What's Ahead For The President's Reconciliation Bill
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I'm Trey Gowdy. I'm Jerry Willis. I'm Bill Hemmer. And this is the Fox News Rundown. Monday, June 2nd, 2025. I'm Grinnell Scott. The U.S. Senate will have a lot on its plate over the next few weeks, not the least of which will be the president's big, beautiful bill, which the House has handed to them.

We have to deliver results for the American people, and we want those results to make monumental change for our nation and in the homes of hardworking Americans from coast to coast. We'll talk about that and more with Republican U.S. Senator from Alabama, Katie Britt.

I'm Chris Foster. Fox News correspondent Mike Tobin made it to the top of the world, climbing to the summit of Mount Everest. I'll tell you this, to climb with a Sherpa is to respect a Sherpa. It's really amazing how strong they are and what nice guys they are. They're cheerful, they're eager, very willing to work, they're very encouraged to work. And I'm Chuck DeVore. I've got the final word on the Fox News Rundown. ♪

The United States Senate has a lot of work ahead of it over the coming weeks. Much of it will be centered around the House of Representatives Budget Reconciliation Plan, also known as the Big Beautiful Bill.

In that piece of legislation, nearly every aspect of the Trump agenda is covered, from immigration to defense to streamlining government. It narrowly passed the House, but at this point faces an even more uncertain Senate future, with Republicans like Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson on the fence.

He said on Fox's Sunday Morning Futures. I want to see the president succeed. I want to take a tax increase, an automatic tax increase off the table as soon as possible. All this could have been done. The border funding, take an automatic tax increase off the table. I think we have to deal with the debt ceiling. But again, I don't want to just

you know, do $5 trillion. I'm happy to give the president, you know, increase the debt ceiling for one year. Despite the sticking points, Treasury Secretary Scott Besant on CBS' Face the Nation said there are some non-negotiables that senators can't touch.

The president has his campaign promises that he wants to fulfill for working Americans. So it's no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security, deductibility of auto loans for American-made automobiles. How the budget reconciliation plays out, by all admissions, will be a painstaking process. Look, obviously, we appreciate the good work that the House did, and now it is the Senate's turn to do its job.

U.S. Senator Katie Britt represents Alabama and is two years into her first term on Capitol Hill. We spoke Sunday afternoon. I think Republicans are united in the calls of getting this done. I think our priority is ensuring that hardworking families don't face the

the largest tax increase in American history. I mean, Grinnell, we know that if we do not do our job here, Americans will face a tax increase of over $4 trillion. And for Alabamians, that means about $2,000

extra a year of their hard-earned dollars that they would have to give back to the federal government. Look, we want to make sure that hardworking Americans are keeping more of their dollars in their own pocket. We believe that's where they should be. So we're going to work diligently to make sure that we are aligned on cutting spending. I mean, we're seeing what's happening. We're looking. We're $36, almost $37 trillion in debt.

We know that's not only fiscally irresponsible, that is morally irresponsible. We have seen over the last four years Joe Biden and Democrats want to do nothing but add more spending, add more spending, add more spending, which has gotten us into this position.

And so we're committed to taking a look at that and figuring out how do we begin to work to get our fiscal house in order? How do we keep taxes low for hardworking Americans? How do we ensure that we are reducing inflation and that we're bringing good paying jobs back to America? So we're excited about what is ahead of us and we'll work diligently to come and get the consensus so that we can get this bill across the finish line.

One of the things Senator Ron Johnson said on Fox on Sunday was if it takes going line by line through this bill to make sure it's right, we should do that. Do you agree with that?

Absolutely. And look, we've talked about that for weeks, months of being diligent, being intentional, going through the bill and getting it right. We have to deliver results for the American people, and we want those results to make monumental change for our nation and in the homes of hardworking Americans from coast to coast. So whatever it takes to get it right, that's the kind of work that you can count on us putting in.

You are on the Senate Appropriations Committee, and at a recent hearing, you took the Labor Secretary to task.

about rules that could prevent people from engaging or even reengaging in the workforce. And I should mention a bill that you have put forward, the Child Care Availability and Affordability Act that you have done with the Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia. Tell me what that bill does and why that's important.

Absolutely. So that bill is we worked diligently to create a bipartisan solution on something that we're seeing Americans deal with all across our country. It doesn't matter if I'm talking to our largest manufacturer or our smallest Main Street business. They say making sure that we have people that are willing and ready to respond.

re-enter the workforce is critically important to continued success and economic prosperity and truly people being able to achieve their American dream. What we saw is that 59% of stay-at-home and or part-time working parents said that they would like to re-enter the workforce, but availability or affordability of child care is an impediment to that.

And Grinnell, we looked at that and said, look, if you want and have the opportunity to stay home, we want that for you. But if you want to reengage in the workforce as we execute President Trump's vision of building back America, then we want to help remove those impediments and give you that opportunity. So the solution that we have come up with is one that puts parents first.

Thank you.

a portion of the tax code that encourages those businesses and then for the first time ever allow small businesses to be a part of the solution so that they can provide resources or opportunities or programs or plans for their workforce in order to kind of meet these needs. You are also on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and we've seen in the last little while that

A lot of courts sort of standing in the way in some cases of President Trump's immigration policy, wanting to get those to get a control of illegal immigration on your committee is getting immigration judges, more immigration judges. Will that help? Is that one of the things that you would seek to do?

Yeah, so one of the things, Grinnell, we have to do is we have to do an actual assessment of what is working and what is not working. And those are questions that I have asked to various nominees who will be sitting and will be decision makers for these very things that we're talking about.

So the question, you know, we've seen over the last four years, in many cases, we've seen the Democratic Party think that the solution to a problem is to just throw more money at it. We want to make sure that the money we spend, and you'll be seeing some of this, obviously, through the reconciliation bill. You'll also be seeing it through the Senate Appropriations Bill, where I am the chair of the Homeland Security Subcommittee for Appropriations.

And then you see it, obviously, in my work in judiciary, where we're working to get answers. What are the holdups? Why is it that we are not processing people faster? If you look at the number of migrants that we have in the interior, you know, and how many have been given final orders of removal, obviously those that have been given that due process and have those final orders, you want to ensure that those are removed. Those that were waiting to receive that due process, to your point, we want to figure out how can we efficiently and effectively

move that process along. And so those are questions that I'm asking. One of the things you've talked about several times as we've been sitting here talking is about your home state and many things that you want to see happen with your home state. And

I want to talk to you about FEMA because as we chat, we're right at the start of hurricane season. And there are many people out there who are seeing sort of a shift with FEMA and perhaps maybe putting more of a burden on preparing and responding to storms on the states. There are many great places in Alabama, Orange Beach, you've got Gulf Shores,

I love that you know that. I love that you know that. We have the most beautiful beaches. I'm telling you, white, sandy beaches, beautiful blue water right there on the coast of Alabama. So thank you for noting that. And I have to mention, I had a chance to cover a football game in Mobile one time. Great city. But you have to worry about those cities. The original home of Mardi Gras. Exactly. Do you worry much about what...

And maybe any changes in FEMA could mean as far as preparations to protect those areas because when those storms ultimately roll into the Gulf, those cities and towns and places could be in the crosshairs. Yes.

Yeah, so look, as a Gulf Coast state, we take severe weather very seriously. And so whether it is hurricane season that is coming upon us, whether it is tornado outbreaks that, you know, unfortunately, we have seen.

more than our fair share of here in Alabama. I personally have been in the middle of a storm that the storm ultimately killed over 200 people in Alabama. We lost our house, our things, our cars. And by the grace of God, I am here on the phone with you today. But we have seen

those things and we understand the devastation that that and flooding and other things occur. And so we also understand the importance of local, state, and federal partnerships. So what we'll be doing here, obviously, is making sure that our citizenry is prepared, that citizens of Alabama are

are prepared, that they understand the importance of creating an emergency weather plan, that they understand the importance of staying tuned when that weather is, and they understand the things that they need to do to keep their family and as much of their property safe as possible. So, you know, one of the things, too, that I brought up more recently in an appropriations hearing with Secretary Wright

probably a little over a week ago, was about grid reliability, specifically about the Department of Energy's efforts to support the Gulf Coast states during this hurricane season to ensure that we had grid reliability and protection. And so we're continuing to encourage these things all the way across the board. In addition, my work on Appropriations Committee is making sure that we have radar coverage. There are places in Alabama that unfortunately, and this is in Alabama, as you know,

not unique to this, but they don't have the type of radar coverage that they need to keep communities safe. So we continue to fight for things like that. We understand, though, the importance of that local, state, and federal partnership. So we've been actively engaged in, you know, what are the plans moving forward? How does this work as a state that has seen its

more than fair share of severe weather, you know, and we think we're uniquely positioned to kind of raise our voice and say, hey, here's what's working, here's what's not, let us be a partner at the table with you.

Most people know you as being that last Republican response to a Joe Biden State of the Union. You did it from your kitchen table. And you talked about a lot of things that you'd like to see and the Republicans would like to see happen. Have a lot of those things happened and what's still left to come?

Absolutely. Look, President Trump is making sure that he is showing real leadership, that peace comes through strength and his willingness to engage in things like telling Iran, you know, you will not have a nuclear weapon and I do not want, we will not allow you to enrich uranium. That is critically important. That kind of leadership from the White House makes a difference. Very, the stark contrast to

President Biden, who refused to use the tools in his toolbox. The more we pull the curtain back on what was actually happening during the Joe Biden administration, I think the more the American people see why so many of us were so frustrated and so ready for change. Alabama U.S. Senator Katie Britt, thank you so much for the time. Thanks for joining us on the Fox News Rundown. Hey, I really appreciate it, and I look forward to coming back on. Absolutely.

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Fox News correspondent Mike Tobin has been in plenty of dangerous situations covering natural disasters and wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, the Middle East and Ukraine. Russia's invasion of Ukraine entering its 11th day on Sunday has so far been met with fierce resistance. But Russian President Vladimir Putin... It's an intense job. A lot of people take time off to relax, maybe sit on the beach. Not Mike, though. He took off just about a month to go climb the tallest mountain in the world, more than 29,000 feet to the top of Mount Everest. At

At the top, he stopped to do 22 push-ups in recognition of how many veterans' suicides are said to be reported on an average day. He and his group reached the final summit last Tuesday. First step to the summit was probably about four hours. We spoke when he was back down off the mountain in Shigatse, China, in Tibet. So that is after we left Camp 3, cleared what they call the exit cracks, and gained the ridge, the northeast ridge of Everest.

That was probably about 15 minutes to the first step, which is the first big obstacle. Okay. And because you have to, there are climbs to make the climb, right? It's not like you just show up at the base and go. No, no. We spent a long time at the base, frankly, acclimatizing. And then we went up to what is called the North Coal. Coal is just kind of fancy climber speak for a saddle in one of the ridge lines that comes off the Northeast Ridge. Okay.

And we went up to the North Coal at 23,000 feet. First slept there without oxygen to kind of really test our acclimatization. And then went back down, got some rest, and waited for the weather window. And the weather window was going to be one day. So we had to climb up through three days of really...

Two and a half days of bad weather. And then after that, we made it to Camp 3 in bad weather. And just like clockwork, we had a really good forecast. At midnight, the wind stopped. And we left about an hour and a half, two hours later for the summit. And the summit, it was still air. It was quite calm when we got to the summit. When you say bad weather, do you mean cold? Do you mean wind or both?

Both. When the wind started driving, as we got up toward Camp 2, I've covered a lot of hurricanes, and easily I would say that was the wind we were in at that point was Category 1 hurricane strength. And when you say good weather, what was that like besides it being still? How warm was it?

It wasn't that bad. I had on some big, what you'd call lobster gloves, where your index finger is free, but then the rest of your hand is in a mitten. And when we got up to the top, I swapped out just so I could have some more movement with my hands. And I didn't need the super big gloves because the weather had warmed up probably to what we'd call zero degrees Fahrenheit.

Mike, I know you well enough to know that this was not a very surprising thing for you to do. When did you first start thinking about it? When did you first start getting serious about it? And then when did you go about actually starting to plan it? Well, before you start thinking about it, I think everybody thinks about Everest, right? Isn't everybody a little bit fascinated with it? And then I've climbed for a long time. I've knocked out a lot of the peaks and I knocked out the sixth highest mountain in the world called Chouyou before COVID happened.

And then I had two different teams that I was on through, uh, this organization Alpenglow that were both blown up by COVID. And I had frankly written it off. And then in October, a guy named Griffin Mims, uh, with Alpenglow organization called me and he said, you know, we've got a spot for you on the team. And, uh, I had to run up by my wife and, uh,

I really had written Everest off up until that point. And then finally, when she said it was OK, I committed and we put together a training plan. And and here we are. You know, great team, too, by the way. Everybody showed up in shape. I mean, somebody just in your job, not to mention this extracurricular stuff. You have to have a supportive spouse. And Julie has obviously, you know, been that for you. Do you need permission to climb? How do you do you have to qualify for it? Or if you've got the cash, you can go.

Yeah, a lot of times if you've got the cash, you can go. And you see on the south side of Everest, there's a lot of people who aren't qualified showing up there.

at the mountain. This particular organization that I climbed through, Alpenglow, they invite you. And you have to make sure that you've proven yourself. And in this case, everybody on the team, just about everybody on the team had already climbed an 8,000 meter peak. And that means above 25,000 feet. And you can only get there in the Himalayas. So before you get asked to climb an 8,000 meter peak, at least through a reputable organization, you should have done...

Something like Aconcagua in South America or Denali up in Alaska. Something really big before you go to the Himalayas and really start testing yourself. And before you do the highest mountain in the world, you should really do probably either Cho-O-U, which is, let's say, 8,000-meter peak I had done before that, or Broad Peak in Pakistan.

So somebody like me, athletic-ish, but nowhere like what you've done. If I started, if I said, you know what, I'm going to climb Everest and I'm going to do everything I need to do to get in shape for that, what's it going to take me, a couple years?

Yeah, I think a couple of years, maybe more. I would think that you'd want to knock out some mountains like Cotopaxi or Chimborazo in South America. If you really wanted to start on the big mountains, I would say a mountain called Orizaba in Mexico. It's a big volcano that sometimes you can see from Mexico City. Start there and then try to get some of the South American peaks.

and make sure some people, their bodies do really well at altitude. And I've been on teams where there have been ultra marathoners on the team and we start getting up high and they fall apart. Yeah. I was speaking completely hypothetically, by the way. I'm not going to do any of this. Oh, come on. People do die doing this are generally those people that are

are unprepared or with unreputable or not skilled teams? Or is it often people that do know what they're doing, but just hit bad luck or bad preparation or bad weather?

Well, you certainly do have skilled climbers. You know, Anatoly Bukharyev was killed climbing in the Himalayas, Lapsang Sherpa. A lot of the big names in climbing, it's a risky business. But as far as the carnage that you see, pretty much, I mean, the people died this year on Everest. The carnage you see almost every year on Everest is largely because people show up unprepared.

And there are stories that I assume aren't legends of there are human remains up there, right? And not to mention there's trash up there. Did you experience any of that? And whose job is it to clean the summit of Mount Everest?

Well, nobody is their job. As far as the summit, it wasn't that messy. There were a lot of prayer flags and things like that that were that are always left up at the summit. The big mess that you see is really on the south side of Everest. I climbed from the north side of Everest. So it's not that bad. Camp three on Everest was was a dump. There's a lot of trash up there.

So it's not really anyone's job to clean it. But the north side of Everest, as far as base camp goes, it was frankly, it was pretty tidy and advanced base camp. That was pretty tidy. When you started going up high, that's where people start. You're just getting by and people start getting more careless. Right. What's the Sherpa business like? I mean, how do you do those guys work for themselves or they work for a service?

And do you think you maybe saw a mountain that's not going to be the same at some point in the next few years?

Well, no, I think the mountain's a mountain. It's not going to change. As far as the Sherpas go, I'll tell you this: to climb with a Sherpa is to respect a Sherpa. It's really amazing how strong they are and what nice guys they are. They're cheerful, they're eager, very willing to work, they're very encouraged to work. And that's because in the Sherpa community, there really isn't a gross national product

Other than climbing. So the high altitude Sherpas, you know, they're rock stars in their communities. They're celebrities. I have climbed now twice with a Sherpa named Pasang. And by the way, they're named for the day of a lot of them are named for the day of the week they're born. So his name is Tuesday Sherpa. And then, you know, kind of like if you're named Mike and everybody calls me Tobin, he goes by the name Piso.

And he's a great guy. I've been into the death zone with this guy twice now. And, you know, we're forever bonded. And to me, to meet the Sherpas, to work with them, it's just really it's encouraging to see someone with a very cheerful work ethic and taking on such a high risk job on the south side of Everest.

It's kind of different because they have to work in the Khumbu Icefall, and that's where you've seen all the video of the ladders going through the Syracs and the glacier. And an icefall is, if you think of a glacier as a river, the icefall is the waterfall.

And it's always moving, just moving much slower than a river. And the way you minimize the risk going through the Khumbu Icefall is to install those ladders and all the fixed lines. But the problem with that is someone has to go in there and install those ladders and the fixed line and spend a lot of time in there.

And they're at risk the whole time they're in there. So I would stop short of condemning the way Sherpas operate on the south side of the mountain because it's a big part of their livelihood. It's the essence of their economy. But I chose to not be a part of that. So I climbed from the north side. Yeah, the reason I asked about the mountain –

I read this interview with Kami Riedescherper, who's climbed more than anybody else. I think he just finished his 31st climb. And he said, look, he's seeing less snow and he worries about the future and he worries about the business and he worries about...

There being less climbers that will lead to fewer guys, which will lead to fewer climbers and so on and so on. Well, I don't know that the mountain is necessarily going to change and the draw of Everest is not going to change. People are always surprised, you know, particularly after the 96 disaster, that more people showed up the next year and the year following that. The fact that the mountain is perilous

in and of itself is the draw. It's why people like me show up here because it's a challenge. You know, there aren't handrails up here, up there, pardon me, I'm back down on the main line now. But so I don't necessarily see it going away. I think Everest is always going to be attractive to people. And as long as there are people willing to climb, there are going to be guiding companies who hire the Sherpas and the Sherpas will do well compared to most of the Sherpa economy.

Mike Tobin, congratulations, man. It's really, we're all proud of you back here. Fox News International correspondent. Next time you're in town, hit me up. We'll get you a beer. You bet.

Here's a look at the week ahead. Monday, Fox Nation will air the sixth installment of The Senate Project, a series which brings together sitting senators from opposing parties for civil dialogue on current political issues with the goal of bridging partisan divides. The latest installment will feature Pennsylvania Senators John Fetterman and Dave McCormick and hosted by Fox's Shannon Breen.

Tuesday, United Airlines implements a new domestic check-in window. Anyone with carry-on bags must have checked in at least 45 minutes before departure. Wednesday, do you want to be popular? Wicked is back in theaters for one night only, with the debut trailer of the sequel premiering after the film. Thursday, a new basketball champion will be crowned soon. The NBA Finals begin.

Friday, economists will be taking a look at the release of the May jobs report to take the pulse of the state of the American economy. And that's a look at your week ahead. I'm Anna Eliopoulos, Fox News. Put us in a box. Go ahead. That just gives us something to break out of. Because the next generation 2025 GMC terrain elevation is raising the standard of what comes standard.

As far as expectations go, why meet them when you can shatter them? What we choose to challenge, we challenge completely. We are professional grade. Visit GMC.com to learn more.

I'm Benjamin Hall, Fox News senior correspondent and New York Times bestselling author. Join me every Monday on my podcast as I speak with silent but noteworthy heroes. Make sure you subscribe to my podcast, Searching for Heroes, with Benjamin Hall, wherever you download podcasts, and leave a rating and a review. Rate and review the Fox News Rundown on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen. It's time for your Fox News commentary. Chuck DeVore.

What's on your mind? On May 20th, President Donald Trump launched the Golden Dome Missile Defense Initiative. I was in college when President Ronald Reagan launched the Strategic Defense Initiative, initially mocked by its opponents as Star Wars. Trump named Space Force General Michael Gitland as the Golden Dome project leader, a tell that the system will be primarily space-based.

Technology in two areas has altered the equation for missile defense, likely making defending against nuclear missiles, even hypersonic ones, less expensive than building the offensive nuclear weapons. This was not the case when Reagan announced SDI in 1983.

The great communicator said then that, quote, "What if free people could live secure in the knowledge that their security did not rest upon the threat of instant U.S. retaliation to deter a Soviet attack, that we could intercept and destroy strategic ballistic missiles before they reached our own soil or that of our allies?"

"This is a formidable technical task. Will take years, probably decades of effort on many fronts, but isn't it worth every investment necessary to free the world from the threat of nuclear war? We know it is."

The threat of nuclear war that Reagan was worried about and thought immoral was that of the doctrine of mutually assured destruction, or MAD. MAD held that a nuclear balance of terror could keep the peace, that as long as nuclear rivals knew that, even if they struck first, the other side could still inflict massive damage in return.

President Trump's Golden Dome project is a $175 billion missile defense system designed to protect the U.S. from ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles, including those launched from space.

Inspired by Israel's Iron Dome, which has proven effective against short-range rockets, the Golden Dome aims to shield the entire U.S., a continent-spanning nation 450 times larger, from advanced threats.

As envisioned, the system includes space-based interceptors, sensors, and satellites. Trump wants to have the system fully operational by 2029, integrating next-generation technologies across land, sea, and space. Given the 360-fold reduction in space launch costs

and likely a thousand-fold, and the massive increase in electronic capacity, Trump's Golden Dome could realize Reagan's SDI dreams. Unsurprisingly, China attacked the missile defense initiative less than 24 hours later, parroting the former Soviet Union's response to SDI.

More importantly, the Department of Defense will be capable of protecting the homeland from a devastating nuclear attack without automatically resorting to a massive nuclear counterstrike that could kill and wound a hundred million people or more.

This is Chuck DeVore, Chief National Initiatives Officer for the Texas Public Policy Foundation. You've been listening to the Fox News Rundown. And now, stay up to date by subscribing to this podcast at foxnewspodcasts.com. Listen ad-free on Fox News Podcasts Plus on Apple Podcasts. And Prime members can listen to the show ad-free on Amazon Music. And for up-to-the-minute news, go to foxnews.com.

I'm Dana Perino. This week on Perino on Politics, I'm joined by my friend, former chief of staff to House Speaker John Boehner and senior advisor to President George W. Bush. It is Barry Jackson. Available now on Fox News podcast dot com or wherever you get your favorite podcasts.