After years of advertising campaigns targeting ‘woke’ hospitals for putting politics before patients, a prominent nonprofit consumer advocacy group has compiled a comprehensive report on what it says are the worst offenders and urges President Donald Trump and lawmakers nationwide to take action. 

The new report, titled ‘Woke hospitals: Embracing Political Priorities Ahead of Patient Care,’ was released by Consumers’ Research on Tuesday and took aim at five hospital systems across the country: Cleveland Clinic, Vanderbilt University Medical, Henry Ford Health, Memorial Hermann and Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. 

‘U.S. consumers should be aware that many nonprofit hospital systems have leveraged taxpayer dollars and federal funding to advance controversial political and social causes,’ the report states. 

‘Instead of lowering costs and passing savings onto patients, hospitals have spent considerable money, time, and manpower pursuing a partisan agenda pertaining to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), radical gender ideology, and climate activism. This report examines five of these ‘woke’ hospital systems and the specific ways in which they have opted to engage in various forms of political activism unrelated to – and in some cases at odds with – their core missions as healthcare providers,’ the report continues. ‘Each of them is a tax-exempt beneficiary receiving numerous funding streams and benefits from the federal government.’

The report’s accusations against Cleveland Clinic, which Fox News Digital previously reported on, highlight a comment from CEO Tom Mihaljevic when he stated that ‘healthcare is only part of our mission.’

That mission, according to Consumers’ Research, includes promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) which the hospital’s chief of diversity of inclusion said in 2023, ‘has to be embedded in everything we do.’

In addition to several examples of the hospital system pushing DEI, the report outlines ways that Cleveland Clinic has engaged in ‘climate activism’ while pouring millions into ‘green initiatives’ as well as administering transgender care to children. 

Vanderbilt University Medical, a hospital system that Fox News Digital previously reported was found to be deleting some of its references to DEI commitments and resources while also keeping some and hiding them from public view, is said in the report to have received $468 million in NIH grants for medical research. 

While receiving substantial funding from the federal government, the hospital system is also pushing a ‘woke’ agenda, according to the report. 

‘VUMC’s Emergency Medicine Department featured a Diversity, Inclusion & Wellness Office co-led by two directors of ‘Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Anti-Racism,’’ the report states. ‘In January 2025, VUMC’s Psychiatry Department hosted a webinar addressing ‘The War on DEI,’ identifying racism, sexism, caste systems, and nationalism as significant barriers to DEI objectives.’

The report also outlines what it says are examples of VUMC promoting climate activism and providing ‘gender-affirming care’ to minors. 

‘According to the nonprofit organization Do No Harm, VUMC has provided sex-change treatments to 33 minors since 2019, with 22 patients receiving irreversible body-altering surgery,’ the report states. 

‘VUMC even awarded grants to a reproductive clinic in Memphis that assists LGBTQ+ youth in acquiring gender-change hormone therapy. Following the implementation of Tennessee’s new law, the clinic announced on its website that it now refers minors seeking such services to its affiliated clinic in Carbondale, IL, pending parental consent,’ the report continued.

Henry Ford Health has also been a previous target of Consumers’ Research, Fox News Digital reported in April, and is mentioned in the report as a place where the ‘racist DEI agenda is so egregious that America First Legal, a pro-Trump legal nonprofit, filed an official complaint with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) calling for an investigation.’

The report outlines several examples of the hospital allegedly pushing ‘gender ideology’ and cites Do No Harm’s database, which found that Henry Ford Health ‘treated at least 63 sex-change patients who were minors, including eight patients who underwent surgery.’

Memorial Hermann Health System in Texas was also highlighted by the report as an organization rife with examples of DEI, which critics for years have argued puts politics before patients.

‘Memorial Hermann maintains that ‘health equity’ is paramount,’ the report states. ‘The system has stated its intention of embedding EDI practices at the core of its mission and vision and believes overcoming ‘historical and contemporary injustices’ is critical.’

The report adds that ‘Memorial Hermann publicly claims not to offer gender-transition services to individuals under 18’ but, according to Do No Harm, ‘has reportedly performed 15 sex-change surgeries on minors and prescribed puberty blockers or hormone therapy to three children.’

The fifth hospital in the report, Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, has said that it considers DEI to be part of its founding values and declared racism to be a ‘public health issue’ after the death of George Floyd. 

The report states that the hospital ‘was the first hospital in the U.S. to offer transgender surgeries, doing so as early as 1966’ and pointed to a 2022 statement from a spokesperson that stated children should have access to transgender care to ‘improve their mental health.’

‘The Johns Hopkins All Children’s website formerly included a page about children’s gender and sexual development,’ the report says. ‘ It referred to the ‘emotional and physical foundation for sexuality’’ among ‘infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and young school-aged kids.’’

Fox News Digital reached out to all five hospitals in the report for comment. 

‘Henry Ford Health respects and fully complies with all state and federal anti-discrimination laws,’ a Henry Ford Health spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement. ‘For more than a century, Henry Ford Health has been fully committed to serving Michigan’s richly diverse communities, providing health care services and employment opportunities to everyone. Our commitment to non-discrimination remains steadfast.’

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a Cleveland Clinic spokesperson said, ‘For more than a century, Cleveland Clinic’s mission has been to care for life, research for health, and educate those who serve.  Cleveland Clinic is a nonpartisan organization and we neither have nor promote any political agenda. We are in full compliance with all state and federal laws and strongly refute the false and misleading assertions made in this report. The report intentionally shares information that is outdated.’   

A VUMC spokesperson told Fox News Digital, ‘Vanderbilt University Medical Center fully complies with the current federal and state mandates and directives, and any accusations otherwise are simply false.’

A spokesperson for Memorial Hermann told Fox News Digital the report ‘reflects information that is outdated, factually inaccurate and intentionally misleading.’

‘As one example of factually inaccurate information, Memorial Hermann does not provide and has never provided any form of pediatric gender transitioning treatment to patients younger than 18 years of age at any of our facilities. Secondly, we are compliant with all state and federal price transparency regulations. As the largest nonprofit health system in Southeast Texas, we are committed to delivering compassionate, patient-centered care that provides high-quality outcomes to all we serve. We do not discriminate based on race, gender or any other characteristics, and we abide by ethical and legal standards of care. We are equally committed to ensuring our policies comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations.’

One of the top concerns outlined in the report is what Consumers’ Research describes as ‘insult to injury’ when it comes to federal tax dollars propping up these hospitals that are pushing ‘woke’ ideologies and shelling out millions in salaries for top leadership.

‘Nonprofit hospitals highlighted in this report and across the U.S. receive millions of dollars in federal funding, government-mandated savings programs, and tax exemptions,’ the report states. 

‘This means taxpayers are often left footing the bill for hospitals’ political activism. Hospitals receive nonprofit, tax-exempt status on the basis that they provide a broader benefit to the community. These health systems are able to couple their billions of dollars in tax savings with significant federal funding sources and government-mandated savings programs. These avenues for federal funding include Medicare payments, Medicaid payments, and federal grant funding.’

The report alleges that these hospitals often ‘leverage their position’ to receive ‘multiple special designations through Medicare and Medicaid that allow them access to more taxpayer dollars while arguing against federal cuts to current revenue streams.’

‘As outlined in this report, hospitals are taking advantage of their billions of dollars in tax breaks, federal funding, and mandated discount programs to fund frivolous projects outside the scope of patient care,’ the report alleges. ‘Instead of passing benefits along to patients and lowering costs – as these programs intended – hospitals use these programs to fund political priorities outside of their core mission of providing high-quality care and benefiting their communities.’

In addition to the report, Consumers’ Research has sent letters to President Trump, Senate and House leadership, and governors of the states where the hospitals are located calling for an investigation into the federal dollar funding streams to the organizations that could be violating anti-DEI rules and running counter to state values. 

‘The content of this Consumer Warning should provide your administration with more than enough justification for initiating a formal investigation into these federally supported hospitals’ internal activities and a subsequent review of their tax-exempt privileges and the specific government funding streams which support them,’ the letter to Trump and officials in his administration states. 

Additionally, Consumers’ Research is running a mobile billboard in Washington, D.C., and launching the website BadMedicine.Org to highlight their warning to consumers. 

‘Consumers need to be aware that hospitals in their own backyards have found ways to use taxpayer dollars to advance a woke agenda, which takes away vital resources that should be going to patient care,’ Consumers’ Research Executive Director Will Hild said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

‘Our Consumer Warning spotlights five nonprofit hospitals that are prioritizing radical causes like DEI, child sex-change procedures, and climate activism, all while receiving millions in taxpayer dollars. Every hospital CEO should read this Consumer Warning and promptly end woke policies in their organizations and refocus on their core mission, which is providing the best quality patient care at affordable prices. Until every hospital in America stops pushing discriminatory DEI policies, mutilating kids’ bodies, and promoting climate politics, their federal funding streams and other government benefits like tax-exemptions should be investigated to ensure taxpayers are not supporting any hospital’s reckless ideological activism. It is time to stop funding woke hospitals.’

Senate Republicans are moving full steam ahead with their probe into the alleged cover-up of former President Joe Biden’s reported mental decline and have unveiled their witness list for the forthcoming hearing.

The witness list for the upcoming hearing, which is set for Wednesday and is the first congressional hearing on the subject, includes former members of President Donald Trump’s first administration and a legal scholar, each selected to give their perspective on how Biden’s inner circle and the media allegedly hid his declining health.

Included on the list of witnesses are Theodore Wold, who formerly served as acting assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Policy at the Justice Department and deputy assistant to the president for domestic policy during the Trump administration; Sean Spicer, former White House press secretary and communications director; and John Harrison, a legal scholar from the University of Virginia School of Law who previously served during former the Reagan and Bush administrations.

Democrats on the committee did not call any witnesses. Fox News Digital reached out to the top Democrat on the panel, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., for comment.

The hearing, led by Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., was announced last month and will zero in on the alleged concealment of the 82-year-old former president’s reported mental decline while in office by the media and those closest to him.

Cornyn told Fox News Digital that the trio of witnesses selected for the hearing ‘have impressive records defending our Constitution and serving in the West Wing.’

‘This week’s hearing is an important opportunity for the American people to get the answers they deserve about who was really running the country when Joe Biden’s health was obviously declining and the constitutional questions raised by an unfit president,’ he said.

Schmitt said in a statement to Fox News Digital that the alleged cover-up was ‘a threat to our nation and it undermined our Constitution — we must ensure it never happens again.’

‘I look forward to hearing from our panel of witnesses who will share their expertise on the Constitution, the approval process within the White House, and the media’s access to the President,’ he said. ‘The American people are demanding accountability, and this hearing will be the first step in that process.’

Fox News Digital reached out to Wold, Spicer and Harrison for comment.

Cornyn and Schmitt join their colleagues in the House who are similarly demanding answers about what really went on behind the scenes during Biden’s presidency.

House Republicans are pushing to create a select committee that would investigate the Biden administration’s alleged cover-up.

Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., introduced legislation last month to start a committee that would dive into ‘the potential concealment of information from the American public’ regarding Biden’s health.  

Additionally, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., has called on several high-ranking staffers from the Biden White House to participate in transcribed interviews regarding their alleged roles in covering up the former president’s decline.

Of the 10 witnesses he called to attend, only four agreed to participate, including the director of Biden’s former Domestic Policy Council; Neera Tanden, Biden’s assistant and senior advisor to the first lady; Anthony Bernal, former special assistant to Biden and Deputy Director of Oval Office Operations Ashley Williams; and Biden’s Deputy Chief of Staff Annie Tomasini.

A federal judge declared the Trump administration’s move to nix some National Institutes of Health grants as illegal, describing the cuts as discriminatory during remarks on Monday, according to reports.

‘I am hesitant to draw this conclusion — but I have an unflinching obligation to draw it — that this represents racial discrimination and discrimination against America’s LGBTQ community,’ Judge William Young said, according to Politico. ‘That’s what this is. I would be blind not to call it out. My duty is to call it out.’

Young, who serves in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, was nominated by then-President Ronald Reagan in 1985, according to the court’s website.  

‘Any discrimination by our government is so wrong that it requires the court to enjoin it and at an appropriate time, I’m going to do it,’ the judge said, according to Reuters.

HHS Communications Director Andrew Nixon noted in a statement that the department ‘is exploring all legal options, including filing an appeal and moving to stay the order.’

‘HHS stands by its decision to end funding for research that prioritized ideological agendas over scientific rigor and meaningful outcomes for the American people,’ Nixon declared in the statement the department provided to Fox News Digital. 

‘Under the leadership of Secretary Kennedy and the Trump administration, HHS is committed to ensuring that taxpayer dollars support programs rooted in evidence-based practices and gold standard science – not driven by divisive DEI mandates or gender ideology,’ Nixon said.

White House Spokesman Kush Desai accused the judge of airing his own view.

‘It is appalling that a federal judge would use court proceedings to express his political views and preferences. How is a judge going to deliver an impartial decision when he explicitly stated his biased opinion that the Administration’s retraction of illegal DEI funding is racist and anti-LGBTQ? Justice ceases to be administered when a judge clearly rules on the basis of his political ideologies,’ Desai declared in a statement he provided to Fox News Digital.

The White House deputy press secretary asserted, ‘DEI is based on the premise that an individual’s competence and abilities are tied to his or her racial background, and Americans have resoundingly rejected this flawed and racist logic.’

‘The Trump administration is committed to restoring the Gold Standard of Science, and that starts with recognizing the biological reality of the male and female sexes. The NIH is focusing on Making America Healthy Again by realigning our research spending to address our chronic disease crisis instead, not to validate ideological activism,’ he noted.

President Donald Trump denied reports on Tuesday that he left the G7 summit in Canada early to work on a cease-fire between Israel and Iran, hinting that it was for something ‘much bigger.’

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One during an overnight flight back to Washington that he was looking to achieve something better than a cease-fire and would meet with advisers in the Situation Room early Tuesday.

‘We’re looking at better than a cease-fire,’ Trump said. ‘We’re not looking for a cease-fire. I didn’t say that I was looking for a cease-fire.’

When asked what was better than a cease-fire, Trump responded, ‘An end. A real end, not ceasefire. An end.’ The president added that ‘giving up entirely’ was also an option.

Trump earlier denied reports that he was rushing back to Washington to work on a cease-fire, saying on his Truth Social platform that ‘it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire. Much bigger than that.’

Trump also issued an ominous warning on the platform Monday evening, writing that ‘IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON,’ and adding ‘Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!’

When reporters aboard Air Force One asked about his call for the residents of Tehran to evacuate, Trump said there was no threat, but ‘there’s a lot of bad things happening and I think it’s safer for them to evacuate.’

Trump, however, echoed his stance on Iran’s nuclear program.

‘Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, it’s very simple,’ Trump told reporters.

He accused Iranian leaders of being unwilling to reach an agreement over their nuclear program, and suggested he was now less interested in talking with them.

‘They should have done the deal. I told them, ‘Do the deal,’’ Trump said. ‘So I don’t know. I’m not too much in the mood to negotiate.’

When Trump was asked again if the U.S. getting involved militarily would ensure a wipeout of Iran’s nuclear program, Trump said, ‘I hope their program is going to be wiped out long before that. They’re not going to have a nuclear weapon.’

While Trump appeared bearish on negotiations, he said that he may consider sending Vice President JD Vance and U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff to meet with the Iranians.

‘It depends on what happens when I get back,’ Trump said of the Israel-Iran conflict, telling reporters that ‘nobody’s slowed up so far.’

Fox News’ Kaitlin Sprague, Luke Trevisan and Nick Rojas contributed to this report.

After nearly 150 days since President Donald Trump entered office, the U.S. still does not have an ambassador to the United Nations despite geopolitics playing a cornerstone role in his second term.

Following the withdrawal of Elise Stefanik from the nomination in late March over concerns that Republicans would not be able to hold onto her New York seat in the case of a special election, Trump nominated former National Security Advisor Mike Waltz for the top job on May 1.

Though his nomination process appears to be just now moving forward as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which needs to vote on his confirmation before a full Senate vote can be cast, only just confirmed receipt of the nomination on Thursday. 

The first movement in Waltz’s nomination process comes more than 45 days after it was first announced despite comments to Fox News Digital in early May by a GOP staffer who said, ‘The committee has been working at a historically fast pace and this nomination will be a priority moving forward.’

Though on Monday the committee was unable to confirm when Waltz’s hearing and subsequent vote would take place.  

When asked by Fox News Digital why it had only just confirmed receipt of the nomination, the committee directed questions regarding the timeline to the White House. 

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s questions about what the holdup could be, given that other nominations, like that of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, were pushed through within five days of Trump entering the Oval Office. 

Though the lack of a U.S. ambassador to the U.N. is not necessarily ‘dangerous,’ it weakens the U.S.’s ability to influence major geopolitical situations at a time when the U.S. is facing some of its greatest multifront geopolitical challenges since World War II.

‘There are downsides diplomatically to not having senior leadership and supporting political staff in New York. It lessens U.S. influence and its ability to negotiate at the top level with other missions and the Secretariat,’ Brett Schaefer, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and an expert on multilateral treaties and international organizations like the U.N., told Fox News Digital.

Schaefer explained that though the U.S. does not have a Senate-approved official in place at the U.N., it does not mean the administration does not have representatives at U.N. headquarters in New York working to push U.S. interests.

The U.S., as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, continues to hold its position and ability to use veto powers, should major geopolitical policy come into effect, like the use of snapback sanctions against Iran.

Though the U.S. has representation should an emergency meeting be called, as one was over the weekend by Iran following Israel’s Thursday night military strikes, the ambassador is seen as having the direct ear of the president and can therefore be more influential diplomatically when it tops to the top international body.

‘The United Nations is a serious playground whether you like it or not,’ Jonathan Wachtel, who served as counsel to the U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations during the previous Trump administration, told Fox News Digital, adding that there are arguments for reform and policy changes. ‘But at the end of the day it’s a flash point for every conflict in the world, and it’s important to have the representation of the United States at the world body.’ 

Wachtel also pointed out that with all the conflicts around the world, whether the U.S. is directly involved or not, including Russia’s war in Ukraine, Israel’s war against Iran and in Gaza, as well as broader crises like world hunger, Washington needs its voice heard, otherwise its adversaries will step in. 

‘[There’s] just too many things going on in the world and too much ground to cover,’ Wachtel added. ‘And instead of the U.S. voice heard [at the U.N.], you’re going to have the press corps here and diplomats listening more to the arguments of our adversaries, frankly speaking.’

Diana Stancy contributed to this report.

Sen. Josh Hawley again drew a line in the sand on proposed cuts to Medicaid benefits, and warned his colleagues to follow President Donald Trump’s lead and leave the widely used healthcare program largely intact.

Republican-led Senate committees have spent the last few weeks since the House GOP advanced its version of the president’s ‘big, beautiful bill,’ preparing their own tweaks to the colossal bill, but much of the focus has been on the work being carried out by the Senate Finance Committee.

The panel, which is responsible for health care, tax and other policy provisions, is expected to release its chunk of the budget reconciliation package Tuesday afternoon. House GOP-authored Medicaid provisions, in particular, have been a sticking point for a small group of Senate Republicans.

What those changes on the Senate side of the bill might look like could jump start or stall the momentum of the massive legislative package in the upper chamber.

Hawley, R-Mo, is among that cohort and has long been outspoken in his position that if Senate Republicans produce a version of the president’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ that strips benefits from his constituents, he won’t support the package. But his vision for Medicaid clashes with fiscal hawks who are in search of deeper spending cuts.

One of his main arguments is to listen to what Trump wants to do.

‘This is what I continue to tell my colleagues,’ he said. ‘Anybody who asks me and who’s interested is that, why don’t we just listen to the guy who won the election who said that he doesn’t want any Medicaid benefit cuts, he doesn’t want rural hospitals to close. He wants Medicare not to be touched at all.’

The lawmaker’s remarks came during a press call on Friday discussing the inclusion of his Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), which provides compensation to people who have been exposed to nuclear waste, into the ‘big, beautiful bill.’

Hawley said the addition was certainly a sweetener for his support, considering that the measure has been his ‘leading legislative priority for two years now.’ Still, Medicaid is one of his top issues in the broader reconciliation fight.

The lawmaker said that he did not have a problem with some of the marquee changes to Medicaid that his House Republican counterparts wanted, including stricter work requirements, booting illegal immigrants from benefit rolls and rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in the program that serves tens of millions of Americans.

However, he noted that about 1.3 million Missourians rely on Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and contended that most were working.

‘These are not people who are sitting around, these are people who are working,’ he said. ‘They’re on Medicaid because they cannot afford private health insurance, and they don’t get it on the job.’

‘And I just think it’s wrong to go to those people and say, ‘Well, you know, we know you’re doing the best, we know that you’re working hard, but we’re going to take away your healthcare access,’’ he continued. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is calling off his planned trip to Jerusalem this coming weekend in light of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran.

‘Due to the complex situation currently unfolding in Iran and Israel, Speaker Ohana and I have made the decision to postpone the special session of the Knesset,’ Johnson said in a statement.

‘We look forward to rescheduling the address in the near future and send our prayers to the people of Israel and the Middle East.’

Johnson had planned to address the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, this coming Sunday.

It’s a sign of the worsening situation in the Middle East after Israel, which said Iran was dangerously close to a nuclear weapon, launched preemptive strikes in Tehran that hit nuclear enrichment sites and killed top military officials.

Johnson, like most Republicans, backed Israel’s moves.

‘Israel and the United States have been united, including in our shared insistence that Iran must never obtain a nuclear weapon. President Trump and his administration have worked tirelessly to ensure that outcome,’ the speaker said in a statement on Friday.

‘Unfortunately, Iran has refused to agree and even declared yesterday its intent to build a new enrichment facility. Israel decided it needed to take action to defend itself. They were clearly within their right to do so.’

Israel’s military said Monday that it has established ‘aerial superiority’ over Iran’s forces as the conflict continues into another day.

President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social Sunday that Israel and Iran ‘should make a deal, and will make a deal.’ 

‘[W]e will have PEACE, soon, between Israel and Iran! Many calls and meetings now taking place,’ Trump wrote.

Ten years ago Monday, businessman Donald J. Trump launched his first presidential campaign, marking the beginning of the ‘Make America Great Again’ movement. 

Trump, beside his wife, Melania, famously came down the golden escalator at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York City June 16, 2015, to announce his intention to run for president of the United States. 

‘I am officially running for President of the United States,’ Trump posted to his then-Twitter account June 16, 2015, along with a photo of his family after his announcement. ‘#MakeAmericaGreatAgain.’

‘Ten Years Ago Today, President Donald J. Trump came down the Golden Escalator and officially declared his candidacy for President of the United States,’ Team Trump posted to Instagram Monday to commemorate the ten-year anniversary. 

Since, Trump has changed American politics — creating the MAGA movement and serving as the 45th and 47th president of the United States, after beating former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016 and former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2020. 

Trump is the only president to serve two nonconsecutive terms other than Grover Cleveland who was elected in 1884 and again in 1892.  

‘This will truly be the golden age of America,’ Trump said, upon winning the 2024 election in a landslide. 

A Senate panel charged with some of the most hot-button portions of President Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ unveiled its portion of the gargantuan package on Monday.

The Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over tax policy, Medicaid and a slew of other items baked into the House GOP’s version of the bill, released its text as Republicans sprint to finish work on the president’s bill ahead of a self-imposed July 4 deadline.

The committee, chaired by Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, had to walk a perilous tightrope with their legislation, given the push and pull surrounding divisive cuts to Medicaid, an increase to the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap and other provisions in the House’s version of the bill.

Crapo lauded the bill in a statement, and noted that it made the president’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent, slashed ‘Green New Deal’ spending and targeted ‘waste, fraud and abuse in spending programs while preserving and protecting them for the most vulnerable.’ 

‘I look forward to continued coordination with our colleagues in the House and the Administration to deliver President Trump’s bold economic agenda for the American people as quickly as possible,’ he said. 

While House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., pleaded with Senate leaders to change the bill as little as possible after narrowly passing the bill in the House, particularly on the compromises he reached on SALT and Medicaid, the Senate has vowed to leave its imprint on the package. 

Crapo and Republican committee members have similarly had to navigate divisions in the upper chamber, particularly around Medicaid tweaks to provider payments and an increase to the SALT cap to $40,000 — a change needed to ram the bill through the House, but one Senate Republicans dislike. 

Israel activated a new aerial defense system – dubbed ‘Barak Magen,’ meaning ‘lightning shield’ – for the first time on Sunday night, saying it intercepted and destroyed multiple Iranian drones.

The Israeli Navy intercepted eight Iranian drones using the ‘Barak Magen’ and its long-range air defense (LRAD) interceptor, which were launched from an Israeli navy Sa’ar 6 missile ship, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.

John Hannah, senior fellow at The Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) and the co-author of a report published earlier this month on Israel’s defense against two massive Iranian missile attacks in 2024, told Fox News Digital on Monday that the air defense system ‘significantly enhances’ the air and missile defense architecture of Israel’s navy.

‘The Barak Magen is simply another arrow in the expanding quiver of Israel’s highly sophisticated and increasingly diverse multi-tiered missile defense architecture – which was already, by leaps and bounds, the most advanced and experienced air defense system fielded by any country in the world,’ Hannah said.

The system can intercept a ‘wide range of threats,’ according to the IDF, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), cruise missiles, high-trajectory threats and shore-to-sea missiles.

Hannah said the system not only provides force protection for the Israeli fleet but also gives long-distance protection to Israel’s expanding oil and gas infrastructure in the eastern Mediterranean, along with critical infrastructure and population centers located along Israel’s coastline.

‘It allows Israel to conduct interceptions at significant distances from the Israeli homeland, both out in the eastern Mediterranean and the Red Sea, and thereby adds critically important strategic depth when defending Israel’s tiny geographic area,’ he said.

The IDF said that the Israeli Navy’s missile ship flotilla has intercepted about 25 UAVs that posed a threat to Israel since the conflict with Iran escalated.

Israel and Iran traded missile strikes for the fourth day on Monday, with Iran firing a new wave of strikes that killed at least eight people and wounded dozens more.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military claimed it had achieved air superiority above Tehran, warning about 330,000 people in a central part of the Iranian capital to evacuate ahead of new strikes.