Live updates: Gabbard sworn in as intel chief; Trump opens door to Putin, Ukraine talks

President Trump confirmed midday Wednesday that he's spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin, setting the stage for a negotiated end to the war in Ukraine.

In the Senate, Trump's most controversial Cabinet nominees sailed through their floor votes Wednesday.

Tulsi Gabbard won confirmation as the director of national intelligence in a 52-48 vote, despite early Republican skepticism. The nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services passed a procedural hurdle.

Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, the Senate Budget Committee started work on a resolution that will unlock the process by which Republicans hope to pass large swaths of Trump's agenda. The House and Senate have been racing to lead the process, and while House GOP leaders hope to start their effort Thursday, some are skeptical the razor-thin majority can find a way to move forward.

And the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE) panel, led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), convened its first hearing.

The January consumer price index release did not bring good news for the administration: Inflation increased 3 percent.

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