House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., touted the close coordination between Congress and President Donald Trump to successfully pass the ‘one big, beautiful bill,’ saying the collaboration is part of the ‘beauty of unified government.’

Congress officially passed Trump’s multitrillion-dollar bill Thursday afternoon after back-to-back sleepless sessions for both the House and Senate.

The massive agenda package now goes to Trump’s desk to be signed into law just in time for Republicans’ self-imposed Fourth of July deadline.

The ‘big, beautiful bill’s’ passage marks the first major piece of legislation passed under the Trump administration and the first to pass while Republicans have control of the executive branch and both chambers of Congress.

Speaking with reporters after the mega-spending bill’s passage Thursday, Johnson said, ‘The beauty of unified government is this is exactly how it can work.

‘How it’s supposed to work is that you have an interaction between the executive and the legislative branches, because that’s what’s best for the people, and that coordination is going to yield great results for the folks.’

The speaker said people inside the Trump administration, including Cabinet secretaries, the vice president and the president, were all willing to take questions from members of Congress.

‘President Trump was so generous with his time answering questions himself. Vice President JD Vance was directly engaged. We had Cabinet secretaries at a number of different federal agencies answering questions from members. Some of them even brought their agency attorneys in to get really deep in the weeds on the details,’ said Johnson.

‘We had a tough four years before this last election cycle,’ the speaker added. ‘We knew that if we got unified government, we’d have to quite literally fix every area of public policy. Everything was an absolute disaster under the Biden-Harris radical woke Progressive Democrat regime.’

The bill, which advances Trump’s policies on taxes, the border, defense, energy and the national debt, narrowly passed the House of Representatives in a mostly party-line vote. All but two Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., voted for the bill, which passed 218-214.

It’s a commanding victory for Johnson and for the president, both of whom spent hours overnight trying to persuade GOP critics of the bill.

Speaking after the bill’s passage, Johnson explained his role in getting GOP holdouts to switch their vote to ‘yes,’ saying, ‘My leadership style is I try to be a servant leader.’

He said that because many members wanted to take time to ‘go really deep in the weeds’ on changes the Senate made to the bill, he felt it was his job as speaker to give each member the time to have their concerns addressed.

‘I knew as the leader that we would have to take the time to do that,’ he explained. ‘And, so, some of that went late into the night, and I was not going to make anybody — I was not going to demand anybody’s vote or their position on the bill until they felt that they had exhausted that opportunity. So, we did it. And that’s how we got everybody to ‘yes.’’

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump’s agenda appeared on life support as defectors in the House GOP, for a time, appeared ready to torpedo it. But in the end, only two Republicans voted against the bill, and it’s now heading to the president’s desk.

Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., were the sole defectors against Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill.’ House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., could only afford to lose three Republicans, given that no Democrat was willing to cross the aisle to support the $3.3 trillion megabill.

While he did vote to support the procedural hurdle to get the bill on the floor, Massie’s decision to vote against the bill was seemingly predetermined. He has continually argued that the colossal tax, border, defense and energy package would add trillions to the nation’s debt and do little to actually curb Washington’s spending addiction.

And he was not among the many conservatives who Trump and Republican leadership tried to pressure throughout the day on Wednesday, nor as the floor stayed open into early Thursday afternoon.

‘[Trump] reaches out every day on Twitter, reaching out with a million dollars of ads in my district with a picture of me and the Ayatollah,’ Massie said. ‘So, that’s the only sort of reaching out I’ve seen so far.’

While Trump did not directly single him out, the president did call on holdout Republicans to stop holding the bill hostage late Wednesday night, and declared on Truth Social that ‘MAGA IS NOT HAPPY, AND IT’S COSTING YOU VOTES!!!’  

Trump had previously threatened Massie with a primary challenger, as he did with Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., before his retirement announcement, for defecting against the bill. 

But senior White House officials told reporters on a call just after the bill passed that the president had not threatened a primary against lawmakers to earn their vote, and that lawmakers ‘well understand the President’s political power, and ultimately, they want his political power to be used for their benefit.’

Fitzpatrick had raised concerns about changes the Senate GOP had made to Medicaid reforms in the bill but had not publicly staked a position until the procedural vote.

He was the only ‘no’ vote on the rule, and that resistance carried into the final vote that ultimately saw House Republicans largely unify and pass the legislative behemoth.

Fitzpatrick said in a statement just minutes before the bill passed that he had voted to ‘strengthen Medicaid protections, to permanently extend middle class tax cuts, for enhanced small business tax relief, and for historic investments in our border security and our military,’ but that the Senate’s tweaks soured him to the bill.

‘However, it was the Senate’s amendments to Medicaid, in addition to several other Senate provisions, that altered the analysis for our PA-1 community,’ he said. ‘The original House language was written in a way that protected our community; the Senate amendments fell short of our standard.’

‘I believe in, and will always fight for, policies that are thoughtful, compassionate, and good for our community,’ he continued. ‘It is this standard that will always guide my legislative decisions.’ 

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently placed nearly 140 employees on administrative leave amid an investigation into employees who signed on to a letter allegedly using their official titles and EPA positions.

Written as agency employees, the letter contained information that misled the public about agency business, according to officials.

The EPA confirmed it placed 139 employees on administrative leave pending an investigation.

‘The Environmental Protection Agency has a zero-tolerance policy for career bureaucrats unlawfully undermining, sabotaging and undercutting the administration’s agenda as voted for by the great people of this country last November,’ an EPA spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Thursday.

The letter came after President Donald Trump’s administration in April fired or reassigned nearly 500 EPA employees.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin confirmed 280 staffers in the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights, Office of Inclusive Excellence, and EPA regional offices, were fired. 

Zeldin added that 175 others were reassigned. 

The EPA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and Environmental Justice arms were also eliminated, as Zeldin cut back more than 30 Biden-era regulations.

Though more than a hundred employees were allegedly put on leave, there are thousands of employees at the agency.

The EPA did not provide Fox News Digital with any additional information about the situation.

Intelligence agency officials like former CIA Director John Brennan must be held accountable for their role in advancing allegations about President Donald Trump’s connections with Russia during the 2016 election, according to the White House.

‘President Trump was right — again,’ White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to Fox News Digital. ‘Those who engaged in this political scandal must be held accountable for the fraud they committed against President Trump and the lies they told to the American people.’

Leavitt’s comments come after a new lessons-learned review that CIA Director John Ratcliffe declassified Wednesday determined that the CIA, FBI and National Security Agency’s Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) examining Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election deviated from intelligence standards that led to some ‘procedural anomalies.’

The review determined that the ‘decision by agency heads to include the Steele Dossier in the ICA ran counter to fundamental tradecraft principles and ultimately undermined the credibility of a key judgment.’ 

The ‘Steele dossier,’ composed by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele as part of opposition research on Trump during the 2016 campaign, featured salacious material and unfounded allegations about Trump’s connections to Russia. Trump has denied the allegations included in the document. 

Specifically, the CIA’s new review found that the CIA’s deputy director for analysis said in a December 2016 email to Brennan that including the dossier in any capacity jeopardized ‘the credibility of the entire paper.’

‘Despite these objections, Brennan showed a preference for narrative consistency over analytical soundness,’ the new review stated. ‘When confronted with specific flaws in the Dossier by the two mission center leaders – one with extensive operational experience and the other with a strong analytic background – he appeared more swayed by the Dossier’s general conformity with existing theories than by legitimate tradecraft concerns. Brennan ultimately formalized his position in writing, stating that ‘my bottomline is that I believe that the information warrants inclusion in the report.’’

Brennan served as director of the CIA from March 2013 to January 2017 under the Obama administration. 

Brennan could not be reached for comment by Fox News Digital. 

Likewise, the review said Brennan had sent a note to intelligence community analysts one day before their only session coordinating on the ICA that he had met with then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and then-FBI Director James Comey.

In that message, Brennan told the CIA workforce that ‘there is strong consensus among us on the scope, nature, and intent of Russian interference in our recent Presidential election.’

Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report. 

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., shattered a speech record in the House of Representatives on Thursday, as lawmakers continue to wrestle with President Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill.’

Jeffries has been able to command the House floor via a ‘magic minute,’ a privilege for party leaders in the chamber that allows them to speak for however long they want.

He’s used it as a stalling tactic to delay the final vote on Trump’s massive tax and immigration bill, after a marathon House-wide session considering the bill that began around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.

It’s now the longest-enduring ‘magic minute’ in U.S. House of Representatives history, breaking the previously record held by ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.

McCarthy spoke for eight hours and 32 minutes in November 2021 to oppose Democrats’ progressive Build Back Better bill.

Like Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act, lawmakers were working to pass it via the budget reconciliation process – which fast-tracks certain pieces of fiscal legislation by lowering the Senate’s threshold for passage from 60 votes to 51.

The New York Democrat began speaking minutes before 4 a.m. on Thursday and broke McCarthy’s record about 1:30 p.m, by approximately 12 minutes. Jeffries ended his speech after eight hours and 44 minutes.

‘I feel the obligation, Mr. Speaker, to stand on this House floor and take my sweet time,’ he said at one point.

The first part of Jeffries’ speech saw him read from a binder that he said contained accounts of people who could lose their Medicaid coverage under the GOP bill, taken from residents of states with Republican lawmakers.

‘This Congress is on the verge of ripping food out of the mouths of children, veterans and seniors as a result of this one big ugly bill in order to reward billionaires with massive tax breaks and exploding the debt in the process,’ he said at one point.

Jeffries said this ‘one big, ugly bill’ that ‘our Republican colleagues are trying to jam down the throats of the American people will undermine their quality of life.’

At another point in the wide-ranging speech, he accused Republicans of cutting federal benefits to pay for tax breaks for wealthy Americans like Elon Musk – who notably opposes the bill.

‘I think it’s important for the American people to process… SNAP on average provides $6 per day. At the same time, Elon Musk, his federal contracts, as we understand it, amount to $8 million per day. Mr. Speaker, if Republicans were really serious about targeting waste, fraud and abuse in the United States of America, start there – $8 million per day, start right there,’ Jeffries said.

‘Don’t take it. Don’t rip it from the mouths of children, seniors or veterans. If Republicans were really serious about targeting waste, fraud and abuse, start right there with Elon Musk.’

House Republicans are expected to hold their vote.

Congress has officially passed President Donald Trump’s ‘one big, beautiful bill’ on Thursday afternoon after back-to-back sleepless sessions for both the House and Senate.

The massive agenda bill now goes to Trump’s desk to be signed into law just in time for Republicans’ self-imposed Fourth of July deadline.

The bill – which advances Trump’s policies on tax, the border, defense, energy and the national debt – narrowly passed the House of Representatives in a mostly party-line vote. All but two Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., voted for the bill, which passed 218 – 214.

It’s a commanding victory for Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and for the president himself, both of whom spent hours overnight trying to persuade GOP critics of the bill.

‘The President is very engaged. He was very helpful in the process. He helped answer questions and articulate his vision and what this bill will mean for the country, and his agenda, and how urgent it is for us to get it done,’ Johnson told reporters the morning ahead of the vote.

The House initially passed its version of the legislation by just one vote in late May.

Senate Republicans took the bill up late last month and passed it after their own marathon voting session, also by just one vote – though the legislation underwent key changes in the upper chamber.

House lawmakers were slated to return to Washington on Wednesday morning to begin debating the bill, which included a procedural hurdle known as a ‘rule vote.’

But even before the rule vote could begin, it was clear the legislation had been hemorrhaging support from both moderates and conservatives in the House GOP.

Moderate Republicans were among those concerned about the Senate bill shifting even more of the Medicaid cost-burden onto states that expanded their health benefit populations under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), while conservatives were irate that those cuts did not go far enough to mitigate what they saw as excessive spending in other parts of the bill.

But the vote that was initially slated to occur Wednesday morning eventually passed after 3 a.m. on Thursday, after which both Republicans and Democrats hurriedly began to debate.

Among Democrats’ delay tactics included a lengthy speech by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who attacked Republicans for their overnight schedule.

‘If Republicans were so proud of this one big, ugly bill, why did debate begin at 3:28 a.m. in the morning? Republicans are once again, which has been the case, Mr. Speaker, through every step of this journey, trying to jam this bill through the House of Representatives under cover of darkness,’ Jeffries said.

But even before debate, the legislation’s fate appeared in limbo for much of Wednesday as closed-door negotiations paralyzed the House floor.

Five Republicans had initially voted against proceeding with debate on the bill, while eight GOP lawmakers had not voted at all.

The bill’s future was uncertain on Wednesday evening, but rather than accepting defeat, House GOP leaders kept the vote open for hours as they negotiated with holdouts behind closed doors.

One House Republican told Fox News Digital that Trump was directly involved in trying to persuade holdouts.

The president, meanwhile, aired his frustrations on Truth Social, ‘FOR REPUBLICANS, THIS SHOULD BE AN EASY YES VOTE. RIDICULOUS!!!’

In the end, they returned to the House floor where nearly all Republicans – save for moderate Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa. – voted to begin debating the bill.

Johnson told reporters when asked about Fitzpatrick’s defection, ‘I talked with him at length. Brian is a very good and trusted friend, and he just has convictions about certain provisions of the bill, he’s entitled to that.’

Meanwhile, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told reporters that critics were made to understand the bill is their only option on the table.

‘They recognized this is the vote that’s before us and it’s not going to change. There are other things we can do down the road, and we want to do. But we’ve got to get this bill done first,’ Scalise said.

The bill would permanently extend the income tax brackets lowered by Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), while temporarily adding new tax deductions to eliminate duties on tipped and overtime wages up to certain caps. It also includes a new tax deduction for people aged 65 and over.

The legislation also rolls back green energy tax credits implemented under former President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which Trump and his allies have attacked as ‘the Green New Scam.’

The bill would also surge money toward the national defense, and to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the name of Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants in the U.S.

The bill would also raise the debt limit by $5 trillion in order to avoid a potentially economically devastating credit default sometime this summer, if the U.S. runs out of cash to pay its obligations.

New and expanded work requirements would be implemented for Medicaid and federal food assistance, respectively.

Democrats have blasted the bill as a tax giveaway to the wealthy while cutting federal benefits for working-class Americans.

But Republicans have said their tax provisions are targeted toward the working and middle classes – citing measures eliminating taxes on tipped and overtime wages – while arguing they were reforming federal welfare programs to work better for those who truly need them.

Conservative groups also praised the bill, with Club For Growth CEO David McIntosh telling Fox News Digital, ‘By preventing the biggest tax hike in history, passing full expensing, and beginning to make key cuts to bloated programs and giveaways we are setting up our country to prosper in a new Golden Age.’

Top Republicans also praised the bill and Johnson’s role in its passage.

‘We delivered historic tax relief for working families, unprecedented border security investments, unleashed American energy dominance, and massive cuts to wasteful federal spending,’ Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital. ‘After years of failed policies, we stepped up to put Americans first and fulfilled our promises. On July 4th, 2025, we will return power to where it belongs—with the American people.’

House GOP Policy Committee Chairman Kevin Hern, R-Okla., said the bill ‘took an incredible amount of work to get this bill across the finish line, starting several years ago with field hearings, stakeholder meetings, and a lot of research into niche tax policy.’

A key House ally of President Donald Trump is calling for the Republican leader to be eligible for a third White House term over passage of his ‘big, beautiful bill.’

Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., also called for Trump to be added to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.

‘I was at the White House with President Trump for several hours yesterday and spent countless hours whipping votes with Speaker Johnson for the One Big Beautiful Bill. This historic legislation will unleash our economy and usher in a new golden age for America,’ Ogles told Fox News Digital after the bill passed.

‘Thanks to President Trump, we’re finally reversing the damage caused by Big Government and Democrat cronies. Wins like this are exactly why he deserves serious consideration for a third term—AND why so many believe he belongs on Mt. Rushmore.’

Ogles had previously introduced a resolution to give Trump the ability to run for a third term as president.

He was also seen at the White House in the lead-up to the last step of Congress advancing Trump’s massive tax and immigration bill. Ogles was also present on the House floor during tense negotiations on the bill, speaking to both Republican holdouts and House leaders at times.

The legislation narrowly passed on Thursday afternoon after a marathon session in the House of Representatives that began with a House Rules Committee meeting to advance it at 1:30 p.m. ET Tuesday, which ended nearly 12 hours later on Wednesday morning.

House lawmakers then met to debate the bill at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, though those proceedings were delayed for hours as House GOP leaders – and Trump himself – worked to persuade critics behind closed doors.

The bill numbers more than 900 pages and advances Trump’s agenda on taxes, the border, defense, energy, and the national debt.

The bill would permanently extend the income tax brackets lowered by Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), while temporarily adding new tax deductions to eliminate duties on tipped and overtime wages up to certain caps. It also includes a new tax deduction for people aged 65 and over.

The legislation also rolls back green energy tax credits implemented under former President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which Trump and his allies have attacked as ‘the Green New Scam.’

The bill would also surge money toward the national defense, and to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the name of Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants in the U.S.

The bill would also raise the debt limit by $5 trillion in order to avoid a potentially economically devastating credit default sometime this summer, if the U.S. runs out of cash to pay its obligations.

New and expanded work requirements would be implemented for Medicaid and federal food assistance, respectively.

Democrats have blasted the bill as a tax giveaway to the wealthy while cutting federal benefits for working-class Americans.

But Republicans have said their tax provisions are targeted toward the working and middle classes – citing measures eliminating taxes on tipped and overtime wages – while arguing they were reforming federal welfare programs to work better for those who truly need them.

Justice Samuel Alito raised concerns about a ‘potentially significant loophole’ in the Supreme Court’s decision to curb universal injunctions, and now his warning is hanging over lawsuits involving President Donald Trump.

Alito said in his concurring opinion in Trump v. CASA that class action lawsuits and lawsuits brought by states leave room for judges to hand down injunctions that, in practice, would function the same way a universal injunction does.

‘Federal courts should thus be vigilant against such potential abuses of these tools,’ Alito said.

Alito’s warning comes as judges continue to hand down sweeping rulings and as plaintiffs begin filing lawsuits tailored to avoid running into the new roadblock established by the high court.

In one major ruling, Judge Randolph Moss, an Obama appointee based in Washington, D.C., found this week that Trump’s proclamation declaring an ‘invasion’ at the border was unlawful.

Trump’s proclamation restricted migrants from claiming asylum when crossing into the United States, a practice the Trump administration says has been abused by border crossers.

Moss ‘set aside’ that policy under the Administrative Procedure Act, which had an effect similar to that of a nationwide injunction. More than a dozen potential asylees brought the lawsuit, and Moss also agreed to certify the case as a class action lawsuit that applied to all potential asylees in the country.

The Trump administration immediately appealed the ruling. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement that Moss was a ‘rogue district court judge’ who was ‘already trying to circumvent the Supreme Court’s recent ruling against nationwide injunctions.’

In his concurring opinion, Alito warned against class action lawsuits that do not strictly abide by Rule 23, which lays out the criteria for certifying a class. He said the Supreme Court’s decision on universal injunctions will have ‘very little value’ if district courts do not adhere to the rule.

‘District courts should not view today’s decision as an invitation to certify nationwide classes without scrupulous adherence to the rigors of Rule 23,’ Alito wrote. ‘Otherwise, the universal injunction will return from the grave under the guise of ‘nationwide class relief,’ and today’s decision will be of little more than minor academic interest.’

Alito also noted that another area for exploitation could be states that seek statewide relief from a court.

For instance, Democrat-led states have filed several lawsuits challenging Trump’s policies. A judge could grant those states statewide injunctions, meaning everyone living in the state would be exempt from the policies. Alito warned that giving third parties widespread standing in cases in that manner required careful scrutiny.

If judges are lax about these statewide lawsuits, states will have ‘every incentive to bring third-party suits on behalf of their residents to obtain a broader scope of equitable relief than any individual resident could procure in his own suit,’ Alito wrote. ‘Left unchecked, the practice of reflexive state third-party standing will undermine today’s decision as a practical matter.’

The State Department has changed its hiring and promoting criteria for foreign service officers to eliminate any diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) considerations. 

Before now, the second of five core precepts used in State Department hiring and promotion emphasized promoting DEI, according to documents obtained by Fox News Digital. That precept has now been replaced with one focused on ‘fidelity.’

A senior State Department official said it was ‘unbelievable’ fidelity was not already part of the promotion criteria. 

‘This is a commonsense and needed change. U.S. Foreign Service Officers represent America overseas and should be judged on their ability to faithfully and dutifully represent and champion our country abroad.’ 

The department’s previous hiring guide for 2022–2025 required foreign service employees to ‘demonstrate impact in diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility,’ according to the internal documents.

Entry-level applicants were expected to proactively seek to ‘improve one’s own self-awareness with respect to promoting inclusivity.’ Mid- and senior-level supervisors were told to recruit and retain diverse teams, respond immediately to non-inclusive workplace behaviors, and ‘consult with impacted staff before finalizing decisions.’

That guidance is now out.

READ THE NEW GUIDANCE BELOW. APP USERS: CLICK HERE

The department’s new document for 2025–2028 lists ‘fidelity’ as the first of five core precepts, followed by communication, leadership, management and knowledge. Under the new policy, mid- and senior-level Foreign Service Officers must demonstrate loyalty by ‘zealously executing U.S. government policy’ and ‘resolving uncertainty on the side of fidelity to one’s chain of command.’

The move comes amid a government-wide effort to eliminate DEI within federal agencies, and root out those who they believe to be working to undermine President Donald Trump’s agenda. 

The State Department has also frozen the Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT) – typically administered three times a year – as it moves to restructure and potentially downsize its workforce. In May, the department submitted a plan to Congress outlining a 15% reduction of its 19,000 employees and the consolidation of over 300 bureaus and agency offices.

While a court order has temporarily paused mass layoffs across federal agencies, a recent Supreme Court ruling determined that nationwide injunctions issued by federal district courts ‘likely exceed the equitable authority that Congress has granted.’

A recent pause in the U.S. sending Patriot missiles and ammunition to Ukraine is part of a wider, global review of military aid driven in part by the Pentagon’s China-leery policy chief, Elbridge Colby.

‘A capability review is being conducted to ensure U.S. military aid aligns with our defense priorities,’ Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell told reporters this week. 

That review is part of a plan championed by Colby to conserve U.S. resources that may be needed for war in the Indo-Pacific. 

Upon first news of the pause, Pentagon officials said it was due to concerns about the U.S.’ stockpile of munitions, which came after the U.S. and Iran traded strikes on each other in the Middle East. 

However, Parnell wrote on X that it was ‘flat out wrong’ to suggest Colby caught other administration officials off-guard with the aid pause. Colby ‘routinely provides policy recommendations to the Secretary of Defense and the President,’ but they have the ultimate say, he said.

A White House official confirmed to Fox News Digital they were ‘aware of the pause ahead of time.’

‘The President and top officials expect the DOD to regularly review aid allocations to ensure they are in line with the America First agenda,’ the official said. 

Colby has long advocated for limiting resources in Europe and the Middle East in case they’re needed in a war over Taiwan. 

‘What I have been trying to shoot a signal flare over is that it is vital for us to focus and enable our own forces for an effective and reasonable defense of Taiwan and for the Taiwanese, as well as the Japanese, to do more,’ Colby said during his confirmation hearing. 

‘A Europe first policy is not what America needs in this exceptionally dangerous time. We need to focus on China and Asia – clearly,’ he wrote on X. last year. 

The weapons put on pause, including missile interceptors and 155 mm ammunition shells, were already on their way to Ukraine, U.S. officials told Fox News.

Since Russia’s 2022 invasion, the U.S. has provided Ukraine with nearly $66 billion in security assistance, the Pentagon noted.

‘Part of our job is to give the president a framework that he can use to evaluate how many munitions we have and where we’re sending them,’ Parnell added. ‘We can’t give weapons to everybody all around the world.’

Still, critics like former GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger claimed Colby had ‘blood on his hands’ over the halt. 

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., requested an ’emergency briefing’ from the White House and the Defense Department to ‘review our nation’s weapons and munitions stockpiles, and ensure the United States remains fully committed to providing Ukraine with the resources it urgently needs.’

Dan Caldwell, a former Pentagon official who worked with Colby on policy, defended his past colleague on X. ‘The incentives at DoD favor maintaining the status quo: Keep troops in Syria, keep sending weapons to Ukraine that we need for our defense, etc. That is why when patriots like @ElbridgeColby put the interests of their own country and own troops first, they are viciously smeared.’

Six months into President Donald Trump’s second term, U.S. military prowess has largely focused back on the Middle East: an offensive campaign against the Houthis in Yemen, hitting Iran’s nuclear sites and boosting defenses in the region.

Air Force Gen. Daniel Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said defending the Al-Udeid base from an Iranian counterattack was the largest Patriot missile salvo in history. 

Fox News’ Jen Griffin contributed to this report.