President Donald Trump unveiled a budget blueprint last week that includes roughly $6 billion in federal funding cuts to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). 

Despite the multibillion-dollar slash, a senior official at the space agency told Fox New Digital that the reduction in funding is actually beneficial for efficiency and exploration.

‘The reductions in the President’s blueprint budget counterintuitively represent an opportunity to truly innovate in how we conduct our space missions,’ senior NASA official Ryan Whitley told Fox News Digital in an exclusive statement. 

‘Now is the time to reduce the bureaucracy at NASA and turn our attention to the execution of bold new human missions to the Moon and Mars.’

The proposed plan would cut roughly 24% of NASA’s entire budget, and could phase out some major projects like the Artemis moon program. Artemis, which was conceptualized by Trump in his first term, was designed to push the U.S. to return to moon exploration and came after President Barack Obama canceled the Constellation program in 2011.

The original timeline of the Artemis program included a mission to land astronauts on the moon by 2024 via the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, but technical challenges have delayed the undertaking several years, and it is now set for at least September 2026 should the program survive the cuts. 

While funding reduction threatens some existing programs, the White House touted new investments that would bolster the agency in an effort to beat Chinese space innovations.  

‘By allocating over $7 billion for lunar exploration and introducing $1 billion in new investments for Mars-focused programs, it ensures that America’s human space exploration efforts remain unparalleled, innovative, and efficient,’ the White House topline preview reads. ‘To achieve these objectives, the Budget would streamline the NASA workforce, IT services, NASA Center operations, facility maintenance, and construction and environmental compliance activities.’

Aligning with the Trump administration’s movement to improve government efficiency, the White House clarified that the budget ‘refocuses [NASA] funding on beating China back to the Moon and on putting the first human on Mars.’

With a heavy reduction in federal funding, it is most likely that outside contractors and companies like Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX will most likely play a bigger role in launching rockets and exploring space.

SpaceX has conducted 479 launches thus far, and Blue Origin has conducted 31.

As the current head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), though he has announced his intention of leaving the agency to focus more on Tesla and his other ventures, Musk clarified he had no involvement in NASA budget discussions in a post on X last month.

The budget blueprint and the funding changes to NASA still have to make their way through the legislative process, but the U.S. space agency has stood fast in its position that the current proposal will bolster innovation and exploration.

‘We have accomplished the impossible time and time again, but even the best organizations need to take a hard look in the mirror,’ Whitley told Fox News Digital.

‘For the past 25 years, NASA has had access to billions of dollars to advance human exploration beyond Low Earth Orbit. Despite that, in all that time, the United States has only successfully conducted one—uncrewed—test flight around the Moon,’ he said. ‘We know we are capable of accomplishing much more.’

Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News Digital covering breaking news. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston

A lawyer who represented a government whistleblower in a case that led to President Donald Trump’s first impeachment sued the Trump administration on Monday for ‘unconstitutional retaliation’ after his security clearance was revoked.

Lawyer Mark Zaid argued that the administration’s decision to pull his clearance in March was in retaliation for representing former Department of Homeland Security intelligence chief Brian Murphy, who was key to Trump’s 2019 impeachment.

Murphy filed a whistleblower complaint in 2019 alleging Trump, amid his re-election campaign, pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate then-U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter’s business dealings in Ukraine. 

The U.S. House of Representatives voted later that year to impeach Trump for abusing the power of his office and obstructing Congress, but he was later acquitted by the Senate.

Zaid’s lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., claims the decision to rescind his security clearance represents a ‘dangerous, unconstitutional retaliation by the President of the United States against his perceived political enemies’ that ‘eschews any semblance of due process.’

The complaint accuses the Trump administration of violating the Administrative Procedures Act, the First Amendment and parts of the Fifth Amendment.

‘No American should lose their livelihood, or be blocked as a lawyer from representing clients, because a president carries a grudge toward them or who they represent,’  Zaid said in a statement. ‘This isn’t just about me. It’s about using security clearances as political weapons.’

The lawsuit cites a 2019 incident in which Trump called Zaid a ‘sleazeball’ at a Louisiana rally and told reporters that the lawyer was a ‘disgrace’ who ‘should be sued.’

The move to pull Zaid’s clearance was ‘a bald-faced attack on a sacred constitutional guarantee: the right to petition the court or federal agencies on behalf of clients,’ the lawsuit says, noting that an ‘attack on this right is especially insidious because it jeopardizes Mr. Zaid’s ability to pursue and represent the rights of others without fear of retribution.’

Trump has also revoked clearances of several other political foes, including former President Joe Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and his own former national security advisor John Bolton, as well as attorneys at other law firms.

Zaid urged the court to rule that Trump’s revocation decision was unconstitutional and reinstate his clearance. He has had access to classified information since 1995 and a security clearance since 2002.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Monday that the U.S. military will soon be seeing a dramatic reduction in the number of general officers across all branches. 

He called the reduction a ‘historic’ move to fulfill President Donald Trump’s commitment to ‘achieving peace through strength.’ 

‘We’re going to shift resources from bloated headquarters elements to our warfighters,’ said Hegseth. 

According to Hegseth, there are currently 44 four-star and flag officers across the military, making for a ratio of one general to 1,400 troops, compared to the ratio during World War II of one general to 6,000 troops.

Hegseth, who has pledged to transform the military into a ‘leaner, more lethal force,’ issued a memo to senior Pentagon personnel on Monday in which he ordered the reductions to be carried out in two phases. 

In the first phase, Hegseth ordered a ‘minimum’ 20% reduction of four-star generals and flag officers in the active-duty component as well as a 20% reduction in the National Guard. 

In phase two, the secretary is ordering an additional 10% reduction in general and flag officers across the military. 

The secretary called the reductions part of his ‘less generals, more GIs policy.’ 

In a video announcing the change, he said the reductions will be done ‘carefully, but it’s going to be done expeditiously.’ 

He said ‘this is not a slash-and-burn exercise meant to punish high-ranking officers’ but rather a ‘deliberative process, working with the joint chiefs with one goal: maximizing strategic readiness and operational effectiveness by making prudent reductions.’ 

‘We got to be lean and mean. And in this case, it means general officer reductions,’ said Hegseth. 

Congress sets the number of general officers allowed in the military. The total number of active-duty general or flag officers is capped at 219 for the Army, 150 for the Navy, 171 for the Air Force, 64 for the Marine Corps and 21 for the Space Force.

The House Rules Committee has advanced a bill to permanently rename the Gulf of America.

Formerly the Gulf of Mexico, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that upended that as part of his America First agenda.

But without congressional action, the name could be reverted by a future administration – which spurred Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., to introduce a bill enshrining the name in federal law.

The measure advanced through the House Rules Committee in a party-line vote on Monday evening, teeing it up for a chamber-wide vote sometime this week. The House Rules Committee acts as the final gatekeeper for most bills before they hit the House floor.

Democrats had attempted to derail the measure with several protest amendments, including one that would have limited oil and gas drilling permissions in the area. 

None of those passed along with the final bill, however, as expected. 

Democrats ripped the legislation as a meaningless attempt to score political points with Trump.

Republicans, however, called it a ‘historic’ move for America First and an  ‘important symbol of that effort and a step in the right direction.’

‘Throughout our country’s history, presidents have changed the names of America’s lands and waters. The change we are discussing today signals to the world that America is standing tall, and that we are proud of our country,’ Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., said in support of the bill.

‘It is nearly impossible to overstate the Gulf of America’s critical role in achieving not only American energy independence, but dominance. President Trump has made it a priority of his administration to reassert America’s role as a global leader in energy production, and the Gulf of America is a critical part of that agenda.’

She pointed back to Republicans’ 2024 electoral sweep, ‘The American people support these policies, and we must deliver on the promises that we have made.’

Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa., a member of the House Rules Committee, said during her opening statement during the panel’s debate on the measure, ‘Ever since the beginning of Trump’s term, House Republicans have been tripping over themselves to find new and more embarrassing ways to suck up to the president and indulge his peculiar obsessions.’

‘This bill to rename the Gulf of Mexico is a stupid, unserious waste of time and taxpayer dollars. It’s an embarrassment to the nation that it was ever introduced, let alone that it’s being brought to the floor for a vote,’ Scanlon said.

Fox News Digital is told a House-wide vote on the bill is expected Thursday morning.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital of the Democrats lodging protest amendments to the bill, ‘Democrats are so overtaken with Trump Derangement Syndrome and obsessed with obstructing the President’s agenda that they will always put America Last. As President Trump said, the Gulf of America has long been an integral asset to our nation. All future generations should be able to recognize this beautiful body of water as a sign of American greatness.’

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries slammed President Donald Trump while discussing the recent chaos at Newark Liberty International Airport, saying he had ‘decimated the FAA.’

During a press conference on Monday, Jeffries took a reporter’s question about the recent delays at Newark Airport.

‘Well, it’s certainly something that I think we’re all invested in looking into, as it relates to the ability of the American people to be able to travel in an efficient way,’ the Democrat began, before turning his attention to Trump.

‘We do know that the Trump administration has decimated the FAA in a variety of different ways, and they’ve been doing this from the very beginning,’ he added. ‘They are breaking the federal government.’

Jeffries added that the Trump administration is ‘breaking the FAA.’

‘And whether the specific situation at Newark Airport has anything to do with that remains to be seen,’ he continued.

‘But it’s my expectation that the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will look into this situation, and we should get some answers to figure out how to get it turned around.’

The conference came days after the massive delays and cancellations at the New Jersey airport began.

On Thursday, more than 500 flights in and out of Newark were delayed and at least 200 others were canceled, and chaos followed throughout the weekend. As of Monday afternoon, 172 flights have been delayed and 76 have been canceled on Monday.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed the situation on poor technology in an X post on Friday.

‘The technology that we are using is old. That’s what is causing the outages and delays we are seeing at Newark,’ Duffy wrote.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Monday that the U.S. military will soon be seeing a dramatic reduction in the number of general officers across all branches. 

He called the reduction a ‘historic’ move to fulfill President Donald Trump’s commitment to ‘achieving peace through strength.’ 

‘We’re going to shift resources from bloated headquarters elements to our warfighters,’ said Hegseth. 

According to Hegseth, there are currently 44 4-star and flag officers across the military, making for a ratio of one general to 1,400 troops, compared to the ratio during World War II of one general to 6,000 troops. 

Hegseth, who has pledged to transform the military into a ‘leaner, more lethal force,’ issued a memo to senior Pentagon personnel on Monday in which he ordered the reductions to be carried out in two phases. 

In the first phase, Hegseth ordered a ‘minimum’ 20 percent reduction of four-star generals and flag officers in the active-duty component as well as a 20 percent reduction in the National Guard. 

In phase two, the secretary is ordering an additional 10 percent reduction in general and flag officers across the military. 

The secretary called the reductions part of his ‘less generals, more GIs policy.’ 

In a video announcing the change, he said the reductions will be done ‘carefully, but its going to be done expeditiously.’ 

He noted that ‘this is not a slash and burn exercise meant to punish high-ranking officers’ but rather a ‘deliberative process, working with the joint chiefs with one goal: maximizing strategic readiness and operational effectiveness by making prudent reductions.’ 

‘We got to be lean and mean. And in this case, it means general officer reductions,’ said Hegseth. 

Congress sets the number of general officers allowed in the military. The total number of active-duty general or flag officers is capped at 219 for the Army, 150 for the Navy, 171 for the Air Force, 64 for the Marine Corps, and 21 for the Space Force.

New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday said she is leading a coalition of 20 states in suing the Trump administration over its cuts to public health funding and the Department of Health and Human Services, describing the efforts in a press conference as the most ‘sweeping and unlawful assault on public health’ in U.S. history.

The lawsuit, filed by James and other state attorneys general, accuses the Trump administration of violating ‘hundreds’ of laws and regulations in attempting to dismantle the Department of Health and Human Services, both by firing thousands of HHS employees in an effort to slash its overall workforce by 20,000 people and shuttering crucial health programs across the U.S.

‘This administration is not streamlining the federal government; they are sabotaging it,’ James said Monday. 

She used a press conference to highlight the risks these cuts pose for Americans in New York and across the country.

‘When you fire the scientists who research infectious diseases, silence the doctors who care for pregnant people and shut down the programs that help firefighters and miners breathe or children thrive, you are not making America healthy; you are putting countless lives at risk,’ James said. 

‘This is not how government is supposed to work. These actions are dangerous, cruel and illegal. They defy Congress’s authority and they violate federal law. And that is why today I am leading a lawsuit joined by Democratic attorneys general across the country to stop this administration from tearing down our public health infrastructure.’

The plaintiffs, who filed the lawsuit Monday in the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island, are asking the court ‘to halt the unlawful dismantling of HHS, to stop the mass firings, and to restore the life-saving programs that millions of Americans depend on,’ James said.

New York is joined in the lawsuit by the attorneys generals of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.

Their lawsuit accuses the Trump administration in the lawsuit of erasing ‘decades of public health progress’ and leaving HHS ‘unable to execute many of its most vital functions.’

Such actions, they argue, are ‘in violation of Congress’s instructions, the U.S. Constitution, and the many statutes that govern the Department’s programs and appropriate funds for it to administer.’

These actions included terminating 10,000 full-time employees, collapsing 28 agencies into 15, and closing half of HHS’s 10 regional offices. 

James cited many of these issues directly in the press conference Monday, taking aim at the administration for systematically depriving HHS of the ‘resources necessary to do its job.’

The government has ‘all but stopped testing for measles in the middle of an unprecedented measles outbreak,’ James said. 

New York’s Wadsworth Center, she noted, is one of the ‘only labs in the country still equipped to detect rare infectious diseases’ and is ‘scrambling to fill the void left by a hollowed-out CDC.’

Her remarks come after HHS announced thousands of layoffs in March and April, including at the FDA, the CDC and NIH. The reductions were in keeping with a Department of Government Efficiency-led push for agencies to slash the size of the federal workforce and trim government spending, prompting criticism from Democrats and some Republicans.

These cuts included terminating HHS employees tasked with determining SNAP and Medicaid eligibility for low-income or disabled Americans; the firing of the CDC’s entire maternal health team; and the gutting of mental health and substance abuse services and personnel.

‘None of these layoffs were necessary to accommodate a funding shortfall – Congress’s appropriations have remained steady, or in many cases, grown in recent years,’ the plaintiffs said in their lawsuit.

‘All told, 20,000 full-time employees – almost twenty-five percent of HHS headcount – would be terminated in a few months to save, by Defendants’ own estimate, less than one percent of HHS expenditures.’

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit asked to halt HHS efforts to dismantle the HHS-led agencies and programs that were cut as a result of the reorganization. States are also seeking declaratory and injunctive relief to prevent what they described as the ‘unconstitutional and illegal dismantling of the Department.’

The lawsuit is not the first time James, a longtime foe of the current president, has sparred with Trump since the start of his second presidential term.

To date, she’s joined Democrat attorneys general in more than a dozen other lawsuits challenging his early actions.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, told the graduating class at Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi, during a commencement speech on Sunday that they know how to ‘use a chair’ in the face of adversity. 

‘There are people that are going to tell you that there is not a table in which there is not a seat for you, but I am here to remind you of Montgomery and those folding chairs. Let me tell you that we know how to use a chair, whether we [are] pulling it up or we doing something else with it,’ Crockett said. 

During her remarks, Crockett seems to reference the viral video from August 2023 of a group of White boaters attacking a Black riverboat captain, Dameion Pickett, in Montgomery, Alabama. The white folding chair became a symbol of resistance when a Black man raised a chair over his head in Pickett’s defense as the other men attacked him. 

The Texas Democrat urged the graduating class at the historically Black college on Sunday to pull up their own seat at the table, reminding students of the bystanders who rushed to defend Pickett when he was attacked. Conservatives were quick to reply to the clip of Crockett’s remarks, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said Crockett’s comments were ‘not cool.’

Crockett’s remarks come on the heels of a contentious back-and-forth with President Donald Trump on Sunday. 

‘For you to be in charge of the WHOLE country, you sure do have my name in your mouth a lot. Every time you say my name, you’re reminding the world that you’re terrified of smart, bold Black women telling the truth and holding you accountable. So keep talking,’ Crockett said. 

Trump on Sunday told Kristen Welker, host of NBC’s ‘Meet the Press,’ that Crockett is a ‘low I.Q. person,’ calling her the future of the Democratic Party, which he described as in ‘disarray.’

Reports last week indicated that Crockett, who is currently the vice ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, has her eyes set on the chair position of the committee. Crockett would lead oversight of the federal government if she gets the gig, which could include leading investigations into Trump’s agenda. 

Conservatives have accused Crockett of inciting violence during Trump’s first 100 days. The progressive lawmaker from Texas was slammed online earlier this year for implying that Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, ‘has to be knocked over the head, like hard.’

Crockett also said Democrats need to be willing to ‘punch’ in races against Republicans.

The White House’s rapid response account replied to the comments on X, calling Crockett ‘another unhinged Democrat inciting violence.’

Earlier this year, Attorney General Pam Bondi accused Crockett of ‘threatening lives’ and said she should apologize for her rhetoric against Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for saying, ”All I want to see happen on my birthday is for Elon to be taken down.” Crockett would clarify that her comments were intended as ‘nonviolent’ resistance. 

Crockett was also criticized this year for calling Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, who is in a wheelchair, ‘Governor Hot Wheels.’ She tried to walk back the comments after her remarks went viral, calling the outrage a ‘distraction’ and claiming she was ‘appalled that the very people who unequivocally support Trump – a man known for racially insensitive nicknames and mocking those with disabilities – are now outraged.’

Crockett did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Israeli forces on Monday struck Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah, targeting the Iran-backed Houthis in response to ‘repeated attacks’ against the Jewish state, in particular its missile strike that nearly hit Tel Aviv’s largest airport. 

The Israel Defense Forces said fighter jets targeted the port city, which is along Yemen’s coastline, and a concrete factory. 

‘The terrorist infrastructure sites struck in the Hudaydah port serve as a central supply source for the Houthi terrorist regime,’ an IDF statement said. ‘The Hudaydah Port is used for the transfer of Iranian weapons, military equipment, and other equipment intended for terrorist purposes.’

In addition, the IDF also struck the ‘Bajil’ Concrete Plant, which serves as a significant economic resource for the Houthis, the IDF said. The facility is also used for the construction of underground tunnels and terrorist infrastructure for the terrorist regime, officials said.

During the strike, the Houthis retaliated with surface-to-surface missiles and drones that were launched at Israel and civilians, Israel said. 

Following Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the Houthis have targeted commercial shipping in and around the Red Sea in solidarity with the terror group. 

U.S. naval forces have been deployed to the region, where they have launched repeated airstrikes against the Houthis in Yemen. 

The group is funded and trained by Iran. 

Israel’s strike was in retaliation for a Houthi missile attack that nearly struck Ben Gurion Airport, causing multiple international airlines to cancel flights to Israel.

The missile reportedly evaded both Israeli and U.S. missile defenses, according to Israeli media.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed retaliation.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday banning all federal funding for ‘dangerous’ gain-of-function research in China, Iran and other countries and blocking all federal funding for foreign research that could cause another pandemic. 

The president signed the order Monday afternoon to improve the safety and security of biological research in the U.S. and around the world. 

The White House said the order ‘will drastically reduce the potential for lab-related incidents involving gain-of-function research, like that conducted on bat coronaviruses in China by the EcoHealth Alliance and Wuhan Institute of Virology.’ 

Gain-of-function research typically involves modifying a virus to make it more infectious among humans. Gain of function research took place at the Wuhan Lab before the COVID-19 pandemic began. 

The White House said the order will protect Americans from lab accidents and other biosecurity incidents, ‘such as those that likely caused COVID-19 and the 1977 Russian flu.’ 

The president’s order ends any present and all future federal funding of gain-of-function research in countries with insufficient oversight of research, and it empowers U.S. research agencies to identify and end federal funding of any other biological research that could pose a threat to American public health, public safety or national security. 

‘For decades, policies overseeing gain-of-function research on pathogens, toxins, and potential pathogens have lacked adequate enforcement, transparency, and top-down oversight,’ the White House said in a fact sheet describing the order. ‘Researchers have not acknowledged the legitimate potential for societal harms that this kind of research poses.’ 

The order, according to the White House, ‘protects Americans from dangerous gain-of-function research that manipulates viruses and other biological agents and toxins, but it does not impede productive biological research that will ensure the United States maintains readiness against biological threats and continues to drive global leadership in biotechnology, biosecurity, and health research.’ 

‘President Trump has long theorized that COVID-19 originated from a lab leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and has consistently pushed for transparency in investigating its origins,’ the White House said. 

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.