Jared Halpern

Her testimony is tied to the panel's investigation into the Justice Department's handling of the case against convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

But a spokesperson for the Oversight Committee says Bondi will not appear because she was subpoenaed in her capacity as Attorney General.

but adds the committee will contact Bondi's personal counsel to discuss next steps regarding scheduling her deposition.

Top committee Democrat Robert Garcia says the subpoena issued is still binding in that if Bondi defies it, Democrats will begin contempt charges.

At the White House, Jared Halpern, Fox News.

The White House is asking Congress to approve $1.5 trillion in defense spending for the upcoming fiscal year, the largest total in history for the Pentagon.

Part of the spending increase would be offset with cuts to health, housing, and education agencies.

The administration says those can be done by eliminating woke, wasteful, and weaponized programs.

The White House Budget Office also projects higher revenues next year.

Still, the budget proposal is more symbolic than anything else, serving as a priority list for lawmakers who ultimately must approve federal spending.

at the White House.

Jared Halpern, Fox News.

Jared Halpern, Fox News.

When you look inside the numbers, there's some positive things that are in there, like when you look at average hourly wages.

Wages increased 3.5 percent over the past 12 months.

This outpaces inflation, and that means that as prices rise, American wages rise faster, which is not something that happened under the last administration.

We also saw a turnaround here.

Since President Trump took office, manufacturing jobs are down 91,000 positions.

But in the month of March, manufacturing added 15,000 jobs.

The labor secretary says this is not by accident.