After spending the entire night working with GOP leaders and the president himself to convince skeptics to abandon their opposition by his Fourth of July deadline, House Republicans are prepared to vote on President Donald Trump’s $4.5 trillion tax giveaways and spending cuts measure early Thursday.
After a series of talks behind closed doors, the Capitol saw another hectic day and night before final discussions started in the early hours of the morning.
Given that Republicans have the numbers to defeat Democratic resistance to a lengthy list of GOP demands, the bill’s arrival on Trump’s desk would mark a significant milestone for the president and his party. A defining feature of Trump’s return to the White House is his one large, exquisite bill, a bundle that is more than 800 pages long. Check out the entire bill for yourself.
Here’s the most recent:
The Freedom Caucus has not yet disclosed how they arrived at the conclusion.
Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican from Texas, claims that he and other conservatives received some last-minute information while refusing to endorse Trump’s massive tax bill. However, he isn’t yet prepared to reveal any information.
After the final vote, we can discuss it, he said.
Out of respect for the entire team, we must finish a handful of these last-minute tasks. We have a number of noteworthy accomplishments that we are quite pleased about. Although nothing is flawless, Roy stated that we have come to the conclusion that everything is fine.
As Jeffries starts his lengthy floor speech, he reads veteran remarks.
Jeffries claims that the impacts of the GOP tax and policy package are a direct attack on veterans.
He cites veterans who reportedly told Congress about impending benefit changes. He claims that one man is recuperating from an accident and that the American people are the only ones who can assist him return to work.
In the voice of the veteran, Jeffries replies, “I have had your backs.” The time has come for the nation to take care of me.
Learn more about Democrats using veterans as a spokesperson to express their disapproval of Trump’s proposed budget.
How Ukraine will handle the United States’ halt on vital military hardware
With Russia’s larger army launching a coordinated battlefront drive and stepping up long-range drone and missile attacks against civilians in Ukrainian cities, the halt on some arms shipments to Ukraine has come at a good moment for Kyiv.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion, Washington has been Ukraine’s largest military ally. However, the Trump administration has been pulling out of the conflict, and despite recent direct peace negotiations, there is still no end in sight to the battle.
In the midst of tense ties with Trump, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has sought greater European assistance in the production of weapons, while Ukraine has hurried to expand its domestic military sector, producing increasingly advanced drones.
However, certain advanced American weaponry are indispensible.Patriot air defense missiles, which cost $4 million each, are necessary to repel Russia’s periodic ballistic missile assaults.
Learn more about Ukraine’s reaction to the weapons pause here.
Putin and Trump will talk Friday morning.
In a social media post, the president stated that he would talk to Putin at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time.
The Pentagon acknowledged earlier this week that it is halting the sale of certain weapons to Ukraine in the midst of a worldwide review of U.S. military stocks, which prompted the call.
Precision-guided artillery, air defense missiles, and other armaments are among the equipment being held up for Ukraine. A U.S. official and former national security official with knowledge of the situation confirmed the specifics of the weaponry in some of the halted supplies. Since the Pentagon has not officially released information, they both asked to remain anonymous when discussing the reasons behind the delay.
Read more about the Pentagon’s decision to hold off on purchasing some weaponry for Ukraine.
Proponents in Massachusetts claim that Trump’s bill destroys the health safety net.
Advocates and medical professionals in the state that served as the model for Obamacare are concerned that the Trump administration will gradually destroy a well-liked program that offers hundreds of thousands of people insurance, preventative care, and life-saving drugs.
According to official estimates, up to 25% of the approximately 400,000 individuals enrolled in the Massachusetts Health Connector may lose their health insurance due to provisions included in both the Senate and House versions of the big tax and spending cutbacks plan.
Trump and congressional Republicans argue that in order to combat fraud, waste, and abuse, stricter documentation requirements and restrictions on who is eligible to apply for tax credits to help pay for insurance are essential.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that over the next ten years, the Affordable Care Act’s modifications and significant cutbacks to Medicaid and other programs would eliminate around $1.1 trillion in health care spending nationally.
Learn more about how the bill impacts the model health care system in Massachusetts.
Which school sports teams transgender students can participate in will be decided by the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court announced Thursday that justices will hear arguments in the fall over lower court decisions in favor of transgender athletes in Idaho and West Virginia, just two weeks after it upheld a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youngsters.
More than two dozen states have passed legislation prohibiting transgender women and girls from competing in specific sports. Republicans have used the matter as a battle for athletic justice, and several have been halted in court. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has started investigations and filed challenges regarding regulations that permit transgender athletes to compete openly.
As part of the settlement of a federal civil rights action, the University of Pennsylvania this week apologized to female athletes who were harmed by transgender swimmer Lia Thomas’s participation on the women’s swimming team and changed three school records she set.
Billions will be used to support the US military.
A large investment of around $350 billion is included in the budget package for national security, Trump’s deportation agenda, and the development of the Golden Dome defensive system across the United States.
The package includes a significant rollback of green energy expenditures and $1.2 trillion in cuts to Medicaid health care and food stamps, primarily through the imposition of additional work requirements, especially for certain elderly individuals and parents, to help offset the expenses of lost tax income.
According to the impartial Congressional Budget Office, 11.8 million more people will lack health insurance and the package will increase the debt by $3.3 trillion over the course of ten years.
House speaker: Our deadline of July 4th will be met.
As he emerged in the middle of the night from a series of private talks on Trump’s main domestic policy package, Mike Johnson stated, “Our way is to plow through and get it done.”
Extending $4.5 trillion in tax incentives implemented during Trump’s first term and introducing some new ones, including as allowing workers to deduct overtime pay and tips and a $6,000 deduction for the majority of older individuals making less than $75,000 annually, are the package’s top priorities. Democrats claim that when safety net programs are reduced, these savings will be offset by greater prices for the majority of Americans.
The Wisconsin governor secures Medicaid funds by signing the budget early in the morning.
In a bid against Congress to get a federal Medicaid match that the state would not receive under President Trump’s tax and spending cuts bill, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers signed a new two-year budget early Thursday morning.
In an incredibly quick series of events, Evers and Republican lawmakers announced a compromise budget agreement on Tuesday, the Senate approved it on Wednesday night, and the Assembly approved it just before one in the morning on Thursday. A few minutes later, Evers signed it in his conference room.
Democrats who opposed the $111 billion spending package claimed it fell short of their goals of extending Medicaid, boosting money for schools, and improving child care. However, Evers, who has yet to declare whether he would run for a third term, praised the compromise as the best possible agreement.
Learn more about the Medicaid agreement in Wisconsin.
Democrats in Alaska increase their pressure on Murkowski
Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, according to Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego, collapsed like a cheap suit on Trump’s large bill.
In an effort to increase pressure on Murkowski, who is up for reelection next year in a contest that is vital to Democrats in their challenging quest for a Senate majority, the newly elected senator from Arizona spoke in a virtual town hall on Wednesday night hosted by the Alaska Democratic Party.
While Alaska’s other Republican senator, Dan Sullivan, made little effort to oppose, Gallego criticized the carveouts Murkowski obtained in exchange for her vote, referring to the agreement as the Kodiak kicker.
The bill hurts working class families nationwide, Gallego said, and Sullivan and Murkowski screwed and rigged these working class people to benefit the Uber rich.
Despite uncertainty, US firms add a startling 147,000 jobs.
Notwithstanding the uncertainties surrounding Trump’s economic policies, the American labor market is nevertheless very resilient. According to Labor Department data released Thursday, the jobless rate decreased slightly from 4.2% in May to 4.1%.
Hiring rose modestly from a revised 144,000 in May and beat economists expectations of fewer than 118,000 new jobs asTrump s trade wars, the federal hiring freeze and immigration crackdown weigh on the American job market. U.S. applications for jobless aid fell to 233,000 last week as layoffs remain low.
A survey released Wednesday by thepayroll processor ADPfound that private companies cut 33,000 jobs last month, reflecting a hesitancy to hire and a reluctance to replace departing workers.
Meanwhile, immigrants are leaving the U.S. work force as a result of the president’s deportations. Those working and looking for work fell by 625,000 in May, the biggest drop in a year and a half.
The Big Beautiful Bill Act’s contents
At some 887 pages, the legislationincludestax breaks, spending cuts, arollback of solar energy tax credits,new money for national defense and deportations. The billdoes not eliminate taxeson Social Security benefits, despite what Trump says.
The bill rolls back past presidential agendas: The package is essentially a rejection of the goals of the previous two Democratic presidents, a retraction of Joe Biden’s climate change policies in the Inflation Reduction Act, and a slash at the Medicaid expansion from Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
Congressional Budget Office review: The nonpartisan CBO said Sunday the bill wouldpile nearly $3.3 trillion onto the nation s debtload from 2025 to 2034, a nearly $1 trillion increase over the House-passed version of the bill. The analysis also found that11.8 million Americans would become uninsuredby 2034 if the bill passed.
White House: The big bill is kind of like the solution to a bad hair day
With Trump s spending and tax cut bill nearing passage, the White House is getting creative in pitching it to Americans who haven t been closely following the debate over the legislation.
The White House late Wednesday droppeda tongue-in-cheek videoon social media that includes before and after shots of women who transform flat hair to voluminous bouffants as a narrator ticks off aspects of the bill that she says will make Americans lives better.
Are you tired of government promises falling flat? Do you go through an outrageous amount of stress just trying to get by? the narrator intones as a woman screams in frustration over her bad hair day. Then bump it up with one big, beautiful bill and get that relief fast and easy.
By the end of the short video, the screaming woman and others are sporting new hairdos that are markedly more voluminous.
Hakeem Jeffries has been talking for three hours and counting
Republican leadership spent much of the night and early morning persuading a handful of holdouts to support the Senate-approved tax cuts and spending bill. But now, House Speaker Mike Johnson appears to have the votes, and Democrats are standing in the way.
As the House wrapped up its debate over passing Trump s agenda, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries used a tool known as the magic minute that allows leaders unlimited time to speak. He started his address just before 5 a.m. ET. And it s still going.
I m going to take my time, he said, before launching into a speech criticizing Republicans deference to Trump, reading through personal accounts of people concerned about losing their health care coverage, and recounting American history.
Eventually, Jeffries will end his speech, and Republicans will move to final passage of the bill.
