House Republicans are getting an update on the Trump administration’s probe of billionaire George Soros’ influence on local radio, a source familiar with planning told Fox News Digital.

The Republican Study Committee (RSC), the 175-strong caucus led by Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, is hosting Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr at its annual closed-door lunch on Wednesday.

The source familiar with the planning said Carr is expected to brief GOP lawmakers on the FCC’s investigation into Soros, including an investment firm he’s linked to purchasing over 200 Audacy radio stations nationwide.

Carr and Republicans are also expected to more widely discuss strategies for pushing back against media deemed to be biased against the GOP.

The RSC is the largest grouping of lawmakers within the House GOP and traditionally acts as an informal think tank for the conference.

It has also been a conduit for several top Trump administration officials to Capitol Hill so far this year.

Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller addressed the RSC on immigration and President Donald Trump’s plan for executive action last month. Earlier in February, the group heard from Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

An investment firm linked to Soros, a left-wing businessman who has sunk billions of dollars into liberal causes, became the largest stakeholder in radio giant Audacy at the tail end of the Biden administration late last year.

The Soros Investment Fund acquired roughly 40% of Audacy’s debts after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Republican lawmakers blasted the deal, including Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., both of whom called for intense scrutiny.

Carr signaled he wanted to set his sights on Soros late last year during an interview on ‘Mornings with Maria.’

‘There’s a petition for reconsideration pending at the FCC right now. And I want to take a very hard look at that,’ he said in late November.

Fox News Digital reached out to the FCC and Audacy for comment.

The percentage of Americans identifying as LGBT has risen to record highs, especially among Generation Z, a new Gallup poll released on Thursday shows, but that trend could see a departure under President Donald Trump, according to one expert, as the administration pushes back against gender treatments for minors.

The poll found that 23% of Generation Z Americans, those born between 1997 and 2006, identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. For comparison, 14.2% of millennials, those born between 1981 and 1996, identify the same way. Both groups identify as non-heterosexual compared to older generations, like Generation X and ‘Baby Boomers.’

The Gallup poll surveyed more than 14,000 U.S. adults last year – collected through phone interviews with adults 18 and older – and found that 9.3% identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or another non-heterosexual identity. This marks a significant increase from 2020, when the figure was about half that, and a sharp rise from 2012, when Gallup first started tracking sexual orientation and gender identity, recording only 3.5%. 

‘The rate of LGBTQ+ identification is likely to continue to grow, given the generational shifts underway,’ Gallup senior editor and researcher Jeffrey M. Jones wrote in the study. 

‘One reason for higher LGBTQ+ identification among younger generations of adults is that they are much more likely to consider themselves bisexual than are older people,’ Jones wrote.

The study also found differences among those with political ideologies, as people identifying as LGBT were more likely to be female, liberal, White, and live in urban areas. Among them, 21% identified as liberal, 8% as moderate, and 3% as conservative. The rate of LGBT identification has nearly tripled over more than a decade, with a growing number of Americans in their teens, 20s and 30s identifying as bisexual, particularly more women compared to men, researchers noted.

However, Heritage Foundation senior legal fellow Sarah Parshall Perry said the findings are a snapshot in time – due to the ‘onslaught’ of the Biden administration’s rulings on sex and gender over the last four years– but will likely begin to reverse under the Trump administration’s crackdown on transgender medical procedures for minors.

‘I think now that we’re seeing this return to common sense, we are going to see fewer and fewer young people begin to identify as LGBTQ,’ Perry told Fox News Digital in an interview. ‘I would be very curious what the numbers look like four years into the future, after some of these policies have trickled down to the granular level.’

‘It was entirely unsurprising to me that it was the Generation Z who experienced the most precipitous increase, because they are the younger ones they are currently, right now, in the throes of sort of this battle between reality and cultural conformity,’ Perry said. ‘That’s exactly where these kids are, and I think it’s exactly why we’re seeing these level of increases.’

While the poll found 85.7% of respondents identified as straight, 5.2% identified as bisexual, 2.0% as gay, 1.4% as lesbian and 1.3% as transgender. Fewer than 1% of participants identified with other non-traditional LGBT labels, including pansexual, asexual or queer. Five percent of respondents declined to answer.

Trump has signed a slew of gender-related executive orders during his first 100 days in office which have already racked up multiple lawsuits. One of those orders, ‘Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,’ mandates that federal agencies recognize gender strictly as male or female, based on biological sex, and prohibits the use of gender pronouns on federal documents. It also directs agencies to cease funding for transgender medical treatments for transgender federal inmates and to remove policies promoting radical ‘gender ideology.’

GOP Rep. Darrell Issa has introduced a bill aimed at preventing federal judges from issuing nationwide injunctions with the sole purpose of derailing a president’s political agenda, which Issa says has been the case since President Donald Trump was sworn in. 

The legislation, known as the No Rogue Rulings Act (NORRA), amends Chapter 85 of title 28, United 5 States Code by adding a ‘Limitation on authority to provide injunctive relief.’

‘Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no United States district court shall issue any order providing for injunctive relief, except in the case of such an order that is applicable only to limit the actions of a party to the case before such district court with respect to the party seeking injunctive relief from such district court,’ the legislation states. 

Dozens of activist and legal groups, elected officials, local jurisdictions and individuals have launched more than 50 lawsuits against the Trump administration since Jan. 20 in response to his more than 60 executive orders, as well as executive proclamations and memos, Fox News Digital reported earlier this month.

Issa says NORRA would limit the scope of nationwide injunctions by preventing federal judges from issuing injunctions that extend beyond parties directly involved in a case, while also ensuring that any injunction restricts only the specific parties requesting relief, regardless of whether the injunction involves outright enforcement of actions or policy actions. 

‘The founders could never have envisioned judges and part of the legislative branch teaming up to tie down the executive and disempower the people,’ Issa told Fox News Digital, adding that the current judge-shopping climate in the United States amounts to ‘judicial tyranny’ and a ‘weaponization of courts.’

Issa’s office told Fox News Digital they are optimistic that this is a bill that will pass through Congress with Republican support and be signed by President Trump, adding that the bill has ‘maximum momentum.’

‘Nowhere in our Constitution is a single federal judge given absolute power over the President or the people of the United States,’ Issa posted on X last week. 

Issa’s bill comes as the Trump administration has publicly pushed back against the flurry of injunctions from courts across the country. 

‘Many outlets in this room have been fear mongering the American people into believing there is a constitutional crisis taking place here at the White House,’ White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a press briefing last week. ‘I’ve been hearing those words a lot lately, but in fact, the real constitutional crisis is taking place within our judicial branch, where district court judges in liberal districts across the country are abusing their power to unilaterally block President Trump’s basic executive authority.’

‘We believe these judges are acting as judicial activists rather than honest arbiters of the law and they have issued at least 12 injunctions against this administration in the past 14 days, often without citing any evidence or grounds for their lawsuits,’ she continued. ‘This is part of a larger concerted effort by Democrat activists, and nothing more than the continuation of the weaponization of justice against President Trump.’

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Moscow is willing to consider cooperating with the U.S. in mining rare earth minerals both in Russia and parts of Russian-occupied Ukraine.

Putin, in an interview broadcast on Russian state television Monday, emphasized Russia’s vast deposits of rare-earth minerals and their importance for the Russian economy but said his nation needs to do more to capitalize on its resources. He also said he is open to making an energy deal with the U.S.

His comments come as the Trump administration seeks to recoup the cost of aid sent to Ukraine by gaining access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals, such as titanium, iron, and uranium, as part of a peace deal.

‘Russia is one of the undisputed leaders in terms of reserves of these rare and rare-earth metals,’ Putin told state media correspondent Pavel Zarubin. ‘These are quite capital-intensive investments, capital-intensive projects. We would be happy to work together with any foreign partners, including American ones.’

Putin said that Russia would be willing to sell about 2 million tons of aluminum to the US market if the US lifted sanctions restricting the import of Russian metals. He said the move could help stabilize prices. 

He said that in 2017, Russia supplied about 15% of all American aluminum imports. Today, however, U.S. imports of Russian aluminum have dipped at least threefold due to sanctions. 

Putin also said a deal could be reached on Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, which he referred to as ‘new territories.’

‘As for the new territories – the same applies: we are ready to attract foreign partners, and our so-called new historical territories, which have returned to the Russian Federation, also have certain reserves there,’ Putin said. ‘We are ready to work with our foreign partners, including American ones, there as well.’

Putin also said that he is also willing to negotiate with the U.S. on Russian energy.

‘There is much to think about here, as well as joint work on rare and rare-earth metals, and in other areas, including, for example, energy,’ Putin said.

His comments came on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A war that has killed thousands of civilians and displaced millions.

President Donald Trump suggested the war could end within weeks and wants to make a deal on Ukraine’s rare earth minerals.

The president, from the Oval Office Monday, hinted at a potential meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to finalize an agreement for rights to access its natural resources in exchange for the United States billions of dollars in support for the country’s war against Russia.

‘In fact, he may come in this week or next week to sign the agreement, which would be nice, I’d love to meet him. Would meet at the Oval Office,’ Trump said. ‘The agreement is being worked on now.’ 

‘They are very close to a final deal,’ said the president, who was meeting French President Emmanuel Macron in the Oval Office on Monday. 

Trump said the deal is ‘very beneficial to their economy,’ while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent added it is ‘very close.’ 

Trump’s comments come just after he posted on Truth Social that he was in ‘serious discussions’ with Putin about ending the Russia-Ukraine war. 

The president on Monday also predicted that the Russia-Ukraine war could end within weeks and that Putin would accept allowing European peacekeeping troops in Ukraine as part of a potential peace deal. 

Trump administration officials, including White House national security advisor Mike Waltz, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, met in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, recently with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and President Vladimir Putin’s foreign affairs advisor Yuri Ushakov to hash out ways to end the conflict. 

Ukraine was absent from the negotiations in Saudi Arabia, a move that irked Zelenskyy.

House Republicans’ mammoth budget resolution survived its final hurdle late Monday night before heading for a chamber-wide vote.

The legislation passed the House Rules Committee on a party-line vote in a measure combining several bills that are expected to get a full House vote this week.

House GOP leaders aim to have it pass on Tuesday evening, Fox News Digital was told, but various concerns about spending cut levels could put that goal out of reach. Under the current margins, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., can only lose one Republican vote to pass a bill without Democrats. 

Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., announced over the weekend that she is against the current text, while several other fiscal hawks suggested their support is still up in the air.

Two other conservatives, Reps. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., signaled they would oppose the resolution as well.

Some Republicans are worried about potentially damaging cuts to Medicaid and other federal benefit programs that their constituents rely on. Johnson met with some of those potential holdouts on Monday night for what he called a ‘very productive conversation.’

The speaker sounded optimistic when leaving the Capitol late on Monday, telling reporters, ‘We’re on track. We got the resolution through rules, and we’re expecting to vote tomorrow evening.’

The bill aims to increase spending on border security, the judiciary and defense by roughly $300 billion, while seeking at least $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion in spending cuts elsewhere.

As written, the bill also provides $4.5 trillion to extend President Donald Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provisions, which expire at the end of this year.

An amendment negotiated by House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, and conservatives on his panel would also force lawmakers to make $2 trillion in cuts, or else risk the $4.5 trillion for Trump’s tax cuts getting reduced by the difference. 

That agreement alarmed Republicans on the House Ways & Means Committee, like Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y.

‘I don’t think that is doable without affecting beneficiaries, and I’ve expressed that concern to leadership and in talking to some of my colleagues,’ Malliotakis told Fox News Digital last week.

Johnson met with Malliotakis and other members of the Congressional Hispanic Conference, a House GOP group, on Monday night to discuss their concerns about spending cuts in the bill. The New York Republican was more optimistic when leaving the meeting late on Monday night, telling reporters that GOP leaders had eased her concerns.

‘I’d say now I’ve shifted from undecided to lean yes,’ Malliotakis told reporters. ‘This is moving in the right direction.’

GOP lawmakers are working to pass a broad swath of Trump policies – from investments in defense and border security to eliminating taxes on tipped and overtime wages – via the budget reconciliation process. 

The mechanism allows the party in control of both houses of Congress to pass a tax and budget bill without help from the opposing party. To do so, it lowers the threshold for passage in the Senate from two-thirds to a simple majority, where the House already sits.

The Senate advanced a narrower version of the plan last week, which does not include Trump’s tax cut priorities. Because the president favors all the issues being wrapped up into one bill, however, it has been relegated to a de facto backup plan if the House fails to pass its plan on a reasonable timeline.

The House Rules Committee is the final gatekeeper for most pieces of legislation before a chamber-wide vote. 

The committee will normally debate a set of bills, not necessarily related ones, before setting terms for amendments and debate and advancing those terms out of committee as a single ‘rules package.’

House lawmakers will then vote on the rules package before the final reconciliation framework.

Once this bill passes the House, the relevant committees will get to work filling the framework out with detailed policy priorities, which will then be returned as a final bill that will need to face House passage again.

Johnson said at the Americans for Prosperity event on Monday that he wants that to happen sometime in April.