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Nuclear experts warn Iran’s uranium ‘right’ is a myth, say Trump is right to hold firm

April 23, 2026 3:42pm EDT / Fox News

Expert says Iran retaining any enrichment infrastructure would let it resume its path to nuclear weapons

By Benjamin Weinthal Fox News

Fox News senior foreign affairs correspondent Greg Palkot reports on President Donald Trump’s efforts to end the Iran conflict and secure the Strait of Hormuz on ‘America Reports.’

Amid the charged exchanges between President Trump and Iran’s fragmented leadership over the regime’s insistence that it retain its nuclear enrichment system, top experts on Iran’s atomic weapons program support the Commander-in-Chief’s ironclad goal to dissolve it.

One of the main sticking points during the intense talks between Tehran and Washington centers on Iran’s claim that the rouge regime has a right to enrich and possess weapon-grade uranium — the material required to build an atomic bomb. The showdown over enriched uranium might be the core deal breaker issue when and if the next round of talks to reach a nuclear agreement goes ahead in Pakistan.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmael Baqaei, vehemently rejected Trump’s demand last week on state-controlled television. “Iran’s enriched uranium is not going to be transferred anywhere under any circumstances,” he declared.

GOP SENATORS: CONGRESS SHOULD VOTE ON TRUMP’S POTENTIAL IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL

President Donald Trump signs a proclamation to withdraw from the JCPOA Iran nuclear agreement in the Diplomatic Room at the White House in Washington on May 8, 2018.(Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

Trump claimed Iran had agreed to “give us back the nuclear dust that’s way underground.” The President terms Iran’s 440 kilograms of enriched uranium as “nuclear dust” after sustained U.S. military strikes on the Iranian facilities that store the country’s stockpile of uranium.

“The United States should insist on a permanent ban of Iranian enrichment and its full dismantlement in negotiations. Iran retaining any enrichment infrastructure in anticipation of the end of a moratorium would allow it to cheat as soon as Trump leaves office and resume its path to nuclear weapons,” Andrea Stricker, deputy director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ nonproliferation program, told Fox News Digital.

Jonathan Ruhe, fellow for American strategy at JINSA, echoed Stricker on the importance of abolishing the Iranian enrichment program. He told Fox News Digital “An acceptable deal would have to embody many of Trump’s stated redlines from his first administration, and from the run-up to last summer’s 12-Day War. This means permanent bans on enrichment, reprocessing and weaponization capability – and equally importantly, full verification of Iran’s compliance with these strictures.”

IRANIAN PRESIDENT CALLS FOR NEGOTIATION AND DIALOGUE AS NUCLEAR TALKS CONTINUE

Heavy weapons, including ballistic missiles, air defense systems and unmanned aerial vehicles, are displayed during the 44th anniversary of the eight-year war with Iraq, known as Holy Defense Week, at Baharestan Square in Tehran, Iran, on Sept. 25, 2024.(Photo by Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images)

President Trump withdrew from President Obama’s widely criticized nuclear deal with Iran, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in 2018. Trump said at the time, “In theory, the so-called ‘Iran deal’ was supposed to protect the United States and our allies from the lunacy of an Iranian nuclear bomb, a weapon that will only endanger the survival of the Iranian regime. In fact, the deal allowed Iran to continue enriching uranium and, over time, reach the brink of a nuclear breakout.”

Ruhe said, “The JCPOA failed to ensure IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] inspectors could monitor, and account for, the entirety of Iran’s program and its compliance with the deal. This problem has worsened significantly in the decade since, as Iran systematically stonewalled inspectors.”

He said, “Iran’s negotiators always drag out talks and avoid giving clear answers. They still think time is on their side, with their blockade hurting the global economy and their missile arsenals being dug out and prepared for renewed conflict. Trump should insist on a definitive response from Tehran, and be ready for renewed operations.

IRAN SIGNALS NUCLEAR PROGRESS IN GENEVA AS TRUMP CALLS FOR FULL DISMANTLEMENT

Mojtaba Khamenei, son of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, attends a demonstration marking Jerusalem Day in Tehran.(Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

“As a cautionary tale: the Obama team first entered nuclear talks with stringent redlines, but then they let Iran call their bluffs, ignore their deadlines and wear down their demands until we ended up with the JCPOA,” Ruhe said.

Iran is a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) that obligates it not to enrich uranium for military purposes. However, U.S. and European intelligence reports have documented Iran’s illicit proliferation activities.

Ruhe said, “This regime cynically wants it both ways: they insist the NPT gives the ‘right’ to peaceful enrichment, yet they flout the treaty’s safeguards. By claiming this ‘right,’ they try to make certain core issues non-negotiable. By this logic, they should get to retain enrichment capacity, so the questions then become how much and what the U.S. has to give in return for this supposed sacrifice by Iran.”

He continued that, “As the Nonproliferation Treaty’s name indicates, it’s an agreement to prevent proliferation, not to promote nuclear development.”

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Stricker said Rafael Grossi, the head of the IAEA, recently stated that, “it’s fiction that the NPT specifically mentions ‘enrichment’ in its peaceful uses clause. Moreover, the prevailing legal demand from the U.N. Security Council is that Iran stop enriching and come back into compliance with its nonproliferation obligations. For nearly 25 years, the IAEA has been unable to conclude that all of Iran’s nuclear material and activities are devoted to peaceful uses.”

She added that “Iran’s enrichment program began through illicit procurements and covert facilities, under a nuclear weapons program that planned to use enriched uranium as fuel. Iran was clearly stockpiling material for an apparent nuclear weapons breakout.”

Benjamin Weinthal reports on Israel, Iran, Syria, Turkey and Europe. You can follow Benjamin on Twitter @BenWeinthal, and email him at benjamin.weinthal@fox.com

Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupts yet again, with lava fountains 1,000 feet above ground

April 23, 2026 / 1:55 PM EDT / CBS News

By Emily Mae Czachor

Emily Mae Czachor is a reporter and news editor at CBSNews.com. She typically covers breaking news, extreme weather and issues involving social justice. Emily Mae previously wrote for outlets like the Los Angeles Times, BuzzFeed and Newsweek.

Read Full Bio

Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupted again on Thursday, marking the 45th episode of its kind over the last year and a half.

Lava began to burst from the volcano in the early morning, around 1:30 a.m. local time, according to the United States Geological Survey. A livestream of Kilauea, which is operated by USGS, showed bright-orange molten streams shooting up from the ground more than 18 hours later.

The fountains from Kilauea’s northern vents reached 1,000 feet high at their peak, said the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory in one of multiple updates issued since the current eruption started. They hovered at around 500 feet, and, later, 700 feet, for several hours shortly after the episode initially got underway.

A screengrab taken from the USGS livestream of Kilauea, as it erupted Thursday, April 23, 2026. U.S. Geological Survey/YouTube

Kilauea’s overall plume — which refers to the lava, gas, steam and ash expelled from within the volcano — climbed to at least 16,500 feet above ground level about an hour into the eruption, according to the observatory. That was its highest point this time.

Located inside the Big Island of Hawaii’s sprawling Volcanoes National Park, Kilauea is among the most active volcanoes on Earth. It has been erupting periodically since December 2024, drawing tourists to the massive protected area to see its lava flows soar overhead in real life.

Because the eruptions have been confined to the Halemaʻumaʻu crater within Kilauea, they have not posed threats to homes, buildings or people on the island, officials have said. Most episodes since December 2024 have lasted no longer than one day, according to USGS.

The agency has issued a volcano watch and “orange” aviation alert for this episode, meaning the eruption “poses limited hazards” and either has no ash emissions associated with it, or minor ones. The National Weather Service also issued an ashfall advisory overnight for communities downwind of the volcano.

Officials noted that the volcanic gas produced in each eruption can cause respiratory problems once it enters the atmosphere. The interaction pollutes air downwind, in a process known as “vog.” They also warned that fragments of volcanic ash, pumice and other glassy materials created by Kilauea’s lava fountains may fall far from the site of the volcano, depending on their size.

“Residents and visitors should minimize exposure to these fragments, which can cause skin, eye, and respiratory irritation,” USGS said. The fragments are called “tephra.”

An eruption in March at Kilauea prompted temporary closures at the national park and along a nearby highway, as Hawaii officials opened a shelter for residents and tourists who may have been affected by the closures or the tephra falling from the sky. Officials said the shelter was only necessary for a short period of time, but significant ash fell during some previous fountaining episodes.

Meta to cut 8,000 jobs as it charges into AI

April 23, 2026 / 3:49 PM EDT / CBS News

By Alain Sherter

Meta plans to lay off roughly 8,000 employees, or 10% of its workforce, in a move to slash costs as the technology company pushes deeper into artificial intelligence.

In an internal memo sent to workers, Meta said the job cuts are intended to make the company more efficient and to offset its other investments. The layoffs will start on May 20, the company confirmed.

More U.S. employers are pointing to AI for recent decisions to eliminate staff, including companies such as Pinterest and chemical maker Dow. Meanwhile, tech giants are engaged in an arms race to build out their AI capabilities, including building hundreds of data centers or buying AI startups.

More layoffs at Meta could be in the works later this year as the company seeks to reduce costs and further develop its AI capabilities, Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said in a report on Thursday.

“We believe that this is part of Meta’s strategy to … leverage AI tools to automate tasks that once required large teams, allowing the company to streamline operations and reduce costs while maintaining productivity, driving an increased need for a leaner operating structure,” he said.

In a January regulatory filing, Meta said its AI plans include delivering “personal superintelligence for everyone.”

“We are also working to develop the next generation of AI models and advance our vision to build superintelligence, which we define as AI that surpasses human intelligence,” the company said in its filing. “Although it is inherently difficult to predict when superintelligence may be achieved, we are investing now because we believe this has the potential to begin a new era of individual empowerment, where people can direct superintelligence towards what they value in their own lives.”

Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg described superintelligence in a blog post last year as a potentially powerful tool for enhancing prosperity.

Edited by Aimee Picchi

James Comer’s new bills could curb federal fraud in Minnesota and California

2026-04-23 13:03 EDT / Fox News

Oversight chairman says Americans are ‘fed up with this abuse’ as panel prepares markup on two bills next week

By Adam Pack, Fox News

Critics argue California bill could punish people working to expose government fraud

Independent journalist Nick Shirley discusses California Democrats’ bill to protect the privacy of immigration support services providers, which he argues is an ‘attack on journalists’ and would prevent uncovering fraud, on ‘The Big Weekend Show.’

NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

FIRST ON FOX:House Republicans say they’re ready to advance legislation that would crack down on widespread fraud in states like Minnesota and California.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., introduced legislation on Thursday that would tackle fraud in federal programs by curbing premature disbursement to “high-risk” recipients, Fox News Digital has learned.

His panel will mark up the two bills — the Stopping Fraudulent Payments Act and the Pre-Payment Fraud Prevention and Treasury Data Access Act — as soon as next Wednesday, a House Oversight Committee spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

“Americans are fed up with this abuse and expect action from the government entrusted with their money,” Comer said in a statement. “These long-overdue integrity measures will strengthen the federal payment system, and I look forward to advancing these bills next week at the Oversight Committee’s markup.”

Rep. James Comer unveiled legislation on April 23, 2026, to crack down on fraud following his panel’s investigations into Minnesota and California’s social services systems.(Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

COMER TARGETS WALZ IN NEW HOUSE INVESTIGATION, CITING NEARLY $1B IN ALLEGED MINNESOTA FRAUD

Comer’s fraud prevention push comes after the oversight panel launched sweeping investigations into state-administered social services programs in Minnesota and California.

The committee rolled out an interim report in March that found Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison knew for years that their state’s federally funded welfare programs were rife with fraud, but alleges they ignored whistleblowers’ concerns when they attempted to bring up the problem.

Fraudsters could have stolen at least $9 billion from Minnesota’s welfare programs, according to Comer’s probe. Federal prosecutors have charged at least 92 individuals in connection to the fraud schemes, most of whom are of Somali descent, and secured more than 60 convictions so far.

The oversight panel also opened an investigation into “rampant taxpayer fraud” in California’s hospice programs in March.

Comer’s legislation would seek to better protect taxpayer dollars upfront by stopping “pay and chase” practices, which some fraudsters use as a way to go under the radar since fraud is only discovered after the benefits have been paid out.

House Oversight Chairman James Comer launched a probe into alleged hospice fraud in California and urged Gov. Gavin Newsom to respond as the case’s scope could surpass a similar Minnesota investigation.(Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images; Ayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)

MASSIVE MEDICAID FRAUD SCHEME PUTS MINNESOTA’S FEDERAL FUNDING AT RISK — AND FALLOUT COULD WIDEN

If the Kentucky Republican’s bills are enacted, federal agencies would be barred from sending out disbursements if they determine that the recipient is at “an elevated risk of fraud,” or the transfer is suspected to be an improper payment.

The legislation would also direct the Treasury Department to verify payments and recipient information to catch fraudulent disbursements prior to being issued. Treasury would also be equipped with new authority to block payment requests from federal agencies if it suspects fraud.

Sheila Clark, the CEO of a hospice advocacy group, told House lawmakers Wednesday that fraud is pervasive among some providers in the state.

“You’d be amazed at how many hospices… the door you can walk up to in California and there is nobody there,” Clark said at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing, adding there are “months’ worth of mail that you can see stacked.”

“And that passed a survey. How did that happen?” she questioned.

“How do you put a hospice in a burrito stand in California?” Clark went on, likely referencing a specific incident she encountered. “How do you put a hospice in an entire store in California? That all had to be vetted through licensure and through certification and accreditation.”

CEO talks fraud before Congress: ‘How do you put a hospice in a burrito stand?’

House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, voiced support for Comer’s plans for fraud prevention legislation.

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“Instead of hunting down stolen money after the fact, these bills prevent improper payments and fraud from happening in the first place,” Arrington, who is a cosponsor of the two bills, told Fox News Digital.

“If we’re serious about restoring fiscal sanity to Washington, we must get serious about eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse wherever they exist,” he added.

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6393443512112
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6393663052112

Nearly 208,000 heated socks sold at Costco are recalled after customers report burns

April 23, 2026 / 3:11 PM EDT / CBS News

By Aimee Picchi

Nearly 208,000 pairs of heated socks sold at Costco are being recalled after 13 reports of first- and second-degree burns, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

While the socks are designed to keep toes toasty during cold weather, they pose a burn risk when subjected to a combination of heat, friction, moisture and pressure during high-intensity activities, the recall notice said.

Nearly 208,000 pairs of heated socks sold at Costco are being recalled after some customers reported getting first- and second-degree burns. U.S. Consumer Safety Product Commission

The 32 Degrees Heated Socks were sold at Costco stores and online at Costco.com from August 2025 through March 2026, priced from $30 to $46 per pair. The black socks were sold in three sizes — medium, large and extra large — and had the brand 32° HEAT emblazoned on the battery pack casing, battery pack packaging, user manual and exterior retail packaging.

“Consumers should immediately stop using the heated socks and return them to Costco for a full refund,” the recall notice states.

Some reviewers on Costco’s website said the socks burned their feet. “Used socks 1 time in ski boots at level 2 was ok. 2nd time using socks turned up to level 3. After 2 hrs got a 2nd degree burn on my ball of my left foot,” one reviewer wrote.

Customers with questions about the socks can call 32 Degrees at 833-997-2452 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, email at recall@32degrees.com, or inquire online.

The recalled socks were sold exclusively at Costco, not through the manufacturer’s website. As a result, they should be returned to Costco, which is processing the refunds, according to 32 Degrees.

‘I’ll pay for you to come and campaign

https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/23/politics/video/inside-politics-florida-redistrict-gerrymander

Republicans fail to attach SAVE America Act to party-line funding package

April 23, 2026 3:23pm EDT / Fox News

Four Republican senators joined Democrats in voting against a citizenship verification measure early Thursday morning

By Alex Miller Fox News

House lawmakers protest Senate bills over SAVE Act

Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, joins ‘Saturday in America’ to discuss divisions on Capitol Hill over the SAVE Act.

A cohort of Senate Republicans joined Democrats to sink a late-night attempt to attach a version of voter ID and citizenship verification legislation to the GOP’s bill funding federal immigration enforcement.

Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., all voted against a modified version of the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act early Thursday morning.

Their defection came during the Senate’s marathon “vote-a-rama,” where lawmakers could force votes on any number of amendments, regardless of whether they mesh with the underlying budget blueprint.

The amendment’s 48-to-50 failure crystallized what several Republicans had warned for weeks before launching a quasi-floor takeover to debate the SAVE America Act last month — it didn’t have the support among the GOP to pass.

SENATE GOP RAMS THROUGH BLUEPRINT TO BANKROLL ICE, BORDER PATROL THROUGH END OF TRUMP ERA

Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., joined Senate Democrats to kill a late-night attempt to attach the SAVE America Act to the GOP’s immigration enforcement funding plan.(Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Photo by Li Ying/Xinhua via Getty Images; Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

It appears the proposal was doomed even if Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., launched an oral filibuster to advance the measure with a simple 50-vote majority.

Still, Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., pushed his version of the SAVE America Act after threatening to hold up the process until Thursday.

Kennedy acknowledged that his effort may not comport with the strict Senate rules that guide the reconciliation process, known as the Byrd Rule, but countered that critics of his move “can’t predict the future.”

“I respect everybody in this body, everybody,” Kennedy said on the Senate floor. “If you vote against this bill, I’m not going to say a word. And I’m sure as hell not going to go on social media and call you an ignorant slut. That’s not the way I roll, unless I’m pushed too far.”

SENATE GOP LAUNCHES ALL-NIGHT VOTE-A-RAMA TO FUND ICE, BORDER PATROL THROUGH END OF TRUMP’S TERM

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., speaks during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on March 3, 2026.(Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg)

Had Kennedy’s bid been successful, it could have instructed the Senate Rules Committee to craft legislation that would require voter ID to register and cast ballots in federal elections, limit voting to Election Day only and require that ballots be counted within 36 hours of an election.

It also would have set a $10 billion ceiling for the committee to use in crafting and implementing the legislation.

Notably, McConnell chairs the Senate Rules Committee and would have been tasked with creating the new legislation if Kennedy’s idea worked out.

Collins previously said she would support the SAVE America Act, but rejected this version of the legislation. Meanwhile, Murkowski and Tillis pushed back against the proposal ever since Republicans launched their floor takeover.

SENATE REPUBLICANS UNVEIL IMMIGRATION FUNDING PLAN WITH $140 BILLION PRICE TAG AS DIVISIONS SIMMER

President Donald Trump has repeatedly pushed for passage of the SAVE America Act. Last month he vowed not to sign any other bills until it gets through, and said he wouldn’t approve of a “watered down version.”

Senator Alex Padilla, Democrat from California, speaks during a news conference with immigration experts, DACA recipients, and Dreamers in Washington, D.C., on June 11, 2025.(Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP)

Top Senate Rules Committee Democrat Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., charged that Kennedy’s amendment was a “solution in search of a problem.”

“We’ve already gone down this road for several weeks now to debate the so-called SAVE America Act,” Padilla said. “But I think, despite how you felt about the SAVE America Act, which certainly cannot pass the Senate, even my Republican colleagues would say the measure suggested by our colleague from Louisiana is an even more extreme version.”

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Kennedy’s failed attempt comes as debate over the SAVE America Act has taken a back seat in the Senate in recent weeks.

The GOP’s reconciliation gamble, reauthorizing the nation’s controversial spy powers, and the war in Iran have all dominated the Senate floor. Still, Republican leadership has no immediate plans to end its floor takeover.

Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.

US FTC settles case against anesthesia company

April 23, 2026 4:21 PM UTC Updated 1 hour ago / Reuters

节点运行失败

A view of signage at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 24, 2024. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo

April 23 (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is settling its case against a ​private equity portfolio company it says was used to buy ‌up anesthesiology practices and raise prices in Texas, according to court documents filed on Thursday.

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT

The FTC sued U.S. Anesthesia Partners (USAP) under the Biden administration in a ​major move by antitrust regulators to tackle private equity rollups, ​or purchases of many small businesses that allegedly decrease competition ⁠across an industry. Private equity firms will look closely at ​the terms of the settlement, which have not yet been made public.

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CONTEXT

The ​FTC under President Donald Trump has made healthcare a priority, but at the same time has emphasized it is willing to settle on terms it finds ​adequate to remove any problems.

Private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & ​Stowe, which created USAP, was sued by the FTC, but settled with the agency after winning ‌a ⁠bid to dismiss claims against it.

BY THE NUMBERS

The FTC said the rollup involved more than a dozen anesthesiology practices, 1,000 doctors, and 750 nurses.

THE RESPONSE

The FTC said the settlement is currently confidential “to facilitate ​the negotiations USAP ​must undertake,” but ⁠that the deal would “restore a competitive market structure and will be consistent with longstanding FTC settlement best ​practices.” If USAP fails to fully execute the ​settlement, the ⁠FTC will resume its case, the agency said.

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USAP Chairman Scott Holliday said in a statement that while the company believes it has ⁠operated ​responsibly in Texas, “it was important to resolve ​this now so that USAP can remain laser-focused on providing high-quality anesthesia services.”

Reporting by ​Jody Godoy in New York; Editing by Rod Nickel and Paul Simao

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Big-name Republicans are balking at Trump taking a stake in Spirit Airlines. Here’s why

2026-04-23 12:33 PM ET / CNN

Analysis by Aaron Blake

3 hr ago
PUBLISHED Apr 23, 2026, 12:33 PM ET

Donald Trump Aviation news

A Spirit Airlines Airbus A320 lands at Hollywood Burbank Airport on April 17.

Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images

For more than a year, Republicans in Washington have largely stood by as President Donald Trump staged a series of remarkable government interventions into private business.

The moves flew in the face of decades of conservative, free-market-capitalist orthodoxy. Some of them have even sounded a lot like, well, socialism.

But the administration’s interest in Spirit Airlines is testing the GOP’s laissez-faire approach.

Some prominent Republicans have quickly delivered an apparent brushback pitch against the Trump administration’s idea to bail out the troubled airline with $500 million. Importantly, CNN reports the administration’s proposal is expected to include the federal government taking a stake in Spirit, as it has in several other companies over the past year.

“This is an absolutely TERRIBLE idea,” Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas posted on X, comparing it to the 2008 bank bailouts. “The TARP corporate bailouts were a huge mistake & the government doesn’t know a damn thing about running a failed budget airline (that the Biden admin killed).”

Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas was a little less adamant, but still raised concerns.

“If Spirit’s creditors or other potential investors don’t think they can run it profitably coming out of its second bankruptcy in under two years, I doubt the US Government can either,” Cotton said. “Not the best use of taxpayer dollars.”

And Sen. Ted Budd of North Carolina said that Americans “shouldn’t be on the hook for another failing business as its competition thrives.”

Even Trump’s own transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, hasn’t sounded particularly thrilled by this idea.

After Trump seemed to float the government buying Spirit during an interview Tuesday morning on CNBC, Duffy said: “The president says take a look, and he is my boss, and so we will take a look.”

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy speaks alongside President Donald Trump and others, in the Oval Office of the White House on December 3, 2025.

Brian Snyder/Reuters/File

In an interview with Reuters, Duffy pointed to the potential pitfalls of not only the bailout but also the government taking ownership of the company.

“There’s been a lot of money thrown at Spirit, and they haven’t found their way into profitability. And so would we just forestall the inevitable and then own ⁠that?” ​Duffy said. “We can’t make dumb investments.”

Duffy then added: “If no one else wants to ​buy them, why would we buy them?”

There are valid reasons for the Trump administration to not want Spirit to fail. Perhaps doubly so since the airline industry is currently dealing with surging jet fuel costs due to the Iran war, which are forcing airlines to cut back on routes and raise prices.

But it’s one thing to bail them out; it’s another to buy a stake in the airline.

Of course, this has become one of Trump’s go-to strategies.

Over the past year, his administration has taken stakes in more than a dozen companies, totaling more than $20 billion, according to new data this week from the Council on Foreign Relations.

Many of the deals are aimed at protecting US supply chains and the American technological industry, as well as contending with an increasingly important battle for critical minerals. The CFR labels it the largest US government acquisition of private equity stakes since World War II.

Oftentimes, the shares have been relatively modest — around 10% of the companies. But in some instances, they’ve given the federal government major control over private businesses.

That includes a “golden share” in US Steel Corp that gives the government (Trump) veto power over investment and production decisions. It also includes a deal with Westinghouse in which the government can force it to launch an initial public offering if its value rises over a certain point, and can also buy a larger share at a discounted price at a later date.

Those aren’t the only ways Trump has run afoul of conservative free-market orthodoxy.

There’s also his protectionist global tariffs — many of which were recently struck down by the Supreme Court. He’s effectively bullied private businesses to bend the knee by wielding threats of using government power, like forcing ABC to suspend Jimmy Kimmel. And his quest to lower prescription drug prices has included the launch of a direct-to-consumer, government-run drug platform called TrumpRx.

Still, to this point, the pushback from the right has been very limited.

Some prominent conservative and free-market activists in February wrote a letter opposing some of Trump’s prescription drug efforts. Cruz also strenuously objected to the Kimmel pressure. And a handful of Republican lawmakers balked at Trump taking a stake in Intel last summer.

“The U.S. federal government should not be buying companies,” Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska said back in August.

That’s certainly not an outlandish position to take in the modern Republican Party — or at least, the version that existed before Trump. But it’s a principle that very few Republicans have vocalized lately.

So why might that change with Spirit?

For one, it’s looking like the government could take a much larger share of Spirit than of those other companies, giving it much more ownership. Second, the situation doesn’t involve issues that the government could argue directly impact national security, like strategically important minerals.

But don’t undersell how much Trump’s historically low popularity could have to do with this.

So much of Trump’s second-term approach is predicated on having the political capital to bully people and steamroll the traditional guardrails of politics — to deter potential objectors from speaking out, for fear of the consequences.

But that’s much more difficult when there are indicators that the GOP base has soured on the president. Some people who might have held their tongue before could feel emboldened to stand up for their principles.

And this would seem to be a logical spot for conservatives, many of whom genuinely abhor socialistic policies, to make a stand. After all, just think about the big-government precedents Trump is setting that the next Democratic president could exploit.

Not to mention, politically it makes it more difficult for Republicans to argue Democrats are the socialists when the Trump administration is literally giving the government a historic amount of ownership of private companies.

Republicans have largely stood by while Trump took a wrecking ball to several party principles. But the Spirit Airlines saga could be a breaking point.

Howard Lutnick shuts down Dem questions over Jeffrey Epstein at budget hearing

April 23, 2026 3:48pm EDT / Fox News

Trump has dismissed calls for his Commerce secretary’s resignation amid scrutiny over Epstein ties

By Amanda Macias Fox News

‘I have nothing to hide’: Secretary pushes back as lawmaker questions Epstein meetings

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick faces questions about past contact with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, he insists he has “nothing to hide” while declining to address specifics during a tense Capitol Hill exchange. (Credit: C-SPAN)

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick repeatedly shut down questions about his past ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein during a budget hearing Thursday.

He refused to address discrepancies in his statements and insisted the setting was “not” the place to discuss them because he was appearing before the House Appropriations Committee to discuss the budget.

Lutnick deflected as Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., pressed him on why he claimed to have cut off contact with Epstein in 2005 despite evidence they remained in touch for years afterward, amid mounting calls for his removal from the Trump administration.

TRUMP COMMERCE SECRETARY HOWARD LUTNICK TO APPEAR FOR HOUSE EPSTEIN PROBE, COMER SAYS

Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick testifies during a during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies hearing on the Commerce Department 2027 budget request in Washington, DC on April 22, 2026.(Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The clash underscores intensifying scrutiny over Lutnick’s past relationship with Epstein and raises fresh questions about the consistency of his account, as lawmakers weigh oversight of the Commerce Department and demand greater transparency from senior officials tied to the late financier’s network.

During the hearing, Meng pointed to reports that Lutnick visited Epstein’s private island in 2012 and exchanged business emails as recently as 2018.

She asked why Lutnick had previously said he was never “in a room” with Epstein after 2005.

Lutnick did not answer her inquiries, instead saying he had agreed to address “any and all questions” in a separate session with lawmakers in the coming weeks. “Today I am here to testify about the budget,” he said, repeating that he had “nothing to hide.”

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Documents included in the U.S. Department of Justice release of the Jeffrey Epstein files are photographed on Jan. 2, 2024.(Jon Elswick/AP)

The same pattern played out later in the hearing when Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., confronted Lutnick more forcefully, accusing him of lying about the extent of his relationship with Epstein and pressing him on past business ties.

“Why did you lie about your relationship with Jeffrey Epstein?” she pressed, urging the Commerce secretary to respond publicly rather than in a closed-door setting.

Lutnick again declined to engage, pointing to a future appearance before another committee and refusing to answer directly. Dean cut him off, saying, “Let the record reflect—you’re dodging the question. The cover-up continues,” before raising the possibility that President Donald Trump could remove him from his post.

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Howard Lutnick joined the second Trump administration in 2025 after co-chairing Trump’s transition team.(Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Lutnick has sought to downplay his past relationship with Epstein amid pressure from the public for the late sex offender’s associates to be revealed.

The two lived next door to each other in New York, but Lutnick told Congress he “barely had anything to do with that person.”

The Trump administration has so far dismissed calls for his resignation, even as questions about his past ties continue to mount, and Lutnick is expected to face more direct questioning from lawmakers in May.

Amanda covers the intersection of business and politics for Fox News Digital.