Summary
About 17 hours since voting began, the Senate hasn’t yet passed Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” that would enact his domestic tax and spending agenda – and add an estimated $3.3tn to the national debt over the next decade.
The vote is expected to be tight – Republicans can only afford to lose three votes for the legislation to pass and two senators have already expressed they are firm no’s: Rand Paul and Thom Tillis.
As we await more news there, here are the top headlines we’ve followed so far today:
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Elon Musk denounced Republican efforts to pass the president’s budget bill. The tech billionaire later pledged to found a new political party he called the “America Party” if it passed, and to support candidates who did not back the budget bill in future elections. He also said on X that in response to a poll asking if the US needs a new party to represent middle America, “80% voted for a new party”.
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Trump warned Republicans that failing to pass his bill would mean “a whopping 68% tax increase, the largest in history”. In the post on his Truth Social platform the president described the bill as “perhaps the greatest and most important of its kind in history” and giving the largest tax cuts ever.
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The Senate parliamentarian found that Republicans could include a provision that would block Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood in the bill.
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Trump signed an executive order overturning sanctions on Syria today and issued a memorandum on US policy toward Cuba. The president’s executive order revokes sanctions on Syria while maintaining sanction’s on the country’s former president Bashar al-Assad. Separately, Trump directed the federal government to enforce a statutory ban on US tourism to Cuba and continue an economic embargo on the island nation.
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On the US Agency for International Development’s last day, former presidents Barack Obama and George W Bush praised staffers and the Lancet medical journal published research finding the agency had prevented more than 91 million deaths globally, including 30 million deaths among children. It added that the dismantling of USAID could result in 14 million additional deaths by 2030.
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A federal judge has ruled that Kilmar Ábrego García must remain in jail, citing fears that the Trump administration may deport him ahead of his trial if he is released. Earlier this week, the same judge ordered Ábrego García released ahead of his trial on smuggling charges.
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Trump has dropped his lawsuit against pollster J Ann Selzer and the Des Moines Register, according to a court filing today. Trump sued Selzer and the newspaper after it published a poll finding that Kamala Harris would win Iowa in the presidential election by three percentage points.
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Congress members must give the Department of Homeland Security a week’s notice before visiting immigration detention facilities, according to new department guidance. Visits on shorter notice must be approved directly by department secretary Kristi Noem. Trump, meanwhile, will travel tomorrow to the opening of the new and highly controversial immigrant detention facility in the Florida Everglades, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz”.
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The Trump administration sued the city of Los Angeles over policies limiting city cooperation with federal immigration authorities, continuing a confrontation over Trump’s aggressive deportation efforts in the largely Democratic city.
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The Trump administration informed Harvard University that its investigation found that the university violated federal civil rights law over its treatment of Jewish and Israeli students, putting its federal funding further at risk.
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Trump will host Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on 7 July. Israel’s strategic affairs minister, Ron Dermer, will also meet with officials at the White House this week for talks on Iran and a new push for a ceasefire in Gaza. Israel’s ongoing bombardment on Gaza killed at least another 38 civilians today.
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Trump wrote to Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell again urging him to lower interest rates. Attacking Powell and members of the Fed board of governors, who he accused of failing to do their jobs, the president said he believed interest rates should be lowered to about 1%.
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Trump has suggested there won’t be a trade deal with Japan, saying Japan would be the recipient of a letter related to trade, following pledges by his administration to send letters to countries outlining tariffs they would need to pay the US.
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The Trump administration appealed against a federal judge’s decision to strike down an executive order targeting law firm Perkins Coie over its past legal work for Hillary Clinton and others.
Key events
This blog will now close and we will continue to cover the ‘vote-a-rama’ in our new US politics live blog here.
Summary
About 17 hours since voting began, the Senate hasn’t yet passed Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” that would enact his domestic tax and spending agenda – and add an estimated $3.3tn to the national debt over the next decade.
The vote is expected to be tight – Republicans can only afford to lose three votes for the legislation to pass and two senators have already expressed they are firm no’s: Rand Paul and Thom Tillis.
As we await more news there, here are the top headlines we’ve followed so far today:
-
Elon Musk denounced Republican efforts to pass the president’s budget bill. The tech billionaire later pledged to found a new political party he called the “America Party” if it passed, and to support candidates who did not back the budget bill in future elections. He also said on X that in response to a poll asking if the US needs a new party to represent middle America, “80% voted for a new party”.
-
Trump warned Republicans that failing to pass his bill would mean “a whopping 68% tax increase, the largest in history”. In the post on his Truth Social platform the president described the bill as “perhaps the greatest and most important of its kind in history” and giving the largest tax cuts ever.
-
The Senate parliamentarian found that Republicans could include a provision that would block Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood in the bill.
-
Trump signed an executive order overturning sanctions on Syria today and issued a memorandum on US policy toward Cuba. The president’s executive order revokes sanctions on Syria while maintaining sanction’s on the country’s former president Bashar al-Assad. Separately, Trump directed the federal government to enforce a statutory ban on US tourism to Cuba and continue an economic embargo on the island nation.
-
On the US Agency for International Development’s last day, former presidents Barack Obama and George W Bush praised staffers and the Lancet medical journal published research finding the agency had prevented more than 91 million deaths globally, including 30 million deaths among children. It added that the dismantling of USAID could result in 14 million additional deaths by 2030.
-
A federal judge has ruled that Kilmar Ábrego García must remain in jail, citing fears that the Trump administration may deport him ahead of his trial if he is released. Earlier this week, the same judge ordered Ábrego García released ahead of his trial on smuggling charges.
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Trump has dropped his lawsuit against pollster J Ann Selzer and the Des Moines Register, according to a court filing today. Trump sued Selzer and the newspaper after it published a poll finding that Kamala Harris would win Iowa in the presidential election by three percentage points.
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Congress members must give the Department of Homeland Security a week’s notice before visiting immigration detention facilities, according to new department guidance. Visits on shorter notice must be approved directly by department secretary Kristi Noem. Trump, meanwhile, will travel tomorrow to the opening of the new and highly controversial immigrant detention facility in the Florida Everglades, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz”.
-
The Trump administration sued the city of Los Angeles over policies limiting city cooperation with federal immigration authorities, continuing a confrontation over Trump’s aggressive deportation efforts in the largely Democratic city.
-
The Trump administration informed Harvard University that its investigation found that the university violated federal civil rights law over its treatment of Jewish and Israeli students, putting its federal funding further at risk.
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Trump will host Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on 7 July. Israel’s strategic affairs minister, Ron Dermer, will also meet with officials at the White House this week for talks on Iran and a new push for a ceasefire in Gaza. Israel’s ongoing bombardment on Gaza killed at least another 38 civilians today.
-
Trump wrote to Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell again urging him to lower interest rates. Attacking Powell and members of the Fed board of governors, who he accused of failing to do their jobs, the president said he believed interest rates should be lowered to about 1%.
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Trump has suggested there won’t be a trade deal with Japan, saying Japan would be the recipient of a letter related to trade, following pledges by his administration to send letters to countries outlining tariffs they would need to pay the US.
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The Trump administration appealed against a federal judge’s decision to strike down an executive order targeting law firm Perkins Coie over its past legal work for Hillary Clinton and others.
Many of the amendments being voted on tonight on the Senate floor are from Democrats:
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Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester from Delaware proposed limiting cuts to Medicaid.
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Senator Patty Murray from Washington pushed to strike funding restrictions for reproductive health clinics that provide abortions.
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Senator Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts tried to reinstate funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
These and the other Democratic amendments so far have all been rejected by the Republican majority.
Embedded in the Senate Republicans’ bill are several hot-button political issues designed to appeal to their political base. These include:
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A prohibition on Medicaid funding for a list of almost 30 medical procedures related to gender transition.
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An increase in immigration-related funding for criminal and gang checks for unaccompanied migrant children, including examinations of “gang-related tattoos” for children as young as 12 years old.
A reminder that if the Senate succeeds in passing the bill, it will then go back to the House, where members are also divided, with some angry about its cost and others worried about cuts to the Medicaid program.
In a speech to the Senate on Monday, minority leader Chuck Schumer said the bill “steals people’s healthcare, jacks up their electricity bill to pay for tax breaks for billionaires”.
Senate majority leader John Thune countered that the tax cuts would help families and small businesses and Medicaid was growing at an unsustainable rate and there were some improvements and reforms to make it more efficient.
In the time I’ve been here, we have never, ever done anything to reform and improve and strengthen these programs that are growing at an unsustainable rate, that will wreck our economy and wreck our country if we don’t start making some changes.
So, yes, there are some improvements and reforms to Medicaid to make it more efficient, to make sure that the people who are supposed to benefit from Medicaid do, and that it doesn’t go to people who shouldn’t benefit from Medicaid.
As the barbs between Donald Trump and Elon Musk continue, Musk is saying “80% voted for a new party” in response to a poll he posted on his social media platform X asking if the US needs a new party for the mainstream.
On 6 June the tech billionaire posted a poll asking: “Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?”
Today Musk posted on X:
VOX POPULI
VOX DEI80% voted for a new party
As reported earlier, the tech billionaire has pledged to found a new political party called the “America party” if Trump’s bill passes Congress.
Musk posted this in the past half hour:
All I’m asking is that we don’t bankrupt America
Donald Trump has swiped at Elon Musk over electric vehicles and claimed that without subsidies the Tesla chief would “would probably have to close up shop”.
The US president’s post on his Truth Social platform comes after Musk criticised the slashing of subsidies for electric vehicles in Trump’s big bill, saying it “gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future”.
Trump posted today:
Elon Musk knew, long before he so strongly Endorsed me for President, that I was strongly against the EV Mandate. It is ridiculous, and was always a major part of my campaign. Electric cars are fine, but not everyone should be forced to own one. Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa. No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE. Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!
As we reported earlier, Don Bacon, a Republican House member from Nebraska, announced on Monday he would not seek reelection next year, joining with fellow Republican senator Thom Tillis, who made a similar announcement on Sunday.
At a news conference at Omaha’s airport on Monday, Bacon said he was proud of his bipartisan approach in the face of bitter partisanship in Washington.
It is disconcerting to get attacked from the right.
Bacon has had to navigate an ever-thinning line between staying in his party’s and President Donald Trump’s good graces without alienating his increasingly Democratic district.
″I think it’s time for a new Republican to be your nominee that can do 12-14 hours a day and hold this seat,” Bacon said.
Despite Bacon’s willingness to rebuke both his party and the Trump administration, he has consistently voted with most of their agenda.
Even so, Bacon has grown more vocal in his criticism. That includes Trump’s chaotic tariff policies, with Bacon going so far as to introduce a bill to return tariff-issuing authority to Congress.
Bacon said he wouldn’t decide whether to vote for Trump’s tax cut and spending bill until he saw the final form.
Trump warns of 68% tax rise if bill doesn’t pass Congress
Donald Trump has just taken to social media to warn that failing to pass his big bill will mean “a whopping 68% tax increase, the largest in history”.
Here’s the president’s full post on his Truth Social platform:
Republicans, the One Big Beautiful Bill, perhaps the greatest and most important of its kind in history, gives the largest Tax Cuts and Border Security ever, Jobs by the Millions, Military/Vets increases, and so much more. The failure to pass means a whopping 68% Tax increase, the largest in history!!!
As the Senate works through Trump’s big bill, his administration has codified its efforts to strip some Americans of their US citizenship in a recently published justice department memo that directs attorneys to prioritise denaturalisation for naturalised citizens who commit certain crimes.
The White House, meanwhile, has said Canadian prime minister Mark Carney “caved” to its demands after his government abruptly scrapped its digital services tax on US technology companies, which was set to go into effect on Monday.
And the Trump administration has concluded that Harvard University violated federal civil rights law in its handling of Jewish and Israeli students, and has threatened the school with a potential “loss of all federal financial resources” as a result, according to the Wall Street Journal.
You can read about these and more in our wrap of today’s key US political stories:
Police say 38 people protesting against Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill have been arrested so far on Monday at the US Capitol.
The arrests took place at two sites, inside the Capitol Rotunda and at an intersection near the Capitol, US Capitol police said.
Associated Press also reported earlier that those arrested were charged with crowding, obstructing and incommoding.
A group called Repairers of the Breach said their members led the effort. They said the demonstration continues a tradition of nonviolent actions at the Capitol confronting unjust policies and calling the nation to higher ground.
As the Senate’s marathon “vote-a-rama” continues, what have the participants been doing to help them go the distance? The Associated Press describes the scene:
The Capitol was abuzz at dinnertime as senators continued proceedings on Republicans’ sweeping tax and spending bill.
Card games were played in the reception room, cigars were smoked on the balcony, and many boxes of pizza were carried through the halls of Congress. Many energy drink cans and iced coffees were in hand by all present. Groans about the process, which is likely to extend well into the morning, could be heard from staffers and senators alike.
Some Democrats, who are lobbing one protest amendment after another at the bill, took breaks in hideaways throughout the Capitol to vent with each other and rest.
GOP senators took breaks from the Senate floor as well. Sen Tommy Tuberville, of Alabama, smoked a cigar on the Capitol terrace at sunset. Other GOP senators took calls and chatted in rooms near the Senate chamber.
Republican senators have told reporters they remained optimistic they could vote on the final passage of the bill before sunrise, the New York Times is reporting.
It says the “vote-a-rama” has dragged into its 14th hour and the halls of the Capitol are muted, with little apparent action on the floor.
Ten minutes earlier it reported:
After several hours of plodding, minimal progress, the Senate’s vote marathon on amendments to the Republicans’ domestic policy bill has started moving a little faster: Leaders announced coming votes on 10 more proposals, mostly Democratic offerings with little chance of passing.
Republican senators have tried to remain diplomatic and avoid hitting back at Elon Musk, even as the former top Trump adviser has attacked them on social media, the Associated Press is reporting.
Republican senator Jim Justice said:
At the end of the day, you know, we should be thankful for the work that he did. But I’m sure Elon’s got a real ego, and sometimes egos can really clash.
Senator Joni Ernst, who is chair of the Senate Doge caucus and is up for re-election next year, said:
I really appreciate what Elon has done with our Doge work, and we’re going to keep working on that with various rescissions packages. But at the end of the day what we also don’t want is a $4.3 trillion tax increase on American taxpayers.
Musk vows to unseat lawmakers who back Trump bill
Elon Musk has pledged to unseat lawmakers who support Donald Trump’s sweeping budget bill, which the tech billionaire has criticised because it would increase the country’s deficit by $3.3tn.
Musk wrote on X:
Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame! And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.
Musk later added that if “insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day”.
Maanvi Singh and agencies report that with these threats – lobbed at lawmakers over social media – the world’s richest man has launched himself back into a rift with the US president he helped prop up.
You can read the full report here:
As reported a little earlier, following Musk’s denouncement of Republican efforts to pass the budget bill, he said he would back representative Thomas Massie, a Trump critic, and pledged to found a new political party he called the “America party”.
Summary
Today So Far
Thirteen hours since voting began, the Senate still has not passed Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” which would enact his domestic tax and spending agenda – and add an estimated $3.3tn to the national debt over the next decade. The vote is expected to be tight – Republicans can only afford to lose three votes for the legislation to pass and two senators have already expressed they’re firm no’s – Rand Paul and Thom Tillis.
As we await news on that front, here are the top headlines we’ve followed so far today:
-
In a series of posts on social media, tech billionaire Elon Musk, who spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars in support of Trump’s candidacy, denounced Republican efforts to pass the president’s budget bill. Later, Musk pledged to found a new political party he called the “America Party” and support candidates who did not back the budget bill in future elections.
-
The Senate parliamentarian found that Republicans can include a provision that would block Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood in the “big, beautiful bill”.
-
Trump signed an executive order overturning sanctions on Syria today and issued a memorandum on US policy toward Cuba. The president’s executive order revokes sanctions on Syria while maintaining sanction’s on the country’s former president Bashar al-Assad. In a separate memo, Trump directed the federal government to enforce a statutory ban on US tourism to Cuba and continue an economic embargo on the island nation.
-
On the US Agency for International Development’s last day, former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush delivered remarks praising staffers and The Lancet medical journal published research finding the agency had prevented more than 91 million deaths globally, including 30 million deaths among children. The Lancet added that the dismantling of USAID could result in 14 million additional deaths by 2030.
-
A federal judge has ruled that Kilmar Ábrego García must remain in jail, citing fears that the Trump administration may deport him ahead of his trial if he is released. Earlier this week, the same judge ordered Ábrego García released ahead of his trial on smuggling charges. Ábrego García’s attorneys have characterized the charges as an attempt to justify the Trump administration’s mistaken deportation of Ábrego García earlier this year.
-
Trump has dropped his lawsuit against pollster J Ann Selzer and the Des Moines Register, according to a court filing today. Trump sued Selzer and the newspaper after it published a poll finding that Kamala Harris would win Iowa in the presidential election by three percentage points.
-
Congressmembers must give the Department of Homeland Security a week’s notice before visiting immigration detention facilities, according to new department guidance. Visits on shorter notice must be approved directly by department secretary Kristi Noem. Federal law allows lawmakers and their staff to visit immigration detention facilities unnanounced to oversee the conditions inside such facilities. Meanwhile, Trump will travel tomorrow to the opening of the new – and highly controversial – immigrant detention facility in the Florida Everglades, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz”.
-
The Trump administration sued the city of Los Angeles over policies limiting city cooperation with federal immigration authorities, continuing a confrontation over Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation efforts in the largely Democratic city. The lawsuit, filed by the justice department, alleges that policies barring city resources from aiding in immigration enforcement operations or collecting information about individuals’ citizenship status violate federal law.
-
The Trump administration informed Harvard University that its investigation found that the university violated federal civil rights law over its treatment of Jewish and Israeli students, putting its federal funding further at risk.
-
Trump will host Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on 7 July. Israel’s strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer will also meet with officials at the White House this week for talks on Iran and a new push for a ceasefire in Gaza. Israel’s ongoing and relentless bombardment on Gaza killed at least another 38 civilians today.
-
Trump wrote to Fed chair Jerome Powell again urging him to lower interest rates. Attacking Powell and members of the Fed board of governors, who he accused of failing to do their jobs, the president said today that he believes interest rates should be lowered to about 1%.
-
Trump has suggested there won’t be a trade deal with Japan, saying that Japan would be the recipient of a letter related to trade, following pledges by his administration to send letters to countries outlining tariffs they would need to pay to the UA.
-
The Trump administration appealed a federal judge’s decision to strike down an executive order targeting law firm Perkins Coie over its past legal work for Hillary Clinton and others.
After denouncing Republican leaders’ efforts to pass Donald Trump’s budget bill on social media earlier today, tech billionaire Elon Musk said he would back representative Thomas Massie, a Trump critic, and pledged to found a new political party he called the “America party”.
“They just pretend to be two parties. It’s just one uniparty in reality,” Musk wrote on his social media platform, sharing a graph showing national debt increasing under both Republican and Democratic administrations.
“If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day. Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE,” he wrote in a second post.
In a separate post, Musk said “I will” in response to a post asking for support for Massie’s re-election. Massie has called the Republican-backed budget a “debt bomb ticking”.
The Department of Education will not release billions of dollars in federal funding for afterschool programs, teacher trainings, support for immigrant children and English learners that it was expected to disburse 1 July, Politico reports citing unnamed officials familiar with the matter.
“The Department remains committed to ensuring taxpayer resources are spent in accordance with the President’s priorities and the Department’s statutory responsibilities,” the education department said in written communications to states. The agency said it has not completed its review of fiscal year funding for the grant programs and will not release funds until it does.
“These funds were approved by Congress and signed into law by President Trump in March. Schools need these funds to hire key staff and educate students this summer and in the upcoming school year,” Carissa Moffat Miller, head of the Council of Chief State School Officers, said in a statement to Politico.
In private video remarks to USAID staffers on the international development agency’s last day, former presidents Barack Obama and George W Bush praised the agency and criticized the Trump administration for shuttering it.
In March, the Trump administration canceled more than 80% of all the US Agency for International Development’s programs. The secretary of state Marco Rubio ordered the remaining programs to be absorbed into the state department, with today as the listed deadline to do so.
“Your work has mattered, and will matter for generations to come,” Obama told staffers in a video, which was shared with the Associated Press. The ex-president also called Trump’s decision to dismantle the agency “a colossal mistake”.
Bush added his criticism to Trump’s cuts to the HIV and Aids prevention program PEPFAR, which has saved 25 million lives globally. “Is it in our national interests that 25 million people who would have died now live? I think it is,” Bush said.
In a study published in the Lancet medical journal today, researchers found that the dismantling of USAID could result in 14 million additional deaths by 2030. The study estimated that over the past two decades, USAID-funded programs have prevented more than 91 million deaths globally, including 30 million deaths among children, Reuters reports.
Here’s a selection of recent Guardian reporting on the impact of USAID cuts:
Amid posts to his social media platform today encouraging senators to pass his “big, beautiful bill”, Donald Trump paused to share another announcement: his new fragrance line.
“Trump Fragrances are here. They’re called “Victory 45-47” because they’re all about Winning, Strength, and Success — For men and women,” the president wrote.
The president’s post included an image of the fragrance bottles: a golden statue of Trump with the president’s black Sharpie signature below.
