Elon Musk, who President Donald Trump tasked with spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort, declared in a social media post that ‘Hysterical reactions’ demonstrate the importance of DOGE’s work.

He made the comment in response to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

‘An unelected shadow government is conducting a hostile takeover of the federal government,’ a post on Sen. Schumer’s @SenSchumer X account reads, echoing remarks the lawmaker made during a press conference. 

‘DOGE is not a real government agency. DOGE has no authority to make spending decisions. DOGE has no authority to shut programs down or to ignore federal law. DOGE’s conduct cannot be allowed to stand. Congress must take action to restore the rule of law,’ Schumer’s post continued.

Musk described the effort to slash government waste and bureaucracy as a one-time opportunity.

‘Hysterical reactions like this is how you know that @DOGE is doing work that really matters,’ he wrote in response to Schumer. 

‘This is the one shot the American people have to defeat BUREAUcracy, rule of the bureaucrats, and restore DEMOcracy, rule of the people. We’re never going to get another chance like this. It’s now or never. Your support is crucial to the success of the revolution of the people,’ he asserted.

The business magnate has called DOGE ‘the wood chipper for bureaucracy.’

‘If the Treasury Secretary does not remove DOGE’s access to the Treasury payment systems at once: Congress must immediately act,’ another post echoing the sentiments Schumer conveyed during the press conference reads. ‘That is why @RepJeffries and I will work together on legislation to stop unlawful meddling in the Treasury Department’s payment systems. We must protect people’s Social Security payments, Medicare payments, and tax refunds from any possible tampering by DOGE or other unauthorized entities.’

Musk declared a tweet, ‘Doge has not looked at, nor is there any interest in, private financial data. What would we even do with it? The outgoing payment review process just looks at potential fraud and wasteful spending to organizations. Corrupt politicians are the ones complaining. I wonder why?’

U.S. and Philippine fighter aircraft staged a joint patrol and training Tuesday over a disputed South China Sea shoal where Chinese fighter jets fired flares last year to drive away a Philippine aircraft, Philippine officials said.

The joint patrol and air-intercept drills over the hotly disputed Scarborough Shoal off the northwestern Philippines were the first by the longtime treaty allies since President Donald Trump took office again.

It comes as the Trump administration has promised to deliver a foreign policy that centers on ‘America First.’ 

Two U.S. Air Force B-1 bomber aircraft and three Philippine Air Force FA-50 fighter jets joined the brief patrol and training, which involved practicing how to intercept a hostile aircraft, Philippine air force spokesperson Maria Consuelo Castillo said at a press conference. It was not immediately known if the joint patrol encountered any challenge from Chinese forces guarding the Scarborough Shoal.

‘The exercises focused on enhancing operational coordination, improving air domain awareness and reinforcing agile combat employment capabilities between the two air forces,’ the Philippine Air Force said.

On Tuesday, the Chinese military’s Southern Theater Command said its units would maintain a ‘high degree of alert, resolutely defend China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, and control any military activities that disrupt the South China Sea,’ alleging the Philippines participated in joint patrols organized by other foreign countries to ‘undermine peace and stability in the South China Sea,’ according to Reuters. 

The Philippine Navy said at a press conference on Tuesday that it was ‘closely monitoring’ three Chinese navy vessels within Manila’s maritime zones, including a Jiangkai-class guided missile frigate.

‘The presence of People’s Liberation Army-Navy reflects the People’s Republic of China’s complete disregard for international law and undermines the peace and stability in the region,’ Philippine Navy spokesperson John Percie Alcos said, according to Reuters.  

In August last year, two Chinese air force aircraft flew close then fired flares in the path of a Philippine air force plane on routine patrol over the Scarborough Shoal in actions that were strongly condemned and protested by the Philippine government, military officials said. All those aboard the Philippine air force NC-212i turbo-prop transport plane were unharmed, the Philippine military said.

The Southern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army said then that a Philippine air force aircraft ‘illegally’ entered the airspace above the shoal and disrupted training activities by Chinese forces. It warned the Philippines to ‘stop its infringement, provocation, distortion and hyping-up.’

The Philippine military chief, Gen. Romeo Brawner, said at the time that the incident ‘posed a threat to Philippine air force aircraft and its crew, interfered with lawful flight operations in airspace within Philippine sovereignty and jurisdiction and contravened international law and regulations governing safety of aviation.’

China and the Philippines have had increasingly alarming face-offs in the shoal, which is called Bajo de Masinloc by the Philippines and Huangyan Island by China.

‘We are always prepared for any contingency, it’s part of the training,’ Castillo said Tuesday when asked if the allied forces had prepared to address any challenge by Chinese aircraft.

‘It already happened before and, as I have said, whatever the coercive, aggressive actions of any foreign party, the Philippine air force will not be deterred to perform its mandate,’ Castillo said.

The U.S. military has reported encountering such dangerous maneuvers by Chinese air force planes in the past over the disputed waters, where it has deployed fighter jets and navy ships to promote freedom of navigation and overflight.

China has bristled at U.S. military deployments in the disputed region, saying these have endangered regional security.

Aside from China and the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan have overlapping territorial claims in the busy sea passage, a key global trade and security route, but hostilities have particularly flared in the past two years between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and navy forces in the Scarborough Shoal and another fiercely contested atoll, the Second Thomas Shoal.

Washington has repeatedly warned that it’s obligated to defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Philippine forces, ships and aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Tulsi Gabbard is set to test her odds of Senate confirmation on Tuesday as the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence considers her nomination by President Donald Trump. 

Gabbard, a former Democrat congresswoman who has been tapped as the nominee for director of national intelligence (DNI), went before the committee last week. During her confirmation hearing, she was pressed about her past meeting with former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, her previous FISA Section 702 stance and her past support for NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. 

She notably refused to agree that Snowden was a traitor during the hearing. 

The committee will vote on Gabbard’s nomination on Tuesday, two sources familiar confirmed to Fox News Digital. 

While Intel Committee Chair Tom Cotton, R-Ark., has continued to promote Gabbard for the role, at least one key Republican senator on the top committee is considered a potential defector on the nomination vote. 

Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., hasn’t said how he plans to vote in committee. 

In a since-deleted post on X, Trump-aligned billionaire Elon Musk said Young was a ‘deep state puppet’ in regard to his uncertainty about Gabbard. 

A spokesperson for Young told Fox News Digital in a statement, ‘Senator Young and Mr. Musk had a great conversation on a number of subjects and policy areas where they have a shared interest, like DOGE.’

Musk also shared on X over the weekend, ‘Just had an excellent conversation with [Young]. I stand corrected. Senator Young will be a great ally in restoring power to the people from the vast, unelected bureaucracy.’ 

At the same time, Gabbard has earned a number of key endorsements from Republicans on the committee. 

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., endorsed the nominee last month after she announced a reversal of her position against FISA Section 702.

She also received the backing of Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, after her hearing.

‘Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 provides that the President shall appoint officers with the advice and consent of the Senate. Having won the election decisively, I believe President Trump has earned the right to appoint his own cabinet, absent extraordinary circumstances. Therefore, it is my intention to consent to the appointment of Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence,’ Cornyn said in a statement.

Moderate GOP Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, announced her support for Gabbard on Monday evening, saying in a statement, ‘After extensive consideration of her nomination, I will support Tulsi Gabbard to be the Director of National Intelligence.’

‘As one of the principal authors of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 that established this coordinating position, I understand the critical role the DNI plays in the Intelligence Community. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, however, has become far larger than it was designed to be, and Ms. Gabbard shares my vision of returning the agency to its intended size. In response to my questions during our discussion in my office and at the open hearing, as well as through her explanation at the closed hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Ms. Gabbard addressed my concerns regarding her views on Edward Snowden. I look forward to working with Ms. Gabbard to strengthen our national security.’

Collins’ crucial committee vote was not a certainty, especially given her habit of bucking her party. She most recently did this on the confirmation vote for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, joining Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, in voting against him. 

Gabbard will likely need the support of every single Republican on the committee, assuming no Democrats vote in her favor. None of the Democrat senators have said they will vote to advance her nomination.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will face a pivotal test on Tuesday morning as the Senate Finance Committee votes on his nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). 

At 10 a.m., the committee will meet to consider President Donald Trump’s HHS pick, following his hearing last week. 

The 27-member committee is composed of 14 Republican members and 13 Democrats. Kennedy will need a majority of the votes in order to advance out of the committee. 

He will likely need the support of every committee Republican, assuming no Democratic senators get behind him. No Democrats on the committee have said they plan to vote to advance Kennedy. 

The HHS nominee has managed to get the support of two sometimes hesitant Republicans in Sens. Todd Young, R-Ind., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., already. 

However, he will still need the vote of Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., a doctor who has expressed concerns over Kennedy’s claims about vaccines. 

Kennedy spoke with Cassidy over the weekend, as the senator had foreshadowed during one of his hearings. Representatives for each did not divulge details of the last-minute conversations. 

If Trump’s nominee isn’t advanced out of the committee, it’s unlikely that it will make it to the Senate floor for a vote. 

Kennedy would become the first Trump nominee this term to hit such an obstacle, as the president’s other choices have been moving through the upper chamber and several have been confirmed and sworn in. Even Trump’s controversial Defense secretary pick, Pete Hegseth, made it past committee and ultimately was confirmed with Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote. 

However, if he does fail to clear the committee, he may not be the only Trump pick to hit such a roadblock. 

In fact, on the same day, Trump’s choice to be Director of National Intelligence (DNI), Tulsi Gabbard, also faces the possibility of failing to get past her respective committee. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is accusing USAID of ‘rank insubordination,’ adding ‘we had no choice but to bring this thing under control.’  The top U.S. diplomat made the comments in an exclusive interview with Fox News in El Salvador, just after announcing he would take over as acting director of the humanitarian agency.  

Rubio blasted USAID for being ‘completely unresponsive’ telling Fox ‘they don’t consider that they work for the U.S., they just think they’re a global entity and that their master is the globe and not the United States, and that’s not what the statute says, and that’s not sustainable.’

Rubio refused to say whether the agency ‘needs to die,’ as DOGE chief Elon Musk is suggesting, instead stressing the goal was always to reform it.  

‘There are things that we do through USAID that we should continue to do, that make sense, and we’ll have to decide, is that better through the State Department or is that better through something, you know, a reformed USAID? That’s the process we’re working through.’

Despite plans for restructuring, Rubio said the United States would remain the ‘most generous nation on Earth,’ but added, in a way that makes sense, that’s in our national interests.

Asked if changes to USAID would open the door for Communist China to increase its influence around the world, Rubio said ‘No, I mean, first of all, they don’t do that now. If they did, they’d be out there competing with us in these places. But my point is this, even if they did that, why would we fund things that are against our national interests or don’t further our national interests, whether China is there or not? If China wants to waste our money on something that’s against their China, their national interests, go ahead and do it. We’re not going to do it.’

Monday evening, the group and labor union that represents U.S. foreign service workers, released a statement opposing the Trump administration’s actions regarding USAID. ‘The American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) strongly objects to the administration’s decision to dismantle the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This will undermine U.S. national security, may subvert Congressional authority, and demonstrates a lack of respect for the dedication of the development professionals who serve America’s interests abroad.’

The wide-ranging interview came after Rubio’s visit to Panama and amidst repeated warnings from President Trump that the United State would ‘take back’ the Panama Canal over concerns the Chinese have de facto operational control over it.

Following his visit with the Panamanian President, Jose Raul Mulino announced the central American nation would leave China’s Belt and Road initiative. Rubio welcomes the move but tells Fox that’s not enough and that he hopes to see ‘additional steps in the days to come.’

President Trump announced 30-day pauses on tariffs on Mexico and Canada. Rubio acknowledge that ‘changes our economic relationship with our closest neighbors,’ adding the State Department is not involved in any negotiations to make Canada the 51st state.

Despite Venezuela’s recent move to release U.S. hostages and accept migrants living illegally in the US, Secretary Rubio said there are still no plans to recognize the Maduro regime as legitimate.  Rubio added ‘Maduro knows the US has many options to inflict serious damage on his regime.’

Rubio, who is of Cuban descent, says he has ‘no intention’ of going to Havana as America’s top diplomat ‘other than to discuss when they’re going to leave.’ Rubio continues his western hemisphere trip Tuesday with stops in Costa Rica and Guatemala.

Members of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee voted favorably Monday for President Donald Trump’s nominee, Brooke Rollins, to head up the Department of Agriculture (USDA), a widely expected outcome that clears her for a vote in the full Senate later this week.

Rollins was passed favorably out of committee on a unanimous vote. 

Rollins, who served as a White House aide during Trump’s first administration and then as the president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, is widely viewed as an uncontroversial nominee. 

Her nomination earned the backing of a coalition of more than 415 farmers, agricultural, and growers groups earlier this month. Signatories urged the Senate to swiftly confirm Rollins, praising what they described as her foundational knowledge of agriculture, as well as her policy and business bona fides that they said made her uniquely qualified for the role of U.S. agriculture secretary.

The committee vote comes at a crucial time for U.S. growers’ groups and agribusinesses across the country. Lawmakers in Congress have stalled on a new farm bill and on other key priorities for farmers and industry groups.

They also failed to secure the full extent of farm aid and agriculture subsidies considered necessary by many groups in their eleventh-hour government spending bill passed late last month. 

Rollins vowed at her confirmation hearing that, if approved, she would use her post as agriculture secretary to embark on a ‘fast and furious’ effort to distribute those funds to farmers, ranchers, and rural communities. She also vowed to combat fast-spreading animal disease in the U.S. and North America, including bird flu, which has hampered the poultry industry and sent egg prices soaring. 

If confirmed, Rollins said last week, she would ‘immediately begin to modernize, realign, rethink the United States Department of Agriculture.’

‘We understand that serving all American agriculture and all the American people means ensuring that our rural communities are equipped and supported to prosper, not just today, but tomorrow and the day after that in the many tomorrows to come,’ she told lawmakers.

Those supporting Rollins’ nomination have also praised her ‘close working relationship’ with the president, which they said will ‘ensure that agriculture and rural America have a prominent and influential voice at the table when critical decisions are made in the White House.’

Rollins was not expected to face staunch opposition to her nomination to head up the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and lawmakers who have spoken out have largely praised both her experience and strong knowledge of the agriculture sector. 

President Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee, Pam Bondi, will now move on to a final Senate floor vote for confirmation after senators voted to invoke cloture and limit the remaining floor debate.

Bondi, the former Florida attorney general who also spent 18 years as a prosecutor in Hillsborough County, earned praise this month for her composure during her confirmation hearing, which stretched for nearly six hours. She was also praised for her ability to deftly navigate thorny and politically tricky topics and lines of questioning from some would-be detractors. 

By a vote of 52-46, the Senate invoked cloture on the nomination on Monday night, defeating the legislative filibuster.

If confirmed, Bondi stressed, her primary goal would be to enforce federal law without political considerations.

‘Politics has to be taken out of this system,’ Bondi told the Senate Judiciary Committee, a refrain she returned to multiple times during her conversations with lawmakers.  

‘This department has been weaponized for years and years and years, and it has to stop,’ she said. 

Bondi’s experience and composure in her meetings with lawmakers, as well as during the confirmation hearing itself, won wide praise from Republicans on the panel, as well as some Democrats, who voted last week to approve her nomination. 

The vote clears Bondi’s nomination to the Senate floor for a full chamber vote.

Bondi’s experience also earned the backing of former senior officials at the Justice Department, who urged lawmakers in a letter this month to swiftly move to confirm her.

In letters previewed exclusively to Fox News Digital, the more than 110 senior Justice Department officials, including former U.S. attorneys general John Ashcroft, Jeff Sessions, Bill Barr and Edwin Meese, expressed their ‘strong and enthusiastic support’ for Bondi, praising both her commitment to the rule of law and her track record as Florida’s former attorney general that they said make her uniquely qualified for the role.

‘It is all too rare for senior Justice Department officials—much less Attorneys General—to have such a wealth of experience in the day-to-day work of keeping our communities safe,’ they wrote.

She was also backed by dozens of former Republican and Democratic state attorneys general, who sent a letter urging her confirmation earlier this month.

‘Many of us have worked directly with Attorney General Bondi and have firsthand knowledge of her fitness for the office,’ the former attorneys general said in the letter, also exclusively previewed to Fox News Digital. ‘We believe that her wealth of prosecutorial experience and commitment to public service make General Bondi a highly qualified nominee for Attorney General of the United States.’