Amid significant budget cuts, NASA is fast-tracking the development of nuclear reactors on the moon and next-generation space stations with one clear objective: beating U.S. adversaries in the new space race.

Two new memos signed by interim NASA chief and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy outline a bold strategy to secure strategic ground on the moon. The centerpiece of this effort is a lunar nuclear reactor, a renewable and stable power source to support long-term exploration.

‘The goal is to power everything,’ a senior NASA official told Fox News Digital. ‘Our systems, habitats, rovers, robotic equipment, even future mining operations — everything we want to do on the moon depends on this.’

The moon’s environment makes this a necessity. Its month-long day cycle — two weeks of daylight followed by two weeks of darknessc — renders solar power unreliable. A reactor would allow missions to function around the clock.

China and Russia set sights on the moon

NASA officials warn that China and Russia have publicly announced plans for a joint lunar nuclear project by the mid-2030s. If they succeed first, they could establish exclusive control over the moon’s most valuable areas, locations with the most light and access to water and ice.

‘They could set up a ‘keep-out zone’ in the prime locations,’ the NASA official cautioned.

Despite financial constraints, Duffy’s leadership signals a renewed priority to lunar and Martian exploration. 

‘China has already landed on the far side of the moon. We never have,’ the official added. ‘They’re moving on a steady path to dominate this domain.’

New contract structure for nuclear reactor development

The new directive solicits proposals for a 100-kilowatt nuclear reactor — enough to power about 80 homes — with a target launch date of 2030. It also requires NASA to appoint a dedicated program leader.

Today, many robotic spacecraft operate at just a few watts, the equivalent of a couple of light bulbs, which severely limits scientific capabilities. While the ISS uses solar panels, that model doesn’t work on the moon or Mars, where sunlight is too weak or unreliable.

Replacing the ISS: Commercial stations on the horizon

The second memo shifts focus to replacing the aging and leaking International Space Station (ISS), which is scheduled to be retired in 2030. Without a successor, China would become the only country with a permanently crewed station in orbit.

NASA now plans to select two commercial partners within six months of issuing new requests for proposals. Under Duffy’s direction, the agency is moving away from traditional fixed-price contracts and will instead use flexible Space Act Agreements, which give companies more freedom in how they build stations while saving time and money.

‘We’re telling companies what we need,’ a senior NASA official said. ‘But we’re not prescribing how they must do it. That flexibility saves us both time and resources.’

NASA wants the new station to be cheaper and easier to maintain than the ISS. Originally, it envisioned a platform that could host two astronauts for six months. But, under the revised plan, the minimum requirement is four astronauts for just one month.

Background: The Commercial Low Earth Orbit Destination program

NASA’s Commercial Low Earth Orbit Destination (CLD) initiative, launched in 2021, was structured in two phases:

• Phase 1: Fund companies — like Blue Origin and Northrop Grumman — to design private space stations.
• Phase 2: Award contracts for building and certifying selected stations.

Duffy’s directive calls for skipping fixed-price contracts in Phase 2 and continuing with Space Act Agreements, in line with tightening budget constraints.

Budget cuts reshape NASA’s future

According to the Trump administration’s fiscal 2026 budget proposal, NASA’s overall budget would drop from $24.8 billion to $18.8 billion, a 25% cut. The Science Mission Directorate, which oversees research in planetary science, astrophysics, Earth observation and heliophysics, would face a nearly 50% reduction. However, human spaceflight programs are slated for increased funding.

NASA has also confirmed that nearly 4,000 employees — about 20% of its workforce — have taken voluntary buyouts in recent months.

Despite these setbacks, agency officials remain optimistic. 

‘Multiple companies tell us they can deliver a station within two years,’ one senior official said. ‘Timelines are always challenging, but we believe we can meet these goals — even on a leaner budget.’

While President Donald Trump previously refrained from speaking ill of Russian President Vladimir Putin, those days are over. 

The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine has changed the nature of their dynamic. Although the two appeared to get along, at least publicly, during Trump’s first administration, their relationship has unraveled as the more recent conflict persists. 

In recent weeks, Trump has refused to mince his words when asked about Putin. Trump said during a Cabinet meeting July 8 he was fed up with Putin and said he was eyeing potentially imposing new sanctions on Russia. 

‘We get a lot of bulls— thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth,’ Trump said. ‘He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.’ 

John Hardie, Russia program deputy director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said Russia started to attract ire from Trump dating back to March after Ukraine agreed to a 30-day ceasefire. But Russia has failed to get on board with a ceasefire. 

‘Really, since then, I think Trump has come to view the Russians as the main impediment to a deal,’ Hardie told Fox News Digital Thursday. 

Additionally, Hardie said that Trump has also grown frustrated that Russia will launch drone and missile attacks against Ukraine, even after directly speaking with Putin. 

‘What he’s sort of latched on to are these Russian drone and missile barrages,’ Hardie said. ‘That really seems to resonate with him.’  

Tensions only have continued to escalate between the U.S. and Russia since the July Cabinet meeting. 

Trump announced July 14 that he would sign off on ‘severe tariffs’ against Russia if Moscow failed to agree to a peace deal within 50 days. He then dramatically reduced the deadline to only 10–12 days — which ends Friday. 

The decision to reduce the timeline prompted former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to caution that ‘each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war.’ 

In addition to economic sanctions, Trump responded to Medvedev and issued a rare statement disclosing that two U.S. Navy submarines would be moved in response to escalating threats from Russia. 

‘I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that,’ Trump said Aug. 1. 

Trump’s disclosure of the submarine presence puts additional pressure on Russia to come to the negotiating table, according to Bryan Clark, a retired submarine officer and director of the Hudson Institute think tank’s Center for Defense Concepts and Technology.

‘We have used very sparingly submarines to try to influence adversary behavior before, but this is pretty unusual, to do it against a nuclear-powered adversary like Russia in response to a nuclear threat by Russia,’ Clark told Fox News Digital Monday. ‘So I think this is trying to essentially push back on Russia’s frequent and long-standing threats to use nuclear weapons in part of the Ukraine conflict.’

Momentum is picking up on negotiations though, and U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin Wednesday. 

Trump said in a post on Truth Social afterward that ‘great progress’ was made during the meeting. And now, Trump and Putin are expected to meet face to face imminently in an attempt to finally advance negotiations to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. 

Still, Hardie said he is skeptical that the meeting between Putin and Trump will result in meaningful progress. 

‘I don’t expect a summit to produce much,’ Hardie said. ‘And I think Putin could try to use the summit to placate Trump and kind of buy more time continues assault on Ukraine, but I think his goal is he’d love to be able to enlist Trump in his effort to impose these harsh terms on Ukraine.’ 

Russia has pushed for concessions in a peace deal that include barring Ukraine from joining NATO, preventing foreign peacekeeper troops from deploying to Ukraine after the conflict, and adjusting some of the borders that previously were Ukraine’s.

It’s unclear if Trump plans to announce any additional economic burdens upon Russia Friday in accordance with the deadline that he imposed demanding that Russia signal willingness to end the conflict. But according to Trump, the ball is in Putin’s court. 

‘It’s going to be up to him,’ Trump told reporters Thursday. ‘We’re going to see what he has to say. It’s going to be up to him. Very disappointed.’

The White House did not disclose any details regarding potential Friday sanctions, but said that Trump wants to meet with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Putin to resolve the conflict. 

‘The Russians expressed their desire to meet with President Trump, and the President is open to this meeting,’ White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to Fox News Digital. ‘President Trump would like to meet with both President Putin and President Zelensky because he wants this brutal war to end. The White House is working through the details of these potential meetings and details will be provided at the appropriate time.’

President Donald Trump is preparing to announce new secondary tariffs Friday on nations who conduct trade with Russia amid its deadly war in Ukraine. 

The White House has remained tight-lipped on what those tariffs will look like after the president first said in July they would amount to ‘100%’ tariffs before causing confusion earlier this week when he told reporters he ‘never said a percentage.’

While the specifics of what tax rates nations that trade with Russia could face remain unclear, Trump’s change in posture toward Russian President Vladimir Putin has become increasingly evident. 

‘Trump’s frustrated that the Russians have not taken advantage of his patience and generous offers, but it’s very interesting that even after Trump announced he was moving submarines, and even after he announced the tough tariffs, the Russians still want to talk to him,’ Fred Fleitz, who served as a deputy assistant to Trump and chief of staff of the National Security Council during the president’s first term, told Fox News Digital.

‘Putin does not want to anger Trump,’ he added. ‘Putin never worried about angering Biden, and I think that this shows a degree of respect. 

‘It shows what Trump has achieved by exercising leadership on the global stage. And we’ll see what happens,’ Fleitz said, adding he hoped it was not merely a stalling tactic by Putin.

Trump’s return to the White House brought with it a sense of shock as he appeared to distance Washington from its top allies in Europe in favor of attempting to improve diplomatic relations with Putin, culminating in the infamous Oval Office showdown with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in February. 

While the tussle brought renewed support from his top MAGA base, who favor ending U.S. involvement in foreign wars, it prompted concern among security experts. Ultimately, Trump’s patience with Putin began to shift, with the president consistently expressing his frustration at the Kremlin chief’s continued brutal attacks in Ukraine. 

In mid-July, while sitting next to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump announced Putin had 50 days to enter into a ceasefire or face ‘very severe’ tariffs that would affect Moscow’s top commodity, oil. 

‘Tariffs at about 100%, you’d call them secondary tariffs,’ he had said, indicating that nations that trade with Russia will see 100% tariffs slapped on them when trading with the U.S. 

This would most greatly affect China and India, according to data released by the U.S. government Thursday, which showed both nations account for 46% of all Russian oil purchases in 2025.

But the U.S. is also the No. 1 export market for both China and India, which means higher price tags at the checkout line on their products will make Americans think twice before completing those purchases. 

After ongoing trade negotiations with both nations and Putin’s continued war effort in Ukraine, Trump last week pushed up his deadline to within 10 days of July 29, forcing a new deadline of Friday.

But while his promised tariffs were met with applause by some in the GOP, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. — he, along with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-N.Y., is pushing the charge for 500% sanctions on Russia — other Republican members have not backed the move. 

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has been outspoken against not only Trump’s tariffs but the bipartisan sanction push and argued to Fox Business’ Larry Kudlow this week that Trump’s tariffs on allies and foes alike will amount to $2 trillion in taxes for the American consumer.

But Fleitz pushed back on this argument and said he is not convinced that the tariffs will hurt the U.S. or Chinese economy, though Russia and India are likely to feel the pain. 

‘I think they’re going to hurt the Russian and Indian economies,’ he said, noting that India could recover by buying oil elsewhere. Though some reporting has suggested that India may have saved over $30 billion by increasingly turning to Russian oil during 2022-2024 due to Moscow’s price cuts. 

‘It is going to be another factor that’s going to pressure Putin to agree to a ceasefire. I don’t know if that’s going to happen immediately or in a few months, but I think it is going to put real pressure, inflict real pain on Russia,’ Fleitz said. 

Once a staunch Trump ally, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R- Ga., took to X this week in response to a post by Trump that he would be enforcing tariffs on India for purchasing Russian oil and said, ‘End Indian H1-B visas replacing American jobs instead and stop funding and sending weapons to the Obama/Biden/Neocon Ukraine Russia war.’

Trump’s favorable transition toward Ukraine and European allies has also ruffled some MAGA feathers, though security experts have argued it has given the president better leverage to take on major adversaries like Putin, and by extension, China. 

‘Diplomacy and negotiations are a good thing,’ said Fleitz, who serves as vice chair of the America First Policy Institute’s Center for American Security. ‘Peacemaking takes time, and the U.S.-Russia relationship was in a very bad situation when Trump came to office.

‘I think these sanctions will hurt Russia very badly,’ Fleitz continued. ‘The fact that Trump knows that secondary sanctions on India has, at least temporarily, hurt our relationship is really a remarkable sign of how committed Trump is to these sanctions.

‘There’s not going to be exceptions. It’s not going to be some type of soft strategy with all kinds of loopholes,’ he added. ‘I think it shows to Putin how serious Trump is, and it gives Trump leverage to negotiate with Putin.’

Senate Republicans last month were able to advance President Donald Trump’s desire to clawback billions in federal spending, an effort carried to fruition for the first time in nearly three decades by a first-term senator.

While the effort to slash funding to NPR, PBS and foreign aid was born in the White House, it was executed thanks in large part to Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo.

Schmitt, who was first elected to the Senate in 2022, has become an envoy of sorts for Trump’s agenda in the upper chamber. He has a strong relationship with the president that dates back to his first campaign, which has developed into a regular invite to join Trump for rounds of golf.

He’s launched probes against former President Joe Biden’s alleged mental decline, helped smooth over concerns during passage of Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ and contends that ‘intuitively’ he understands the president’s America First message. 

And his role in bridging the gap between the White House and the Senate, along with negotiating among his conference to get the $9 billion package across the line, has seen his stock rise immensely within the Senate GOP.

But, in an interview with Fox News Digital, he said his entire goal is to just be helpful.

‘I think I approach it with that kind of humility,’ Schmitt said. ‘But I also, I want to be successful, and I want the agenda to move forward. I think it’s really important. Being on the golf course with President Trump is a great honor, and we have a lot of fun. He’s a very good golfer.’

Schmitt, who previously served as Missouri’s attorney general before launching a bid for the Senate, regularly clashed with the Biden administration and said that his role of rebuking lockdowns, vaccine mandates, censorship and mass migration informed how he currently views legislating.

‘My job was to stand in the gap and fight back, with the hopes that President Trump would return,’ he said.

Trump endorsed Schmitt in 2022, and in return the lawmaker became one of the first senators to back his reelection campaign the following year. That turned into Schmitt becoming a mainstay on the campaign trail, jetting across the country in Trump Force One where ‘Big Macs and double cheeseburgers and quarter pounders with cheese’ flowed.

And when Trump won, Schmitt had the opportunity to leave the Senate and join the administration as attorney general, but he opted to stay in the upper chamber.

Had he jumped ship, Trump’s recissions package may not have been able to pass muster with the Senate GOP, where appropriators raised concerns about the impact that clawing back already agreed-upon spending would have on the government funding process and others raised issues with the funding that was targeted.

‘This wouldn’t have happened without Eric Schmitt,’ Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., told Fox News Digital. 

Britt was part of the same 2022 class of freshman senators as Schmitt, which included other notable Republicans, like Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., and Vice President J.D. Vance.

She said Schmitt’s leadership on the rescissions package, like listening to lawmakers’ concerns and negotiations with Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, to take the lead on the package, led to a final product that could actually pass in the diverse Senate GOP.

Indeed, Schmitt agreed to allow as many amendments to the bill as lawmakers wanted and included his own change to the clawback that would save funding for global AIDS and HIV prevention — a key change that helped bring more Republicans on board.

‘When Eric speaks, people listen,’ Britt said. ‘And he is thoughtful about when he uses his voice, and when he does it most definitely makes an impact.’

Schmitt, however, is more humble in how he views his part in the process.

‘People can label,’ Schmitt said. ‘I don’t get too hung up on any of that. Like for me, honestly, I feel fortunate to be in the position that I’m in. There’s really not a lot of daylight between the President’s agenda and the things that I support.’

Still, he was hopeful that another recissions package would come, describing it as ‘a good exercise for us,’ but noted that the timing for the remaining fiscal year would be tricky given the GOP’s continued push to blast through Democrats’ blockade on nominees and the looming government funding deadline when lawmakers return after Labor Day.

But getting the first one done was key to opening the door for more.

‘I think that was also part of what was on the line,’ he said. ‘When we were, you know, in the middle of the night, trying to make sure we had the votes, was that we have to prove that we have the ability to do it. And once you do it, there’s muscle memory associated with that. There’s a cultural shift in how we view things.’

However, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has demanded that Republicans commit to a bipartisan appropriations process and eschew further rescissions packages.

Should another come from the White House in the waning days of this fiscal year, it could spell trouble in Congress’ bid to avert a partial government shutdown by Sept. 30.

‘I really think it would be a bad idea for Republicans to alter our course of action based on what Democrat threats are,’ Schmitt said. ‘At the end of the day, they’re an obstructionist party without a message, without a messenger.’ 

Former President Joe Biden’s campaign team allegedly opted against a Super Bowl interview last year because of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report, Fox News Digital has learned.

A source familiar with Anita Dunn’s interview with the House Oversight Committee told Fox News Digital that the report –  in which Hur described Biden as ‘well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory’ – played a factor in the then-president breaking with the decades-old tradition.

But a source close to Dunn told Fox News Digital that she said Biden’s team decided against doing a Super Bowl interview last year because they thought the main coverage would be about what he did with classified records and not about the president’s policy decisions. They claimed the choice was made before Hur’s report was released.

Dunn sat with House investigators for just over five hours on Thursday, as Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., probes allegations that Biden’s inner circle worked to conceal evidence of mental decline in the former president.

The source familiar with her interview said Dunn also told committee staff that Biden’s inner circle came to a consensus he should not take a cognitive test, concluding it would offer no political benefit to the then-president.

It comes two days after Fox News Digital was told that ex-deputy White House chief of staff Bruce Reed, who met with House investigators on Tuesday, said Biden’s White House physician Kevin O’Connor called cognitive tests ‘meaningless.’

The source close to Dunn said Thursday that Biden’s team believed he would be able to pass a cognitive test, even if they saw no political benefit in one.

Dunn also told investigators that she was not aware of Biden’s stutter, which he’s said he dealt with all his life, until media coverage of it in 2020, the first source said. 

‘She went on to blame the media for pushing the narrative that President Biden was old,’ the source said.

The practice of pre-Super Bowl interviews began with former President George W. Bush opting to sit for an interview before the big game in 2004 and has been since followed by both former President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump – though Trump also skipped out on a Super Bowl interview in 2019.

Biden sat for Super Bowl interviews in 2021 and 2022, but did not in 2023 and 2024.

In 2023, talks about a pre-Super Bowl interview fell through with Fox Corp.

Hur’s report was released publicly on Feb. 8, 2024. The Super Bowl took place that year on Feb. 11. 

He was appointed special counsel by former Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2023 to investigate whether Biden mishandled classified documents. 

Hur ‘uncovered evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice-presidency when he was a private citizen’ but said it did not ‘establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.’

Given that Biden ‘would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,’ Hur said, ‘it would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him – by then a former president well into his eighties – of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness.’

Dunn is the tenth ex-Biden administration official to appear before the House Oversight Committee.

In addition to investigating the alleged cover-up, Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., is also looking into whether decisions were approved via autopen without the former president’s knowledge.

Of particular interest to Comer is the myriad of clemency orders Biden signed in the latter half of his presidency, though the former president told The New York Times last month that he was behind every decision.

Dunn, like most of those who appeared before her, defended Biden’s mental acuity to committee investigators.

‘The President made it clear that decisions rested with him, and White House staff brought issues to him for him to decide,’ Dunn said in her opening statement, obtained by Fox News Digital. ‘I believed strongly then, and I believe just as strongly today, that Joe Biden was an effective President who accomplished many important things for the American people.’

A spokesperson for the House Oversight Committee criticized Dunn after the statement came out in the media, however.

‘It’s no surprise Anita Dunn is telling the American people not to believe their own eyes, claiming Joe Biden was sharp and ‘fully engaged.’ This opening statement, leaked to media before Ms. Dunn even delivered it, is yet another example of the absurd lengths Biden loyalists will go to defend his failed presidency,’ the spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital also reached out to a representative for Biden and to Dunn’s counsel for comment.

After a report by the Daily Mail cited ‘well-placed’ sources close to Steve Bannon who claim he is gearing up for a 2028 presidential run, the former chief strategist to Donald Trump gave a two-word response. 

‘Trump 2028,’ Bannon said in response to a report he’s seeking political advice for a potential run. The report also claimed Bannon had privately disparaged Vice President JD Vance, considered the top contender to run for the presidency on the GOP’s ticket in 2028.

A source in Bannon’s inner circle told the Daily Mail Bannon has repeatedly said he does not think Vance is tough enough to run in 2028.

However, this week, President Trump said JD Vance would most likely be his successor. He added that Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio would make a formidable ticket, noting it was ‘too early’ to discuss the matter. 

‘I thinkJD Vance would be a great nominee if he decides he wants to do that,’ Rubio said during an interview with Lara Trump.

Bannon’s two-word response was published by the conservative news outlet The National Pulse, which blasted the Daily Mail for the ‘thinly sourced story’ and argued the article was an effort to drive division within the Republican Party.

Bannon told Politico in March that ‘all I do is back President Trump and try to move the populist agenda and the America First agenda. I don’t think like a politician.’ Bannon also described the notion of him running for president as ‘absurd.’ 

In April, Bannon told News Nation that there are ‘many different alternatives’ that could permit Trump to sidestep constitutional term limits, noting in another interview the same month that ‘we have a team’ looking at those alternatives. 

Three days after Trump’s 2025 inauguration, Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., introduced a constitutional amendment that would allow the president to serve a third and final term. 

According to Congress.gov, that proposal was referred to the House Judiciary Committee but has received no further consideration thus far.

The official Trump Store continues selling ‘TRUMP 2028’ merchandise, such as a hat for $50, which has further fueled speculation about a potential Trump run for a third term.

The Trump administration will deliver $93 million in new food aid to 12 African countries and Haiti to fight malnutrition, the State Department has announced.

State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a Thursday press briefing that the Trump administration will treat nearly one million children suffering from malnutrition through $93 million in ready-use therapeutic food (RUTF). 

The food aid will be distributed in Haiti, Mali, Niger, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Nigeria, Madagascar, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Kenya and Chad.

Following the announcement, Pigott was asked to square the discrepancy between the Trump administration’s revocation of visas belonging to Haitians in the U.S. and plans to potentially deport them, with the administration’s efforts to try to promote stability in the region through food assistance.  

‘Look, we’ve seen actions from this administration in order to try to encourage stability in Haiti. We’ve seen actions, announcements taken to try to go after those that are leading to instability in Haiti,’ Pigott responded. 

‘For specifics on TPS, I assume that you’re talking about whether they are afraid of [Department of Homeland Security] in terms of those specific decisions. But we have seen actions here from the State Department to try to encourage stability in Haiti.’

The announcement about new foreign nutrition aid comes after the Trump administration gutted billions from the government’s spending on foreign aid. As part of the reforms, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the primary government agency tasked with disbursing foreign aid, was folded into the State Department.

The $93 million in new food assistance will be utilized by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and will run until June, according to Semafor, which spoke to a State Department official familiar with the new food aid disbursement. 

In addition to providing ready-to-eat food, the new assistance, which will all be American-made, according to the State Department, will also be used to help produce or grow more ready-to-eat food, Semafor reported.  

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., has condemned the Department of Health and Human Services’ move to shift funding away from mRNA vaccine development, claiming it undermines President Donald Trump’s agenda to make the nation healthy again.

‘We reviewed the science, listened to the experts, and acted,’ Department of Health and Human Services Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said, according to an HHS press release.

‘BARDA is terminating 22 mRNA vaccine development investments because the data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu. We’re shifting that funding toward safer, broader vaccine platforms that remain effective even as viruses mutate.’

Cassidy registered his objection to the move.

‘It is unfortunate that the Secretary just canceled a half a billion worth of work, wasting the money which is already invested. He has also conceded to China an important technology needed to combat cancer and infectious disease. President Trump wants to Make America Healthy Again and Make America Great Again. This works against both of President Trump’s goals,’ the lawmaker said in a post on X. 

The HHS stated, ‘While some final-stage contracts (e.g., Arcturus and Amplitude) will be allowed to run their course to preserve prior taxpayer investment, no new mRNA-based projects will be initiated. HHS has also instructed its partner, Global Health Investment Corporation (GHIC), which manages BARDA Ventures, to cease all mRNA-based equity investments. In total, this affects 22 projects worth nearly $500 million. Other uses of mRNA technology within the department are not impacted by this announcement.’

Fox News Digital reached out to Cassidy’s office to request comment from the senator on Thursday, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Cassidy, who has served in the upper chamber since 2015, is aiming to get re-elected in 2026, though the incumbent faces competition from other Republicans who have also launched bids for the Senate seat.

In February 2021, Cassidy voted to convict Trump after the House impeachment in the wake of the January 6 episode at the U.S. Capitol. That Senate vote, which occurred after Trump had already left office, ultimately fell short of the threshold necessary to convict.

Anita Dunn is the 10th former Biden administration aide appearing before the House Oversight Committee as the panel investigates whether former President Joe Biden’s inner circle covered up evidence of mental decline, and whether decisions were signed off on via autopen without his full awareness.

Dunn is a longtime Democratic operative who has run communications for top left-wing figures and causes for decades.

She first likely engaged with Biden when serving as communications director for Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, in the late 1980s.

Dunn was a central figure in shaping communications policy during Biden’s White House term as well, and she played a key role in helping him prepare for re-election in 2024.

Her husband, lawyer Robert Bauer, is also known as a figure close in Biden’s orbit – having reportedly served as his personal lawyer.

‘If it’s a room of five people, Anita and Bob are two of them,’ an unnamed former White House aide told NBC News in January 2023.

But her relationship with others in Biden’s circle has reportedly been rocky at times, particularly toward the end of his four-year term.

NBC News reported in July 2024 that Biden family members discussed whether the president should fire Dunn and Bauer amid fallout from his disastrous debate against now-President Donald Trump, though White House chief of staff Jeff Zients dismissed the reports as ‘unfounded and insulting rumors’ in a statement to the outlet at the time.

Her relationship with Hunter Biden in particular, the former president’s only living son, has been in the spotlight on multiple occasions.

Dunn criticized the president’s handling of his son Hunter’s pardon during an event in Dec. 2024, saying that she disagreed with the ‘timing’ and the ‘rationale,’ describing it as an ‘attack on our judicial system.’

‘Had this pardon been done at the end of the term in the context of compassion, the way many pardons will be done, I’m sure, and many commutations will be done, I think it would have been a different story,’ Dunn told a New York Times panel at the DealBook Summit 2024.

‘So, I will say, I absolutely agree with the president’s decision here. I do not agree with the way it was done, I don’t agree with the timing, and I don’t agree, frankly, with the attack on our judicial system.’

Hunter, meanwhile, recently name-checked Dunn during a tirade against Democratic operatives during a recent interview on YouTube show Channel 5.

He said Dunn ‘made $40 or $50 million’ off of work on behalf of the Democratic Party, while going further in criticism of others like David Axelrod and James Carville.

Notably, however, Dunn was among those who continued to defend Biden after his debate – while criticizing fellow Democrats’ reaction to it.

‘It was a bad debate, but it didn’t feel catastrophic at all, certainly in terms of voters,’ Dunn told Politico Magazine in Aug. 2024, noting she was watching the debate at home while monitoring voters’ reactions in real time.

‘What did change it was 24 days of unremitting negative, horrible attacks on Joe Biden. . . . From his own party and from the press,’ Dunn said.

She went further in that interview, calling the public criticism of Biden ‘bullying’ while arguing that it was led by the media rather than voters themselves.

‘[T]he data still didn’t support this at all. We were looking at it and we were not seeing huge changes. But we were seeing an environment in the press that was just unremittingly negative. And nobody was covering Trump whatsoever,’ Dunn said.

‘I went to Wisconsin with [Biden] for an event, and people felt very strongly about the bullying. They didn’t like it, and voters didn’t like it. They felt that it was unfair and that it was wrong. So you had a lot of different things going on here. You know, clearly there were leaders of the party who decided to go ahead and go very public. And that gave permission to other people to go public.’

Before joining Biden’s 2020 campaign and later his White House as a senior advisor, Dunn was known as a close ally of former President Barack Obama, having aided both his 2008 and 2012 campaigns.

Both she and her husband worked in the Obama administration. Dunn served as White House communications director in 2009 and Bauer as White House counsel from 2010 to 2011.

Dunn spent time before and after that as a consultant at public affairs firm SKDK, raising questions at the time about her influence with both outside actors and those in Obama’s inner circle.

The New York Times reported in 2012 that Dunn had visited more than 100 times since leaving her communications job there.

That report also had White House officials denying any conflicts of interest on the part of Dunn or the administration. 

After leaving Biden’s White House, Dunn moved on to play a key role in former Vice President Kamala Harris’ short-lived 2024 campaign.

She’s since returned to SKDK as a principal.

Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.

Veteran Democratic operative Anita Dunn will be on Capitol Hill on Thursday for a closed-door interview with House Oversight Committee investigators.

She is the tenth former White House official to appear before the panel’s lawyers, as Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., probes whether former President Joe Biden’s inner circle worked to cover up signs of mental decline in the elderly leader – and whether executive actions signed via autopen were done without his awareness.

Dunn is appearing voluntarily before the committee’s lawyers for a transcribed interview. It’s expected to begin around 10 a.m. and will likely last several hours into the afternoon.

Three of the 10 former Biden administration officials who have appeared so far have come under subpoena, and each pleaded the Fifth Amendment to avoid answering material questions.

Appearing voluntarily does not give people the ability to invoke the constitutional right against self-incrimination, but it’s possible Dunn will give House investigators little to work with.

The six former White House aides who appeared voluntarily before her have all defended Biden’s mental acuity and ability to serve as president, sources said, even as some, like ex-Chief of Staff Ron Klain, have conceded the 82-year-old’s age has worn on him over time.

Dunn, like those who appeared before her, has known Biden for years.

She’s been a key player in Democratic communications and public relations strategies for decades, and reportedly was a central figure in Biden’s messaging strategy both at the White House and during his short-lived 2024 campaign.

‘She’s running everything,’ one unnamed White House advisor told CNN in June 2023 while discussing Biden’s re-election bid.

A January 2023 report by NBC News described Dunn and her husband, former Obama administration White House counsel Robert Bauer, as central figures in Biden’s orbit. Bauer also reportedly served as Biden’s personal lawyer.

‘If it’s a room of five people, Anita and Bob are two of them,’ an unnamed former White House aide told the outlet.

Dunn was also a central figure amid the fallout after Biden’s disastrous June 2024 debate against then-candidate Donald Trump.

NBC News reported in July 2024 that Biden family members discussed whether he should fire Dunn and Bauer, though White House chief of staff Jeff Zients dismissed the reports as ‘unfounded and insulting rumors’ in a statement to the outlet at the time.

Dunn served as White House communications director under former President Barack Obama, and Biden brought her onto his 2020 campaign to help with his own communications strategy.

She also served as senior advisor to the president for communications in the Biden White House before playing a key role in his 2024 campaign.

Comer wrote in his letter summoning Dunn, ‘You served as former President Biden’s ‘most senior communications adviser.’ Former President Biden confided in you extensively over the past decade.’

‘The Committee seeks to understand your observations of former President Biden’s mental acuity and health as one of his closest advisors. If White House staff carried out a strategy lasting months or even years to hide the chief executive’s condition—or to perform his duties—Congress may need to consider a legislative response,’ Comer wrote.