House and Senate lawmakers unveiled a new funding package on Sunday night totaling roughly $80 billion in federal spending, but questions still loom about averting another government shutdown at the end of this month.

The package combines two of Congress’ 12 annual appropriations bills in what’s called a ‘minibus.’ It covers funding for the State Department and related national security, as well as federal financial services and general government operations.

Notably excluded from the package, however, is funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) — which had been expected to be part of the legislation earlier this month.

It comes as Democrats threaten to hold up DHS funding in the wake of an incident in Minneapolis where an ICE agent shot a U.S. citizen in her car. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and other GOP officials have accused the woman of being at fault and of hitting the agent with her vehicle, while Democrats are charging ICE with a reckless and unprovoked use of force.

While a DHS funding bill only needs a simple majority to pass the House, any spending legislation needs at least 60 votes in the Senate — meaning Democratic support is critical for passage.

The package released totals just over $76 billion in federal funds and is expected to get a House vote sometime this week.

The State Department and national security bill includes $850 million for an ‘America First Opportunity Fund,’ aimed at giving the Secretary of State funding to respond to potential unforeseen circumstances.

Both Republicans and Democrats touted different victories in the legislation, with a summary by House Appropriations Committee Republicans stating that the bill supports ‘President Trump’s America First foreign policy by eliminating wasteful spending on DEI or woke programming, climate change mandates, and divisive gender ideologies.’

Democrats said the bill ‘supports women globally’ by ‘protecting funding for bilateral family planning and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)’ and pointed to $6.8 billion for a new account ‘that supports the activities previously funded under Development Assistance.’ 

The bill also provides millions in security assistance for Israel and Taiwan, among other global partners across the world.

The latter bill provides just over $13 billion for the U.S. Treasury for the remainder of fiscal year 2026, while also including a provision that stops the IRS ‘from targeting individuals or groups for exercising their First Amendment rights or ideological beliefs,’ according to Republicans.

It also provides $872 million for the Executive Office of the President and $9.69 billion in discretionary funding for the Federal Judiciary.

‘With this package, we are advancing President Trump’s vision of a golden age defined by security, responsibility, and growth. Our financial system will be protected, small businesses and entrepreneurs supported, and consumer freedom safeguarded,’ House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., said in a statement.

‘We shield our nation across every front — strengthening cyber defenses and dismantling the financial and criminal networks that enable terrorism, drug trafficking, and bad actors. Guided by peace through strength, we realign our diplomacy and national posture to deter threats before they reach our shores.’

House Appropriations Committee ranking member Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., said the bill ‘continues Democrats’ rejection of extreme cuts proposed by the Trump White House and Republicans in Congress.’

A source familiar with discussions told Fox News Digital that negotiators are aiming to include the DHS funding bill in a separate minibus that also covers defense spending, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Transportation, among other agencies.

Current federal funding levels expire after Jan. 30. Any potential shutdown would only be a partial one at this point, given Congress is on its way to passing at least half of its dozen spending bills by then.

Senate Appropriations Committee member Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., did not rule out a shutdown over the DHS funding standoff in comments to NBC News’ ‘Meet the Press’ on Sunday.

‘[Republicans] control the House, the Senate and the presidency. If they don’t want to work with Democrats and shut down the government, that’s up to them,’ Murphy said.

But Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Fox News on Friday that he does not believe there will be a shutdown but criticized Democrats’ threats to DHS funds.

‘I am concerned about that, and we should not be limiting funding for homeland security at a dangerous time. We need public officials to allow law enforcement to do their jobs,’ Johnson said. 

Asked whether leaders could prevent a shutdown, he said, ‘I think we will.’ 

A Senate Republican again plans to act as a roadblock to President Donald Trump, this time against any potential replacement for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., announced that he would block any future nominee to serve as chair of the Fed following the revelation that Powell was under criminal investigation for testimony he gave regarding the renovation at the Federal Reserve.

‘If there were any remaining doubt whether advisors within the Trump Administration are actively pushing to end the independence of the Federal Reserve, there should now be none,’ Tillis said on X. ‘It is now the independence and credibility of the Department of Justice that are in question.’

‘I will oppose the confirmation of any nominee for the Fed — including the upcoming Fed Chair vacancy — until this legal matter is fully resolved,’ he continued.

Tillis’ decision comes with weight — as a member of the Senate Banking Committee, he would get an immediate say on who does and doesn’t pass muster to be the next chair of the Federal Reserve.

And that’s a reality that will likely soon play out, given that Powell’s term as chair expires in May, though he is still slated to stay on the central bank’s board of governors until 2028.

It’s also not the first time he’s stood directly in the path of Trump. Tillis last week announced that he would be blocking all future Department of Homeland Security (DHS) nominees until DHS Secretary Kristi Noem appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

A DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital, ‘Secretary Noem testified on Capitol Hill less than a month ago and remains committed to transparency and continued engagement with Congress.’

‘While the Department does not currently have any nominees pending before the Senate, we hope senators will refrain from holding President Trump’s appointments in a way that could compromise our national security,’ they said.

The lawmaker’s line in the sand came after the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia launched an investigation into Powell over testimony he gave before the Senate Banking Committee last June regarding the renovation of the central bank’s Washington headquarters. The probe is focused on whether Powell lied to lawmakers about the scope of the project.

It comes after a year of tension between Powell and Trump, who has long sought to replace him atop the central bank. And notably, the renovation of the Federal Reserve’s building in the District is not on the taxpayer dime, but rather its own coffers.

‘This new threat is not about my testimony last June or about the renovation of the Federal Reserve buildings,’ Powell said in a video statement.

‘The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President,’ he continued. ‘This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions, or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation.’

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., the top ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, similarly panned the criminal investigation into Powell and charged that Trump sought to ‘install another sock puppet to complete his corrupt takeover of America’s central bank.’

‘Trump is abusing the authorities of the Department of Justice like a wannabe dictator, so the Fed serves his interests, along with his billionaire friends,’ Warren said in a statement. ‘This Committee and the Senate should not move forward with any Trump nominee for the Fed, including Fed Chair.’

The Fed tweaked interest rates in December, dropping them by 0.25%, marking the third straight time the central bank slashed rates. Still, the cut was not enough for Trump, who demanded a sharper drop.

In the aftermath, Trump said that he would seek a new Federal Reserve chair that would slash interest rates ‘by a lot.’

‘I’ll soon announce our next chairman of the Federal Reserve, someone who believes in lower interest rates, by a lot, and mortgage payments will be coming down even further,’ Trump said.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk is increasingly drifting back into President Donald Trump’s MAGA orbit after their public blowup in June 2025 led to months of icy distance between the pair.

That thaw surfaced publicly again over the weekend. Trump mentioned Musk by name Sunday when asked by the media whether he would lean on Starlink, Musk’s satellite internet constellation, to help deliver internet access to Iran as citizens take to the streets in mass protests against Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s regime.

‘We may get the internet going if that’s possible,’ Trump told the media Sunday while aboard Air Force One. ‘We may speak to Elon. Because, as you know, he’s very good at that kind of thing. He’s got a very good company. So we may speak to Elon Musk.’ 

The president added, ‘I’m gonna call him as soon as I’m finished with you.’ 

SpaceX did not immediately respond to Fox Digital’s request for comment on the president’s remarks. 

Trump’s comment is the latest signal that the Trump–Musk friendship is warming after months of the pair spatting or having cordial interactions — a stark contrast to their cozy relationship while on the 2024 campaign trail and the early days of the administration. 

When asked Monday for updates on the president’s friendship with Musk, and if Trump’s comments were more reflective of the urgency in Iran, the White House directed Fox Digital to Trump praising Musk Jan. 4. 

‘Elon’s great. I say about Elon, he’s 80% super genius, and 20% he makes mistakes. But he’s a good guy. He’s a well-meaning person,’ Trump said of Musk while aboard Air Force One Jan 4. 

Trump’s comments follow the pair sharing a ‘lovely dinner’ together at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, Musk reported on X at the time. 

Just roughly a year ago, Musk was described as Trump’s ‘first buddy,’ as the media took note of the pair’s close working relationship, which included Musk serving as a special employee of the federal government as Trump unleashed the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Special government employees are commonly experts that the federal government hires on a temporary basis for no more than 130 days a year. 

Musk would sleep at the White House on late work nights, attend Cabinet meetings and become a common face on the White House campus when he served as the public leader of DOGE — the government office Trump established in January 2025 to seek out and end potential fraud, waste and mismanagement within the federal government. 

‘He’s one of the greatest business leaders and innovators the world has ever produced,’ Trump said in May, when Musk’s tenure as a special government employee ran dry of its 130 days. ‘He stepped forward to put his very great talents into the service of our nation, and we appreciate it.’

Days later, Musk began publicly criticizing the ‘big, beautiful bill’ — a massive tax and spending package that advanced Trump’s agenda on taxes, immigration, energy, defense and the national debt — as a ‘disgusting abomination.’ 

Musk warned on X it would be the ‘BIGGEST DEBT ceiling increase in HISTORY’ — then escalated the spat with a personal jab that ‘@RealDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files.’

Trump told the media that he was disappointed in Musk’s comments, while the tech billionaire reeled in some of his commentary, remarking he sometimes ‘went too far.’ The president said in 2025 that his relationship with Musk changed when he began discussing plans to eliminate the electric vehicle mandate, which would affect Musk’s signature electric company, Tesla.

The pair abruptly parted ways in June. Musk has sporadically signaled support for the Trump administration, including just weeks later in July when he praised Trump’s actions in Israel to end the war with Gaza. 

Trump signed the ‘big, beautiful bill’ into law on the Fourth of July. 

Their relationship has been on an apparent mend since at least September 2025, when the pair was seen sitting next to each other and chatting during Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk’s memorial service in Arizona following his shocking assassination.

Musk attended a White House dinner for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia on Nov. 18, 2025, and Trump told the media in December 2025, ‘I like Elon a lot,’ but said he was unsure if the tech leader was back in his friend circle following the June fallout. 

President Donald Trump branded himself as the ‘president’ of Venezuela in a social media post Sunday night, after signaling that the U.S. would oversee Caracas, Venezuela, for years. 

Trump shared a doctored image that looked like a Wikipedia page that identified him as ‘Acting President of Venezuela’ since January 2026, after the U.S. conducted strikes in Venezuela and seized its dictator, Nicolás Maduro. 

Trump said Jan. 3 that the U.S. would run Venezuela until a safe transition could occur, and he told The New York Times in an interview published Wednesday that he anticipated that the U.S. would oversee Venezuela ‘much longer’ than six months or a year. Even so, he did not share a more detailed estimated timeline. 

The social media post also comes as the Trump administration has sought to reassert U.S. dominance in the Western Hemisphere, and has claimed it’s revived the Monroe Doctrine, rebranded as the ‘Don-roe Doctrine,’ which originally sought to limit European influence in Latin America and to protect U.S. influence in the region.

The Monroe Doctrine, first introduced in 1823 by President James Monroe, eventually was used to justify U.S. actions in the region as an ‘international police power’ under former President Theodore Roosevelt, according to the National Archives.

In response to questions from Fox News Digital regarding whether the post was shared jokingly, and what it suggests about how long the U.S. will be involved in running Venezuela, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital: ‘President Trump will be the greatest President for the American and Venezuelan people in history. Congratulations, world!’

Trump announced Jan. 3 that U.S. special forces conducted a ‘large-scale strike’ against Caracas, Venezuela, and seized Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Both were taken to New York and appeared in a Manhattan federal court Jan. 5 on drug charges, where they each pleaded not guilty.

The raid came after months of pressure on Venezuela and more than two dozen strikes in Latin American waters against alleged drug traffickers as part of Trump’s effort to crack down on the influx of drugs into the U.S.

The Trump administration routinely stated that it did not recognize Maduro as a legitimate head of state and said he was the leader of a drug cartel. Likewise, Trump said in December 2025 he believed it would be ‘smart’ for Maduro to step down. 

The Trump administration has justified seizing Maduro as a ‘law enforcement’ operation, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said congressional approval wasn’t necessary since the operation didn’t amount to an ‘invasion.’

However, lawmakers primarily on the left have questioned the legality of the operation in Venezuela, which was conducted without Congress’ approval.

‘This has been a profound constitutional failure,’ the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said in a statement Jan. 3. ‘Congress — not the President — has the sole power to authorize war. Pursuing regime change without the consent of the American people is a reckless overreach and an abuse of power.’

As Iran faces escalating nationwide protests and rising verbal threats from the Trump administration, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivered a pointed warning to the United States this week from an unusual platform — his Russian-language account on X — a move analysts say underscores Tehran’s alignment with Moscow as pressure mounts on the regime.

In a post dated Jan. 11, Khamenei wrote in Russian, ‘The United States today is miscalculating in its approach toward Iran.’ Hours later, he followed with a second message, also in Russian, warning that Americans had suffered defeat before because of ‘miscalculations’ and would do so again because of ‘erroneous planning.’

Ksenia Svetlova, executive director of the Regional Organization for Peace, Economy and Security (ROPES) and an associate fellow at Chatham House, said the language choice was telling, even if the execution was clumsy.

‘This is bad Russian,’ Svetlova told Fox News Digital. ‘It seems that it’s translated by Google Translate, not by a human being.’ Still, she said the use of Khamenei’s Russian-language account was no surprise given how closely Iran and Russia have aligned in recent years.

Khamenei’s warning came as Iran’s internal crisis continued to deepen. According to HRANA, a human rights organization tracking the unrest, at least 544 people have been killed in nationwide protests, with dozens of additional cases still under review. Opposition group NCRI has claimed the death toll is far higher — more than 3,000 — though exact figures remain difficult to verify amid widespread internet blackouts imposed by Iranian authorities.

President Donald Trump has led U.S. criticism in response to the rising death toll. In response to a question about whether Iran had crossed a red line, Trump responded by saying, ‘They’re starting to, it looks like. And they seem to be some people killed that aren’t supposed to be killed. These are violent. If you call them leaders, I don’t know if they’re leaders, or just they rule through violence. But we’re looking at it very seriously,’ he said on Sunday aboard Air Force One. 

‘We’re looking at some very strong options,’ he added.

Iranian leaders have pushed back, accusing Washington of interference and warning that any U.S. military action would trigger retaliation against American forces and allies in the region.

At the same time, Tehran has signaled it wants to keep diplomatic back channels open. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Monday that communication between Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff remains active. Axios separately reported that Araghchi reached out to Witkoff over the weekend amid Trump’s warnings of possible military action.

Despite those overtures, analysts say Khamenei’s Russian-language message reflects where Iran sees its most reliable strategic partner.

Russia has become a critical lifeline for Tehran, particularly as Moscow relies on Iranian-supplied drones and other military equipment for its war in Ukraine. That dependence, Svetlova said, means Iran’s internal instability could carry serious consequences for the Kremlin.

‘I think that could be a dramatic effect, because they do depend on Iran — specifically military production, the drones and ballistic missiles,’ she said. ‘They need them to continue their war against Ukraine.’

Yet the partnership has also fueled resentment inside Iran. Svetlova pointed to criticism following the 12-day war with Israel, when many Iranians accused Moscow of failing to come to Tehran’s aid.

‘There was a lot of criticism in Iran against Russia that it did not come to help,’ she said. ‘It didn’t reach out. It didn’t do anything, basically.’

Still, she said Russia has few alternatives as its global position narrows. With longtime allies weakened or toppled, such as Bashar al-Assad in Syria and Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, Moscow is increasingly reliant on Tehran — even as it remains largely silent about the protests rocking Iran.

Against that backdrop, Svetlova explained, Khamenei’s warning in Russian appears like a signal — to Washington and to Moscow — that Iran sees its confrontation with the United States as part of a shared front with President Vladimir Putin.

A House Republican is pushing for Greenland to become the country’s 51st state as President Donald Trump publicly pushes for the Danish territory to come under U.S. rule.

Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., is introducing a bill on Monday aimed at authorizing Trump ‘to take such steps as may be necessary’ to acquire Greenland and set it on the pathway of becoming part of the United States.

‘I think it is in the world’s interest for the United States to exert sovereignty over Greenland,’ Fine told Fox News Digital in an interview. 

‘Congress would still have to choose to make it a state, but this would simply authorize the president to do what he’s doing and say the Congress stands behind him. And then it would expedite it into becoming a state, but it would still be up to Congress about whether to do that.’

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that he would be meeting with officials from Denmark this week to discuss Greenland.

Trump has publicly pushed for the idea of the U.S. buying the Arctic island territory since his first term in the White House.

He and other Republican officials have pointed out its strategic importance, including Greenland’s proximity to Russia and the critical minerals located within its borders.

Fine agreed with those points while also arguing U.S. rule would be better for those living in Greenland as well.

‘Their poverty rate is high. Denmark hasn’t treated them well,’ Fine said. ‘When war came to town, Denmark couldn’t protect them. Guess who protected Greenland during World War II? We did.’

And while a majority of Republicans have conceded they understand Trump’s argument for why owning Greenland would benefit the U.S., GOP lawmakers were somewhat rattled after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not rule out using military force to acquire the island during a recent press conference this month.

Asked if he would support using military force, Fine said, ‘I think the best way to acquire Greenland is voluntarily.’

‘The poverty rate in Greenland is much, much higher than it is in Denmark. The country is run by socialists, and it is not in America’s interests to have a territory that large between the United States and Russia run by socialists,’ Fine said.

The U.S. Constitution grants Congress the power to admit new states into the Union.

It typically requires Congress to pass a bill authorizing the new state after a territory is formed, after which that territory must draft a state constitution approved by people who live there.

Congress must then vote again to admit that new state before it’s made final with the president’s signature.

The next global energy war won’t just be fought over oil and gas – it will be decided by who can power artificial intelligence first, and the U.S. must win that race, the head of the nation’s largest oil and gas trade group told Fox News Digital.

American Petroleum Institute President Mike Sommers said surging AI-driven electricity demand has made energy infrastructure the decisive front in the next phase of U.S. economic and national security competition, as the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress moved aggressively in 2025 to deliver landmark domestic energy production wins.

Sommers, who will headline the 2026 State of American Energy forum at Washington’s wharf on Tuesday, told Fox News Digital that of the goals set out in API’s two-year plan, ‘we got 90% of it done in 2025,’ – while permitting reform remains unresolved and AI is both a growing energy demand and a tool the industry plans to deploy.

‘The [June 2024 plan] was all about how to reduce inflation and ensure that we have energy security here in the United States. And the Trump administration, along with their allies in Congress, allowed us to get historic victories in 2025.’

‘The Trump administration has done everything they can to get permitting done at the federal level, but there’s only so much they can do without congressional action. So our focus going into 2026 is how do we finally unlock permitting form that both Republicans and Democrats can get behind.’

That remaining frontier, Sommers said, is AI. Sommers said that not only must the U.S. win the battle to power AI the fastest and most efficient but also harness its power in a novel way to in turn increase the effectiveness of energy development itself.

‘We expect that energy demand is going to go up by 50% just in the next 15 years. What that means is, is that we’re really going need every energy source going forward. But primarily what that means is that, we’re going need a lot more natural gas,’ he said, calling it the ‘backbone’ of contemporary electricity and the power grid in the U.S.

The AI race is intertwined with a newly bipartisan push for permitting reform – slashing the red tape preventing major projects from getting off the ground.

Republicans and some top Democrats are onboard, and Sommers said all sides likely understand what’s at stake. At the 2025 meeting of the National Governor’s Association, both Republicans, like Oklahoma’s Kevin Stitt and Democrats, like Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro, spoke about the importance of reforming the permitting process to unleash their states’ energy potential.

‘It’s time for both sides to put their swords down and work together because we know that we’re going to need a lot more energy going into the future. And the only way that we are going to be able to get it built in this country is to get a comprehensive permanent bill through Congress that is durable and can survive the pendulum swings of American politics.’

On the AI front, Sommers said a lot of infrastructure must be developed to power the U.S. into the AI age.

‘We have to win the war for AI. But if we don’t win the War for Energy, we’re never going to even be able to get to the war for AI,’ he said.

‘So that’s just on what has to happen for artificial intelligence. There’s another side of this, which is how our industry is going to use AI into the future: What I’m optimistic about is that we’re going to be able to use AI in a way that allows us to find more resources than we can even find today.’

He added that the AI frontier can be the next fracking revolution in the U.S. – as fracking allowed energy companies to capture resources they never thought they could reach.

‘AI has that exact same potential. And I think 10 years from now, we’ll be talking about the incredible impact that AI has had on our ability to find more oil and more natural gas in the United States.’

Sommers said that even with the heightened technology in the energy exploration sector today, up to 80% of oil and gas resources get left underground.

Energy companies are developing ways to harness AI to better explore the subsurface of the Earth – helping them draw out more proverbial bang for their buck on what lies beneath.

‘So there’s kind of a two-pronged message here: One, we have to have permanent reform so that we can build out the infrastructure that’s going to power AI.’

‘And two, AI is really the path of future energy security for the United States,’ Sommers said.