By JOEY CAPPELLETTI and LISA MASCARO Associated Press
Congress has approved a short-term renewal of a controversial surveillance program used by U.S. spy agencies just days before it was set to expire. A bill extending the program until April 30 cleared the Senate by voice vote Friday as Congress raced to send it to President Donald Trump for his signature. Lawmakers turned to a short-term extension of the program after an attempt to pass a five-year renewal failed in a late-night House vote. The short-term fix sets the stage for another showdown in a matter of weeks. The program permits key national security agencies to collect and analyze vast amounts of overseas communications without a warrant.
Senate Democrats are unveiling a bill to have the government refund about $175 billion in Trump-era tariff money after the Supreme Court ruled that President Donald Trump's emergency tariffs were illegal. The bill from Senators Ron Wyden, Ed Markey, and Jeanne Shaheen would order Customs and Border Protection to issue refunds within 180 days and pay interest. The bill prioritizes small businesses. It also urges big companies to pass refunds along to customers. The Supreme Court announced its 6–3 on Friday, but it gives little guidance on refunds. Trump says refunds could be tied up in courts for years.
House Republicans appear to be backing off some, but not all, of the steep reductions to the Medicaid program as part of their big tax breaks bill. House Speaker Mike Johnson is running into resistance from more centrist GOP lawmakers opposed to ending health care coverage for their constituents back home. This is as a new report out Wednesday from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office shows millions of Americans would lose Medicaid coverage under the various proposals being circulated by Republicans as cost-savings measures. House Republicans are scrounging to come up with as much as $1.5 trillion in cuts to health care, food stamps and other programs, to offset the revenue lost for some $4.5 trillion in tax breaks.
The Treasury Department's Office of Inspector General says it's launching an audit of the security controls for the federal government's payment system. That's after Democratic senators raised red flags about the access provided to Trump aide Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. The audit will also review the past two years of the system's transactions as it relates to Musk's assertion of "alleged fraudulent payments." That's according to a letter from Treasury's deputy inspector general obtained Friday by The Associated Press. The audit marks part of the broader effort led by Democratic lawmakers and federal employee unions to provide transparency about DOGE's activities under President Donald Trump's Republican administration.
Senators are heading home for the month after failing to advance a bill to expand the child tax credit and restore some business tax breaks. Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer dared Republicans to vote against the tax cut package Thursday as campaign season ramps up, saying they'd voting against tax cuts for many low-income families and businesses. But GOP senators did just that during a 48-44 procedural vote that required support from 60 lawmakers to advance. Republicans said Democrats weren't serious about addressing their concerns about the bill and that they would be in position to write a better measure next year.
