Shares of U.S. Steel are hitting a 52-week high after President Donald Trump ordered a new national security review of Nippon Steel's proposed bid to buy U.S. Steel for nearly $15 billion.
President Joe Biden blocked the deal just before leaving office and Trump had vowed to do the same in previous months. Late Monday Trump ordered the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to review the transaction “to assist me in determining whether further action in this matter may be appropriate.”
Shares soared 16% Monday and rose modestly Tuesday.
The confidential review will look for potential national security risks from the proposed deal and the U.S. will give Nippon and U.S. Steel time to respond to any concerns.
CFIUS will have 45 days to submit a recommendation to Trump detailing whether any measures proposed by Nippon and U.S. Steel are sufficient to mitigate identified risks.
Ancora Holdings Group, which has a minority stake in U.S. Steel, said Tuesday that it won't stand in the way of Nippon's proposed bid for the company. The asset manager also said that it wants U.S. Steel to delay its annual shareholders meeting, which is scheduled for May 6, until after June 18 in order to give shareholders time to learn the outcome of the 45-day review by CFIUS.
“There is no legitimate reason for U.S. Steel to rush to hold its Annual Meeting before the governmental review concludes,” Ancora said in a statement.
Nippon Steel made a nearly $15 billion offer to buy U.S. Steel in 2023, giving rise to a political issue in the 2024 presidential election as the fate of the Pittsburgh steelmaker potentially carried with it the swing state of Pennsylvania. Biden agreed with the United Steelworkers in seeking to block the merger, while Trump as a candidate said he was in outright opposition to the sale.
CFIUS sent its long-awaited report on national security concerns about the merger to Biden late last year. But the government panel failed to reach a consensus as to whether there were national security issues.
A month later Biden blocked the proposed transaction, affirming an earlier vow to prevent the acquisition of Steeltown USA’s most storied company.
Biden previously came out against the deal during the presidential campaign — and was backed by the United Steelworkers, concerned over whether the company would honor existing labor agreements or slash jobs, as well as over the firm’s financial transparency.
Nippon and U.S. Steel countered by filing a federal lawsuit shortly after, challenging Biden's decision to block the proposed acquisition of the Pittsburgh company and claiming that the head of the Steelworkers union and a rival steelmaker worked together to scuttle the buyout.
In February Trump suggested that Nippon Steel would no longer buy U.S. Steel as planned, but the Japanese company would instead invest in the symbolically important American business.
FILE - A view of the United States Steel Mon Valley Works Clairton Plant, in Clairton, Pennsylvania, October 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — A bill to provide nearly $70 billion for immigration enforcement narrowly passed the House on Tuesday and now goes to President Donald Trump for his signature, fueling the administration’s deportation agenda for the remainder of his time in the White House.
Republicans used their majority to get the bill over the finish line, funding a pair of Homeland Security agencies through the next three years. The bill passed by a vote of 214-212, over the objections of Democrats.
The White House says the bill will provide $38 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, $26 billion for the Border Patrol and another $5 billion to cover unforeseen costs. It frontloads routine annual funding, ensuring a virtually uninterrupted flow of money as the Trump administration seeks to deport some 1 million people per year.
Speaker Mike Johnson needed near-perfect attendance and unity on his side to complete weeks of action. The legislation got sidetracked over $1 billion for White House security, including for Trump’s new ballroom, and a $1.8 billion fund to compensate his allies who claim they have been unjustly investigated and prosecuted. Those proposals proved politically toxic and were scrapped.
Now, the bill is focused entirely on immigration enforcement, a topic that Republicans have treated as a defining issue between the two major political parties and one they hope will carry them to victory in this year's midterm elections.
“It's long overdue,” said Johnson, R-La., of the bill. “We have to fund border security and immigration enforcement, and it's sad that Republicans have to do it on our own.”
But Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas called it a “slush fund for ICE.”
The funding comes on top of the nearly $140 billion that the Republican-controlled Congress gave ICE and Customs and Border Protection last year as part of Trump's tax and spending cuts bill.
Democrats objected to giving the agencies more money without significant changes in the way they operate after the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis. For example, Democrats insisted that agents remove masks and be required to display their ID badges during enforcement operations and that they get a judicial warrant before entering private property. Instead, the funding will come with virtually no strings attached.
Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said Republicans weren't focused on the top priorities of the American people and have cut access to Medicaid and nutrition assistance through Trump's earlier tax and spending cut bill.
“Republicans have now come back for more, to give ICE and Donald Trump's violent mass deportation machine another $70 billion blank check, with no oversight, no accountability and no guardrails,” Jeffries said.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise countered that Democrats were not adequately supportive of law enforcement.
“Make no mistake, if you're voting yes, you're not only voting to secure America's border, you're voting to fund law enforcement,” Scalise said. “And if you vote no, you are voting to defund the police.”
The package is the result of a monthslong standoff in Congress after Democrats refused to fund the Department of Homeland Security in the wake of the immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis and other American cities, leading to the longest shutdown in agency history.
Negotiations had been underway with the White House to alter ICE operations as Democrats were demanding. When those negotiations failed, Republicans turned to a complicated procedural maneuver to get around the filibuster and pass the immigration funding with no Democratic votes.
Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, the chairman of the Budget Committee, said the money would provide “regular, normal funding” that ICE and the Border Patrol would get through the annual budgeting process.
“And we’re going to do it, not for one year, but for three years, so we don’t end up here again.”
The Senate completed its work on the legislation last week during an overnight session on a nearly party-line vote, with Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska the only Republican to oppose it.
The money will come at a pivotal time for the Department of Homeland Security, which is under new leadership after Trump replaced Kristi Noem with new Secretary Markwayne Mullin in March.
While Mullin has vowed to keep the department out of the headlines, the administration is under pressure from anti-immigration advocates to deliver on Trump’s campaign promise of the largest deportation operation in American history.
At the same time, the administration is making it more difficult for certain legal immigrants to remain in the U.S. with Temporary Protective Status or to obtain green cards.
On the House side, Johnson had little margin for error. Rep. Kevin Kiley, I-Calif., ended up siding with Democrats on the party-line vote.
Leading up to the vote, Democrats portrayed DHS as an agency that has used its new resources to buy private jets for its leadership, warehouse immigrants in deplorable conditions and attack U.S. citizens.
“Republican leadership likes to talk a lot about common sense, but where is the common sense in giving this federal agency essentially unlimited funds without a single reform in place?” asked Rep. Pete Aguilar, chair of the House Democratic Caucus.
Republicans countered that they were fulfilling their duty to safeguard the nation and support the men and women charged with enforcing the law.
“Democrats can say whatever they want, but what it’s about is public safety. What’s it about is keeping Americans safe,” said Rep. Michelle Fischbach, R-Minn.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, lower left, testifies before the House Committee on Homeland Security during a hearing on the Fiscal 2027 budget request for the Department of Homeland Security, in Washington, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin testifies before the House Committee on Homeland Security during a hearing on the Fiscal 2027 budget request for the Department of Homeland Security, in Washington, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
The U.S. Capitol is seen behind a light pole, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
FILE - The seal of U.S. Department of Homeland Security is seen before a news conference at ICE Headquarters in Washington, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
FILE - Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Federal Air Marshals, patrol around Washington Dulles International Airport, in Chantilly, Va., Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce,File)
