to grow wages and improve working conditions, to bring back our manufacturing jobs. Together, we will achieve historic cooperation between Business and Labor that will restore the American Dream for Working Families,’ he added.

Fox News Digital’s Julia Johnson contributed to this report.