Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz is leading today’s White House press briefing.
The briefing will mark his return to TV, after he hosted The Dr. Oz Show from 2009 to 2022. The popular program ended after he launched a Senate campaign in Pennsylvania.
Earlier Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he faced questions over his leadership of the agency and the war in Iran.
Rubio sparred with Sen. Jacky Rosen, who said she was “shocked” to see him “at a party” with President Donald Trump in Miami while Vice President JD Vance traveled to Pakistan for Iran war negotiations in April. Rubio called it an “absurd statement” and said he was “not at a party.”
”Where I was is next to the president, because in the midst of those negotiations, I was in communications with them. In fact, I think there is media reporting from that evening on how multiple occasions I went into a back room, I came back out and spoke to the President and was constantly updating him,” he added.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche will also testify in budget hearings today.
Key Points
- Schedule for today’s hearings
- Protesters gather for Rubio's Senate hearing
- Sen. Kaine grills Rubio over strikes against alleged drug-carrying boats
- Mullin’s testimony will be the first since his confirmation hearing
Dr. Oz kicks off White House press briefing
18:16 , Katie Hawkinson
Dr. Mehmet Oz is speaking now to the press in the White House briefing room.
“It's like I'm talking to a classroom,” he joked.
Dr. Oz to lead White House press briefing
17:53 , Katie Hawkinson
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz will lead today’s White House press briefing.
He previously hosted The Dr. Oz Show from 2009 until 2022. The show ended so Oz could launch a senate campaign in Pennsylvania.
Rubio hit out at senator as she questioned him about Iran negotiations
17:30 , Katie Hawkinson
Secretary of State Marco Rubio hit out at Sen. Jacky Rosen after she grilled him over his role in negotiations with Iran.
“I'd like to remind the American people that, as the Secretary of State, your main duty as America's chief diplomat is to maintain our relations with foreign nations. This is why I was shocked to see that you were at a party with President Trump in Miami, instead of accompanying Vice President [JD] Vance to Pakistan for negotiations,” Rosen said.
“What party was I at? ... That's an absurd statement. I was not at a party,” Rubio shot back.
Rubio was spotted alongside Trump at a UFC event on April 11, while Vance was in Pakistan.
He went on to call Rosen “100 percent wrong.”
“I was not at a party, where I was is next to the president, because in the midst of those negotiations, I was in communications with them. In fact, I think there is media reporting from that evening on how multiple occasions I went into a back room, I came back out and spoke to the President and was constantly updating him,” he added.
Nevada Senator seeks answers about Trump's 'Board of Peace'
17:22 , Katie Hawkinson
Sen. Jacky Rosen, a Democrat from Nevada, asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio how she can get answers about President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace.”
“My team's been asking for a contact with the Board of Peace for several months, just to do our due diligence, but we've received no response. Can you tell me exactly who my team should be reaching out to, please?” she asked.
“Well, I can now, because the Board of Peace has finally hired some staff. It's going to be a very lean operation. They're working out of the Institute of Peace building,” Rubio replied.
Trump first announced the board in September. Read more about his initiative below:
What is Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ and which countries are members?
Rubio and Sen. Coons spar over NATO
17:07 , Katie Hawkinson
Sen. Chris Coons sparred with Secretary of State Marco Rubio over NATO.
“Is it not true that some of the challenges in our NATO relations have only come after President Trump threatened to seize territory from a trusted and reliable ... partner?” Coons asked.
“I don’t think that’s fair,” Rubio shot back.
“I think he publicly said both. He used tariffs to coerce Denmark into giving up Greenland,” the senator said.
“If you go back and study the history of it, NATO tensions and debates on whether the U.S. should be in NATO. In the 1970s, it was the reverse: it was the administration trying to stay in NATO and Congress trying to get us out. ... My point is that these debates about NATO have been ongoing for a long time,” Rubio replied.
Sen. Van Hollen calls Trump's foreign policy a 'dumpster fire'
16:26 , Katie Hawkinson
Sen. Chris Van Hollen hit out at Secretary of State Marco Rubio over the Iran war and called President Donald Trump’s foreign policy a “dumpster fire.”
“Mr. Secretary, this is your first public hearing since President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu launched an illegal war against Iran. Netanyahu said he's been waiting 40 years to do this — turns out he finally found a president who was both stupid and reckless enough to join him,” Van Hollen said.
“Let's face it, Mr. Secretary, the Trump foreign policy has become a dumpster fire,” he added.
Rubio faces criticism over USAID cuts
16:15 , Katie Hawkinson
Sen. Jeff Merkley, a Democrat, pushed back on Rubio’s previous claims that no one has died as a result of the government’s dismantling of USAID.
Merkley cited experts from top universities, including the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Boston University School of Public Health, who estimate “over 500,000 children have died from that sudden shutdown.”
“If you were to walk across this country, you would see one dead child equivalent every roughly 30 feet. That's the level of carnage,” Merkley said.
Sen. Kaine grills Rubio over strikes against alleged drug-carrying boats
16:06 , Alex Woodward
At least 201 people have been killed in a U.S. military campaign against alleged drug-carrying boats in the Caribbean and Pacific.
Sen. Tim Kaine, who has been briefed behind closed doors about the attacks, says the “presence of narcotics” on the boats is not among the criteria for targeting them.
“Why would the administration not include the presence of narcotics on the boat” as part of the criteria, he asked Rubio.
The months-long attacks have reportedly done little to combat the flow of illicit drugs into the country, raising questions about the effectiveness of an operation that law of war experts say amounts to extrajudicial killings and war crimes. The military is simultaneously intercepting suspected drug boats, suggesting that the U.S. can deploy law enforcement to stop the flow of drugs into the country without killing everyone on board. And top military officials — including the commander in charge of the campaign — have testified to members of Congress that lethal airstrikes are not the way to stop drugs from coming into the country.
The cost of the operations has exploded to at least $4.7 billion, according to research from the Watson School of International and Public Affairs at Brown University.
Sen. Murphy lashes out at Rubio over Iran war
15:49 , Katie Hawkinson
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy lashed out at Secretary of State Marco Rubio over the war with Iran.
Murphy argued that the Trump administration’s war and blockade “has now held the entire world economy and the U.S. economy hostage to the ability to negotiate an agreement with Iran.”
He went on to ask Rubio what it would take to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“Well, what needs to happen is very simple ... they need to announce that they will no longer fire on commercial ships that are going through or threaten to fire on ships because in many cases ships just won't move, they won't go, not because they got fired on, but because of the risk of being fired upon,” Rubio replied.
“And so they have to announce very clearly the straits are now open — we're not charging a toll, we will help remove the mines that they put in there, and they will not fire on ships,” he added.
'There is no Iranian navy': Rubio
15:28 , Katie Hawkinson
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers the Iranian navy is “at the bottom of the ocean.”
“Today, there is no Iranian navy. There is no such thing. There's a bunch of Boston Whalers with machine guns on them, but there is no navy. There is no Iranian navy. It lies at the bottom of the ocean, and will soon, within a number of years, be prime fishing spots, because they'll turn into reefs,” he said.
Today marks Rubio’s first public testimony since the war with Iran began in late February.
Rubio defends budget proposal
15:23 , Katie Hawkinson
Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended his budget proposal in his opening remarks.
“Foreign policy cannot be separated from economic policy, from border policy, from energy policy, from any of these other spheres that are critical to our national interest,” Rubio told lawmakers.
“A country that cannot build ships or produce medicine or control immigration or access vital resources cannot defend its people, cannot defend its interests, and cannot defend its way of life. So our foreign policy continues to be reoriented around the real foundations of national strength. This budget is yet another step, I believe, in that direction,” he continued.
Shaheen slams Rubio over Ebola outbreak
15:19 , Katie Hawkinson
Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen blasted Secretary of State Marco Rubio for requesting budget reductions amid the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.
“You're asking for a 44% reduction in the State Department budget that includes eliminating the World Health Organization, it includes eliminating all disease-specific funds in the middle of an Ebola crisis that's affecting Americans. Yet no one from your department can explain to us why this is a good idea,” she told Rubio.
Rubio's Senate hearing begins
15:09 , Katie Hawkinson
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is testifying now before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
In pictures: Protesters gather for Rubio's Senate hearing
15:00 , Katie Hawkinson
Demonstrators have gathered on Capitol Hill to protest Secretary of State Marco Rubio as he arrives for a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
ICYMI: Pam Bondi threw acting AG Todd Blanche under the bus over Epstein files
14:57 , Katie Hawkinson
Last week, former Attorney General Pam Bondi told lawmakers that her successor, Todd Blanche, was responsible for the chaotic release of the so-called Epstein files.
Now, Blanche is expected to face questions about the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein investigation when he appears before lawmakers this afternoon.
Read more about Bondi’s testimony below:
Pam Bondi throws Todd Blanche under the bus over Epstein files in Congress testimony
What is Trump's $1.8B ‘slush fund'?
14:37 , Katie Hawkinson
President Donald Trump recently proposed a nearly $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” that could be used to pay his allies.
The plan has sparked pushback from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers, with critics labeling it a “slush fund” for his supporters.
But Trump tabled the plan after a judge temporarily blocked his administration from “taking any further action pursuant to the creation or operation” of the fund in a ruling released Friday.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is expected to face questions from lawmakers about the fund when he testifies before a House Appropriations subcommittee this afternoon.
Read more about the fund below:
Trump drops his $1.8B ‘slush fund’ after outrage over paying his allies
Rubio set to give first public testimony since Iran war began
14:14 , Katie Hawkinson
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to testify publicly today for the first time since the Iran war began on Feb. 28.
Rubio will appear before two congressional committees today, where lawmakers are expected to grill him on the conflict.
Mullin’s testimony will be the first since his confirmation hearing
13:50 , Brendan Rascius
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s testimony will be his first since his confirmation hearing in March, when he replaced Kristi Noem, his scandal-plagued predecessor.
His appearance on Capitol Hill comes after multiple DHS insiders complained that the former Oklahoma senator is “barely in the building,” according to The Daily Mail.
“Mullin seems to think DHS requires less work than a senator, and it shows,” one told the outlet.
When reached by The Independent, a DHS spokesperson dismissed the report's claims as "complete garbage."
Rubio expected to be grilled on Iran war
13:30 , Brendan Rascius
Rubio’s back-to-back hearings are supposed to be focused on the State Department’s budget request, but lawmakers are expected to spend much of their time grilling him over the war with Iran, Politico reports.
The war, launched in February by the U.S. and Israel, remains ongoing following a series of failed diplomatic talks.
On Monday, Iran announced it was suspending peace talks over Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, which have reportedly hampered U.S.-Israeli relations.
President Donald Trump reportedly told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “You're f***ing crazy…You'd be in prison if it weren't for me. I'm saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this,” according to one U.S. official who summarized the call to Axios.
Here's the schedule for today’s hearings
13:15 , Brendan Rascius
It’s a busy day on Capitol Hill, with a trio of senior Trump officials set to testify before lawmakers. Here is the schedule for today’s hearings:
10 am ET: Secretary of State Marco Rubio testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
2 pm: DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin testifies before the Senate Committee on Appropriations
2 pm: Rubio testifies again before a House Appropriations subcommittee
4 pm: Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche testifies before a House Appropriations subcommittee
Blanche's hearing comes as 'anti-weaponization' fund faces setbacks
12:54 , Brendan Rascius
During his hearing today, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is expected to face questions about Trump’s $1.8 billion ‘anti-weaponization’ fund, though the fund appears dead in the water.
After bipartisan backlash in Congress and a federal judge’s ruling on Friday that blocked the fund on a temporary basis, the Justice Department announced it will “will abide by the Court’s ruling.”
A White House official told Politico that the fund “is no more.”
