EXCLUSIVE: Some House Republicans are increasingly frustrated with Elon Musk's handling of his role in the federal government – frustrations that flared during a closed-door meeting on Tuesday.

Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., raised concerns about Republican lawmakers not being on the "same page" as the White House and Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), three people in the room told Fox News Digital.

And he's not the only GOP lawmaker who feels that way.

"He wants to see better communication between DOGE, the president, and the House, because we’re getting fed to the wolves, while Elon’s just tweeting," one GOP lawmaker told Fox News Digital.

BLACK CAUCUS CHAIR ACCUSES TRUMP OF 'PURGE' OF 'MINORITY' FEDERAL WORKERS

A second GOP lawmaker said, "I’m going to echo Austin’s comments about, you know, it would be nice to have some heads up. There’s a lot of questions."

"Words matter, right? So let’s make sure we’re putting out accurate information that’s correct," the second lawmaker said.

Two House Republicans said Scott warned DOGE needed to "measure twice, cut once" in its audits of the federal government. 

Two others, Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., and another lawmaker, said Scott took issue with Musk re-posting a meme on X that referred to people on federal benefits as the "parasite class."

"What Elon was talking about is those who are gaming the system are parasites. But Austin looks at it differently, which is fine, Austin means right. But he said his people took offense to that," Norman said.

Scott told Fox News Digital he supported DOGE's goals but reaffirmed his frustration.

"DOGE's recent requests for federal employees should have been coordinated with the agencies before they were issued. I fully support those agencies working with DOGE to improve efficiency and eliminate tax dollar waste," Scott said in a written statement. "With that being said, referring to Americans who may need government assistance as ‘parasites’ is unacceptable in any circumstance."

House lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill on Monday after a week in their home districts, during which more than half a dozen Republicans were confronted by constituents who were searching for more answers on DOGE. Several demonstrations were facilitated by progressive groups.

GOP lawmakers who spoke with Fox News Digital all said they support the goal of cutting government waste but had issues with Musk's methods – several raised specific issues with his directive that federal employees email five bullet points on the work they did last week.

While the email from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) did not mention job status, Musk posted on X that employees who failed to comply could be terminated.

GOP LAWMAKER CALLS FOR CONGRESSIONAL HEARING OVER DC PLANE CRASH

"It’s not how most normal good bosses would lay off somebody," a third House Republican told Fox News Digital. "Some of them may be bad, but most of them are good. Treat them like Americans."

A fourth House Republican, a member of the House DOGE Caucus, told Fox News Digital that Musk's comments were not "helpful."

Another person took issue with Musk's suggestion of stimulus checks for Americans using DOGE savings.

"I think it's childish," that person said. "Now we want to take the money for waste, fraud, and abuse that was collected by the federal government and give everyone $5,000…or we could just pay off the national debt, or we could use that for the next round of appropriations we have to pay for here in Congress."

Others were public with their frustration, like Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who posted on X, "Our public workforce deserves to be treated with dignity and respect for the unheralded jobs they perform. The absurd weekend email to justify their existence wasn’t it."

Rep. John Rutherford, R-Fla., said it was up to the executive branch to deal with its personnel.

"Reductions in force are up to the executive branch agencies and the executive branch, which is run by President Trump. So if President Trump wants to make cuts to the executive branch agencies, that’s his prerogative," Rutherford said.

And the vast majority of Republicans are still backing Musk, at least publicly.

"I would say that I think the vast majority, the American people, understand and applaud and appreciate the DOGE effort, the goal to scale down the size and scope of government," Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said during a press briefing on Tuesday. "The reason we're excited about what Elon Musk and the team at DOGE are doing, the end result of that is going to be achieving the goal that we've always had, and that is to make government more efficient."

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House's DOGE spokesperson for comment.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and others are advocating relocating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's headquarters from Washington, D.C., to the Sunshine State.

The governor, who expressed support for the idea last month, has continued to do so, saying in comments last week that he thinks relocating the headquarters to Florida would "probably save about a billion dollars, quite frankly." 

Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., who DeSantis selected to replace Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate, is also pushing the idea — Rubio left the Senate in order to serve as Secretary of State in President Donald Trump's cabinet.

DESANTIS DECLINES TO ENDORSE TRUMP PICK BYRON DONALDS FOR FLORIDA GOVERNOR, TOUTS WIFE CASEY DESANTIS

"We need to move @NASA’s headquarters to Florida’s Space Coast. The move would save taxpayers money, encourage collaboration with private space companies, and tap into Florida’s talented workforce in the aerospace industry to spur further innovation," she said in a Monday post on X.

"This is a no-brainer for @DOGE," DeSantis declared when replying to Moody's post in a tweet on Tuesday. "Right now the Feds are planning on a building a new, expensive headquarters in DC for NASA — even though very few NASA employees have showed up to the current DC office over the past four years!"

A November post on NASA's website noted, "The current NASA Headquarters lease expires in August 2028, and the agency already has evaluated multiple options including leasing or purchasing within the District of Columbia."

DESANTIS ANNOUNCES FLORIDA ‘DOGE TASK FORCE’

A NASA spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement on Tuesday, "The NASA Headquarters building lease is up in 2028, and the agency continues to work through options."

Rep. Mike Haridopolos, R-Fla., chair of the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, responded to Moody's post with several emojis, including the thumbs-up, rocket, and American flag, adding in his tweet on Monday, "Florida is the place for space in America!"

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., issued a letter to Trump last month advocating moving the NASA headquarters to her state.

CASEY DESANTIS FAVORED IN FLORIDA GOVERNOR'S RACE, POLL FINDS

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

"While Washington, D.C., has historically been the home of NASA's headquarters, the rapidly evolving space landscape demands a more integrated and efficient approach to space policy. Florida's Space Coast, home to key facilities like the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, is uniquely positioned to support this transformation and strengthen America's leadership in space exploration," she said in the letter.

Individual federal agencies are in control as to what actions will be taken against government employees who did not respond to an Office of Personnel Management email asking for a bullet-point list of what they accomplished during the previous work week, a White House official told Fox News Digital. 

"Agencies should consider any appropriate actions regarding employees who fail to respond to activity," a White House official told Fox News Digital Tuesday. "It is agency leadership’s decision as to what actions are taken." 

Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Chair Elon Musk announced Saturday that federal employees would receive an email directing them to list their accomplishments from the week prior, with the DOGE leader adding later that day that the assignment should take less than five minutes to accomplish. 

Employees had until 11:59 p.m. Monday to send the list or risk losing their employment, according to emails regarding Musk's directive that were sent by the Office of Personnel Management.

TRUMP OFFICIALS LIST 5 WEEKLY ACCOMPLISHMENTS AHEAD OF MUSK MIDNIGHT DEADLINE

"Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week," Musk wrote on X Saturday. "Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation." 

"To be clear, the bar is very low here," Musk wrote. "An email with some bullet points that make any sense at all is acceptable! Should take less than 5 mins to write." 

Musk added to X on Monday evening that, "subject to the discretion of the President, (federal employees) will be given another chance. Failure to respond a second time will result in termination."

FLASHBACK: MUSK USED HIS 'WHAT DID YOU GET DONE THIS WEEK' DIRECTIVE BEFORE GUTTING TWITTER

"The email request was utterly trivial, as the standard for passing the test was to type some words and press send!" he wrote in a separate post. "Yet so many failed even that inane test, urged on in some cases by their managers. Have you ever witnessed such INCOMPETENCE and CONTEMPT for how YOUR TAXES are being spent?" 

A handful of federal departments that deal with sensitive and classified information told staffers to ignore the order to list their accomplishments, which President Donald Trump said on Monday was a "friendly" rejection due to the sensitive materials some government employees handle on a regular basis. 

FBI Director Kash Patel, the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security were among the agencies and departments that informed staff to not respond to the email. 

"That was done in a friendly manner," Trump said Monday while speaking with the media alongside French President Emmanuel Macron. "Only things such as, perhaps Marco at State Department, where they have very confidential things. Or the FBI, where they're working on confidential things. And they don't mean that in any way combatively with Elon. They're just saying there are some people that you don't want to really have them tell you what they're working on last week."

MUSK'S DEMAND THAT FED EMPLOYEES LIST THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS ROILS WORKFORCE: 'MASS CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE'

Other Trump officials, such as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Small Business Association Administrator Kelly Loeffler and Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, publicly reported their accomplishments for the previous work week on social media or in comments to Fox News Digital. 

Following the deadline, Musk posted a meme on X showing Greek mythology warrior Achilles and an arrow piercing his heel. A caption over the Greek figure reads, "Largest most entrenched bureaucracy on earth," while a caption over the arrow reads, "What did you get done last week?"  

Trump lauded the directive Monday, arguing that it will expose government employees who aren't actually carrying out tasks.

"There was a lot of genius in sending it," Trump said Monday from the White House. "We're trying to find out if people are working. And so we're sending a letter to people. Please tell us what you did last week. If people don't respond, it's very possible that there is no such person or they're not working." 

The left-wing groups backing the anti-DOGE protests across the country have been funding a variety of progressive causes in recent years, including defunding the police, pushing socialism, anti-Israel protests and opposing President Donald Trump’s agenda in general. 

In a press release earlier this month, MoveOn.org announced that it was mobilizing resources as part of a "Congress Works for Us, Not Musk" initiative "aimed at pressuring lawmakers to fight back against the Trump-Musk agenda."

MoveOn.org has taken millions of dollars from George Soros and his Open Society Policy Center in recent years. Soros is one of the most prominent backers in the United States of left-wing issues, including backing progressive district attorneys that set out to "reimagine policing" in the United States.

Additionally, Fox News Digital has previously reported on the Soros network's ties to the anti-Israel protests that swept the country on college campuses last year. 

'OVERWHELMINGLY POPULAR': ELON MUSK TOUTS AMERICANS' DOGE SUPPORT

Elon Musk has ramped up his criticism of Soros in recent months, particularly after former President Joe Biden awarded Soros the Presidential Medal of Freedom. 

MoveOn.org has also taken money from the Sixteen Thirty Fund, which Fox News Digital previously reported has poured tens of millions of dollars into progressive causes in recent years and is bankrolled in part by Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss. 

On June 5, 2020, MoveOn was calling for the defunding of police for the "defense of Black life," and the group has been a vocal opponent of U.S. Immigration and Customes Enforcement (ICE) while promoting individuals who want to abolish the outfit and sharing a letter in February 2021 claiming that "ICE and CBP were built to terrorize Black and brown communities."

"It’s no surprise the Biden Administration’s favorite billionaires are paying far-left activist groups to hold events designed to villainize Republicans," Congressional Leadership Fund spokeswoman Torunn Sinclair told Fox News Digital. "Democrats will do anything and everything they possibly can to stop President Trump and House Republicans from accomplishing the work the American people elected them to do." 

VOCAL OPPOSITION TO ELON MUSK'S DOGE CUTS IS A 'TERRIBLE' STRATEGY, WARNS EX-DEMOCRAT ADVISOR

Another group getting involved in the protests against Musk’s DOGE efforts has long been a major player in progressive politics. 

"Constituents braved the bitter cold at recess actions organized by the Working Families Party," a press release from the Working Families Party (WFP) said earlier this month, touting the group’s efforts to organize protests in multiple states at the offices of Republican officials. 

"The actions took place in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Rally speakers called attention to Donald Trump and the GOP’s plan to gut Medicaid, Medicare, and abolish the Department of Education."

The WFP, which self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders once said is the "closest thing there is to a political party that believes in my vision of democratic socialism", is a vocal supporter of the progressive "Squad" in Congress and has frequently advocated for defunding the police and ending cash bail in the past.

Maurice Mitchell, national director for WFP, hosted a "Progressives for Harris" video call in August 2024 – calling on his "comrades" to find "solidarity" in the fight against "Trumpism" and "American authoritarianism." 

A year before that, the WFP was actively criticizing Israel on social media over its immediate response to the Oct. 7 terrorist attack carried out by Hamas that killed over 1,400 people. 

"We call on President Biden, Secretary Blinken and the administration to do everything in their power to push for de-escalation, a cease-fire, & adherence to international law," WFP posted on X days after the terrorist attack. "And we renew our call for the occupation to end as the necessary condition for any lasting peace."

'DOGE BOYS': DEMS FUME OVER SPENDING CUT SPREE AT RALLY OUTSIDE TRUMP'S NEXT POTENTIAL TARGET

Financial disclosures show that WFP gave money to several progressive candidates during the 2024 cycle, including former Democratic Reps. Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush, in addition to Democratic Reps. Greg Casar and Pramila Jayapal. 

Indivisible, a grassroots progressive organization, put out a memo encouraging activists to use last week’s recess to protest House lawmakers at their home offices amid the left’s backlash against Musk’s DOGE efforts, Fox News Digital previously reported. 

"Recess is when Members of Congress go back home to host town halls, meet with constituents, and try to paint themselves as responsive to the people who elected them. It is also when MoCs think they can avoid public scrutiny — especially Republicans who want to dodge tough questions about their complicity in Trump and Musk’s coup," the group’s site said.

Indivisible’s website states that it was originally "brought together by a practical guide to resist the Trump agenda" and has previously supported defunding the police along with ending cash bail. 

Indivisible has also been involved in protests calling to "abolish" ICE. 

"The Democrat Party has sold themselves out to the far-left crazies and their mega-donors who are funding these clown shows," NRCC spokesperson Mike Marinella told Fox News Digital. 

"This isn’t grassroots — it’s manufactured outrage to distract from their failed and out of touch record."

Fox News Digital reached out to MoveOn, WFP, Indivisible, Open Society Foundations and the Wyss Foundation for comment. 

Fox News Digital’s Liz Elkind contributed to this report

Individual federal agencies are in control as to what actions will be taken against government employees who did not respond to an Office of Personnel Management email asking for a bullet-point list of what they accomplished during the previous work week, a White House official told Fox News Digital. 

"Agencies should consider any appropriate actions regarding employees who fail to respond to activity," a White House official told Fox News Digital Tuesday. "It is agency leadership’s decision as to what actions are taken." 

Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Chair Elon Musk announced Saturday that federal employees would receive an email directing them to list their accomplishments from the week prior, with the DOGE leader adding later that day that the assignment should take less than five minutes to accomplish. 

Employees had until 11:59 p.m. Monday to send the list or risk losing their employment, according to emails regarding Musk's directive that were sent by the Office of Personnel Management.

TRUMP OFFICIALS LIST 5 WEEKLY ACCOMPLISHMENTS AHEAD OF MUSK MIDNIGHT DEADLINE

"Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week," Musk wrote on X Saturday. "Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation." 

"To be clear, the bar is very low here," Musk wrote. "An email with some bullet points that make any sense at all is acceptable! Should take less than 5 mins to write." 

Musk added to X on Monday evening that, "subject to the discretion of the President, (federal employees) will be given another chance. Failure to respond a second time will result in termination."

FLASHBACK: MUSK USED HIS 'WHAT DID YOU GET DONE THIS WEEK' DIRECTIVE BEFORE GUTTING TWITTER

"The email request was utterly trivial, as the standard for passing the test was to type some words and press send!" he wrote in a separate post. "Yet so many failed even that inane test, urged on in some cases by their managers. Have you ever witnessed such INCOMPETENCE and CONTEMPT for how YOUR TAXES are being spent?" 

A handful of federal departments that deal with sensitive and classified information told staffers to ignore the order to list their accomplishments, which President Donald Trump said on Monday was a "friendly" rejection due to the sensitive materials some government employees handle on a regular basis. 

FBI Director Kash Patel, the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security were among the agencies and departments that informed staff to not respond to the email. 

"That was done in a friendly manner," Trump said Monday while speaking with the media alongside French President Emmanuel Macron. "Only things such as, perhaps Marco at State Department, where they have very confidential things. Or the FBI, where they're working on confidential things. And they don't mean that in any way combatively with Elon. They're just saying there are some people that you don't want to really have them tell you what they're working on last week."

MUSK'S DEMAND THAT FED EMPLOYEES LIST THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS ROILS WORKFORCE: 'MASS CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE'

Other Trump officials, such as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Small Business Association Administrator Kelly Loeffler and Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, publicly reported their accomplishments for the previous work week on social media or in comments to Fox News Digital. 

Following the deadline, Musk posted a meme on X showing Greek mythology warrior Achilles and an arrow piercing his heel. A caption over the Greek figure reads, "Largest most entrenched bureaucracy on earth," while a caption over the arrow reads, "What did you get done last week?"  

Trump lauded the directive Monday, arguing that it will expose government employees who aren't actually carrying out tasks.

"There was a lot of genius in sending it," Trump said Monday from the White House. "We're trying to find out if people are working. And so we're sending a letter to people. Please tell us what you did last week. If people don't respond, it's very possible that there is no such person or they're not working." 

Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro announced Monday that $2.1 billion in federal funds had been unfrozen and restored to Pennsylvania, as Democratic governors rely on the courts to challenge President Donald Trump's executive actions. 

Shapiro sued the Trump administration on Feb. 13, joining the initial 22 states and the District of Columbia with lawsuits challenging Trump's allegedly "illegal" federal funding freeze. Shapiro said legal action was necessary to restore Pennsylvania’s federal funding. 

Shapiro, who was in Washington for the National Governors Association (NGA) last week, said he urged senior members of the Trump administration to unfreeze the federal funds. 

"When I was at the White House on Friday, I again raised the issue of our frozen federal funding to President Trump's senior team and members of his Cabinet," Shapiro told reporters Monday. "I urged them to follow the law and to honor their agreements with Pennsylvania. As a result of that direct engagement last week, our funding is unfrozen. They are now following the law, and we will continue to press our case."

SHAPIRO LATEST DEMOCRAT SUING 'UNCONSTITUTIONAL' TRUMP ADMIN

Shapiro said his directness earned Pennsylvania access to the funds "duly owed to us."

"I was very direct with them. They were very responsive to me. And as a result, Pennsylvania now has what is duly owed to us," Shapiro added. 

The White House Office of Management and Budget directed agencies to halt federal funding on Jan. 27 in compliance with Trump's executive orders. Federal judges had issued a temporary restraining order to block the funding freeze ahead of Shapiro's lawsuit, but only states with litigation against the Trump administration were able to access the unfrozen funds. 

JUDICIAL PUSHBACK ON TRUMP 'HURTING AMERICAN PEOPLE,' SAYS GOP REP LEADING IMPEACHMENT CHARGE

"As a result of our lawsuit and our continued pressure and engagement with the Trump administration, in which we demanded that the administration comply with the legal injunctions currently in place, we made clear that we were ready to seek immediate relief from the courts. Every dollar that we identified at the filing of our lawsuit is currently unfrozen and, once again, accessible to all Pennsylvania state agencies," Shapiro said. 

The $2.1 billion in federal funding restores what Shapiro described as "critical programs and infrastructure projects that have been jeopardized by this illegal freeze." Those programs include plugging abandoned wells, cleaning waterways, protecting farmers from runoff water, repairing mines and delivering clean water to Pennsylvanians, Shapiro said. He said several projects that were halted have been restored and dozens of federal employees are now back to work. 

Shapiro said it is his responsibility as governor to take legal action against the federal government when necessary to deliver for Pennsylvania.

"It is my job to protect Pennsylvania's interests, and I will use every tool at my disposal, from legal action to my direct engagement, to make sure that Pennsylvanians are protected, and that the funds Pennsylvanians rely on every day, the funds that Pennsylvanians pay in federal taxes make their way back to our Commonwealth, and we receive every federal dollar that we are owed," Shapiro said. 

The legal dance of Trump’s executive actions is on full display in Shapiro’s litigation as the governor said suing the Trump administration was the only way to unfreeze Pennsylvania’s federal funds. Shapiro’s legal win is the latest in ongoing litigation between the state and federal governments. 

During the Governor's Working Session at the White House on Friday, when Shapiro told senior Trump officials to restore his state’s federal funding, Gov. Janet Mills, D-Maine, was telling Trump, "We’ll see you in court." 

Trump told Mills, in a moment NGA Vice Chairman Kevin Stitt, R-Okla., described as "uncomfortable," that Maine would not receive any federal funding if she did not comply with his executive order to prevent transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports. 

Mills said in a statement that Maine would "not be intimidated by the president’s threats."

"If the president attempts to unilaterally deprive Maine school children of the benefit of federal funding, my administration and the attorney general will take all appropriate and necessary legal action to restore that funding and the academic opportunity it provides," Mills added. 

As Trump continues to implement part of his agenda through executive action, Democrats are relying on federal litigation to challenge the Trump administration’s executive authority, that many call a "constitutional crisis."

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Pennsylvania's unfrozen federal funds. 

FIRST ON FOX: A group of Republican lawmakers is turning up the heat on President Donald Trump to recognize the West Bank as Israeli territory after the president suggested he was looking into such a change. 

A new letter to Trump, led by Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., frames the fraught territory, occupied by both Palestinians and Israelis, as the heartland of the U.S. and Israel’s "shared Judeo-Christian heritage." 

"This region is the heart of our shared Judeo-Christian heritage and recognition of the right of Israel to declare sovereignty over this region would build upon your previous recognition of the importance of this heritage," the letter reads.

"In anticipation of a potential policy announcement regarding Judea and Samaria in the next few weeks, we want to express our strong support for recognizing Israel’s right to declare sovereignty over this historically and biblically significant region. We also wish to express our strong opposition to the recognition of any hostile Arab state in Judea and Samaria that supports terrorism and fails to recognize Israel."

ISRAEL MOVES TANKS INTO WEST BANK FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2002

The letter also applauds Trump for lifting sanctions on Israeli settlers in the West Bank, imposed under the Biden administration. 

The order was meant to punish Israeli settlers accused of perpetrating violence against Palestinians in the West Bank after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. 

Five other members of the Friends of Judea and Samaria Caucus signed on to the letter: Reps. Mary Miller, R-Ill., Randy Weber, R-Texas, Andy Harris, R-Md., Barry Moore, R-Ala., and Nick LaLota, R-N.Y. 

Trump teased a new announcement on West Bank policy earlier this month.

HAMAS RELEASES MORE HOSTAGES IN EXCHANGE FOR MORE THAN 600 PALESTINIAN PRISONERS AS PART OF CEASEFIRE DEAL

"We're discussing that with many of your representatives," he said. "People do like the idea, but we haven’t taken a position on it yet. But we will be making an announcement on that very specific topic in the next four weeks."

Trump is expected to have a far more permissive view of Israeli expansion into the West Bank than the Biden administration. He reversed long-standing U.S. policy during his first administration that deemed Israeli settlements in the West Bank a violation of law. 

For the first time in two decades, Israel moved tanks into the West Bank, turning its attention to militants hiding there after the signing of the ceasefire in Gaza. 

Palestinians see the effort as Israel setting up an effort to retake the areas currently run by the Palestinian Authority. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israeli forces would stay in the West Bank "as long as needed." 

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said troops would be in urban areas of the West Bank at least "for the coming year" and the 40,000 Palestinians who fled would not be able to return to their homes. 

"We will not allow the return of residents, and we will not allow terrorism to return and grow," he said.

The White House is pushing back against a report from the Associated Press claiming that nearly 40% of the federal contracts that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) canceled aren’t expected to save the government any money. 

The AP first reported that 40% figure on Tuesday, saying it was derived from the Trump administration's own data. 

DOGE, run by Elon Musk, published an initial list last week of 1,125 contracts that President Donald Trump's signature cost-saving program terminated in recent weeks across the federal government. 

The AP said the data published on DOGE's "Wall of Receipts" shows that more than one-third of the contract cancelations, 417 in all, are expected to yield no savings. The publication assesses that, in most cases, that's because the total value of the contracts has already been fully obligated, meaning the government has a legal requirement to spend the funds for the goods or services it purchased and in many cases has already done so.

FEDERAL AGENCY TELLS STAFF RESPONSES TO MUSK'S DOGE PRODUCTIVITY EMAIL MAY BE READ BY 'MALIGN FOREIGN ACTORS'

A White House official told Fox News Digital, however, that many of the contracts were on auto-renewal, suggesting DOGE would still be saving taxpayers money in the long run by canceling the contracts it deems wasteful. 

"DOGE is identifying waste that most Americans never knew existed. That is a good thing," the official said. "Also, many of these contracts were also on auto-renew – so DOGE is preventing tax dollars from being wasted on these scams in the future."  

The AP cited an unnamed administration official as saying on condition of anonymity that it made sense to cancel contracts that are seen as potential dead weight, even if the moves do not yield any savings. 

A government contracting law expert was more critical. 

"It’s like confiscating used ammunition after it’s been shot when there’s nothing left in it. It doesn’t accomplish any policy objective," Charles Tiefer, a retired University of Baltimore law professor, told the AP. "Their terminating so many contracts pointlessly obviously doesn’t accomplish anything for saving money."

"It's too late for the government to change its mind on many of these contracts and walk away from its payment obligation," added Tiefer, who served on the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Tiefer told the AP that DOGE appeared to be taking a "slash and burn" approach to cutting contracts, which he said could damage the performance of government agencies. He said savings could be made instead by working with agency contracting officers and inspectors general to find efficiencies, an approach the administration has not taken.

HOW MUCH DOGE HAS SAVED THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER SO FAR AND MORE TOP HEADLINES

It's not the first time the White House has clashed with the AP in recent weeks.

A federal judge on Monday declined to immediately order the White House to restore the AP's access to presidential events. U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden allowed to stand the two-week ban implemented over the AP continuing to refer to the "Gulf of America" as the "Gulf of Mexico" despite Trump's executive order renaming the body of water. The judge did warn government attorneys the law was not on the administration's side in the long term. 

Of the listed contracts canceled by DOGE, dozens were for already-paid subscriptions to the AP, Politico and other media services that the administration said it would discontinue. The AP assessed that other canceled contracts "were for research studies that have been awarded, training that has taken place, software that has been purchased and interns that have come and gone." 

In all, DOGE data says the 417 contracts in question had a total value of $478 million. The AP said dozens of other canceled contracts are expected to yield little if any savings.

The canceled contracts were to purchase a wide range of goods and services.

For example, the Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded a contract in September to purchase and install office furniture at various branches. While the contract does not expire until later this year, federal records show the agency had already agreed to spend the maximum $567,809 with a furniture company, according to the AP. 

The U.S. Agency for International Development negotiated a $145,549 contract last year to clean the carpet at its headquarters in Washington. But the full amount had already been obligated to a firm that is owned by a Native American tribe based in Michigan. Another already-spent $249,600 contract went to a Washington, D.C., firm to help prepare the Department of Transportation for the recent transition from the Biden to the Trump administration.

Some of the canceled contracts were intended to modernize and improve the way the government works, according to the AP. 

One of the largest, for instance, went to a consulting firm to help carry out a reorganization at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, which led the agency’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The maximum $13.6 million had already been obligated to Deloitte Consulting LLP for help with the restructuring, which included closing several research offices.

DOGE has estimated that the overall contract cancelations are expected to save more than $7 billion so far – a figure that some critics have challenged.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Supreme Court has tossed out the murder conviction and death sentence of Oklahoma's Richard Glossip, ordering a new trial.

Glossip was convicted and sentenced to death in the 1997 killing in Oklahoma City of his former boss, motel owner Barry Van Treese, in what prosecutors have alleged was a murder-for-hire scheme. Prosecutors in Oklahoma twice convinced separate juries to send him to death row.

The justices heard arguments in October in a case that produced a rare alliance in which lawyers for Glossip and the state argued that the high court should overturn Glossip’s conviction and death sentence because he did not get a fair trial.

"We conclude that the prosecution violated its constitutional obligation to correct false testimony," Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a majority opinion.

SOUTH CAROLINA DEATH ROW INMATE CHOOSES FIRING SQUAD AS EXECUTION METHOD

"The Court stretches the law at every turn to rule in his favor… On the merits, it finds a due process violation based on patently immaterial testimony about a witness’s medical condition," Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in a dissenting opinion. "And, for the remedy, it orders a new trial in violation of black-letter law on this Court’s power to review state-court judgments."

Justice Samuel Alito also dissented, voting to uphold the conviction and death sentence, while Justice Amy Coney Barrett would have allowed a state appeals court to decide how to proceed.

At issue was whether Glossip's constitutional rights were violated when possibly exculpatory evidence was not turned over to his lawyers at trial. And whether Oklahoma's highest criminal court should have upheld the conviction and sentence, even after that new evidence came to light.

The case against Glossip, now 62, essentially rested on the testimony of Justin Sneed, in what prosecutors had originally said was a murder for hire.

The state claimed Glossip, who was employed at the Best Budget Inn, hired co-worker Sneed for $10,000 to kill their boss. The motive-- Glossip allegedly feared he would be fired for skimming money from the business.

Sneed later admitted to beating Van Treese to death with a baseball bat and received a life sentence in exchange for his testimony.

JUDGE REJECTS REQUEST FROM GEORGIA DEATH ROW INMATE TO BE EXECUTED BY FIRING SQUAD

In 2023, Republican Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond ordered an outside independent review of Glossip's case.

Drummond, citing "troubling evidence of grave prosecutorial misconduct," then formally "confessed error" by the state, and said Glossip deserved a new trial. 

Among Drummond’s concerns are that prosecutors knew Sneed lied on the witness stand about his psychiatric condition and his reason for taking the mood-stabilizing drug lithium. 

The Supreme Court's syllabus of the case said "evidence of Sneed’s bipolar disorder, which could trigger impulsive violence when combined with his drug use, would have contradicted the prosecution’s portrayal of Sneed as harmless without Glossip’s influence."

Drummond has also cited a box of evidence in the case that was destroyed, including motel receipts, a shower curtain and masking tape that Glossip’s attorney, Don Knight, said could have potentially proven Glossip’s innocence.

Glossip has always maintained his innocence. He was initially convicted in 1998 but won a new trial ordered by a state appeals court. He was convicted again in 2004.

Meanwhile, the victim’s relatives had told the Supreme Court that they wanted to see Glossip executed.

If Glossip were to be tried again, the death penalty would be off the table, Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicki Zemp Behenna has said.

Then as now, the state still believes Glossip may be at least guilty of aiding and abetting a crime after the fact, which would not mean a death sentence.

Fox News' Shannon Bream and the Associated Press contributed to this report. 

EXCLUSIVE: House Republicans are getting an update on the Trump administration’s probe of billionaire George Soros’ influence on local radio, a source familiar with planning told Fox News Digital.

The Republican Study Committee (RSC), the 175-strong caucus led by Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, is hosting Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr at its annual closed-door lunch on Wednesday.

The source familiar with the planning said Carr is expected to brief GOP lawmakers on the FCC’s investigation into Soros, including an investment firm he’s linked to purchasing over 200 Audacy radio stations nationwide.

Carr and Republicans are also expected to more widely discuss strategies for pushing back against media deemed to be biased against the GOP.

KEY CONSERVATIVE CAUCUS DRAWS RED LINE ON HOUSE BUDGET PLAN

The RSC is the largest grouping of lawmakers within the House GOP and traditionally acts as an informal think tank for the conference.

It has also been a conduit for several top Trump administration officials to Capitol Hill so far this year.

Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller addressed the RSC on immigration and President Donald Trump’s plan for executive action last month. Earlier in February, the group heard from Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

NONCITIZEN VOTER CRACKDOWN LED BY GOP AHEAD OF 2026 MIDTERMS

An investment firm linked to Soros, a left-wing businessman who has sunk billions of dollars into liberal causes, became the largest stakeholder in radio giant Audacy at the tail end of the Biden administration late last year.

The Soros Investment Fund acquired roughly 40% of Audacy’s debts after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Republican lawmakers blasted the deal, including Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., both of whom called for intense scrutiny.

Carr signaled he wanted to set his sights on Soros late last year during an interview on "Mornings with Maria."

"There's a petition for reconsideration pending at the FCC right now. And I want to take a very hard look at that," he said in late November.

Fox News Digital reached out to the FCC and Audacy for comment.

In an ad promoting herself as a tough on crime judge, and her opponent as "too extreme," the Democrat-aligned candidate in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race touted the endorsement of a local sheriff who has a long history of promoting sanctuary immigration policies and opposing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 

"Take it from a sheriff," Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said in a recent 15-second ad, paid for by candidate Susan Crawford, criticizing the Republican-aligned candidate Brad Schimel of being too "extreme" for the Wisconsin Supreme Court and for "letting rapists walk free" in a claim involving a backlog of rape kits being processed that Schimel has pushed back on. 

Barrett has faced his own share of criticism for policies labeled soft on crime, specifically on illegal immigrant crime, where his office has a history of refusing to cooperate with ICE.

Earlier this year, Barrett withdrew his county from the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program that ICE uses to locate criminal illegal immigrants in jail, which earned him praise from the ACLU. 

TOM HOMAN TELLS MIGRANT TERROR GROUPS TRUMP WILL ‘WIPE YOU OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH’

"At this point, we will no longer be taking part in the SCAAP grant program, and it is due to the recent change in administration and our understanding, listening, and hearing our community here in Dane County," Barrett told Channel 3000 at the time. 

Barrett has also pledged that his department will "not be proactively involved in any sort of round-ups, any sort of immigration enforcement."

ICE listed Dane County as a jurisdiction that was "non-cooperative" in a June 2024 report, as Barrett’s office released individuals suspected of being illegal immigrants out on bail after committing crimes that were in some cases violent. 

In 2024, two Republican congressmen in Wisconsin released a statement demanding answers from Barrett on Alejandro Jose Coronel Zarate, a suspected member of the Venezuelan street gang Tren de Aragua, having a warrant for his arrest in Dane County when he was then arrested for allegedly sexually and physically assaulting a woman and her child.

BRETT FAVRE HAS 1-WORD RESPONSE TO WISCONSIN GOV'S PROPOSAL THAT WOULD REPLACE WORD 'MOTHER' IN STATE LAW

"Sanctuary policies undermine both the rule of law and the safety of American communities," Matt O’Brien, director of investigations at the Immigration Reform Law Institute, told Fox News Digital. "To begin with, states, counties, and municipalities cannot simply ignore any federal laws they dislike. But that’s exactly what sanctuary jurisdictions are doing."

"Secondly, law enforcement officials who are tough on crime and serious about protecting their communities seize every available opportunity to neutralize threats to public safety. Police chiefs and sheriffs in sanctuary jurisdictions actually do the exact opposite. They shield foreign criminals from federal immigration enforcement. And, in so doing, they encourage criminals to take up residence in the very communities they are responsible for protecting. Simply put, it is impossible to be a sanctuary police chief or sheriff and be tough on crime – because the very essence of being a sanctuary jurisdiction is giving preferential treatment to illegal alien bad guys."

Another sheriff featured in the ad, former Dane County Sheriff David Mahoney, has also publicly pushed back against ICE raids. 

Schimel, who has been endorsed by over 80 Wisconsin sheriffs and previously served as the state’s attorney general, will face Crawford in an election on April 1 for a 10-year term on the state’s supreme court to replace retiring Judge Ann Walsh Bradley. 

Although the Supreme Court seats are considered nonpartisan, Crawford, currently a circuit court judge, has earned the endorsement of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, which received $1 million from George Soros in January before then sending $2 million to Crawford and various liberal activist groups. 

Schimel, currently a Waukesha County judge, has the backing of the Wisconsin GOP, several top Republican donors, including Chicago Cubs co-owner Joe Ricketts and Elon Musk’s Building America’s Future PAC. 

MUSK'S DEMAND THAT FED EMPLOYEES LIST THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS ROILS WORKFORCE: 'MASS CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE'

The race is expected to have significant implications on the future of Wisconsin politics given that the court’s current 4-3 liberal majority would essentially be set in stone through 2028 or, if Schimel were to win, become a conservative-leaning court with Justice Brian Hagedorn serving as a key swing vote. 

"In November, Wisconsin voters chose common sense above a far-left agenda. Now, Dangerous Democrat Susan Crawford, wants to be a liberal activist from the bench of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Crawford and Democrats are already plotting to redraw Congressional seats to attack President Trump’s America First Agenda," Wisconsin GOP Executive Director Andrew Iverson told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

"While Brad Schimel has a record of protecting Wisconsin’s most vulnerable, Crawford has a record of coddling criminals and has attached herself at the hip with anti-ICE and defund-police Democrats. On April 1, Wisconsin voters will flock to the ballot box to vote for Schimel — to save Wisconsin and save America."

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Schimel campaign spokesperson Jacob Fischer said, "Susan Crawford is backed by George Soros, and she’s not trying to hide it."

"If Crawford wins, she would continue to force-feed us her dangerous, Soros-backed agenda. We must stop her from destroying Wisconsin." 

Fox News Digital reached out to both Barrett and Crawford for comment but did not receive a response. 

The former PM hopes his work for Prostate Cancer Research will encourage more men to get tested.

President Donald Trump’s quick work to crack down on illegal immigration has already paid off in the nation’s largest city, according to a New York State lawmaker.

"This is a victory for taxpayers and a disaster for the progressives that have set up policies that have hurt New Yorkers," Republican New York Assemblyman Jake Blumencranz told Fox News Digital in reaction to New York Mayor Eric Adams’ announcement on Monday that the Roosevelt Hotel migrant shelter in Manhattan will be shutting down in the next few months.

The hotel, which was converted into a migrant shelter with about 1,000 rooms, has processed over 173,000 migrants since May 2023, a response to the wave of migrants that began coming to the city in 2022 in search of asylum.

The Roosevelt Hotel’s shelter, along with the Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center located on the site, will now be closed by June, a source told the New York Post.

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS SAYS NYC'S ROOSEVELT HOTEL MIGRANT SHELTER WILL SOON CLOSE

"While we’re not done caring for those who come into our care, today marks another milestone in demonstrating the immense progress we have achieved in turning the corner on an unprecedented international humanitarian effort," Adams said in a statement.

Adams also touted how his administration "skillfully managed the crisis," in part thanks to "sound policy decisions" and the ability to continue helping "asylum seekers take the next steps in their journeys as they envision an even brighter future."

However, Blumencranz believes much of the credit should go to Trump, whose executive actions on immigration have stemmed the flow entering the country and New York City.

"We’re not seeing the same volume of numbers as we saw during the Biden administration," Blumencranz said.

Blumencranz believes that even Democrats were caught off guard by the "sheer volume" of migrants entering the country as a result of the policies of the Biden administration, but the strain of the pressure on cities like New York has begun to alleviate with the new administration.

"We’re finally seeing some sort of rescue to that problem," Blumencranz said.

NYC SUES AFTER TRUMP ADMINISTRATION CLAWS BACK $80 MILLION MIGRANT HOUSING GRANT 

Adams highlighted as much in his statement, noting that "there are currently fewer than 45,000 migrants in the city’s care, down from a high of 69,000 in January of 2024 and out of the more than 232,000 that have arrived in New York City seeking city services since the spring of 2022."

Blumencranz now believes it is time for judicial reforms aimed at removing criminals who have entered the country and New York City over the last few years.

"What we need to see now is a system in place that reforms the judicial process, that we can make sure that those 60,000 some odd individuals who have come here and committed crimes are removed," he said. "That needs to be step one."

Nevertheless, Blumencranz viewed the closure of the Roosevelt shelter as a positive start, representing a "realignment" of thinking among government leaders on how to better manage the crisis.

Still, there is more work to be done to reassure New Yorkers who have seen the handling of the crisis stretch tax dollars thin and threaten government services.

"Our state budget has ballooned to $250 billion, the largest in state history and one of the largest in the United States of America, more than most countries," Blumencranz said.

"What we’re seeing is a continuation of services being cut because we’re dealing with prices that are created through bad policies from the state legislature and from City Hall. It’s time we start to put our money where our mouth is, fully fund programs that matter to taxpayers, and stop playing this game where compassionate services should matter more than making sure your kids get a world class education when you’re paying top dollar to live here in New York."

The percentage of Americans identifying as LGBT has risen to record highs, especially among Generation Z, a new Gallup poll released on Thursday shows, but that trend could see a departure under President Donald Trump, according to one expert, as the administration pushes back against gender treatments for minors.

The poll found that 23% of Generation Z Americans, those born between 1997 and 2006, identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. For comparison, 14.2% of millennials, those born between 1981 and 1996, identify the same way. Both groups identify as non-heterosexual compared to older generations, like Generation X and "Baby Boomers."

The Gallup poll surveyed more than 14,000 U.S. adults last year – collected through phone interviews with adults 18 and older – and found that 9.3% identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or another non-heterosexual identity. This marks a significant increase from 2020, when the figure was about half that, and a sharp rise from 2012, when Gallup first started tracking sexual orientation and gender identity, recording only 3.5%. 

LGBT ACTIVISTS MOBILIZE TO CHALLENGE TRUMP'S 'EXTREME GENDER IDEOLOGY' EXECUTIVE ORDERS

"The rate of LGBTQ+ identification is likely to continue to grow, given the generational shifts underway," Gallup senior editor and researcher Jeffrey M. Jones wrote in the study. 

"One reason for higher LGBTQ+ identification among younger generations of adults is that they are much more likely to consider themselves bisexual than are older people," Jones wrote.

The study also found differences among those with political ideologies, as people identifying as LGBT were more likely to be female, liberal, White, and live in urban areas. Among them, 21% identified as liberal, 8% as moderate, and 3% as conservative. The rate of LGBT identification has nearly tripled over more than a decade, with a growing number of Americans in their teens, 20s and 30s identifying as bisexual, particularly more women compared to men, researchers noted.

TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDERS BANNING 'RADICAL GENDER IDEOLOGY,' DEI INITIATIVES IN THE MILITARY

However, Heritage Foundation senior legal fellow Sarah Parshall Perry said the findings are a snapshot in time – due to the "onslaught" of the Biden administration's rulings on sex and gender over the last four years– but will likely begin to reverse under the Trump administration's crackdown on transgender medical procedures for minors.

"I think now that we're seeing this return to common sense, we are going to see fewer and fewer young people begin to identify as LGBTQ," Perry told Fox News Digital in an interview. "I would be very curious what the numbers look like four years into the future, after some of these policies have trickled down to the granular level."

"It was entirely unsurprising to me that it was the Generation Z who experienced the most precipitous increase, because they are the younger ones they are currently, right now, in the throes of sort of this battle between reality and cultural conformity," Perry said. "That's exactly where these kids are, and I think it's exactly why we're seeing these level of increases."

While the poll found 85.7% of respondents identified as straight, 5.2% identified as bisexual, 2.0% as gay, 1.4% as lesbian and 1.3% as transgender. Fewer than 1% of participants identified with other non-traditional LGBT labels, including pansexual, asexual or queer. Five percent of respondents declined to answer.

FEDERAL JUDGE HALTS PLANNED MOVE OF TRANS INMATES TO FACILITIES FOR THEIR BIOLOGICAL SEX

Trump has signed a slew of gender-related executive orders during his first 100 days in office which have already racked up multiple lawsuits. One of those orders, "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government," mandates that federal agencies recognize gender strictly as male or female, based on biological sex, and prohibits the use of gender pronouns on federal documents. It also directs agencies to cease funding for transgender medical treatments for transgender federal inmates and to remove policies promoting radical "gender ideology."

The prime minister sets out plans to increase defence spending to 2.5% of national income by 2027.

The environment secretary is met with blaring tractor horns as he tries to win over farmers.

Jonathan Reynolds denies "misrepresenting" his legal career after saying he worked as a solicitor.

Laws in the Isle of Man to let terminally ill adults end their own lives are in the last stages of debate.

FIRST ON FOX: GOP Rep. Darrell Issa has introduced a bill aimed at preventing federal judges from issuing nationwide injunctions with the sole purpose of derailing a president’s political agenda, which Issa says has been the case since President Donald Trump was sworn in. 

The legislation, known as the No Rogue Rulings Act (NORRA), amends Chapter 85 of title 28, United 5 States Code by adding a "Limitation on authority to provide injunctive relief."

"Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no United States district court shall issue any order providing for injunctive relief, except in the case of such an order that is applicable only to limit the actions of a party to the case before such district court with respect to the party seeking injunctive relief from such district court," the legislation states. 

Dozens of activist and legal groups, elected officials, local jurisdictions and individuals have launched more than 50 lawsuits against the Trump administration since Jan. 20 in response to his more than 60 executive orders, as well as executive proclamations and memos, Fox News Digital reported earlier this month.

LAWSUIT TRACKER: NEW RESISTANCE BATTLING TRUMP'S SECOND TERM THROUGH ONSLAUGHT OF LAWSUITS TAKING AIM AT EOS

Issa says NORRA would limit the scope of nationwide injunctions by preventing federal judges from issuing injunctions that extend beyond parties directly involved in a case, while also ensuring that any injunction restricts only the specific parties requesting relief, regardless of whether the injunction involves outright enforcement of actions or policy actions. 

"The founders could never have envisioned judges and part of the legislative branch teaming up to tie down the executive and disempower the people," Issa told Fox News Digital, adding that the current judge-shopping climate in the United States amounts to "judicial tyranny" and a "weaponization of courts."

Issa's office told Fox News Digital they are optimistic that this is a bill that will pass through Congress with Republican support and be signed by President Trump, adding that the bill has "maximum momentum."

DEMS LIKELY TO 'WASTE MILLIONS' ON DELUGE OF LAWSUITS BUT COULD COST TRUMP PRECIOUS TIME: EXPERT

"Nowhere in our Constitution is a single federal judge given absolute power over the President or the people of the United States," Issa posted on X last week. 

Issa's bill comes as the Trump administration has publicly pushed back against the flurry of injunctions from courts across the country. 

"Many outlets in this room have been fear mongering the American people into believing there is a constitutional crisis taking place here at the White House," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a press briefing last week. "I've been hearing those words a lot lately, but in fact, the real constitutional crisis is taking place within our judicial branch, where district court judges in liberal districts across the country are abusing their power to unilaterally block President Trump's basic executive authority."

"We believe these judges are acting as judicial activists rather than honest arbiters of the law and they have issued at least 12 injunctions against this administration in the past 14 days, often without citing any evidence or grounds for their lawsuits," she continued. "This is part of a larger concerted effort by Democrat activists, and nothing more than the continuation of the weaponization of justice against President Trump."

House Republicans' mammoth budget resolution survived its final hurdle late Monday night before heading for a chamber-wide vote.

The legislation passed the House Rules Committee on a party-line vote in a measure combining several bills that are expected to get a full House vote this week.

House GOP leaders aim to have it pass on Tuesday evening, Fox News Digital was told, but various concerns about spending cut levels could put that goal out of reach. Under the current margins, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., can only lose one Republican vote to pass a bill without Democrats. 

KEY CONSERVATIVE CAUCUS DRAWS RED LINE ON HOUSE BUDGET PLAN

Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., announced over the weekend that she is against the current text, while several other fiscal hawks suggested their support is still up in the air.

Two other conservatives, Reps. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., signaled they would oppose the resolution as well.

Some Republicans are worried about potentially damaging cuts to Medicaid and other federal benefit programs that their constituents rely on. Johnson met with some of those potential holdouts on Monday night for what he called a "very productive conversation."

The speaker sounded optimistic when leaving the Capitol late on Monday, telling reporters, "We’re on track. We got the resolution through rules, and we're expecting to vote tomorrow evening."

The bill aims to increase spending on border security, the judiciary and defense by roughly $300 billion, while seeking at least $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion in spending cuts elsewhere.

As written, the bill also provides $4.5 trillion to extend President Donald Trump's 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provisions, which expire at the end of this year.

An amendment negotiated by House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, and conservatives on his panel would also force lawmakers to make $2 trillion in cuts, or else risk the $4.5 trillion for Trump's tax cuts getting reduced by the difference. 

That agreement alarmed Republicans on the House Ways & Means Committee, like Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y.

"I don't think that is doable without affecting beneficiaries, and I've expressed that concern to leadership and in talking to some of my colleagues," Malliotakis told Fox News Digital last week.

Johnson met with Malliotakis and other members of the Congressional Hispanic Conference, a House GOP group, on Monday night to discuss their concerns about spending cuts in the bill. The New York Republican was more optimistic when leaving the meeting late on Monday night, telling reporters that GOP leaders had eased her concerns.

"I'd say now I've shifted from undecided to lean yes," Malliotakis told reporters. "This is moving in the right direction."

GOP lawmakers are working to pass a broad swath of Trump policies – from investments in defense and border security to eliminating taxes on tipped and overtime wages – via the budget reconciliation process. 

BLACK CAUCUS CHAIR ACCUSES TRUMP OF 'PURGE' OF 'MINORITY' FEDERAL WORKERS

The mechanism allows the party in control of both houses of Congress to pass a tax and budget bill without help from the opposing party. To do so, it lowers the threshold for passage in the Senate from two-thirds to a simple majority, where the House already sits.

The Senate advanced a narrower version of the plan last week, which does not include Trump's tax cut priorities. Because the president favors all the issues being wrapped up into one bill, however, it has been relegated to a de facto backup plan if the House fails to pass its plan on a reasonable timeline.

The House Rules Committee is the final gatekeeper for most pieces of legislation before a chamber-wide vote. 

The committee will normally debate a set of bills, not necessarily related ones, before setting terms for amendments and debate and advancing those terms out of committee as a single "rules package."

House lawmakers will then vote on the rules package before the final reconciliation framework.

Once this bill passes the House, the relevant committees will get to work filling the framework out with detailed policy priorities, which will then be returned as a final bill that will need to face House passage again.

Johnson said at the Americans for Prosperity event on Monday that he wants that to happen sometime in April.