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The United States Senate has approved a comprehensive spending cuts package that reduces Washington's foreign aid expenditures by approximately $8bn as part of President Donald Trump's commitment to significantly reduce federal spending. The package passed by a narrow 51-48 margin early Thursday, canceling $9bn in previously approved congressional spending, including over $1bn eliminated from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Two of the Senate's 53 Republicans joined Democrats in opposing the legislation. The vote served as a measure of senators' willingness to approve spending cuts recommended by Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Trump, who has prioritized federal spending reduction as a domestic goal, established the department and initially appointed billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk to identify government cost-cutting opportunities before the SpaceX and Tesla CEO departed in May. A public dispute between Musk and Trump over deficit spending emerged shortly […]

President Donald Trump has terminated $4bn in federal funding for California's high-speed rail project, criticizing the initiative as a "boondoggle" and a "train to nowhere." Trump announced the decision Wednesday via social media, stating he had "freed" taxpayers from the "disastrously overpriced" proposed railway connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco. The project has faced significant delays and cost escalations throughout its development. "This boondoggle, led by the incompetent Governor of California, Gavin Newscum, has cost Taxpayers Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we have received NOTHING in return except Cost Overruns," Trump posted on Truth Social, using his frequent nickname for Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom. "The Railroad we were promised still does not exist, and never will." Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy supported the funding cut, criticizing Democrats for wasteful spending and emphasizing that federal money is not a "blank cheque." […]

A new Democratic report warns that the United States is ceding strategic ground to China as President Donald Trump's foreign policy approach undermines Washington's global competitiveness. The report, examining Trump's first six months in office, argues his tenure has "significantly undermined" America's ability to compete with China on the world stage. According to the Democratic members of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee who authored Monday's report, staff reductions at the State Department and cuts to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and US Agency for Global Media have weakened American power and influence. The report characterizes China as presenting a "strategic challenge distinct from any in our nation's history" with a comprehensive plan to "unseat the United States as the world's leading superpower." Senator Jeanne Shaheen stated that while Trump "retreats from every corner of the world […]