A major Republican tax and spending package cleared a key House committee after initial pushback from conservative lawmakers. The bill extends tax cuts and includes significant cuts to Medicaid. Sec. Marco Rubio departed Rome on Monday after meeting with Pope Leo XIV.

Pope Leo XIV met with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday. Vance and Rubio held a private audience with Leo before they joined in talks with him and the Vatican's Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations,

The meeting, which also included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, was the first encounter between Vance and Zelensky since a heated Oval Office session in February.

ROME (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday that the Vatican could be a venue for Russia-Ukraine peace talks, taking up the Holy See’s longstanding offer after Pope Leo XIV vowed to personally make “every effort” to help end the war.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on May 17 that the Vatican could serve as a venue for future peace talks between Ukraine and Russia. Speaking to reporters in Rome ahead of his meeting with Cardinal Matteo Zuppi,

U.S. leaders JD Vance and Marco Rubio meet Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, discussing U.S.-Holy See relations, religious freedom, and international issues.