Chuck Schumer cries and FALLS APART on senate Floor: 'Trump Did This!"
Washington, D.C. - May 17, 2026
Senate Confirms John Phelan as Secretary of the Navy in 62-30 Vote, Advancing Trump’s Defense Priorities
The Senate on Tuesday confirmed John Phelan as the next Secretary of the Navy in a 62-30 vote, marking another significant victory for President Donald Trump’s efforts to reshape the Department of Defense. The confirmation advances Trump’s plan to install Phelan as the next chair of the Federal Reserve, succeeding Jerome Powell whose term as chair expires Friday.
Warsh, a former Fed governor from 2006 to 2011, is a longtime critic of the central bank’s policies on balance sheet size, bank regulation, and communication practices. He has indicated openness to interest rate cuts in recent statements, aligning with Trump’s repeated calls for lower rates.
In confirmation hearings, Warsh pledged to maintain the Fed’s independence in setting monetary policy. “I will be an independent actor if confirmed as chair of the Federal Reserve,” he stated last month.
The position fills the seat previously held temporarily by Stephen Miran, a Trump aide who took a leave from the White House Council of Economic Advisers to serve on the Fed after an early resignation created the vacancy. Miran’s term officially expired in January but he remained on the board until a replacement was confirmed. Miran became known for consistently advocating lower interest rates during his time on the Federal Open Market Committee.
Warsh’s term as a Fed governor will run until 2040. He will serve alongside two governors nominated during Trump’s first term and three nominated by former President Joe Biden. Trump’s attempts to remove one Biden appointee have so far been blocked by courts.
Powell has not indicated how long he plans to remain on the Fed board after his chair term ends. His governor term runs until January 2028. He has pledged to maintain a low profile in the coming months.
The vote reflects Republican unity on the nomination, with all Republicans supporting Warsh. Several Democrats opposed the confirmation. The move is part of Trump’s broader effort to align the Federal Reserve more closely with its economic priorities while maintaining the institution’s formal independence.
Warsh graduated from Stanford University and Harvard Law School. After leaving the Fed in 2011, he worked as a Hoover Institution fellow and as an adviser to billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller. He is married to Jane Lauder, granddaughter of Estée Lauder, and has significant personal wealth.
The confirmation comes as the Fed has held interest rates steady in recent meetings. Miran, who dissented on several rate decisions, had pushed for larger cuts.
The Senate still needs to vote separately to confirm Warsh as chair of the Board of Governors. That vote is expected later this week.
The development underscores the priority the Trump administration places on aligning the Federal Reserve more closely with its economic priorities while maintaining the institution’s formal independence. Analysts expect Warsh’s leadership, if confirmed as chair, to focus on balancing inflation control with economic growth.
Trump Admin Says It Uncovered $10 Billion Obamacare Fraud Scheme
The Trump administration says it has uncovered what it describes as a massive fraud scheme within the Affordable Care Act.
Members of Trump’s administration allege that roughly $10 billion in taxpayer money was improperly paid out between 2021 and 2024 because of weakened enrollment safeguards under former President Joe Biden.
According to a Department of Health and Human Services report, officials have already removed nearly three million fraudulent or improper Obamacare enrollments and estimate another 2.6 million questionable enrollments remain.
Administration officials say the findings are part of a broader government-wide effort to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse across federal programs.
The report traces the alleged problems to changes made during the Biden administration that expanded enrollment opportunities while relaxing income verification and eligibility checks.
At the start of Biden’s presidency, approximately 10 million people were enrolled through the Affordable Care Act exchanges. By 2024, enrollment had surged to roughly 22 million.
Federal investigators now believe millions of those enrollments were improper, fraudulent, or created without the knowledge of the individuals involved.
“By our estimate, improper, phantom, and fraudulent enrollment peaked at 5.6 million people in 2025,” the report states.
“We estimate 2.6 million improper and phantom enrollments remain, including over 1 million enrollments without a Social Security number.”
According to the report, several different forms of abuse contributed to the alleged fraud.
Officials say some applicants intentionally understated their income to qualify for larger taxpayer-funded subsidies.
Others allegedly received premium assistance despite failing to meet eligibility requirements.
Investigators also identified what they describe as “phantom enrollments,” in which insurance brokers allegedly enrolled people in Obamacare plans without their knowledge to collect federal commissions.
The report argues that reduced verification requirements made those practices significantly easier to carry out.
Since taking office, the Trump administration says it has restored stricter income verification requirements, ended several special enrollment periods, increased screening for duplicate Medicaid enrollment, and launched investigations into brokers suspected of creating phantom policies.
Officials also say they have strengthened oversight of agents participating in the federal marketplace.
As a result of those efforts, nearly three million enrollments have already been removed from the Affordable Care Act exchanges.
Even after those removals, approximately 19.2 million people remain enrolled.
The administration says its goal is not to reduce legitimate coverage but to ensure taxpayer dollars are being spent only on individuals who actually qualify.
“Preserving the fiscal and programmatic integrity of the ACA Exchanges is key to safeguarding taxpayer-funded resources for those that truly need them,” the report states.
“The federal government paying brokers to enroll individuals without their knowledge is not.”
The report also says the administration will continue pursuing additional enforcement actions against brokers and others accused of exploiting the program.
“The Trump Administration continues to aggressively root out fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption by promulgating new regulations to improve program integrity, investigating suspected improper or fraudulent enrollment, and taking action against agents and brokers committing fraud.”
The findings are likely to reignite debate over the Affordable Care Act and how aggressively eligibility rules should be enforced.
Supporters of the administration argue the report demonstrates that stricter oversight is necessary to protect taxpayers and preserve benefits for those legally entitled to receive them.
Critics of previous verification rollbacks have long warned that loosening enrollment safeguards could increase improper payments and fraud, while supporters of the Biden-era policies argued the changes made healthcare more accessible to eligible Americans, Fox News reported exclusively.
The administration says its investigations remain ongoing, with an estimated 2.6 million additional enrollments still under review as officials continue auditing the federal health insurance exchanges.
Trump has been pushing to replace Obamacare for over a decade, and this may give Republicans enough motivation to actually do something.
