Attorney General Pam Bondi testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee about the Justice Department's budget on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell delivered his semiannual monetary report to the Senate Banking Committee.

Washington

Attorney General Pam Bondi testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee regarding the Justice Department's budget, which has been reduced as part of the Trump administration's efforts to decrease federal spending. Lawmakers expressed concerns about the impact of these cuts on national security, grant programs for women and law enforcement, and resources for counterterrorism and cybersecurity. Bondi indicated a willingness to review some of the affected grants.

At the same time, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell presented his semiannual monetary report to the Senate Banking Committee. Lawmakers questioned Powell about the economic effects of tariffs and the possibility of future interest rate changes. Additionally, discussions continue in Congress over a major legislative package, with ongoing negotiations about provisions related to state and local tax deductions and Medicaid funding.

Bondi pressed about DOJ cost-cutting, Powell asked about tariffs

Attorney General Pam Bondi was on the hill earlier today facing questioning from lawmakers to discuss the Justice Department's budget for next year. The DOJ has faced cuts this year as part of the Trump administration's push to shrink the size of the federal government. I do want to bring in CBS News Congressional Correspondent Nicole Killian for more on this. So what concerns did lawmakers raise about these cuts affect to national security? Well it's a concern that we have seen lawmakers pose to other congressional in other congressional hearings to other administration officials when it comes to this issue of the budget and restructuring of various of federal agencies. And certainly the Justice Department hasn't been immune to that. So many lawmakers were asking questions about, for instance, in the case of a number of grant programs that the Justice Department offers. There was some pretty sharp questioning at one point on the part of Patty Murray, who was a top Democrat in the Senate, who asked about grants that impact, you know, women and grants that impact, you know, law enforcement pursuing, you know, rape cases. There was other questioning about, you know, redeploying some assets with respect to counterterrorism and scaling back with respect to cyber security. So those were some of the concerns that some members raised, you know, in the case of that exchange with Patty Murray, the Attorney General said that she was happy to re review some of these grants. You know, she said she certainly doesn't want to do anything that has a negative impact. And so she was willing to take another look at some of these programs that the agency has cut. You know, Nicole, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was back on the Hill also delivering his semiannual monetary report. What type of questions did he get from lawmakers? We got a lot of questions about tariffs, tariff policy, how that's impacting the economy. Of course, he kind of remained mum about the potential of a rate cut in the future, which, of course, a lot of investors continue to watch. But by and large, of course, even as he has come under fire at times by the president, typically in these types of settings, you know, the fair chair tries to remain as independent as a political as possible in terms of just discussing the impact of monetary policy on the economy. And that really was the point of not only of this hearing today, but also his testimony before the House yesterday. Yeah, lots of pressure from the administration about interest rates and other matters. We know that for sure. What is the latest? Nicole on talks about the so called big, beautiful bill, which obviously has kind of spurred division even within the Republican Party. Yeah, that's right. Well, certainly the Senate is hopeful that it can move forward with a vote on this package by the end of this week in order to try to meet the president's deadline of getting a bill signed by July 4th. So there's a lot of last minute scrambling and deal making. We know, for instance, that members of the assault caucus, which make up a lot of blue state Republicans in the House, met with Treasury Secretary Scott Besant earlier this morning because that remains a sticking point as the Senate had tried to strip out that provision, which was negotiated in the House bill. Whereas these House members want to make sure that it remains untouched or that any changes to it or minimal. There's also still the sticking point, an issue of Medicaid. And so we have seen some new proposals start to emerge there to address some senators concerns with respect to the impact on rural hospitals. And then as we speak, we have the White House press secretary here on Capitol Hill, along with some other members of the White House legislative team that are meeting with House Republicans. Because, of course, if the bill clears the Senate, it will have to go back over to the House. And that's why it's important to have members of the House on board as well, despite the changes that the Senate is considering. All right, Nicole Killian on the Hill for us today. Thank you so much.

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