Megalaw Repercussions
President Donald Trump’s giant tax-immigration-debt limit-spending cut law is so big that you should expect to see it ripple through the government in new ways.
Skye Witley reports on how enactment of the megalaw (Public Law 119-21) could doom chances for a bipartisan farm bill reauthorization.
Over time, farm bills were woven together via a coalition of rural and urban food-related interests to support legislation combining farmer subsidies with nutrition assistance. Now lawmakers are facing negotiations with that coalition disrupted by the megalaw’s cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and its incorporation of farm spending boosts.
That “certainly upends the traditional farm bill process,” said House Agriculture ranking member Angie Craig (D-Minn.).
It’s unclear how Congress will handle the farm bill leftovers that aren’t part of that law. Let’s call that domino of the day No. 1. Michael J. Bologna reports on domino No. 2: stresses that the new law will impose on state governments, including a larger share of the bills for aid to the poor.
States also may have to formally opt out of some changes to their tax codes that otherwise would flow down from the feds.
At the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, Meg Wiehe, vice president for state fiscal policy, expects to see some legislatures decline to mirror the feds on things like the new deduction for automobile loan interest, and exemptions for tipped and overtime wages.
And though this doesn’t count as a domino, it’s worth a read for a slice of the megalaw’s backstory. Lauren Vella and Kate Ackley describe the British government’s behind-the-scenes effort to lobby Capitol Hill and the Trump administration to remove the so-called “revenge tax” when the package was moving through Congress.
The high-stakes push was detailed by British Ambassador Lord Peter Mandelson in a roundtable interview with Bloomberg Government.
“Our lobbying was intensive on the Hill,” Mandelson said. “We wanted the president to hear from enough Republican senators he respects that they were unsure about this.
See also: Tax Law’s Immigrant Health Care Curbs Seen Fueling Disease, Cost
Forest Service’s Future
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee set aside time today to examine the Trump administration’s proposal to drastically change the Forest Service by slicing its budget and shifting its wildfire management tasks to the Interior Department.
For fiscal 2026, Trump’s asking Congress to reduce the Forest Service’s mission and cut its budget by more than half.
Appropriators also have started work on the individual FY 26 spending bills, with two markups scheduled today.
Ken Tran and Jack Fitzpatrick report that the Senate Appropriations Committee is aiming to advance bipartisan bills that have a chance of securing 60-vote majorities. That will mean pumping the brakes on some the more austere proposals from House Republicans.
On the Senate floor, look for the year’s first vote on an appellate judge nominee.
Whitney D. Hermandorfer is up for confirmation to the Sixth US Circuit Court of Appeals. She currently directs the strategic litigation unit at the Tennessee attorney general’s office, and signed onto an amicus brief backing Trump’s order restricting birthright citizenship and against the use of nationwide rulings.
For a wider look at the day on Capitol Hill, check out the new edition of Congress Tracker.
Latest on Tariffs
Look for tariff talks to intensify now that Trump declared his next big-levy targets, including some countries on the very low end of the spectrum of trading partners.
Among Trump’s latest demand letters was one warning Brazil that its goods would be subject to a 50% tariff. Trump said he would levy a 30% rate on goods from Algeria, Libya, Iraq and Sri Lanka, 25% for Brunei and Moldova, and 20% for the Philippines.
Brazil ranks among the top 20 US trading partners. Out of the other seven countries cited in Trump’s announcements yesterday, only the Philippines makes it into the top 50. Read More
See also:
- DOJ Frauds Unit Tasked With Pursuing Evasion of Trump Tariffs
- And the always-available Bloomberg Tariff Tracker shows every Trump tariff and its economic effect.
Asia’s Watching
Videos of a Senate confirmation hearing have gone viral in Southeast Asia.
When questioned by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Trump’s choice for Singapore ambassador had two different answers about the size of a trade surplus, initially saying it was $80 billion, then quickly revised it to $18 billion. The actual surplus was $2.8 billion, according to the Office of the US Trade Representative.
“I am trying to help you here but you have not even done your homework,” Duckworth told the nominee, physician Anjani Sinha. Read More
Before You Go
New NASA Chief: After pulling the nomination of a tech billionaire with ties to Elon Musk, Trump has decided on a familiar face to head NASA: his transportation secretary. “Honored to accept this mission. Time to take over space. Let’s launch,” the new interim administrator, Sean Duffy, posted on Musk’s social media site X. Read More
Doing Something About the Weather: Trump’s nominee to lead NOAA told a Senate panel that more telecommunications and potentially satellites could be needed to send out accurate weather warnings quickly before storms. “There’s a lot we can do to advance communications,” said Neil Jacobs, who if confirmed would head the agency after the departure of more than 1,000 employees. Read More
Waiting for Trump’s Go-Ahead: A Russia sanctions bill backed by at least 85 senators has been stalled for months as Republicans waited for a reluctant Trump to say it’s OK for it to proceed. Now Majority Leader John Thune says a vote could come later this month. Read More
Behind Bars: On July 1, a court gave the government one week to find a man
wrongly deported to El Salvador despite an order to keep him in the US. He’s now been located in a maximum-security prison.Read More
Turf War: Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) will seek to block the Trump administration from keeping the FBI’s headquarters in Washington, after the Biden administration decided to move it to Maryland, Tran reports. Read More
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