Sparks flew on Capitol Hill Wednesday as Education Secretary Linda McMahon faced off with Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., in a fiery exchange during a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing in the latest clash over the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the Department of Education.

The war of words began when Watson Coleman asked, “Do you believe that there is illegal discrimination against people who are Black or brown, and other types of discrimination in jobs and education in this country?”

“I think it still exists in some areas,” McMahon replied.

‘EDUCATORS WILL BE FIRED’: REPUBLICANS CHEER TRUMP ORDER DISMANTLING EDUCATION DEPARTMENT AS DEMS SEETHE

Watson Coleman pressed further: “Then can you tell me why the Office of Civil Rights and the Department of Education is being decimated?”

McMahon responded, “Well, it isn’t being decimated. We have reduced the size of it. However, we are taking on a backlog of cases that were left over from the Biden administration.”

Watson Coleman grew visibly frustrated and accused the administration of racial bias in immigration and education policies, saying its actions amounted to “favoritism and prioritization of white over color.”

In a blistering rebuke, Watson Coleman said, “Your rhetoric means nothing to me. What means something to me is the actions of this administration. I’m telling you, the Department of Education is one of the most important departments in this country. And you should feel shameful to be engaged with an administration that doesn’t give a damn.”

STUDENT LOANS, PELL GRANTS WILL CONTINUE DESPITE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT DOWNSIZING, EXPERT SAYS

McMahon, remaining composed, replied, “I am the secretary of Education who has been approved to run this agency by Congress. And I was appointed by the president. And I serve at his pleasure under his mandate. So, therefore, the direction of his administration is what I will follow.”

The exchange came as part of a larger hearing in which McMahon laid out President Donald Trump’s 2026 education budget proposal, which calls for a $12 billion cut to the Education Department, a 15% reduction.

McMahon described her work as the department’s “final mission”: to wind it down and restore education oversight to states, parents and local educators.

“Let’s focus on literacy. What we’re seeing in those scores is a failure of our students to learn to read,” McMahon said. “We’ve lost the fundamentals.”

Chairman Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Ala., praised McMahon’s approach, noting, “Despite $3 trillion in federal education spending since 1980, student achievement has not improved. The answer is not more money. It’s more accountability and local control.”

The plan consolidates 18 federal programs into a single $2 billion block grant to states. Democrats labeled the proposal as a backdoor effort to gut federal support for public schools.

On student loans, McMahon said the department has begun recovering repayments after years of Biden-era pauses and confusion.

“Since we restarted collections in May, we have recovered nearly $100 million,” she said.

She also defended staffing cuts and administrative restructuring, stating, “We’re delivering on all of our statutory requirements with fewer people and lower overhead.”

Republicans on the subcommittee shared their support for charter schools and school choice. McMahon, in agreement, pointed to a proposed $60 million increase in charter school funding.

“We’ve got about a million students on charter school waiting lists,” she said. “Parents should be deciding where their children can go to school and get the best education.”

Democrats also criticized McMahon for not defending early childhood education, particularly Head Start, even though the program technically falls under the Department of Health and Human Services.

“Every Head Start program in the country has three days of funding. That’s not someone else’s problem. It’s America’s children,” said Rep. Josh Harder, D-Calif.

McMahon responded, “The earlier we can start education, the better, but I don’t believe the federal government is responsible for everything. That’s where states can lead.”

The Trump administration also defended its position forcefully outside the hearing room.

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“On the topic of corruption, let’s not forget that the Department of Education was created by President Carter in an attempt to win voters,” Savannah Newhouse, Education Department press secretary, said in a statement to Fox News Digital following the exchange.

“Since then, we have spent over $3 trillion pretending the department is necessary as student learning outcomes have not improved,” she continued. “While the congresswoman from New Jersey basks in her five minutes of fame, the Trump administration is working to improve student outcomes and ensure American families have access to the quality education that they deserve.”

Singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen continued his criticism of President Donald Trump Wednesday by releasing a six-track digital extended play (EP) that included his political rants while performing in Manchester, United Kingdom, last week.

“The Boss” included four songs on the 31-minute EP, “Land of Hope & Dreams.” The songs included “Land of Hope and Dreams,” “Long Walk Home,” “My City of Ruins” and “Chimes of Freedom.”

All four songs were recorded live May 14, 2025, when Springsteen publicly lambasted Trump.

During his intro to “Land of Hope and Dreams,” Springsteen said it was great to be back in Manchester, calling on the “righteous power of art, of music, of rock and roll, in dangerous times.”

KID ROCK CALLS OUT BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN’S ANTI-TRUMP RANT ON EUROPEAN TOUR, SAYS IT WAS A ‘PUNK MOVE’

“In my home, the America I love, the America I’ve written about, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration,” he said. “Tonight, we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experience to rise with us, raise your voices against authoritarianism and let freedom ring.”

Springsteen went on another political rant against Trump and the U.S. government before the E Street Band kicked into the song “My City of Ruins.”

“There’s some very weird, strange and dangerous s— going on out there right now,” Springsteen told the British crowd. “In America, they are persecuting people for using their right to free speech and voicing their dissent. This is happening now. In America, the richest men are taking satisfaction and abandoning the world’s poorest children to sickness and death. 

TRUMP CALLS SPRINGSTEEN ‘HIGHLY OVERRATED’ AFTER ROCKER LABELS HIM ‘TREASONOUS’ OVERSEAS

“This is happening now,” he added. “In my country, they’re taking sadistic pleasure in the pain that they inflict on loyal American workers. They’re rolling back historic civil rights legislation that led to a more just and plural society. They’re abandoning our great allies and siding with dictators against those struggling for their freedom.”

Springsteen also accused the government of defunding American universities that “won’t bow down to their ideological demands.”

“They’re removing residents off American streets and, without due process of law, are deporting them to foreign detention centers and prisons,” he said. “This is all happening now. A majority of our elected representatives have failed to protect the American people from the abuses of an unfit president and a rogue government. They have no concern or idea of what it means to be deeply American. 

FOX NEWS POLITICS NEWSLETTER: NO LOVE LOST BETWEEN TRUMP AND ‘THE BOSS’

“The America that I’ve sung to you about for 50 years is real and, regardless of its faults, is a great country with a great people,” Springsteen added. “So, we’ll survive this moment.”

The crowd responded with applause when Springsteen continued to pontificate his stance on the current administration.

The comments went viral last week, and Trump responded by slamming Springsteen and calling him “highly overrated” Friday.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN IGNORES QUESTION ABOUT TRUMP FEUD WHILE SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS: VIDEO

“I see that Highly Overrated Bruce Springsteen goes to a Foreign Country to speak badly about the President of the United States,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “Never liked him, never liked his music, or his Radical Left Politics and, importantly, he’s not a talented guy — Just a pushy, obnoxious JERK, who fervently supported Crooked Joe Biden, a mentally incompetent FOOL, and our WORST EVER President, who came close to destroying our Country.

“Sleepy Joe didn’t have a clue as to what he was doing, but Springsteen is ‘dumb as a rock,’ and couldn’t see what was going on, or could he (which is even worse!)? This dried out ‘prune’ of a rocker (his skin is all atrophied!) ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT until he gets back into the Country, that’s just ‘standard fare.’ Then we’ll all see how it goes for him!”

Springsteen declared last year that “I’ll be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz” in the presidential election. Harris lost the race to Trump.

Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman, Lindsay Kornick and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has been hard at work this week meeting with as many factions within the House GOP as possible to quell concerns ahead of a chamber-wide vote on President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.”

Managing a razor-thin House majority isn’t easy in the best of times, but negotiating the vast tax-immigration-energy-defense-debt limit bill has revealed both old and new fractures within the Republican Conference.

Fox News Digital took a look at what the key factions have been looking for.

HOUSE FREEDOM CAUCUS HEADING TO WHITE HOUSE AFTER DELAY PLAY ON TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’

The House Freedom Caucus and their allies have been pushing the bill to go further on curbing Medicaid’s Affordable Care Act (ACA) expansion, and implementing work requirements for able-bodied Americans on the government healthcare program sooner than the current bill’s 2029 deadline.

There’s broad consensus among Republicans on needing work requirements for able-bodied Americans on healthcare, but cutting too deeply into the Obamacare-era expanded population has some moderate GOP lawmakers worried.

The conservatives have consistently argued that they are only seeking to reshuffle the program to make it more available for vulnerable people who truly need it, including low-income women and children.

That same group has argued in favor of a total repeal of President Joe Biden’s green energy tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) – a push that has pitted them against Republicans whose districts have businesses that benefitted from those subsidies.

DEMS WARN HOUSE REPUBLICANS WILL PAY PRICE AT BALLOT BOX FOR PASSING TRUMP’S ‘BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL’

Moderate Republicans in California, New York, and New Jersey have been taking a stand on raising the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap.

SALT deduction caps primarily benefit people living in high-cost-of-living areas like New York City, Los Angeles, and their surrounding suburbs.

Republicans representing those areas have argued that raising the SALT deduction cap is an existential issue — and that a failure to address it could cost the GOP the House majority in the 2026 midterms.

Several of the Republicans vying for higher SALT deduction caps have pointed out that their victories are critical to the party retaining control of the House in 2024.

SALT deduction caps did not exist before Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), which notably instilled a $10,000 ceiling for married and single tax filers.

That cap has been received positively by the majority of Republicans, however – and those in lower-tax, GOP-controlled states have dismissed the push for a higher SALT deduction cap as an unearned reward for Democratic states with high-tax policies.

Republicans in places like Tennessee and Missouri have argued it was their tax dollars subsidizing wealthier, blue-leaning areas’ tax breaks. Blue state Republicans, meanwhile, have contended that they send more tax dollars back to the federal government which in turn helps pay for lower-tax states.

There is some overlap between Republicans looking for more modest cuts to the IRA and those seeking a higher SALT deduction cap – but not completely.

Republicans in swing districts in Arizona and Pennsylvania have argued that upending those tax credits now would harm businesses in their districts that had begun changing their operations already to conform to those new tax breaks.

In March, 21 House Republicans signed a letter urging their colleagues to preserve the green energy tax credit.

“Countless American companies are utilizing sector-wide energy tax credits – many of which have enjoyed broad support in Congress – to make major investments in domestic energy production and infrastructure for traditional and renewable energy sources alike,” they wrote.

But conservative fiscal hawks pushing for a total repeal said in their own letter that the U.S.’ growing green energy sector was the product of government handouts rather than genuine sustainable growth.

“Leaving IRA subsidies intact will actively undermine America’s return to energy dominance and national security,” they said. “They are the result of government subsidies that distort the U.S. energy sector, displace reliable coal and natural gas and the domestic jobs they produce, and put the stability and independence of our electric grid in jeopardy.”

Fox News’ Peter Doocy has some unique insight on former President Joe Biden as questions continue to persist about whether there was a coverup to hide his declining mental state while serving as commander-in-chief. 

Doocy, a senior White House correspondent, posted multiple videos to X on Wednesday showing him questioning Biden and the White House about the then-president’s cognitive decline. 

“I have some unique insight on President Biden, having dedicated six years of my life to covering him,” he wrote. “If you are wondering why nobody asked about his mental fitness, and why nobody asked if White House staffers were covering up his decline… then you weren’t paying attention.”

WASHINGTON POST URGES CONGRESS TO ACT TO PREVENT ANOTHER COVER-UP OF PRESIDENT’S HEALTH AMID BIDEN REVELATIONS 

In one video, Doocy is seen questioning Biden about Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report that concluded that one of the reasons Biden wasn’t charged for his handling of classified Obama-era documents found in his former office and at home was because he was a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

“I’m well-meaning and I’m an elderly man and I know what the hell I’m doing. I put this country back on its feet. I don’t need his recommendation,” Biden replied.

Doocy then asked how bad Biden’s memory was and would he be able to continue to serve as president. 

“My memory is so bad, I let you speak,” Biden shot back. 

Much of the media has been criticized for its reluctance to question Biden or the White House about his health concerns. The former president’s health is once again in the headlines after CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Axios correspondent Alex Thompson’s new book, “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,” was released on Tuesday.

The book alleges that Biden’s inner circle concealed his cognitive decline for years and was released just days after news broke that Biden had been diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer.

In one instance, during a news briefing, Doocy questioned then-White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about a campaign event in which Biden was present. 

“At a fundraiser this week, President Biden told donors about how Charlottesville inspired his campaign, and according to the pool, a few mins later he told the story again nearly word for word. What’s up with that?”

CBS NEWS REPORTER SAYS WSJ’S ‘COURAGEOUS’ 2024 REPORT ON BIDEN’S DECLINE SHOULD HAVE WON THE PULITZER

“What I can tell you is, and I’m going to be careful not to talk about it because this was a campaign event,… the president was making very clear why he decided to run in 2019,” Jean-Pierre responded. 

In another briefing, Jean-Pierre said Biden was making a “light-hearted joke” and “speaking off the cuff” when she was asked by Doocy about Biden’s remarks that his “health is fine. It’s just his brain.”

In another video, Jean-Pierre was asked about Biden’s gaffe when he appeared to mix up French President Emmanuel Macron with François Mitterrand, the former president of France who died in 1996.

“How is President Biden ever going to convince the three-quarters of voters who are worried about his physical and mental health that he’s OK even though in Las Vegas he told a story about recently talking to a French president who died in 1996?”

WALL STREET JOURNAL CALLS OUT TAPPER FOR SNEERING AT PAPER’S STORY ABOUT BIDEN’S DECLINE

“I’m not even going to go down that rabbit hole with you,” she replied. 

Doocy also asked if Biden had been tested for Parkinson’s Disease or dementia following his disastrous debate performance against then-candidate Donald Trump.

“What we shared with you was comprehensive, but he’s had a full physical. We’ve shown the results of those this past three years,” Jean-Pierre said. “We showed it just four months ago, and it is in line with what we have done, similar to President Obama, similar to George W. Bush. We are committed to continue to be transparent. We are committed to continue to show the results of those physicals, and look, it’s the president’s medical team that makes a decision.”

In another briefing, Jean-Pierre was questioned about why Biden was treated by White House staffers “like a baby.”

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“No one treated the president of the United States, the commander-in-chief, like a baby,” she replied. “That’s a ridiculous claim.”

Fox News Digital’s Kristine Parks contributed to this report.

Protesters affiliated with several leftist groups, including the People’s Action Institute, flooded a Capitol Hill office building in Washington on Wednesday as the House prepared to vote on the “big, beautiful” budget bill backed by President Donald Trump.

Capitol Police have responded to several protests over Medicaid cuts that disrupted activities in Capitol office buildings over the last several weeks.

On Wednesday, protesters affiliated with the People’s Action Institute shut down a hallway in the Longworth House Office Building as part of a protest against cuts to Medicaid in the budget bill.

In a video obtained by Fox News Digital, protesters could be seen blocking a hallway and shouting, “We got the power,” while raising their fists. Many protesters held signs reading “Medicaid Cuts Kill.” 

TRUMP SAYS GOP IS UNIFIED AS HE DELIVERS ‘PEP TALK’ FOR ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’

Capitol Police quickly cleared the protesters from the building; there appeared to be no arrests.

Democrats have been shining a spotlight on portions of the budget bill that restructure Medicaid, the nearly 60-year-old federal government program that provides health insurance for roughly 71 million adults and children with limited income.

The cuts to Medicaid, being drafted in part as an offset to pay for extending Trump’s 2017 tax cut law that is set to expire this year, include a slew of new rules and regulatory requirements for those seeking coverage. Among them are a new set of work requirements for many of those seeking coverage.

Wednesday’s protest was not the only one that has disrupted activity in the Capitol office buildings this month. Fox News Digital reported on Medicaid protesters disrupting a budget markup by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on May 13.

Video taken by Fox News Digital of the protests showed Capitol Police attempting to gain control of the situation, shouting repeatedly, “If you’re not getting arrested, then go!”

HOUSE GOP UNVEILS MEDICAID WORK REQUIREMENTS IN TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’

The video also shows a woman in a wheelchair being removed from the committee chamber while screaming, “They want to kill the disabled, they want to kill the sick, they want to kill the veterans who have fought for us.”

Amid the chaos, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., spurred on the crowds, saying, “Keep fighting, stay strong, we’re not going to let them take away healthcare. You are leading the way. Thank you very much.”

In response to criticism about disrupting activity in the congressional office buildings, Unai Montes-Irueste, a spokesperson for the People’s Action Institute, told Fox News Digital that “Medicaid cuts kill. Nothing is more disruptive than death.”

Montes-Irueste said “there is no congressional district in the country that supports ripping healthcare coverage away from Medicaid recipients so that Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg can buy new yachts.”

CAPITOL POLICE ARREST PROTESTERS DISRUPTING BUDGET MARKUP AS CORY BOOKER THANKS THEM FOR DEFENDING MEDICAID

Despite the accusations that Republicans want to cut Medicaid, Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, told Fox News Digital this month that “Republicans are ending waste, fraud and abuse in Medicaid so the most vulnerable get the care they need.”

Hudson said that “Democrats are lying to protect a broken status quo that lets illegal immigrants siphon off billions meant for American families. We’re strengthening Medicaid for future generations by protecting taxpayers and restoring integrity.”

The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the budget bill sometime between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, the timing dependent on passage of a rules resolution from the House Rules Committee.

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content.

Here’s what’s happening…

-Trump confronts South Africa’s president with video on treatment of White farmers

-Florida Sen Moody rolls out measure to expedite removal of criminal illegal immigrants

-Justice Department begins dismissing Biden-era police lawsuits against Minneapolis and Louisville

China is concerned by President Donald Trump’s proposal for a new U.S. missile defense system, called the Golden Dome, which is designed to protect against adversarial attacks on America.  

Golden Dome has a “strong offensive nature and violates the principle of peaceful use in the Outer Space Treaty,” Chinese Foreign Minister Mao Ning said Wednesday. 

“The project will heighten the risk of turning space into a war zone and creating a space arms race, and shake the international security and arms control system,” Mao said. “We urge the U.S. to give up developing and deploying global anti-missile system.”…READ MORE 

DIPLOMATIC RECKONING: Trump to meet leader of ‘out of control’ South Africa at White House

 ‘PROMISE KEPT’: Rising star takes victory lap after Trump DOJ rolls back massive Biden anti-police push: ‘Undo the damage’

‘CAPACITY FOR DENIAL’: Biden family misled public on Beau’s cancer diagnosis, new book says

‘LOT OF QUESTIONS’: Harris, Becerra covered up Biden mental decline, California Democratic candidate for governor says

CRITICAL AID: At least 82 killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza as critical aid fails to reach Palestinians

WALKING THE FRONT LINES: Putin visits Kursk region for first time since booting Ukrainian forces from territory

‘STRETCHING’ THE SYSTEM?: Israel encircles 2 of northern Gaza’s last functioning hospitals, groups say

PRICE TO PAY: Dems warn House Republicans will pay price at ballot box for passing Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’

LEFT FLANK ASSIST: Trump and Cruz’ No Tax on Tips plan passes Senate with unexpected help from Dem

ART OF THE DEAL?: House Freedom Caucus heading to White House after delay play on Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’

‘STOPS THE MUTILATION’: Marjorie Taylor Greene pushes bill to punish those who perform gender transition measures on minors

‘IMMENSE SADNESS’: Virginia Democratic Rep Gerry Connolly dead at 75

‘CHARGES ARE ABSURD’: Dem Rep. McIver expected to make first court appearance after Newark incident

INCHING CLOSER: Speaker Johnson reaches tentative deal with blue state Republicans to boost cap on SALT deduction

‘EMBRACE A GOOD IDEA’: Senate unanimously approves $25,000 tax break for tipped workers

SURPRISE SUPPORT: Trump and Cruz’ No Tax on Tips plan passes Senate with unexpected help from Dem

CRUNCH TIME: White House urges immediate vote on GOP’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’

MEDICAL MISTRUST: US officials delayed warning public about heart inflammation risk from COVID shot: report

‘HEINOUS’: DHS exposes crimes by migrants deported to South Sudan as judge threatens to order their return

SAIL TO SNAG: No distress calls made from Mexican Navy tall ship that crashed into Brooklyn Bridge, Mexican Navy chief says

BIDEN BACKLOG: Biden Ed Dept put priority on pronouns, left backlog of nearly 200 antisemitism complaints: official

CHANGE OF PLANS: Federal judge slaps hold on new Oklahoma immigration law

DOJ CRACKDOWN: DOJ investigating Andrew Cuomo for allegedly lying about COVID decisions, source confirms

CUSTODY BATTLE: Federal judge rules US must keep track of migrants deported to South Sudan during legal fight

Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.