Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Wednesday that he has selected eight new people to join the national vaccine panel after firing all 17 of its members. 

In an X post, Kennedy revealed that he ‘took a major step towards restoring public trust in vaccines’ on Monday by reconstituting the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP). 

‘I retired the 17 current members of the committee. I’m now repopulating ACIP with the eight new members who will attend ACIP’s scheduled June 25 meeting,’ Kennedy wrote on Wednesday. ‘The slate includes highly credentialed scientists, leading public-health experts, and some of America’s most accomplished physicians. All of these individuals are committed to evidence-based medicine, gold-standard science, and common sense.’ 

The new members are: Joseph R. Hibbeln, MD; Martin Kulldorff, MD, PhD; Retsef Levi, PhD; Robert W. Malone, MD; Cody Meissner, MD; James Pagano, MD; Vicky Pebsworth, OP, PhD, RN; and Michael A. Ross, MD. 

The secretary said all eight people ‘have each committed to demanding definitive safety and efficacy data before making any new vaccine recommendations.’ He said the committee will review safety and efficacy data for the current schedule.’

Notably, Kulldorff was one of the co-authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, which was written alongside Dr. Sunetra Gupta of Oxford University and Dr. Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford University. 

The declaration, published in October 2020, promoted lifting lockdown orders sooner and allowing COVID-19 to spread among young, healthy people to more quickly reach herd immunity. The strategy also included precautions to shield those most vulnerable to severe illness, and the authors said the approach would help mitigate the long-term societal and economic harms of prolonged lockdown orders. 

It was condemned harshly at the time by the World Health Organization and Dr. Anthony Fauci, then-Director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

On Tuesday, before he announced his picks, Kennedy said, ‘We’re going to bring great people onto the ACIP panel – not anti-vaxxers – bringing people on who are credentialed scientists.’

Kennedy on Monday ousted all 17 members of the ACIP, saying he would appoint a new group before the next scheduled meeting in late June. The agenda for that meeting has not yet been posted, but a recent federal notice said votes are expected on vaccinations against flu, COVID-19, HPV, RSV and meningococcal bacteria. 

ACIP members typically serve staggered four-year terms, although several appointments were delayed during the Biden administration before positions were filled last year. The voting members all have scientific or clinical expertise in immunization, except for one ‘consumer representative’ who can bring perspective on community and social facets of vaccine programs. The committee, created in 1964, makes recommendations to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Kennedy provided a brief biography of each of his new picks. 

Hibbeln is a psychiatrist and neuroscientist with a career in clinical research, public health policy and federal service. 

‘As former Acting Chief of the Section on Nutritional Neurosciences at the National Institutes of Health, he led research on immune regulation, neurodevelopment, and mental health,’ Kennedy wrote. ‘His work has informed U.S. public health guidelines, particularly in maternal and child health. With more than 120 peer-reviewed publications and extensive experience in federal advisory roles, Dr. Hibbeln brings expertise in immune-related outcomes, psychiatric conditions, and evidence-based public health strategies.’ 

Kulldorff is a biostatistician and epidemiologist formerly at Harvard Medical School and a leading expert in vaccine safety and infectious disease surveillance. 

‘He has served on the Food and Drug Administration’s Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee and the CDC’s Vaccine Safety Subgroup of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, where he contributed to national vaccine safety monitoring systems,’ Kennedy wrote, adding that he developed tools used ‘for detecting disease outbreaks and vaccine adverse events.,’ and has expertise that ‘includes statistical methods for public health surveillance, immunization safety, and infectious disease epidemiology.’

Levi is the Professor of Operations Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management and a leading expert in healthcare analytics, risk management, and vaccine safety. 

‘Dr. Levi has collaborated with public health agencies to evaluate vaccine safety, including co-authoring studies on mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and their association with cardiovascular risks. His research has contributed to discussions on vaccine manufacturing processes, safety surveillance, and public health policy,’ Kennedy wrote, adding that Levi ‘has also served on advisory committees and engaged in policy discussions concerning vaccine safety and efficacy,’ and that his ‘work continues to inform national and international debates on immunization safety and health system resilience.’ 

Malone is a physician-scientist and biochemist known for his early contributions to mRNA vaccine technology, specifically ‘foundational research in the late 1980s on lipid-mediated mRNA delivery, which laid the groundwork for later developments in mRNA-based therapeutics,’ Kennedy wrote, adding that Malone’s ‘expertise spans molecular biology, immunology, and vaccine development.’

Meissner is a Professor of Pediatrics at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and a nationally recognized expert in pediatric infectious diseases and vaccine policy. 

‘He has served as Section Chief of Pediatric Infectious Disease at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and has held advisory roles with both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA),’ Kennedy wrote, adding that Meissner was a voting member of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, through which ‘he has contributed to national immunization guidelines and regulatory decisions.’

‘His expertise spans vaccine development, immunization safety, and pediatric infectious disease epidemiology. Dr. Meissner has also been a contributing author to American Academy of Pediatrics policy statements and immunization schedules, helping shape national standards for pediatric care.’ 

Pagano is a board-certified Emergency Medicine physician with over 40 years of clinical experience following his residency at UCLA. 

‘He has worked in diverse emergency settings, from Level 1 trauma centers to small community hospitals, caring for patients across all age groups, including infants, pregnant women, and the elderly,’ Kennedy wrote, adding that he has also served on various committees and medical executive boards. ‘He is [a] strong advocate for evidence-based medicine.’

Pebsworth earned a doctorate in public health and nursing from the University of Michigan. 

‘She has worked in the healthcare field for more than 45 years, serving in various capacities, including critical care nurse, healthcare administrator, health policy analyst, and research scientist with a focus on public health policy, bioethics, and vaccine safety,’ Kennedy wrote, pointing to her current leadership role with the National Association of Catholic Nurses, and previous positions with the FDA’s Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, the National Vaccine Advisory Committee’s 2009 H1N1 Vaccine Safety Risk Assessment Working Group and Vaccine Safety Working Group.

Ross is a Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at George Washington University and Virginia Commonwealth University, with a career spanning clinical medicine, research, and public health policy. 

‘He has served on the CDC’s Advisory Committee for the Prevention of Breast and Cervical Cancer, where he contributed to national strategies for cancer prevention and early detection, including those involving HPV immunization,’ Kennedy wrote, pointing to his experience with ‘clinical investigations with immunologic relevance,’ advising organizations like the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and advocacy efforts related to women’s health. 

‘His continued service on biotech and healthcare boards reflects his commitment to advancing innovation in immunology, reproductive medicine, and public health,’ Kennedy added.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A California Democrat told Pete Hegseth on Thursday that he is an ’embarrassment’ to the United States and should ‘get the hell out’ of the Department of Defense after the Secretary chided the lawmaker for a ‘silly question’ he asked during a house hearing.

The outburst from Rep. Salud Carbajal was immediately followed by a call for decorum as lawmakers from the House Armed Services Committee were questioning Hegseth about the Department of Defense’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget request.

Tensions started escalating on Capitol Hill as Carbajal asked Hegseth a series of yes or no questions, beginning with the deployment of the National Guard and U.S. Marines in Los Angeles to quell the unrest generated by anti-ICE protests. 

‘Let’s call it for what it is. It’s political theater. Hegseth, are the Marines in Los Angeles ordered to protect property by any means necessary?’ Carbajal asked him.

‘Sir, I would say the ICE officers and police officers being attacked is not political theater,’ he responded, before Carbajal cut him off and said ‘just yes or no?’

‘The National Guard and Marines have the full authority to protect federal ICE agents,’ Hegseth continued.

‘Yes or no? Can you just say yes or no? This isn’t Fox anymore. Just yes or no,’ Carbajal said.

At one point, Carbajal told Hegseth that ‘Kindergartners can give me a yes or no’ and asked him ‘Do you think political allegiance to Trump is a requirement for serving our nation, either in uniform or a civilian in the department?’

‘Congressman, you know what a silly question that is,’ Hegseth responded.

‘You know what? I’m not going to waste my time anymore. You’re not worthy of my attention or my questions. You’re an embarrassment to this country. You’re unfit to lead. And there’s been bipartisan members of Congress that have called for your resignation. You should just get the hell out and let somebody competently lead this department,’ Carbajal concluded.

In his opening statement, Hegseth said ‘Under President Trump’s leadership, this budget puts America first and gives our warriors what they need. The $961 billion budget request — more than 1 trillion in total for national security — ends four years of chronic underinvestment in our military.’

‘We are restoring the warrior ethos. President Trump charged me to focus relentlessly on war fighting, lethality, meritocracy, standards and readiness. And that is exactly what we’ve done since day one. We are refocusing on what is truly important, which is war fighting and our warriors, sweeping away distractions and bureaucracy. We are setting standards that are high, equal and unwavering,’ Hegseth continued.

‘DEI is dead. We replaced it with a colorblind, gender-neutral, merit-based approach. Our forces are responding incredibly to these changes. Because of President Trump and his America First priorities, recruitment and retention under this administration are higher than they’ve been in decades. Historic numbers of young Americans are putting on the uniform and raising their right hand because they believe in the leadership they see,’ he added.

Hegseth also told lawmakers on Capitol Hill that ‘we applaud allies who are stepping up, but others need to do more, and they need to do it quickly and at the NATO heads of state meeting later this month, we expect our NATO allies to commit to 5% of GDP on defense and defense related investments, something that was almost inconceivable before President Trump led the charge in his first administration and continues in this one.’

The Pentagon is considering backing out of the nuclear submarine agreement former President Joe Biden struck with Australia and the United Kingdom, amid shipbuilding problems back at home. 

‘The Department is reviewing AUKUS as part of ensuring that this initiative of the previous Administration is aligned with the president’s ‘America First’ agenda,’ a U.S. defense official said. 

‘As Secretary Hegseth has made clear, this means ensuring the highest readiness of our service members, that allies step up fully to do their part for collective defense, and that the defense industrial base is meeting our needs. This review will ensure the initiative meets these common sense, ‘America First’ criteria.’

Under the deal, which was seen as a response to China’s growing military threat in the Indo-Pacific, the U.S. and the UK would help Australia acquire conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines. Canberra would initially purchase several Virginia-class submarines in the early 2030s. The three nations would jointly design a new class of submarines, with Australian production beginning in the 2040s.

The three nations also agreed to share technology in cyber and quantum capabilities, AI, hypersonics and deep sea radar. 

In a confirmation hearing in March, Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby seemed leery of offering Australia nuclear-powered submarines while the U.S. struggles to produce enough for itself. 

‘If we can produce the attack submarines in sufficient number and sufficient speed, then great. But if we can’t, that becomes a very difficult problem because we don’t want our servicemen and women to be in a weaker position,’ Colby said.

Australia plans to increase its defense spending to 2.4% by the mid-2030s, but the U.S. is pushing it to boost that figure much faster. 

In a recent meeting in Singapore with Australian defense minister Richard Marles, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Marles the U.S. wants to see Australia spend 3.5% on defense. 

Admiral Sam Paparo, head of Indo-Pacific Command, voiced support for the AUKUS initiative in April. 

‘AUKUS delivers something to INDOPACOM that is critical and could be a key advantage, and that is a Indian Ocean submarine base. This gives us faster response time to the South China Sea than in Hawaii, in Washington, in San Diego,’ Paparo said.

Congress has appropriated billions of dollars to boost submarine- and ship-building capabilities, but some lawmakers claim the Pentagon’s plans to do so remain opaque. Meanwhile, experts estimate that China’s shipbuilding capabilities are around 230 times higher than those of the U.S. 

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the House’s top Democrat appropriator, pressed Hegseth on his shipbuilding plan in a hearing this week. 

‘There is a gap,’ Hegseth admitted, ‘but we believe we are closing it.’

However, DeLauro was not satisfied, demanding detailed data to back up that claim.

‘We do not have any information or data that can substantiate what you’re saying,’ she shot back. ‘Give us the details.’

‘We’ve had difficulty with the prior administration, and I don’t mind calling them out. What is your plan for the future?’

As the Senate debates the GOP’s massive landmark spending and tax cut bill – dubbed by President Donald Trump as his ‘big, beautiful bill’ – a new national poll indicates that a majority of American voters oppose the measure.

Fifty-three percent questioned in a new Quinnipiac University national survey said they oppose the bill, with 27% in support of the legislation and one in five not offering an opinion.

By a 67%-10% margin, Republicans surveyed support the bill, with 22% not offering an opinion.

But Democrats, by an 89%-2% margin and independent voters by a 57%-20% margin, give the bill a thumbs down.

The bill passed the House of Representatives last month by just one vote. And Trump is pushing for a July 4 deadline for the measure to pass through Congress and land on his desk at the White House.

The GOP-crafted measure is stuffed full of Trump’s campaign trail promises and second-term priorities on tax cuts, immigration, defense, energy and the debt limit. It includes extending his signature 2017 tax cuts and eliminating taxes on tips and overtime pay, providing billions for border security and codifying his controversial immigration crackdown.

The measure, if signed into law, would likely even further fuel the nation’s massive budget deficit. The national debt currently sits at $36,214,475,432,210.84, according to FOX Business’ National Debt Tracker. 

As Democrats attack the bill, they’re highlighting the GOP’s proposed restructuring of Medicaid – the nearly 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 2017 tax cuts, which are set to expire later this year. The measure includes a slew of new rules and regulations, including work requirements for many of those seeking Medicaid coverage.

Democrats have relentlessly attacked Republicans over what they say will be ‘huge cuts’ to Medicaid if the bill becomes law.

According to the poll, 47% of voters think federal funding for Medicaid should increase, with 40% saying it should stay the same and 10% arguing that funding should decrease.

There’s an expected partisan divide.

Sixty-nine percent of Democrats say Medicaid funding should increase, with 27% saying it should stay the same and just 2% saying it should be cut.

Twenty-one percent of Republicans say funding should increase, with 56% saying it should remain the same and 27% calling for cuts.

Among independents, 47% said federal funding for Medicaid should increase, 39% want it to say the same and 11% say it should decrease.

‘With Medicaid’s future as a healthcare safety net for millions suddenly uncertain, voters make it clear they want the 60-year-old program for those in need to be handled with care,’ Quinnipiac University polling analyst Tim Malloy said.

The Quinnipiac University poll was conducted June 5-9, with 1,265 registered voters across the country questioned. The survey’s overall sampling error is plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.

KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan – Taiwan’s coast guard and affiliated military units put on a show of strength during an ‘Ocean Day’ drill last week amid growing threats from China.

Held in southern Taiwan’s largest city, Kaohsiung, the exercise was overseen by Taiwan President William Lai, and while framed as demonstrations of search and rescue and anti-terrorism abilities, there was no escaping the larger reason why Taiwan is strengthening frontline defenses and operational readiness. 

Alongside the navy, Taiwan’s coast guard is undergoing modernization. On display during the Ocean Day exercise was one of Taiwan’s new Anping-class corvettes, stealth-capable vessels with surface-to-land missile systems, and, naturally, advanced rescue capabilities.

This all comes as Taiwan’s top weapons developer recently announced they had developed various new sea drones – including so-called ‘kamikaze’ or suicide drones. An anonymous official claimed Taiwan’s military will test the sea drones in waters off Southern Taiwan this August. 

Defense Minister Wellington Koo confirmed late last month that the navy of independently-ruled Taiwan will soon add unmanned surface vehicles, while the army is set to inaugurate its first drone units this year. Reports say Taiwan produced around 10,000 drones last year, and this year plans to buy 3,000+ more made by local companies for military use. 

In remarks following the Ocean Day exercise, Lai urged Taiwan’s lawmakers to back his administration’s latest defense spending proposals and told the group of select guests that included the highest-ranking American official based in Southern Taiwan, Neil Gibson, that the matter was about more than just ships and hardware.

‘It’s about national resilience.’ 

Taiwanese government officials frequently denounce what they term as escalating ‘gray zone’ warfare from Beijing, actions such as harassing fishing vessels, illegal incursions, and, on at least one occasion, boarding a Taiwan-flagged civilian ferry. Taiwan sees these actions as Chinese attempts to create a ‘new normal’ of uncontested control of the roughly 100-mile-wide Taiwan Strait that separates the two sides.

Taiwan’s coast guard is dwarfed by the growing Chinese coast guard, which is already the largest in the world in terms of the number and size of vessels. Last year, according to statistics provided to Fox News Digital by Taiwan’s Ocean Affairs Council, Taiwan’s coast guard drove away 1,196 vessels from Taiwanese waters – 1,135 of which were from China. 

Lai said there is an urgent need for upgraded infrared surveillance to enable round-the-clock maritime monitoring, as well as other tech that could combat Chinese tactics that include illegal sand dredging, cyber disruptions and even sabotage of undersea cables, actions deliberately chosen to stay below the threshold of ‘acts of war.’

Ross Darrell Feingold, a lawyer and political risk analyst based in Taipei, told Fox News Digital that Lai’s calls for bipartisanship arise from the president’s party not currently holding a majority in Taiwan’s Parliament, which will make the passage of his proposed $13.6 billion USD ‘special budget’ much more difficult.

‘This proposed spending would go to the coast guard, the military, and be used to assist domestic industries affected by higher U.S. tariffs,’ said Feingold, who noted that the Trump administration should have no issues with selling weapons to Taiwan.

Since he took office on May 20, 2024, Lai has increased defense spending within the limits of what he can do while not holding a majority in Parliament. 

Beijing’s communist government stubbornly claims Taiwan as its territory despite never having governed it for a single day, and in recent years, removed language calling for a ‘peaceful settlement’ in official statements. One widely quoted assertion claims Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered the Chinese military to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027, now less than two years away. 

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s (GHF) new chairman is ignoring critics and keeping his focus on what he calls the group’s ‘singular mission’ of making sure the people of Gaza have food.

‘Our mission has nothing to do with Hamas. It has nothing to do with Israel. It has everything to do with making sure that hungry Gazans get food. That is our singular mission. No other mission,’ Rev. Johnnie Moore, GHF’s executive chairman, told Fox News Digital.

Moore took the helm June 3, just a few days after the Israeli- and U.S.-backed aid group began its distribution operations.

Even before GHF began distributing aid, it faced criticism in the weeks leading up to its launch. The United Nations came out strongly against the group. U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher was a vocal critic, claiming the U.N. already had the infrastructure and ability to distribute aid.

Moore, however, believes GHF is ‘trying to solve a problem that the U.N. hasn’t been able to solve,’ namely, the issue of Hamas stealing aid. Rather than admonish critics, Moore is urging them to join GHF’s efforts to get food to people on the ground in Gaza.

The GHF chief also noted that, despite what critics have said, Gazans have been ‘incredibly grateful’ to receive the support. Not only have the beneficiaries been thanking the U.S., they’ve been thanking President Donald Trump. Moore attributes this to a promise the commander in chief made in the Oval Office.

‘They’re thanking President Trump specifically because a few weeks ago, in the Oval Office, in one of the many, many press briefings that President Trump does, he made a passing comment,’ Moore said.

‘And the comment related to how Hamas was treating the Gazan people very badly when it came to humanitarian aid. And he made a promise that the United States would do something about it. And the people in Gaza are attributing our free distribution of food as a direct response to the promise of the president of the United States.’

Israel and the U.S. have repeatedly said that GHF is the best mechanism for distributing aid to Gazans and ensuring that Hamas does not get anything. Moore told Fox News Digital humanitarian aid officials have faced a ‘false choice’ for years between Hamas and the people of Gaza.

‘I think for many, many years, the aid community thought that the cost of giving aid to the people of Gaza is that you had to lose a certain amount of that aid to all of these other nefarious purposes. We’re just showing that that’s a false choice. That doesn’t have to be the case. We can actually give aid without facing these dilemmas,’ Moore said.

‘Since the Israeli authorities allowed the U.N. to resume bringing limited aid into Gaza after nearly 80 days of a total blockade of any supplies, there have been understandable instances of trucks carrying food being offloaded by hungry civilians,’ Eri Kaneko, spokesperson for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told Fox News Digital.

‘In some cases, we have also seen unacceptable looting by armed, criminal gangs, which posed tremendous risk to our drivers’ safety. To meet humanitarian needs in Gaza and help reduce looting, far more essential supplies should be allowed into Gaza through multiple crossings and routes.’

In late May, Israeli U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon revealed the international institution was using ‘mafia-like’ tactics against NGOs that were open to working with GHF. The U.N. removed several NGOs from a shared aid database, which acts as a ‘central system for tracking aid deliveries into Gaza,’ according to Danon.

The following week, after Danon exposed the U.N.’s actions, the U.S. vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The resolution also addressed humanitarian aid, though Danon said it would have undermined, rather than advanced, such efforts.

Just minutes before vetoing the resolution, U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Dorothy Shea urged the U.N. to support GHF ‘to help it safely deliver aid without being diverted by Hamas. The GHF has emphasized it will deliver aid consistent with the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence.’

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he was willing to extend the deadline for countries to reach a trade deal with the United States, but he doesn’t think it will be necessary.

At the same time, he also indicated that in one to two weeks his administration would be sending out letters telling countries ‘what the deal is.’ 

Trump made the remarks ahead of a performance of ‘Les Misérables’ that he attended at the Kennedy Center in Washington with the first lady.

‘I would,’ Trump said when asked if he would be willing to extend the July 8 deadline for countries to negotiate a trade deal or else face steep tariffs. ‘But I don’t think we’re going to have that necessity,’ the president added, telling reporters ‘we’re rocking in terms of deals’ right now.

Shortly after announcing sweeping tariff policies on April 2 for virtually every U.S. trading partner, the Trump administration chose to institute a 90-day pause to give countries a chance to make a deal with the United States. 

Trump noted during the gaggle with reporters ahead of Wednesday’s Kennedy Center performance that the United States remains in talks with about 15 countries with whom it is still trying to cement a deal. But the president said that he intends to send letters to these partners setting unilateral tariff rates if a deal is not reached.   

‘We’re dealing with Japan. We’re dealing with South Korea. We’re dealing with a lot of them. We’re dealing with about 15 countries. But as you know, we have about 150-plus, and you can’t [make a deal with all of them]. So we’re going to be sending letters out in about a week and a half, two weeks, to countries and telling them what the deal is.’

‘At a certain point, we’re just going to send letters out … saying this is the deal, you can take it or leave it,’ Trump added.

Highly anticipated trade talks with China held in London this week led to a preliminary agreement between the world’s two biggest economic powers, but the ‘framework’ is still pending final approval from Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump.

‘We made a great deal with China. We’re very happy with it,’ Trump told reporters at the Kennedy Center on Wednesday evening. ‘We have everything we need, and we’re going to do very well with it. And hopefully they are, too.’

A House Ways and Means Committee hearing took an unexpected turn Wednesday when Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) accused Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent of interrupting her because of her gender—prompting audible groans from the room.

The exchange occurred during a tense five-minute questioning session, where Sanchez challenged Bessent on the impact of tariffs enacted under President Trump’s administration.

‘Prices are rising on many everyday goods,’ Sanchez said, citing increases in clothing, shoes, canned food, toys, and household tools. She added, ‘On average, Trump’s tariffs are estimated to cost households $3,000 more for the same goods than they would have last year,’ though she did not cite the source of the figure when pressed.

When Bessent attempted to interject, Sanchez quickly cut him off: ‘Please don’t interrupt me… I know I’m a woman, but please try to limit yourself to answering my questions.’

That remark prompted groans from the hearing room, with one attendee audibly reacting, ‘Oh, come on.’ Sanchez responded: ‘No, I’m sorry, but we get talked over all the time, and I don’t want that to happen at this hearing.’

Bessent, who is openly gay, did not address the accusation and instead focused on defending the administration’s trade policies. 

When Sanchez challenged him on pricing impacts and China’s trade behavior, Bessent responded, ‘That’s incorrect,’ and said, ‘They met their agreements under President Trump in 2020, and President Biden did not enforce them.’

Sanchez repeatedly claimed that American consumers are paying more due to tariffs and described recent negotiations with China as rushed and lacking transparency. ‘A poorly negotiated trade deal with China is probably not worth the paper that it is written on,’ she said. ‘I was alarmed to hear this morning that Trump said the U.S.–China deal was done after just two days of talks in London.’

Bessent defended the agreement as an initial step. ‘The deal struck was for a specific goal, and it will be a much longer process,’ he said, adding, ‘China has proven an unreliable partner.’

The clash between Sanchez and Bessent was repeatedly moderated by Chairman Adrian Smith (R-NE), who reminded members of time limits and decorum throughout the hearing.

President Donald Trump’s $9.4 billion spending cuts package survived a key hurdle on Wednesday afternoon, setting the measure up for a final House-wide vote later this week.

Trump’s proposal, which was introduced as legislation by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., would cut $8.3 billion from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and just over $1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting distributes federal funding to NPR and PBS.

The House of Representatives made a procedural motion known as a ‘rule vote,’ which passed mostly along party lines. 

The rule passing now allows for debate on the $9.4 billion spending cut measure, followed by a final House-wide vote.

But it’s not atypical for House leaders to include unrelated measures in rule votes, as is the case with the spending cuts package – House GOP leaders included a provision with minor changes to Trump’s ‘one big, beautiful bill’ to account for the Senate needing to amend the bill.

That latter piece of legislation, a vast tax and immigration bill, is moving through the budget reconciliation process.

By dropping the Senate’s threshold for advancement from 60 votes to 51, it allows the party in power to skirt the minority – in this case, Democrats – on vast pieces of legislation, provided they adhere to a specific set of budgetary rules.

House GOP leaders said they needed to make the recent changes to the bill to better adhere to the Senate’s ‘Byrd Bath,’ when the Senate parliamentarian reviews the bill and removes anything not adhering to reconciliation guidelines.

Whereas that deals with the government’s mandatory spending processes that are more difficult to amend, the $9.4 billion spending cuts package tackles discretionary spending that Congress controls every year.

It’s called a ‘rescissions package,’ which is a formal proposal by the White House to claw back federal funds already allocated for the current fiscal year.

Like reconciliation, the mechanism allows for a 51-vote majority in the Senate rather than 60. Congress has 45 days to consider it, or it is deemed rejected.

Republican leaders have held up this rescissions package as the first step to codifying the billions of dollars of government waste identified by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Trump allies have also made clear they view this first package as a test of what kind of cuts congressional Republicans can stomach.

And while the rule vote was expected to pass, the bill could have trouble ahead of its expected Thursday afternoon vote.

Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., pointed out in a bipartisan statement that the media funding represents less than 0.01% of the federal budget and said taking that money away would ‘dismantle a trusted source of information for millions of Americans.’

Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., told reporters on Tuesday that he got assurances that USAID cuts would exclude critical medical funding.

‘I feel better than what I was hearing last week, that was gonna be a total cut,’ he said, without revealing whether he would support the bill.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced on Wednesday it has decreased its annual non-defense federal obligations by an additional ~1.9% since last month.

As of June 8th, annual non-defense federal obligations are down 22.4%, or ~$25B, as compared to 2024, DOGE announced on X.

The cut marks an additional ~1.9% reduction from last month’s figures, which were announced on May 8. 

‘Cash outlays will follow as obligations come due,’ DOGE wrote in the post. ‘Our initiative to reduce wasteful spend, consistent with the DOGE Cost Efficiency Executive Order, continues to bear fruit.’

On May 14, DOGE announced the current year’s non-defense federal obligations were down 20.5% as compared to 2024. 

The announcement came minutes before Fox News Digital was first to report the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is rehiring more than 450 previously fired employees belonging to multiple divisions within the agency’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The rehired CDC employees came from the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention; the National Center for Environmental Health; the Immediate Office of the Director, and the Global Health Center, according to an HHS official familiar with the matter.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told CBS News in April some personnel who were cut shouldn’t have been. 

‘We’re reinstating them, and that was always the plan,’ Kennedy said. ‘Part of the—at DOGE, we talked about this from the beginning, is we’re going to do 80% cuts, but 20% of those are going to have to be reinstated, because we’ll make mistakes.’

In addition to the HHS rehires, the Internal Revenue Service, Food and Drug Administration, State Department, and Department of Housing and Urban Development started rehiring employees let go during DOGE cuts, the Washington Post reported.

Another roadblock this week was a ruling from U.S. District Judge Denise Cote of the Southern District of New York, who ruled to restrict the agency’s access to federal databases.

The Trump administration previously said DOGE could not work effectively with the limitations, noting DOGE needed to access Social Security information to root out fraud.

Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.