President Donald Trump is halfway home towards cementing the first step of his government spending agenda.
The House passed a continuing resolution (CR) Tuesday to continue current spending levels – with some modifications favored by Republicans – through the end of the fiscal year September 30.
The vote on the relatively clean CR followed a successful procedural vote earlier in the afternoon that cleared the way for passage.
The final tally was 217 to 213. Only one Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), opposed the legislation. Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) was the sole Democrat to cross the aisle.
Conservatives have long loathed CRs, yet Trump not only won them over but enlisted them to publicly advocate for the legislation. Trump’s commitment to enacting spending cuts, made evident by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), made the difference.
The CR freezes current spending through the end of the fiscal year, with some modifications including an additional $485 million for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to continue Trump’s border security efforts.
Voters Support Continuing Resolution – Rasmussen
Scott Rasmussen sent me his latest poll, and it shows that 55% of voters support passage of the Continuing Resolution, including almost 80% of Republicans.
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Trump invites Zelensky back to White House after agreeing to ‘total ceasefire’ as he reveals Putin talks and vows to get the war ‘over with’
US president Donald Trump has invited Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky back to the White House, weeks after their Oval Office bust-up, after the wartime leader said he was open to a total, but temporary, ceasefire.
Earlier tonight, after eight hours of talks in Saudi Arabia, Ukraine said it was open to a 30-day ceasefire, including drone and missile attacks, naval attacks in the Black Sea and land warfare along the 600-mile front, with Russia, which is yet to comment.
In exchange, the Trump administration said that it would immediately lift its suspension of military aid to Ukraine and its intelligence sharing with Kyiv.
When asked by reporters whether Zelensky was welcome back at the White House, Trump tonight said: ‘Sure, absolutely.’
He added that there is a ‘very big difference’ in the state of Ukraine-US relations between the infamous Oval Office feud, in which Zelensky was unceremoniously booted out, and now.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US would present the ceasefire offer to the Kremlin.
‘We’re going to tell them this is what’s on the table. Ukraine is ready to stop shooting and start talking. And now it’ll be up to them to say yes or no,’ Mr Rubio said.
‘If they say no, then we’ll unfortunately know what the impediment is to peace here.’
President Trump said he would put the deal directly to Putin, telling reporters: ‘I will talk to Vladimir Putin – it takes two to tango. I hope he will agree’.
The US President hinted he will try to claw back some of the Ukrainian territory lost to Russia, saying he would be ‘negotiating land positions’ as part of the talks.
On Tuesday night world leaders piled pressure on Putin to agree to the deal and stop the fighting.
Sir Keir Starmer welcomed the breakthrough and said the ball was now in Putin’s court.
This is an important moment for peace in Ukraine and we now all need to redouble our efforts to get to a lasting and secure peace as soon as possible,’ he said.
‘As both American and Ukrainian delegations have said, the ball is now in the Russian court. Russia must now agree to a ceasefire and an end to the fighting too.’
US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz hinted that President Trump is ready to pile pressure on Putin, saying he was ‘take tough decisions on all sides’ to push through a lasting deal.
He also indicated he was open to US involvement in safeguarding Ukraine’s future security, telling reporters that talks had included discussion of ‘what kind of guarantees they are going to have for their long term security and prosperity’.
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Ukrainian presidential aide Andriy Yermak earlier told reporters that the most important thing was ‘how to achieve a just and lasting peace in Ukraine’.
He said security guarantees were vital to prevent Russia from invading again in the future.
The Kremlin has not publicly offered any concessions. Russia has said it is ready to cease hostilities on condition that Ukraine drops its bid to join NATO and demilitarises and recognises regions that Moscow occupies as Russian.
Russia has captured nearly a fifth of Ukraine’s territory.
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