A co-founder of the House of Representatives’ DOGE Caucus is declaring that the movement for government efficiency is still alive and well, even if the surrounding furor has died down.

‘DOGE is alive. It certainly is not on the front burner as it needs to be. There’s still a lot of members of Congress that want to continue the battle [against] waste, fraud and abuse,’ Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., co-chair of the House DOGE Caucus, told Fox News Digital.

‘We’re still $38 trillion in debt, that’s growing. So anything we can possibly do — we’re still looking to continue the DOGE efforts.’

Bean said he was hoping to soon hold more caucus meetings ‘just to let everybody know DOGE is not dead.’

The concept of ‘DOGE’ took Washington — Republicans in particular — by storm earlier this year, when President Donald Trump tapped billionaire Elon Musk to lead an initiative called the ‘Department of Government Efficiency.’

Musk said at the time that he was committed to finding as much as $2 trillion in savings for the federal government. That goal was not reached by the time Musk reached the end of his tenure, however.

The DOGE website, which has not been updated since early October, claims an estimated $214 billion in savings for the federal government.

But Bean and other Republicans have tried to keep it alive, celebrating that cutting bureaucratic red tape and bloated federal contracts was finally generating enthusiasm in the cultural zeitgeist.

Musk’s push spurred multiple similar efforts in Congress, including Bean’s caucus and a House Oversight subcommittee called ‘Delivering on Government Efficiency’ (DOGE).

The caucus, which is also co-chaired by Reps. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, and Blake Moore, R-Utah, had several meetings that saw Republicans and even some Democrats in attendance.

Those, too, have since wound down, but Bean told Fox News Digital that he’s looking to bring them back and could begin with a focus on unused office space owned by the U.S. government.

‘I’m not saying it’s mismanaged, I’m just saying it’s not the most efficient use of taxpayer dollars to maintain all this space where people still work from home or are working across the country,’ Bean said. ‘That’s something that I think we can coalesce around, save some money as well as get spending under control.’

He also said he hoped for more bipartisan participation going forward, telling Fox News Digital, ‘It shouldn’t be a partisan issue. Everybody should be on board.’

Congress is moving to limit the Pentagon’s ability to pull forces out of Europe and South Korea, easing concerns among allied governments.

The 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, finalized by House and Senate negotiators and released Sunday evening, keeps force presence at roughly its current levels in both regions. It states that the U.S. cannot reduce its forces in Europe below 76,000 without submitting an assessment and certifying to Congress that such a move would not harm U.S. or NATO security interests.

The bill places restraints on reductions below 28,500 in South Korea. Any drawdown would require the Pentagon to assure Congress that deterrence against North Korea would not be weakened, confirm that allies were consulted, and provide both a national security justification and an assessment of regional impact.

The legislation also requires the U.S. to retain the position of Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), NATO’s top military post, codifying into statute a role traditionally held by an American general.

These limits follow reports that the Pentagon had considered reducing forces in Europe and South Korea and even relinquishing the SACEUR position. Whether those ideas reflected genuine planning or were intended as pressure on allies to invest more in their own defenses, U.S. leaders have recently signaled they are stepping back from such moves even without congressional restrictions.

During a meeting last week with U.S. national security officials and European leaders, American officials told their counterparts that Europe must be prepared to bear the brunt of NATO’s defense responsibilities by 2027, three European officials familiar with the meeting told Fox News Digital.

The U.S. plans to hold onto the SACEUR position but will offer some other senior NATO military posts to European nations, officials said. They also noted that Washington has no near-term plans for major troop reductions in Europe.

‘We’ve been very clear in the need for Europeans to lead in the conventional defense of Europe.  We are committed to working through NATO coordination mechanisms to strengthen the alliance and ensure its long-term viability as European allies increasing take on responsibility for conventional deterrence and defense in Europe,’ Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said in response. 

Earlier this year, the Army pulled a rotating brigade stationed largely in Romania back to the United States, prompting European allies to question whether that move might signal the beginning of broader U.S. force drawdowns on NATO’s eastern flank.

The NDAA — the yearly must-pass package outlining the Pentagon’s spending and policy priorities — is expected to move swiftly to a House vote this week. Congress aims to have the legislation on the president’s desk before Christmas.

The bill also includes $400 million for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative over two years and an amendment specifying when the Pentagon may reclaim equipment purchased for Ukraine but not yet delivered: only when the equipment is urgently needed for an ongoing or imminent U.S. contingency operation and failing to use it would risk loss of life or critical mission failure.

This provision follows the Pentagon’s decision earlier this year to pause delivery of certain U.S.-funded military equipment to Ukraine.

Over the weekend, War Secretary Pete Hegseth described South Korea and several European nations as ‘model allies.’

‘Model allies that step up, like Israel, South Korea, Poland, increasingly Germany, the Baltics and others, will receive our special favor,’ he said at the Reagan National Defense Forum. ‘Allies that still fail to do their part for collective defense will face consequences.’

One of the few U.S. lawmakers who have seen classified footage of the U.S. military’s strikes against a suspected drug boat off the coast of Venezuela believes the public should get to see the evidence, too.

‘I think it’s really important that this video be made public. It’s not lost on anyone, of course, that the interpretation of the video, which you know, six or seven of us had an opportunity to see last week, broke down precisely on party lines,’ Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., said in an interview with ‘Face the Nation’ on Sunday.

‘I know how the public is going to react, because I felt my own reaction,’ Himes added.

Democrats quickly condemned the administration when news first broke that the U.S. Department of War had ordered a second strike to eliminate survivors who had somehow escaped an initial strike.

Republicans, by contrast, largely came to the defense of the strike, arguing that the administration had taken the necessary steps to eliminate narco-traffickers that President Donald Trump had designated as terrorists.

The War Department has ordered over 20 different strikes on small boats in the Caribbean, targeting what it calls drug smuggling activity. 

Only one strike is thought to have had multiple attacks to eliminate survivors.

‘I think it’s important for Americans to see it because, look, there’s a certain amount of sympathy out there for going after drug runners,’ Himes said. ‘But I think it’s really important that people see what it looks like when the full force of the United States military is turned on two guys who are clinging to a piece of wood and about to go under, just so that they have sort of a visceral feel for what it is that we’re doing.’

Himes said his estimation of the video turned on the defenselessness of the targets. 

‘These guys — and this is why the American people need to see this video — these guys were barely alive, much less engaging in hostilities,’ Himes said.

In addition to viewing the footage, Himes said he had met with Adm. Frank Bradley, suggesting that Bradley had received pressure to carry out the strikes.

‘Anyone who has ever worked with Adm. Bradley will tell you that he has a storied career and that he is a man of deep, deep integrity. And frankly, I have no reason to doubt that,’ Himes said.

‘An apparently good man like Adm. Bradley is placed in a context where he knows that if he countermands an order that he is perhaps uncomfortable with, it is very likely that he’ll be fired,’ Himes said.

The details of the communication surrounding the second strike and its ordering remain unclear. 

The House of Representatives and the Senate both opened inquiries into the strikes late last month. When asked about their progress, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, declined to describe the probe but said lawmakers would evaluate all relevant evidence.

‘The investigation will be done by the numbers,’ Wicker said.

President Donald Trump is poised to roll out a $12 billion farm aid package to support farmers, according to the White House. 

The aid package will provide up to $11 billion toward the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) new Farmer Bridge Assistance Program, which is designed to provide single payments to row crop farmers, while the remaining $1 billion will go to farmers whose crops do not qualify for the program. 

Further details will be hashed out as the USDA continues to evaluate market conditions, according to the White House. 

The president is expected to unveil the new aid package at a Monday roundtable at the White House. Those expected to appear at the event include Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, as well as corn, soybean, rice and other types of farmers. 

The announcement comes as the U.S. and China have gone head-to-head on trade negotiations in 2025, and after China reined in its soybean purchases from the U.S. amid ongoing tariff negotiations between Beijing and Washington, D.C. 

However, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in South Korea in October, where the two hashed out a series of agreements concerning trade. Specifically, Trump said he agreed to cut tariffs on Chinese imports by 10% — reducing the rate from 57% to 47% — because China said it would cooperate with the U.S. on addressing the U.S. fentanyl crisis.

Since those talks, China has started to boost its purchases of soybeans again. China purchased at least 840,000 metric tons of soybeans for delivery in December and January, Reuters reported in November. That purchase marked the largest shipment since at least January, Reuters reported. 

Meanwhile, Bessent said that China so far is upholding its end of the bargain on the trade deal, including provisions to buy 12 million tons of soybeans by the end of February 2026.

‘China is on track to ‍keep every ⁠part of the deal,’ Bessent said at The New ‍York Times Dealbook Summit Wednesday. 

China is the primary foreign purchaser of U.S. soybeans, and bought approximately half of U.S. soybean exports in 2024, totaling approximately $12.6 billion out of $25.8 billion in total U.S. exports, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and USDA. China also imported nearly 27 metric tons of soybeans that year. 

Trump is helping the agriculture industry by ‘negotiating new trade deals to open new export markets for our farmers and boosting the farm safety net for the first time in a decade,’ White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a Monday statement to Fox News Digital.

Trump has previously issued an aid package to farmers. When Trump’s first administration rolled out tariffs, China issued their own retaliatory tariffs that cost the federal government billions of dollars in government aid to farmers.

Bloomberg News first reported the aid package Sunday. 

Fox News’ Olivianna Calmes contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump rolled out a $12 billion farm aid package to support farmers, according to the White House. 

The aid package will provide up to $11 billion toward the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) new Farmer Bridge Assistance Program, which is designed to provide single payments to row crop farmers, while the remaining $1 billion will go to farmers whose crops do not qualify for the program. 

Further details will be hashed out as the USDA continues to evaluate market conditions, according to the White House. 

The president unveiled the new aid package at a Monday roundtable at the White House. Those who appeared at the event included Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, as well as corn, soybean, rice and other types of farmers. 

The announcement comes as the U.S. and China have gone head-to-head on trade negotiations in 2025, and after China reined in its soybean purchases from the U.S. amid ongoing tariff negotiations between Beijing and Washington, D.C. 

However, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in South Korea in October, where the two hashed out a series of agreements concerning trade. Specifically, Trump said he agreed to cut tariffs on Chinese imports by 10% — reducing the rate from 57% to 47% — because China said it would cooperate with the U.S. on addressing the U.S. fentanyl crisis.

Since those talks, China has started to boost its purchases of soybeans again. China purchased at least 840,000 metric tons of soybeans for delivery in December and January, Reuters reported in November. That purchase marked the largest shipment since at least January, Reuters reported. 

Meanwhile, Bessent said that China so far is upholding its end of the bargain on the trade deal, including provisions to buy 12 million tons of soybeans by the end of February 2026.

‘China is on track to ‍keep every ⁠part of the deal,’ Bessent said at The New ‍York Times Dealbook Summit Wednesday. 

Trump also voiced optimism about China’s soybean purchases, and signaled Beijing may purchase more than the original 12 million tons by February 2026. 

‘I spoke with President Xi recently, very recently,’ Trump said Monday. ‘And I think he’s going to do even more than he promised to do. So I think the relationship is a very good one. I think he’s going to do more than he promised to do. And what he promised to do is a lot. So we’re very happy with that.’

China is the primary foreign purchaser of U.S. soybeans, and bought approximately half of U.S. soybean exports in 2024, totaling approximately $12.6 billion out of $25.8 billion in total U.S. exports, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and USDA. China also imported nearly 27 metric tons of soybeans that year. 

Trump is helping the agriculture industry by ‘negotiating new trade deals to open new export markets for our farmers and boosting the farm safety net for the first time in a decade,’ White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a Monday statement to Fox News Digital.

Trump has previously issued an aid package to farmers. When Trump’s first administration rolled out tariffs, China issued their own retaliatory tariffs that cost the federal government billions of dollars in government aid to farmers.

Bloomberg News first reported the aid package Sunday. 

Fox News’ Olivianna Calmes contributed to this report. 

A Senate Republican duo unveiled their vision for expiring Obamacare premium subsidies as the Senate hurtles toward a vote on the credits at the end of this week.

Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, announced their plan to tackle the subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of this year. Their proposal, made public on Monday, would extend the subsidies for two years.

The upper chamber is set to vote on legislation dealing with the expiring subsidies on Thursday, but so far only Senate Democrats have united behind a proposal from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., that would extend the credits for three years.

Schumer’s plan is likely dead on arrival, given that it lacks any of the reforms to the subsidies demanded by the GOP. And Republicans are mulling several options, but have so far not picked legislation to form up behind and put on the floor in a possible side-by-side vote.

Moreno and Collins hope that their legislation, which would also put an income cap onto the subsidies for households making up to $200,000 and eliminate zero-cost premiums as a fraud preventive measure by requiring a $25 minimum monthly payment, gets a shot.

Moreno argued that former President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party ‘created this disaster, lining the pockets of massive insurance companies while healthcare costs for everyday Americans skyrocketed.’

‘But I refuse to let the American people pay the price for the Democrats’ incompetence,’ he said in a statement. ‘I am willing to work with anyone to finally bring down costs for all Americans and hope my colleagues across the aisle will commit to doing the same.’

Collins said that lawmakers needed to ‘pursue practical solutions that increase affordability without creating sudden disruptions in coverage,’ with the expiration deadline looming. Republicans are divided on whether they want to actually extend the subsidies or allow them to sunset and be dealt with early next year.

‘This bill would help prevent unaffordable increases in health insurance premium costs for many families by extending the [Obamacare] enhanced premium tax credits for two years and putting a reasonable income cap on these subsidies to ensure they are going to the individuals who need them,’ Collins said in a statement.

Their proposal joins the ranks of public ideas and legislation floated by Republicans, but strays from the desire many in the GOP have to convert the money that flows into the subsidies directly to Americans through Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).

President Donald Trump has publicly backed converting the premiums to HSAs, but even with his support, Republicans have not nailed down a legislative move that could make it to the floor. 

It’s also unclear if Republicans will line up behind their plan, given that it extends the subsidies without additional action on taxpayer funding flowing to abortion — a key sticking point in bipartisan negotiations on the credits — and lacks the inclusion of HSAs.