Fox News Politics Newsletter: Senate sends $901B defense bill to Trump

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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…

-Jack Smith denies politics played any role in Trump prosecutions at House hearing

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-EXCLUSIVE: First look at ‘MELANIA’ film

Senate sends $901B defense bill to Trump after clashes over boat strike, DC airspace

The Senate sent a colossal defense package to President Donald Trump’s desk on Wednesday, checking off one of the last remaining items of the year in the process.

Lawmakers banded together to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a roughly $901 billion package crammed to the brim with defense policy that unlocks funding for several of the Trump administration’s national defense priorities.

The measure passed through the upper chamber on a 77-20 bipartisan vote. It’s a perennial legislative exercise lawmakers undertake, and one that normally comes and goes with little fuss, given that Congress typically bookends the year with it…READ MORE.

President Donald Trump during a Mexican Border Defense medal presentation in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. Trump said he was classifying fentanyl as a "weapon of mass destruction" in his latest push to ratchet up pressure on Latin America over drug trafficking. (Bonnie Cash/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

White House

LAWYERS IN TROUBLE: Firm behind climate lawsuits faces DOJ referral after court finds misconduct ‘bordering on criminal’

People march as they take part in a strike to demand action on the global climate crisis on Sept. 20, 2019 in New York City.  (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

BABY BOOST: Billionaire investor Ray Dalio backs Trump admin investment accounts for kids, joining Michael Dell

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Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) arrives for the Senate Republican leadership elections at the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 13, 2024 in Washington, D.C.  (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

VICTORY LAP: Trump to tout accomplishments since taking office in primetime address

MAJORITY MATH: Trump's push to 'knock out' filibuster gains new GOP traction as funding deadline nears

World Stage

'HEED OUR WARNINGS': Israel's Netanyahu demands Western governments act to battle antisemitism: 'Heed our warnings'

A woman kneels and prays at a flower memorial to shooting victims outside the Bondi Pavilion at Sydney's Bondi Beach, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, a day after a shooting. (Mark Baker/AP Photo)

UNEASE DEEPENS: Wave of terror plots across the globe raise alarms over the West’s growing vulnerability

Capitol Hill

OBAMA WALLET TRAP: WATCH: Doctor-lawmaker blames Obamacare for driving health costs higher

Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks  speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 16, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

WHAT ARE THEY HIDING: Senate Republicans block Schiff's push for controversial Caribbean strike footage release

ENDANGERED SPECIES: House Republican who voted to impeach Trump in 2021 won't seek re-election

Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., at a hearing on Capitol Hill, July 25, 2019, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

'OH, HELL NO': AOC dismisses boat strike briefing as 'a joke'

Across America 

'LANDMARK ACTION': Maryland to study slavery reparations after lawmakers override Dem governor's veto

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore holds a press conference in October 2025 outside the State House in Annapolis, Maryland. (Kim Hairston/The Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images))

'HONEST ANSWER': Air traffic control towers will 'never' reach full staffing levels under current system, FAA chief says

'I'M BLUE COLLAR': Blue-collar businessman jumps into race to replace MTG, casting himself as the opposite of the GOP firebrand

Businessman and former county commissioner Brian Stover launched a GOP campaign to replace Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for Georgia’s 14th Congressional District. (The Stover Campaign)

KAMALA DODGING: Harris sidesteps 2028 question after report saying she's 'stepping toward' run

CRACKDOWN ESCALATES: Border Patrol commander returns to Chicago as agents deploy pepper balls in immigrant neighborhood

Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino walks alongside his agents after they detain an individual in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago on Dec. 16. (Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

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This article was written by Fox News staff.