GOP unites on Trump budget framework, Dems try to corner them in marathon vote session
The Senate passed a framework for a sweeping bill promoting President Donald Trump’s agenda after an hourslong series of amendment votes during which Democrats sought to put Republicans on record on issues like tariffs and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
It passed mostly along party lines in a 51 to 48 vote around 2:30 a.m. ET on Saturday morning. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Rand Paul, R-Ky., were the only two Republicans to join Democrats in opposing the measure.
The amended framework would raise the debt ceiling by up to $5 trillion within the reconciliation process, taking future leverage away from Senate Democrats. It would also make Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent by using what’s called a current policy baseline that Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., decides.
DEM SENATOR LOOKS TO HIJACK KEY TRUMP BUDGET PROCESS WITH TARIFF CHALLENGE
The scoring tool essentially means the cost of making Trump’s tax cuts permanent would be factored at $0 because it extends current policy, rather than counting it as new dollars being added to the federal deficit.
Some conservatives have signaled they’re wary of using that method, however.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said on the Senate floor ahead of the vote series, “I have been assured that there is a commitment and other ways to pay for the eventual reconciliation bill.”
“Now, I am not saying that I think that it is better that we use current policy as baseline. It’s never been done before in a setting like this. I think it establishes a dangerous precedent. It might be within the rules to do so, but it doesn’t mean it’s wise to do so,” he said.
Some House conservatives have gone so far as to call it a “gimmick.”
Senate GOP leaders made clear they were in lock-step behind the framework, however.
“This resolution is the first step toward a final bill to make permanent the tax relief we implemented in 2017 and deliver a transformational investment in our border, national, and energy security – all accompanied by substantial savings measures and commonsense reforms to our government,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said on Friday evening.
Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said, “The American people gave us a mission and a mandate: secure borders, lower taxes, affordable energy, peace through strength, and, of course, efficient, effective government. Senate Republicans’ bold budget blueprint delivers.”
REPUBLICANS CHARGE AHEAD ON TRUMP BUDGET, SETTING UP MARATHON SENATE VOTES
Budget reconciliation lowers the vote threshold in the Senate from 60 to 51, which lets Republicans approve certain priorities with no Democrat support.
Washington’s Republican trifecta thus sees reconciliation as a key tool for delivering on Trump agenda items.
The Senate’s Friday night “vote-a-rama” was triggered by the chamber agreeing to a motion to proceed to the budget resolution amendment on Thursday night. Nearly a day of debate followed before the vote series was initiated.
During this type of voting series, senators of both parties can introduce an unlimited number of amendments, and many get floor votes.
No amendments were adopted during the roughly six hours-long vote series.
Some notable measures, however, included an amendment by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to raise the federal minimum wage to $17 over a period of five years, an amendment by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to limit many of Trump’s tariffs, and a bipartisan amendment aimed at blocking the reconciliation bill from making cuts to Medicaid.
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“Tonight, Senate Democrats gave Senate Republicans the chance to hit the kill switch on Donald Trump’s tariffs on DOGE, on the attacks against Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid,” Schumer said after the vote. “And at each opportunity, Republicans refused.”
Graham said in a statement on X after the vote, “Tonight, the Senate took one small step toward reconciliation and one giant leap toward making the tax cuts permanent, securing the border, providing much-needed help for the military and finally cutting wasteful Washington spending.”
The budget would address border funding for the Trump administration as well as extend the hallmark tax cuts Trump passed in 2017.
Initially, there was stark disagreement between Republicans in the House and Senate on how to organize a budget reconciliation resolution. The House GOP leaders preferred one bill with both the border and taxes included, while those in the Senate wanted to have two separate resolutions for them.
House Republicans passed a framework that closely resembles the current Senate-passed version last month.
But it’s still not clear that House conservatives will accept the Senate plan, despite its similarities to the lower chamber’s framework, with the Senate’s bid to permanently extend Trump’s tax cuts likely to be one of the biggest points of contention.
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The House Budget Committee’s Republican majority wrote on X just before the Senate kicked off its vote series, “Cutting taxes without cutting spending doesn’t reduce taxes, it merely shifts the tax burden to our children. We have a generational opportunity – and maybe our last – to get our fiscal house in order.”
After matching frameworks pass the House and Senate, the relevant congressional committees will begin filling it out with policy and spending changes under their jurisdictions.
Trump expressed support for the Senate framework earlier this week, saying at an unrelated event, “If we get this done, it’ll be the most incredible bill ever passed in the history of our Congress.”
What President Trump is really up to with high-stakes tariff gambit
Let us be honest: When most people hear “tariffs,” they think about price hikes and trade wars. But the Trump administration’s latest tariff rollout is not merely a knee-jerk protectionist move—it is part of a far broader strategy.
What is actually in play here is a high-stakes effort to build up leverage and resources to manage America’s debt, reset its industrial base, and renegotiate its standing in the global order.
HOW WE GOT TO LIBERATION DAY: A LOOK AT TRUMP’S PAST COMMENTS ON TARIFFS
And it all begins with a problem most people have not been told enough about.
In 2025, the U.S. government must refinance $9.2 trillion in maturing debt. Some $6.5 trillion of that comes due by June. That is not a typo—that is a debt wall the size of a small continent.
Now, here is the math: According to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, each basis-point (one one-hundredth of a percent) drop in interest rates saves the government roughly $1 billion per year. Since the announcement of tariffs on April 2, 10-year Treasury yields have fallen from 4.2 percent to 3.9 percent—a 30 basis point drop. If that holds, it translates to $30 billion in savings.
So, keeping yields low is not just sound policy—it is a fiscal necessity.
But we are in a difficult environment. Inflation has not fully cooled, and the Federal Reserve remains wary of cutting rates too quickly. So the question becomes: How does one bring yields down without the Fed’s help?
Here is where the strategy becomes interesting.
By introducing sweeping tariffs, the administration is creating precisely the kind of economic uncertainty that drives investors toward safer assets such as long-term U.S. Treasuries. When markets are spooked, capital exits risk and equity assets (as we see with the stock market collapse) and piles into safe assets, primarily the 10-year U.S. treasury bond. That demand pushes yields lower.
It is a counter-intuitive move, but a calculated one. Some have called it a “detox” for the overheated financial system. And it appears to be working.
However, even cheaper debt does not solve everything. The deficit remains massive—and that is where spending cuts come in.
Backed by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Elon Musk, the administration is reportedly targeting $4 billion in daily spending cuts. If their recommendations translate to cuts and get ratified by Congress, that could amount to a trillion dollars off the deficit by late 2025.
At this point, we have two pillars: lower borrowing costs and tighter spending. But there remains a third—and arguably most important—pillar: growth.
Tariffs serve as the ignition switch. By making imports more expensive, they create space for American producers to step back in. The objective is not to punish trade partners—it is to make domestic industry viable again, even if only long enough to rebuild critical capacity.
Yes, prices will rise. But the administration is fully aware of that. In fact, it is front-loading the pain now, hoping to deliver visible job growth and factory activity before the November 2026 midterm elections.
In the meantime, tariffs themselves will generate revenue—an estimated $700 billion or more in the first year. That creates more fiscal room for the administration to enable tax cuts and keep spending on Social Security, Medicaid and other programs.
Where the picture becomes even more interesting is on the geopolitical front.
These tariffs do not exist in a vacuum. They are being deployed alongside a deliberate reshaping of global alliances. The U.S. is quietly distancing itself from NATO, recalibrating ties with Europe, and opening previously frozen diplomatic channels with the Gulf nations and Russia.
Why? Because the post-Cold War trade order no longer serves U.S. interests. It enabled deficits, offshoring, and strategic dependency. Now, tariffs become leverage. Allies who align with U.S. priorities receive relief; others face higher costs.
China, naturally, is the central player. For years, economists have argued that its artificially weak currency and industrial overcapacity have distorted global trade. Tariffs are one way to force a reckoning—and potentially, a revaluation of the yuan.
Other countries will not be spared. Europe could be asked for terms on Ukraine. India may be pressured for deep tariff cuts. Canada and Mexico will likely face demands related to fentanyl and border enforcement.
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This is not random. It is trade policy as a means to force countries to the negotiating table.
Domestically, the political logic is equally clear. The sectors most likely to benefit—steel, automobiles, textiles—are concentrated in battleground states. The administration is betting that visible wins in those regions will outweigh short-term pain in sectors dependent on cheap imports.
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There are serious risks here. If inflation returns or if the reshoring bet fails, the blowback could be severe. But make no mistake: This is not improvisation. It is disruption by design.
Whether one agrees with it or not, this is one of the most ambitious fiscal and industrial resets in a generation.
The only question that remains is—will it work?
Beloved small-town Catholic priest fatally shot at his church’s rectory
A Catholic priest died in Kansas after being shot at his church’s rectory in an incident a fellow pastor told Fox News Digital has left his community in a “state of shock.”
Gary Hermesch, 66, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was taken into custody Thursday afternoon following the attack on Father Arul Carasala, 57, at the Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Seneca, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. Hermesch was detained on suspicion of first-degree murder.
“We’re all just still in a state of shock. I mean, this is small-town America. And Father Arul was such a beloved pastor in Seneca, Kansas. He’s been a pastor there for over 13 years,” Father Brian Schieber, a Vicar General for the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, told Fox News Digital.
“A good shepherd knows his people by name, and Father Arul knew everybody. He, over these years, baptized so many people, did so many weddings, funerals, he was such a good confessor and present to people who were sick, had such pastoral wisdom, he is really beloved by everybody,” Schieber added.
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Schieber described the shooting as a “senseless act of violence.”
“We have no idea what the motive for this was. And, you know, we’re really praying for the person that killed Father Arul as well. And thank you all for your prayers,” he said.
Deputies from the Nemaha County Sheriff’s Office and officers from the Seneca Police Department responded to a 911 call “reporting shots fired at the Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church rectory” around 3 p.m. local time Thursday, the KBI said.
When they arrived, they discovered Carasala “outside the residence suffering from gunshot wounds,” it added.
“Seneca EMS arrived and transported Father Carasala to the Nemaha Valley Community Hospital. Despite life-saving measures, he died at the hospital from his injuries,” the KBI also said in a statement.
SUPREME COURT APPEARS LIKELY TO SIDE WITH CATHOLIC CHURCH AND TRUMP IN KEY RELIGIOUS EXEMPTION CASE
A mass was held at Carasala’s church Thursday night in the wake of the shooting.
“Father Arul was a friend to me and a great priest,” Archbishop Joseph Naumann wrote on Facebook Friday after leading the mass. “I shared in my homily that being a priest today requires heroic love. That quality was evident in Father Arul, who left India to come to the heartland of America and serve the people of the Catholic Church in northeast Kansas.”
“While we continue to mourn the loss of Father Arul, I pray that we will not lose hope. God is with us in our adversity,” Naumann added. “He can bring good out of evil. He can bring life out of death. Let us draw closer to Jesus during this time of sorrow and ask him to console our hearts.”
Schieber told Fox News Digital that “we are a small archdiocese, so we have about 150 priests and we all know each other really well.
“We’re like brothers to each other. And Father Arul was really helpful to me personally and will be dearly missed,” he said.
The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas said “Father Arul was a faithful priest who devoutly served our archdiocese for more than two decades.
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“Ordained in March 1994 in his home Diocese of Cuddapah, India, he ministered at Sts. Peter and Paul… and also served as dean of the Nemaha-Marshall deanery. His deep faith, pastoral care, and generous spirit touched the lives of so many,” it added. “Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.”
YouTuber arrested for allegedly visiting forbidden island with violent history
A daredevil YouTube influencer has been arrested after visiting a remote Indian island, where he tried to make illegal contact with indigenous people, according to global reports.
Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, 24, of Arizona, allegedly traveled to the restricted North Sentinel Island, where he tried to offer a coconut and can of Diet Coke as “offerings for the Sentinelese,” The Andaman Chronicle and The Washington Post reported, citing local police.
Police in Andaman and Nicobar Islands reportedly said he visited the region because of “his passion for adventure and his desire to undertake extreme challenges,” police said. It was apparently his third time trying to make the trip, according to The Post.
Polyakov was also apparently wearing a GoPro portable camera, showing him entering the island’s shore “claiming unofficial representation of the U.S.,” police said in a statement.
INDIA’S PARLIAMENT PASSES BILL THAT WOULD CHANGE MUSLIM LAND ENDOWMENTS
He stayed on the island for about five minutes, collecting samples and recording video footage, but reportedly did not make contact with any indigenous people. He then remained offshore in a boat for about an hour before local fisherman saw him and contacted authorities, The Post and the Chronicle reported.
Polyakov, who goes by Neo-Orientalist on YouTube, has a six-part video series showing his travels through “Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.”
MUSLIMS IN INDIA VOICE CONCERNS THAT NEW CITIZENSHIP LAW COULD FURTHER MARGINALIZE THEM
Contact with the Sentinelese people is strictly prohibited due to their protected indigenous way of life, the Chronicle reported.
“We are getting more details about him and his intention to visit the reserved tribal area. We are also trying to find where else he had visited during his stay in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. We are questioning the hotel staff where he was staying in Port Blair,” Hargobinder Singh Dhaliwal, director general of police of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, said in a statement to the Chronicle.
Caroline Pearce, director of Survival International, a nonprofit seeking to help indigenous and tribal societies around the world, called Polyakov’s actions “deeply disturbing” and noted the death of an American missionary who attempted to make contact with people on the island in 2018.
“The Sentinelese have made their wish to avoid outsiders incredibly clear over the years – I’m sure many remember the 2018 incident in which an American missionary, John Allen Chau, was killed by them after landing on their island to try to convert them to Christianity,” Pearce said in a statement. “It’s good news that the man in this latest incident has been arrested, but deeply disturbing that he was reportedly able to get onto the island in the first place”
Pearce added that uncontacted indigenous peoples across the globe “are experiencing the invasion of their lands on a shocking scale.”
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“Countless uncontacted peoples in the Amazon are being invaded by loggers and gold-miners. The uncontacted Shompen of Great Nicobar Island, not far from North Sentinel, will be wiped out if India goes ahead with its plan to transform their island into ‘the Hong Kong of India,’” Pearce continued. “The common factor in all these cases is governments’ refusal to abide by international law and recognize and protect uncontacted peoples’ territories.”
Polyakov is currently in judicial custody and has a hearing scheduled for April 17, The Post reported.
Meghan Markle’s cash grab is royal family’s nightmare come true, expert says
Meghan Markle is determined to be a money-making influencer.
After months of anticipation, products from the Duchess of Sussex’s As Ever line went live on Wednesday. The gourmet products, including teas, baking mixes and, yes, jams, sold out in under an hour. The $28 wildflower honey sold out in less than five minutes, Vanity Fair reported.
Duncan Larcombe, former royal editor of The Sun, claimed to Fox News Digital that the “Suits” alum’s success with her brand is what the British royal family has been worried about from the start.
MEGHAN MARKLE DEFENDS HERSELF AGAINST ACCUSATIONS SHE’S NOT RELATABLE
“What this represents is Meghan effectively cashing in on her fame … even using her children to try and boost her presence online and sell units of her products,” he claimed. “This is exactly what the royals feared would happen. … [But] it’ll take a few weeks before we really know whether she hit the jackpot.
“She might have struck gold, but I think the overwhelming view here is just more of her cashing in on her fame, based upon her association with the British royal family,” Larcombe added. “[But] she isn’t popular here [in the U.K.]. And I can’t imagine that having a range of products like this is going to make any difference.”
The 43-year-old’s ability to make sale skyrocket has been called “The Meghan Effect.” Similar to her sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, the mother of two sparks major sales of anything she wears or is associated with.
British broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard accused the 43-year-old of using her royal family ties and even her children, whom she’s given glimpses of to her followers on social media, “to help make a quick buck.”
“This seems pretty lowbrow, although it’s bound to bring Meghan success,” said Chard. “The product prices are not astronomical. They are … affordable for her fans wishing to buy into ‘The Meghan Effect.’ But … are the products priced competitively enough, and are they tasty enough to keep continuous sales? Meghan is not a trained chef or even a professional foodie. She is playing a role.”
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Meghan, a former American actress who had a lifestyle blog, The Tig, became the Duchess of Sussex when she married Prince Harry in 2018. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back as senior royals in 2020, citing the unbearable media intrusions and lack of support from the palace.
The couple, looking to become financially independent, were said to be frustrated Buckingham Palace prevented them from developing their “Sussex Royal” brand, the BBC reported. They moved to California, where they are now raising their two young children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
While they still have their duke and duchess titles, they are not addressed as His or Her Royal Highness (HRH). Harry also had to give up his military titles.
According to the BBC, when they stepped down as senior royals, Harry’s father, King Charles III, gave them “a substantial sum” to help establish a new life. They set up the Archewell foundation and took on several commercial deals, including one with Netflix.
In March 2024, Meghan launched her lifestyle brand, which was originally named American Riviera Orchard. Due to trademark woes, it was renamed “As Ever” in February. Her Netflix show, “With Love, Meghan,” which showcases her love of cooking and entertaining, premiered March 4.
British royals expert Hilary Fordwich slammed Meghan, insisting she’s “using the very royal family name and heritage she wanted to leave” to make her mark as a successful influencer.
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“Who is the target demographic?” Fordwich wondered. “Those with less money couldn’t afford it. … The ‘keepsake packaging’ and aspirational marketing … is out of touch with the average consumer. … It seems inauthentic, and only those with a highly privileged lifestyle, not the mass consumer [would purchase her items].”
The New York Times, which was invited to interview Meghan in her Montecito kitchen, pointed out that many critics have called her Netflix show unrelatable and inauthentic. Meghan told the outlet she put herself back in the spotlight because “I need to work, and I love to work.” She pointed out that, until she met Harry, she hadn’t been without a job since she was 13.
And with two young children to raise, “This is a way I can connect my home life and my work,” she reasoned.
The outlet noted that Meghan and Harry’s production deal with Netflix, which was signed in 2020, ends this year. Their two previous documentaries about polo and Harry’s Invictus Games flopped. Still, the streaming giant is not only an investor in Meghan’s As Ever brand, but new episodes of her show will premiere in the fall.
Meghan also isn’t the first royal to cash in using honey and jam. Buckingham Palace sells Scottish heather honey for $13.09 and Windsor Castle strawberry preserves for $9.17. The king’s Highgrove estate honey is available for $34, and royalists can stock up on organic house marmalade for $10.
And it seems that, with the right name, luxurious food products sell. Vanity Fair pointed out that Flamingo Estate sells honey from the bees at LeBron James’ Bel Air mansion for $250.
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“The royal family has their products sold in shops, which can be quite expensive and are meant for commercial consumption,” Ian Pelham Turner told Fox News Digital.
“Meghan is just following royal traditions with her own ‘royal range.’ … We must not forget that, [before her exit], Meghan was instrumental in working with women serving food to those in distress from the Grenfell Tower tragedy, eventually creating a recipe book to raise funds for those who have lost their homes.”
When asked about Meghan naming her dessert Chantilly Lili after her 3-year-old daughter, Pelham Turner responded, “Naming it after Lilibet is a term of endearment by a loving mother to her daughter. … What’s wrong with that?
“Meghan deserves respect, not criticism, for enduring the painful times she has experienced.”
The recipe, which was shared by The New York Times, is said to be “based on a banana pudding recipe by Meghan’s grandmother.”
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Chard said whether viewers love or loathe Meghan, she’s here to stay.
“Many would say that Meghan Markle is ‘cashing in’ and ‘selling out,’” said Chard. “However, she has to make money somehow. … She is determined to make good money, hoping to make billions from the success of her brand. … She firmly believes in herself and is working hard to win over all the nonbelievers.”
Top 5 bombshells about Biden, Harris campaigns in new behind-the-scenes books
Revelations about the inner workings of former Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Joe Biden’s respectively failed and aborted presidential campaigns continue to emerge in two new books released this month.
“FIGHT: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House,” by NBC reporter Jonathan Allen and The Hill correspondent Amie Parnes, gives a behind-the-scenes look at the chaotic 2024 race from interviews with dozens of people within the inner circles of Harris, Biden, and President Donald Trump.
“Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History,” by Chris Whipple, also gives an inside look at the drama that unfolded inside the Harris and Trump campaigns.
Here are five of the top revelations uncovered this week.
KAMALA HARRIS WAS ‘VERY ANNOYED’ WITH OBAMA AS SHE SOUGHT HIS ENDORSEMENT, BOOK REVEALS
Biden was ‘out of it’ ahead of disastrous debate, former chief of staff says
In “Uncharted,” former Biden White House chief of staff Ron Klain recalled Biden being “exhausted” and “out of it” while prepping for his debate against Trump in June.
“The president was fatigued, befuddled, and disengaged,” Whipple wrote, according to an excerpt released ahead of the book’s April 8 release. “Klain feared the debate with Trump would be a nationally televised disaster.”
Klain told Politico on Wednesday that he felt the framing of his remarks in the book was wrong.
“My point wasn’t that the president lacked mental acuity … He was out of it because he had been [sidelined], not because he lacked capacity,” he told Politico. “He had been isolated from domestic politics by a WH team unplugged from hill Dems.”
Democratic lawmakers and aides to Biden were also concerned about his aging, according to Allen and Parnes’ “Fight.”
Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., reportedly became worried about the president’s decline in June 2023 after Biden did not recognize him at a White House event and Swalwell had to remind the president about who he was.
Allen and Parnes also reported that the president met with a makeup artist every morning, prior to travel and before calls with his aides, to cover up visible signs of aging.
BIDEN REPEATEDLY TOLD HARRIS THERE COULD BE ‘NO DAYLIGHT’ BETWEEN THEM ON POLICIES: REPORT
Biden privately demanded ‘loyalty’ from Harris: ‘No daylight’
Biden reportedly urged Harris against breaking from him on policies she supported as his vice president during her presidential run, according to “Fight.”
“He would say publicly that Harris should do what she must to win. But privately, including in conversations with her, he repeated an admonition: let there be no daylight between us,” the authors wrote.
The president “expected Harris to protect his legacy,” they added.
“But the day of the debate Biden called to give Harris an unusual kind of pep talk — and another reminder about the loyalty he demanded. No longer able to defend his own record, he expected Harris to protect his legacy,” they wrote.
“Whether she won or lost the election, he thought, she would only harm him by publicly distancing herself from him — especially during a debate that would be watched by millions of Americans. To the extent that she wanted to forge her own path, Biden had no interest in giving her room to do so,” the book reported.
TOP KAMALA HARRIS CAMPAIGN ADVISOR ADMITS SHE WAS FLOORED BY DEMOCRAT’S MAJOR FLUB ON ‘VIEW’
Obama was ‘working against’ Harris, didn’t think she could win
“Fight” co-author Jonathan Allen said Tuesday on MSNBC that former President Obama hesitated for days to endorse Harris’ presidential campaign because he didn’t believe she could win.
“President Obama absolutely did not think that Joe Biden should continue, according to our sources close to President Obama,” Allen told MSNBC. “And he also didn’t want Kamala Harris to be the replacement for Biden. He didn’t think that she was the best choice for Democrats, and he worked really behind the scenes for a long time to try to have a mini-primary, or an open convention, or a mini-primary leading to an open convention, did not have faith in her ability to win the election.”
“As it turned out, she didn’t win, but he was really working against her,” Allen continued.
Obama’s decision to wait five days to endorse Harris after Biden dropped out of the race reportedly left Harris “very annoyed,” the book said.
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Harris was ‘completely shocked’ by defeat, believed she could’ve won with more time
According to the “Fight” authors, Harris was stunned on election night by the results.
Parnes reported that Harris was blindsided by the results and asked staffers if they were certain.
“And she’s like, are you sure? Have we done a recount? Should we do a recount?” Parnes said on the “Somebody’s Gotta Win with Tara Palmeri” podcast released Thursday.
Harris reportedly later came to believe that she could’ve won the election if she had more time and if Biden hadn’t run for re-election.
“She could have won, she told friends, if only the election was later in the calendar — or she got in earlier. In other words, Joe Biden was to blame,” the authors wrote.
Friends of Harris said that she believed Biden’s unpopularity and her late entry into the race tanked her campaign. However, not all of her friends agreed with this take, the authors wrote.
“That is f—ing bonkers,” one Harris friend said in the book. “If Election Day was October first, we might have actually somehow pulled it off. Shorter was actually better, not longer.”
Harris had to convince Biden to endorse her right away
Harris pleaded with Biden to endorse her the same day he announced he was stepping down from the 2024 race, the “Fight” authors revealed.
Biden reportedly did not want his historic announcement last July to be drowned out in the “media frenzy” surrounding a Harris endorsement.
“He deserved his due, he believed, and he told Harris that he would not include an endorsement in the statement announcing his exit,” the authors wrote.
Harris reportedly pleaded with Biden that he needed to back her right away. “This is important for your legacy — to show that you have absolute faith in your VP,” the book says.
Biden went on to put out a statement endorsing Harris’ run a half-hour later.
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DOGE sets sights on possible next target as department roots out wasteful spending
The Department of Government Efficiency, which is led by Elon Musk, arrived Friday at U.S. Peace Corps headquarters in Washington, D.C., suggesting it could be the latest target of the Trump administration’s efforts to downsize the federal workforce.
“Staff from the Department of Government Efficiency are currently working at Peace Corps headquarters and the agency is supporting their requests,” the agency said in a statement to Reuters.
The Peace Corps, established in 1961 by then-President John F. Kennedy, sends volunteers around the world to help countries with projects focused on education, health and economics. Since then, more than 240,000 Americans have served as Peace Corps volunteers. The agency is widely viewed as one of the most visible tools used by the U.S. government to promote global influence.
DOGE CUTS DRIVE LAYOFFS IN MARCH TO HIGHEST LEVEL SINCE PANDEMIC
The purpose of DOGE’s visit was not immediately clear, but the arrival of DOGE staff at a federal agency is often followed by layoffs.
The Peace Corps, which has an annual budget of more than $400 million, has long been popular with both Democrats and Republicans. There is a bipartisan Peace Corps caucus in Congress.
In 1983, then-President Ronald Reagan said: “By the example of these Peace Corps volunteers, people throughout the world can understand that America’s heart is strong, and her heart is good.”
Peace Corps staff had been told by the agency’s leadership to expect members of DOGE to arrive on Friday afternoon and work through the weekend, according to Reuters.
President Donald Trump has already taken several steps since returning to the White House in January to eliminate key pillars of America’s soft power, including efforts to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Institute of Peace and government-funded broadcasters such as Voice of America.
JOBS APPLICATIONS BY FEDERAL WORKERS SURGE AT AGENCIES TARGETED BY DOGE
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Roughly 130 employees at the Wilson Center, a non-partisan foreign policy think tank in Washington, D.C., were placed on leave after DOGE began targeting the organization this week, according to The New York Times.
Harris laughs while she takes jab at Trump’s second term in latest public appearance
Former Vice President Kamala Harris had her “I told ya so” moment at a speech in California Thursday.
“We’re seeing people stay quiet. We are seeing organizations stay quiet. We are seeing those who are capitulating to clearly unconstitutional threats. And these are the things we are witnessing. Each day in the last few months in our country. And it understandably creates a great sense of fear. Because you know there were many things we knew would happen,” Harris said at the Leading Women Defined Summit in Dana Point, California.
“I’m not here to say I told you so,” Harris said, breaking into laughter with the audience. “I swear, I wasn’t going to say that.”
KAMALA HARRIS WAS ‘VERY ANNOYED’ WITH OBAMA AS SHE SOUGHT HIS ENDORSEMENT, BOOK REVEALS
Harris’ comments were the first time she took a victory lap of sorts after her crushing defeat in the presidential election.
Several of Trump’s initiatives are tied up in the courts and stocks plunged this week as his tariffs rocked global markets.
A new book reports Harris was blindsided by her 2024 election loss to Trump because she “bought the hype” that she would win.
“She was completely shocked, and [Harris’ running mate] Tim Walz was shocked,” The Hill reporter Amie Parnes said on the podcast “Somebody’s Gotta Win with Tara Palmeri,” released Thursday.
Parnes discussed reporting in her new book, “Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House,” which she co-authored with NBC reporter Jonathan Allen. The book tackles the 2024 presidential campaign and the chaos that unfolded after former President Biden withdrew from the race and Harris took his place at the top of the Democratic ticket.
TOP KAMALA HARRIS CAMPAIGN ADVISOR ADMITS SHE WAS FLOORED BY DEMOCRAT’S MAJOR FLUB ON ‘VIEW’
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Harris in February delivered her first major speech since her election loss in November after several months out of the public spotlight.
While accepting an award from the NAACP Image Awards, Harris took veiled jabs at Trump and Department of Government Efficiency chief Elon Musk.
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