Rand Paul

All libertarians should tip their hats to him and wish him God speed.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has quietly installed William Ruger, a former Charles Koch Institute vice president and skeptic of military action against Iran, into a key position in her department, according to congressional officials.Why it matters: Ruger's appointment to one of the most important jobs in the intelligence community had led to private concern and public praise among congressional Republicans, reflecting the deep divides in the party on key policy questions, from Iran to Ukraine to China."Will is a solid choice by DNI Gabbard," Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told Axios in a statement. "He has honorably served our country and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table.""This is the kind of principled leadership we need more of in Washington," he said."Donald Trump said no Koch people should serve and at some point he's going to realize that his administration has become littered with them," said a GOP congressional official.A Gabbard spokesperson declined to comment.Zoom out: Senate Republicans have outwardly accepted Trump's defense and intelligence nominees, and voted to confirm them.But below the surface, there are vicious battles over who will serve in positions that don't require Senate confirmation, but are hugely influential.The latest flare-up stems from Gabbard's decision to make Ruger the deputy director of national intelligence for mission integration, a consequential job that includes a range of responsibilities, including preparing the president's intelligence briefing.He is listed as the "acting" director on one ODNI webpage, but on the official job description page, the "acting" is missing.Last month, Gabbard decided not to give the same job to Daniel Davis, a critic of Israel and skeptic of foreign interventions, after an uproar from pro-Israel advocates over his expected appointment.But since then, she has quietly given the position to Ruger, according to congressional officials.Zoom in: Like Davis, Ruger has connections to both the Charles Koch Institute and Defense Priorities, think tanks that have been skeptical of military actions against Iran and take a restrained view on how much the U.S. should intervene abroad. .In January, Trump took to Truth Social to warn not to send "or recommend to us, people who worked with, or are endorsed by, Americans for No Prosperity (headed by Charles Koch)," he said, misnaming one of the Koch's groups. The post was broadly interpreted by congressional Republicans as a prohibition against officials affiliated with the Koch network.Ruger, a Navy reservist, Afghan war veteran and academic, was nominated by Trump to be his ambassador to Afghanistan in September of 2020, but the Senate ran out of time and he was never confirmed.Between the lines: A frequent poster on X, Ruger has advocated for a more isolationist approach to global conflicts.In 2021, he called on President Biden "to continue with the promised withdrawal" of U.S. troops in Afghanistan in a New York Times op-ed.This summer, he was critical of advocates for regime change in Iran, saying on X, "These guys have learned nothing from last 25 years."The bottom line: GOP divisions over Iran were highlighted during the confirmation process for Elbridge Colby, who was confirmed this week as Trump's under secretary for policy at the Defense Department by a vote of 54-45.Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was the only Republican to vote against him."Elbridge Colby's long public record suggests a willingness to discount the complexity of the challenges facing America," McConnell said in a statement.

House Dem More Supportive Of Trump Tariffs Than Many Republicans

Trump's trade representative Jamieson Greer told Senators that President Trump's tariffs prompted more than 50 countries to reach out to negotiate trade deals. But Greer declined to give a timeline.

A man who was recently charged with murdering a priest in Seneca, Kansas, has a long history of writing letters to his local newspaper in which he expressed support for President Donald Trump.Local news station KSNT reported that 66-year-old Oklahoma man Gary Hermesch, who was arrested by police last week for the alleged fatal shooting of 57-year-old Seneca-based Father Arul Carasala, regularly wrote letters referencing Trump to the local Courier-Tribune newspaper.In one 2021 letter, for example, Hermesch recommended that readers "just follow Donald Trump’s example" to "make the Church great again."ALSO READ: 'Gay beam machine': Right-wing pastor makes startling claim about airport scannersIn another letter, Hermesch compared Trump to former President John F. Kennedy in the sense that both men were "always 'the man,' whether it be a debate, speech, press conference, or whatever."In the same letter, he also disparaged then-President Joe Biden for being a "capitulating weak puppy."None of the letters provide any concrete motivation on why he might have targeted Carasala, whom police allege he shot multiple times on April 3.Hermesch currently faces a charge of first-degree murder.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) mocked the way President Donald Trump calculated his so-called reciprocal tariffs by noting that trade deficits were not necessarily evidence of one side losing.During a Tuesday interview on CNBC, Paul told conservative host Joe Kernen that Trump's tariff policy was "backwards and upside down.""It's based on a fallacy," the senator explained. "And the fallacy is this, that somehow in a trade, someone must lose, that somehow when you trade with someone, there's a loser and someone's taking advantage of you and China's ripping you off or Japan's ripping you off.""Every trade that occurs in the marketplace is mutually beneficial," he continued. "You could artificially do this accounting between countries and say, oh, trade deficit. Look at this trade deficit. But I have a trade deficit with my grocery store."ALSO READ: 'Not much I can do': GOP senator gives up fight against Trump's tariffsKernen pointed out that some Democrats supported Paul's point of view while Republicans were largely silent."The support and praise from Republicans, you're saying that you're getting it, but these are individuals that you don't even want to be on the record for saying that," the CNBC host observed. "It's a quiet whisper, and people come up to me in the hall," Paul replied. "They whisper in my ear, free trade is good. Keep going. Keep going. But they don't want to say it because of the politics of it."Watch the video below from CNBC.

Cracks are growing between congressional Republicans and President Trump over his tariff policy, with some lawmakers looking to strip him of his unilateral tariff authority and others seeking briefings from the White House on the strategy amid growing economic tumult. Seven Republican senators signed on to a bill led by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the [...]

A just-passed Senate resolution seeking to undo new tariffs on Canada hopefully emboldens the legislative branch to re-embrace its checks-and-balances role.

Staffers wheel pizzas through the Capitol as the Senate prepares to begin its vote-a-rama on the GOP’s budget resolution on Friday evening.

Lawmakers’ struggle to act showed the divide among Republicans on trade policy.

Known as a 'vote-a-rama,' the Senate will vote on a slate of amendments to the legislation. Every single one must be considered under reconciliation rules.

The arduous 25 hour, 5 minute speech required days of physical preparation for the 55-year-old senator.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) faces a number of divisions among Senate Republicans that could derail the Senate budget resolution, a measure that will be critical to passing President Trump’s legislative agenda later this year. Key points of contention include how to calculate the cost of extending Trump’s tax cuts, Medicaid cuts, defense [...]

WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader John Thune told GOP senators Wednesday that a compromise budget resolution could hit the floor for a “vote-a-rama” as soon as next week, which would allow the House to adopt it the following week before the two-week April recess.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., conducts a news conference in the Capitol on Tuesday. Sens. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., also appear. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content.

The drop-dead date for Congress to suspend or raise the debt limit and prevent the government from defaulting on its borrowing obligations will "probably" fall in August or September, the Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday.

Minnesota producers don’t want them — and Minnesota consumers won’t enjoy their impact.

Republican lawmakers push proposals to ban the purchase of junk foods, such as sodas, with SNAP benefits. Several bills have already been put forward this year.

Republicans on Capitol Hill are staring down a key three-week stretch in their effort to enact President Trump’s ambitious tax agenda, with hopes that the House will be able to advance a compromise budget resolution at its conclusion to keep pace with the party’s aggressive timeline. Senate Republicans last month adopted a budget resolution for [...]

Under the spell of Trumpian populism, the Republican Party has increasingly become hostile to fiscal responsibility and free markets.

Senate Republicans aren’t planning to be a rubber stamp for President Trump’s sweeping operation to shrink the federal government as lawmakers look to fiscal 2026 funding. Conservatives in both chambers have been ramping up calls for Congress to codify cuts pursued by Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), particularly as the administration’s efforts encounter roadblocks [...]

A stronger firearm access prevention bill in Virginia will save lives if Gov. Youngkin signs it, Paul Nestadt and Alex McCourt of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, write.

A government shutdown has officially been averted, as President Donald Trump signs the continuing resolution into law.

The vote was 54-46. Democrats voiced frustration that Republicans went ahead with a measure they said included little input from them.

“I believe it is my job to make the best choice for the country, to minimize the harms to the American people. Therefore, I will vote to keep the government open and not shut it down,” Schumer said Thursday on the Senate floor.

Senate Democrats are in a politically precarious position after the House passed a stopgap bill to avoid a government shutdown.

One House Republican, Rep. Tom Massie, R-Ky., voted against the legislation.

“We're choosing between awful and terrible,” one Senate Democrat lamented of efforts to stave off a government shutdown.

House Republicans on Tuesday advanced their bill to avert an end-of-the-week government shutdown, teeing up a final vote on the legislation later in the day. The chamber voted 216-214 to adopt a rule — which governs debate on legislation — for Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) continuing resolution. The measure would keep the government funded through Sept. [...]

Speaker Mike Johnson conducts a news conference in the Capitol Visitor Center after a House Republican Conference meeting on Tuesday. Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., left, and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise also appear.

Elon Musk is telling Republican lawmakers that he's not to blame for the firings of thousands of federal workers as he pushes to downsize the government.

Elon Musk is telling Republican lawmakers that he's not to blame for the firings of thousands of federal workers as he pushes to downsize the government

Elon Musk is telling Republican lawmakers that he's not to blame for the firings of thousands of federal workers as he pushes to downsize the government.

Former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.) is a step closer to winning confirmation to lead the Department of Labor after the Senate on Thursday voted on a bipartisan basis to advance her nomination. Senators voted 66-30 to limit debate on the nomination, paving the way for Chavez-DeRemer to be confirmed when the chamber reconvenes next week. [...]

Trump had previously said he wanted 'one, big, beautiful bill,' but indicated on Feb. 21 that he would accept multiple bills if necessary.

'Hold public health agencies accountable'

Republican senators pushed a $340 billion budget framework to passage over Democratic objections after a nearly all-night vote. The early Friday vote was a key step toward providing money the Trump administration says it needs funds for mass deportations and...

'They do not support these goals'

Democrats used the overnight Senate session as a platform for their outrage over what President Donald Trump has wrought.

Out of power in the Senate and serving likely his last term, Sen. Mitch McConnell has often found himself on an island among Republicans in opposition to Trump.

Trump and allied Republicans aim to cast aside the party’s long-held antipathy toward unions and lure more voters.

Arab Americans for Trump is changing its name to Arab Americans for Peace after President Donald Trump's proposal that the U.S. "take over" the Gaza Strip.

Greer previously served as the chief of staff to the trade representative during President Donald Trump's first administration.

President Donald Trump promised voters an administration that wouldn’t waste precious American lives and taxpayer treasure on far-off wars and nation-building.

President Donald Trump promised voters an administration that wouldn’t waste precious American lives and taxpayer treasure on far-off wars and nation building. But just weeks into his second go-around in the White House, the Republican leader laid out plans to...