Megabill Ready for Another House Vote
If Speaker Mike Johnson’s nose-counting and President Donald Trump’s arm-twisting perform as intended — and the weather cooperates enough for lawmakers to get back to Washington — the House will gavel in, handle the requisite housekeeping, and cast the final vote today on their giant tax break-spending cut-government debt bill.
Johnson (R-La.) told reporters he’s speaking with “all members and all caucuses” and said he’s “optimistic we’re going to land this plane.”
Among many, many other things, the version that made it out of the Senate would reward the wind and solar lobby by dropping a proposed excise tax on projects using Chinese components; punish Chinese direct-to-consumer retailers like Shein and Temu by ending a tariff exception; and make it cheaper for semiconductor manufacturers to build plants in the US.
There was enough GOP resistance to the Senate-passed changes that Trump amped up the pressure, in part using social media posts like this one: “We can have all of this right now, but only if the House GOP UNITES, ignores its occasional “GRANDSTANDERS” (You know who you are!), and does the right thing, which is sending this Bill to my desk.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said the plan is to get the measure (
Maeve Sheehey and Jonathan Tamari walk through who to watch on the House vote because of their opposition to portions of the package. And our team coverage can help you dig deeper into the details:
- Make or Break for Trump’s Tax Bill: BGOV Budget
- Highlights of What’s in the Bill
- BGOV Bill Analysis: Senate-Passed GOP Reconciliation Bill
- Trump’s Unprecedented Immigration Crackdown Buoyed by GOP Fees
- Lobbyists Score Client Wins, Suffer Setbacks in Senate Megabill
- Senate-Passed Tax Bill Could Help GOP Move Annual Spending Bills
- Grad Students Face Loss of Major Loan Under ‘Big Beautiful Bill’
RFK Jr.'s Setback
Mass firings at HHS won’t go forward while a lawsuit testing their legality continues in federal court, Mary Anne Pazanowski reports.
Nineteen states and the District of Columbia showed they’ll be irreparably harmed as a result of Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s restructuring plan because they’d be unable to continue health programs funded by the federal government, US District Judge Melissa R. DuBose said in a decision blocking the secretary’s action prior to trial.
That ruling is among several developments in the litigation reacting to the dramatic changes imposed in the first weeks of the Trump administration. A few more updates:
- US Tells Court It Can’t Locate Man Wrongly Sent to El Salvador
- ICE Loses Challenge to Court Order to Release Georgetown Scholar
- Trump’s Firing of Federal Privacy Board Democrats Reinstated
- Trump Accused by 20 States of Sharing Medicaid Data With ICE
- Judge Denies Workers Rights Groups’ Bid to Restore Labor Grants
- US Gives Birthright Case Judge Assurances Amid Deportation Fears
How Iran’s Behaving Now
If this sounds familiar, it may be because you remember the Cold War and how Iran used to keep western nations guessing about the status of its nuclear program.
Before Israel’s June 13 attack and the subsequent American strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, Tehran participated in five rounds of talks with the US about a deal to curb its atomic activities. Now they’re quiet.
“Iran is learning that strategic ambiguity will be its best option,” said Dina Esfandiary, who covers the Middle East for Bloomberg Economics. Read More
Earlier this week, Iran’s foreign minister said in a CBS News interview that the “doors of diplomacy will never slam shut,” though if nuclear talks are to resume, the US should first ensure it won’t launch attacks during negotiations.
Halting Arms to Ukraine
As Ukraine struggles to repel large-scale Russian missile and drone strikes, the Trump administration is halting the transfer of artillery rounds and air defenses.
“This decision was made to put America’s interests first following a DOD review of our nation’s military support and assistance to other countries across the globe,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in an emailed statement. “The strength of the United States Armed Forces remains unquestioned — just ask Iran.” Read More
Eye on the Economy
This morning’s numbers to watch come from the payroll processing company ADP, which is updating changes to total employment based on data from its roughly 400,000 US clients.
Last month, its data showed the pace of nonfarm hiring had reached its lowest level since March 2023.
Eye on Tariffs
The head of the Federal Reserve said again that our interest rates probably would be lower if not for the upheaval caused by Trump’s trade war.
“In effect we went on hold when we saw the size of the tariffs and essentially all inflation forecasts for the United States went up materially as a consequence of the tariffs,” Jerome Powell said yesterday at the European Central Bank’s annual forum. “We’re watching. We expect to see over the summer some higher readings.”
See also:
- US Auto Sales Lose Steam After Tariff-Induced Shopping Spree
- Trump Sticks With July 9 Tariff Deadline
Before You Go
Progress in the Middle East: It takes two yeses to have a deal, so Trump’s social media post is promising, though not the final word. He announced that Israel has agreed to a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza.
“Israel has agreed to the necessary conditions to finalize the 60 Day CEASEFIRE, during which time we will work with all parties to end the War,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, adding that Qatar and Egypt will deliver the final proposal to the Palestinian militant group. “I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better — IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE.” Read More
We’ll be watching for whether that takes place before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu comes to Washington. He’s scheduled to meet Trump at the White House on Monday.
If you like to complain about the weather you’ll love this: The Commerce Department’s fiscal 2026 spending plan proposes new cuts to NOAA, including terminating programs to protect coastal communities and research that supports better forecasts and natural disaster prediction.
If Congress implements the proposal, hurricane forecasting will suffer, said James Franklin, a retired atmospheric scientist at the US National Hurricane Center. Read More
Senator’s Son Nominated: Moore Capito lost when he ran for governor of West Virginia. Now he has a shot at a new job, thanks to Trump, who nominated him to be the US attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia.
In a social media post, his mom, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), praised the White House’s picks for two US attorney seats in her state and said she looks forward to “supporting their quick confirmations,” Suzanne Monyak reports. The senator’s not a Judiciary Committee member, so she won’t have a chance to vote on — or recuse herself from voting on —the nomination until the confirmation decision goes to the full Senate.
Trump also formally nominated his former personal lawyer, Alina Habba, to be the top prosecutor in New Jersey.
Speaking of Justice: The FBI plans to move its headquarters to the Ronald Reagan Building complex a few blocks up Pennsylvania Avenue, scuttling Biden administration plans approved by Congress to move the agency to the Maryland suburbs. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) isn’t pleased. Read More
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