The Latest: July deadline for Trump’s tax and spending bill approaches
By The Associated Press
Monday could be a pivotal day for Senate Republicans, who are racing to meet President Donald Trump’s Fourth of July deadline to pass legislation that contains big tax breaks and spending cuts. The House is being called back to session for votes as soon as Wednesday, if the Senate can pass the bill.
Meanwhile, Trump says he is not planning to extend a 90-day pause on tariffs on most nations beyond July 9, when the negotiating period he set would expire.
Here’s the latest:
Former Transportation Secretary Buttigieg says it’s ‘time to speak up’
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg used Facebook to implore voters to step up to Trump’s bill of tax breaks and spending cuts while there is still time.
“If there was ever a time to call your Senator, this is it. Voting has begun on the GOP plan to cut off health care for working-class Americans and slash taxes for the wealthiest,” he said. “This bill would kick millions off their health insurance, and thousands will even lose their lives – unless we stop it in its tracks. Some Republicans are breaking ranks, showing it’s not too late. Time to speak up!”
Judges consider whether Trump can use wartime act against Tren de Aragua gang
Lawyers for the Trump administration and immigrants are sparring in court over whether the president can use an 18th century wartime act against the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang.
The case before the conservative 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans is likely to end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Alien Enemies Act has only been used three times before in U.S. history, during the War of 1812 and the two world wars. Trump invoked it in March against Tren de Aragua, which he claims is acting as an arm of the Venezuelan government.
The ACLU and other groups sued, saying that was improper.
▶ Read more about the tangled legal battle
Disagreements over Trump’s crypto interests resurface ahead of big bill vote
As the Senate prepared to vote on the major bill Monday, Democrats introduced an amendment to ban the president and his family from directly or indirectly issuing or profiting from cryptocurrencies.
“No elected official should be able to run a crypto scheme to sell influence and enrich themselves,” Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley said.
Republicans rejected the measure along party lines. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, a key GOP crypto supporter, said it would have stifled innovation.
The issue has divided the chamber all year, as cryptocurrency legislation has advanced without confronting potential financial gains for Trump and his family.
Judges consider whether Trump can use wartime act against Tren de Aragua gang
Lawyers for the Trump administration and immigrants are sparring in court over whether the president can use an 18th century wartime act against the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang.
The case before the conservative 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans is likely to end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Alien Enemies Act has only been used three times before in U.S. history, during the War of 1812 and the two world wars. Trump invoked it in March against Tren de Aragua, which he claims is acting as an arm of the Venezuelan government.
The ACLU and other groups sued, saying that was improper.
▶ Read more about the tangled legal battle
Musk critiques GOP tax and spending bill
Multibillionaire Elon Musk is again denouncing Republicans’ sweeping tax and spending package as senators negotiate ahead of a final pivotal vote on the bill.
“It is obvious with the insane spending of this bill, which increases the debt ceiling by a record FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS that we live in a one-party country – the PORKY PIG PARTY!!” Musk wrote on the social platform X.
A section of the GOP bill would indeed raise the debt ceiling, though the provision largely approves the federal government to pay debts that have already been incurred. If the debt ceiling were not raised, the U.S. would default on its debts, meaning that the government would not pay back those who had loaned the nation money or not pay for services and goods already purchased by the government.
Military asks to pull 200 troops back from California protest duty
The top military commander in charge of troops deployed to Los Angeles to respond to protests against immigration raids has asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth if 200 of those forces could be returned to wildfire fighting duty, two U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Monday.
Trump ordered the deployment of about 4,000 California National Guard troops and 800 active-duty Marines against the wishes of Gov. Gavin Newsom in early June.
California has entered peak wildfire season, and Newsom has warned that the Guard is now understaffed.
The top military commander of those troops, U.S. Northern Command head Gen. Gregory Guillot, recently submitted a request to Hegseth to return 200 of the National Guard troops back to the California National Guard’s wildfire unit, the officials said.
The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details not yet announced publicly.
▶ Read more about the request
Trump administration approves $510 million arms sale to Israel
The State Department said the sale approved Monday includes more than 7,000 bomb guidance kits for two different types of Joint Direct Attack Munitions.
“The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to U.S. national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability,” the department said in a statement. “This proposed sale is consistent with those objectives.”
Netanyahu to visit the White House next week
Trump will host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for talks at the White House next Monday, according to a U.S. administration official.
The visit comes as the U.S. leader has begun stepping up his push on the Israeli government to broker a ceasefire and hostage agreement and bring about an end to the war in Gaza.
The official was not authorized to comment publicly on the visit that hasn’t been formally announced and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
▶ Read more about the planned visit
Trump lodges customer service complaint
In a pair of posts on Truth Social, Trump said he was trying to hold a conference call with faith leaders from all over the country, but he was unable to start the call because of technical difficulties, which he blamed on AT&T.
“If the Boss of AT&T, whoever that may be, could get involved — It would be good,” he wrote. “There are tens of thousands of people on the line!” In another post, he said: “AT&T ought to get its act together.”
Representatives for AT&T responded — also on social media — replying to a post from the White House press secretary on X sharing Trump’s complaints:
“We’ve reached out to the White House and are working to quickly understand and assess the situation,” AT&T said.
The issue was resolved and the call started 20 minutes late, according to a White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Trump touts big bill in mass call with faith leaders
Trump spoke to thousands of faith leaders in a conference call Monday, the first in a series of regular calls that the White House expects him to periodically hold with religious leaders.
Trump, who created a White House faith office this year, spoke to between 8,000 and 10,000 leaders of Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths on the call, according to a White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
During the call, according to the official, Trump spoke for about 15 minutes and touted provisions in his big tax breaks and spending cuts bill like the boost to the child tax credit, the Israel-Iran ceasefire and African peace deals he brokered, and the pardons he issued for anti-abortion activists.
Thune, Johnson not at the White House after all
Despite assertions from press secretary Karoline Leavitt that the president met Monday at the White House with the top two congressional leaders, that wasn’t the case.
A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the South Dakota Republican was not at the White House on Monday and had no plans to go there later that day. Johnson was not at the White House either.
Thune is overseeing the so-called “vote-a-rama” session in the Senate ahead of a final vote on Trump’s tax-and-border bill.
“Teams are obviously in close contact/coordination, as always,” the spokesman, Ryan Wrasse, said on X, “but we’re continuing to move through vote-a-rama in the Senate as we work to move this bill one step closer to the president’s desk.”
Trump may be planning to release new US tariff rates on several countries, including possibly Japan, by next week
Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, told reporters at the White House that Trump “is going to finalize the frameworks we negotiated with a whole bunch of countries after the weekend.”
That followed Trump posting on his social media site that Japan wasn’t buying enough rice from the U.S. “They won’t take our RICE, and yet they have a massive rice shortage,” the president wrote, before adding “we’ll just be sending them a letter.”
Trump has suggested that the U.S. will be sending letters to many countries, informing them of the new tariff rates they will face from the U.S. after a July 9 deadline when the president’s 90-day pause on “reciprocal” tariffs expires.
Hassett said of tariff negotiations with Japan that there will “still be discussions right up to the end.”
FBI and NSA say ceasefire won’t end threat of pro-Iranian cyberattacks
A ceasefire between Iran and Israel has not ended the threat of cyberattacks from hacking groups supportive of Tehran, the FBI and federal cybersecurity officials said Monday.
In a public bulletin, the authorities warned that hacking groups affiliated or supportive of Tehran may still seek to disrupt or disable important infrastructure, such as utilities, transportation centers and economic hubs. Hackers may also target defense contractors or other American companies with ties to Israel, the agencies warned.
The warning outlined recommendations including the use of regular software updates and strong password management systems to shore up digital defenses.
Hackers backing Tehran have targeted U.S. banks, defense contractors and energy companies following American strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities — but so far have not caused widespread disruptions.
Obama and Bush fault Trump’s gutting of USAID, in tributes marking independent agency’s last day
Former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush have delivered rare open remarks questioning the Trump administration’s gutting of the main U.S. aid agency, including funding cuts to a popular AIDS and HIV program.
Obama called President Donald Trump’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development “inexplicable” and “a colossal mistake.”
Bush addressed Trump cuts and rule changes to PEPFAR, an AIDS and HIV prevention and care program credited with saving 25 million lives around the world.
“Is it in our national interests that 25 million people who would have died now live? I think it is,” Bush said.
The Democratic and Republican former presidents spoke in video remarks to USAID staffers. While the videoconference was closed to press, some of the videos were shared with The Associated Press.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has ordered USAID absorbed into the State Department Tuesday, meaning all but a fraction of remaining USAID staffers will lose their jobs.
Obama addressed the thousands in the USAID community listening online. “Your work has mattered, and will matter for generations to come,” he told them.
Trump set to sign an executive order ending sanctions on Syria
Leavitt says Trump will sign an executive order ending U.S. economic sanctions on Syria and promoting a “path to prosperity and peace.”
The U.S. granted Syria sweeping exemptions from sanctions in May. The press secretary said it was “an action that the president promised.”
Leavitt said Trump wants Syria to be “stable, unified and at peace with itself and its neighbors.”
Trump is set to sign the executive order on Monday afternoon.
Trump doesn’t want NYC mayoral candidate to win but will work with anyone, White House says
Leavitt was asked about the push from some Republicans to have the Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani “denaturalized,” lose his U.S. citizenship and deported, but the press secretary said she had not heard Trump call for that.
“Certainly, he does not want this individual elected,” Leavitt said.
She said Trump is “always willing to work with everyone,” but said that she thinks that “the president would find it difficult to work with someone like that if he is elected.”
White House keeps levying attacks on Fed chair Powell
Following President Donald Trump’s lead, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt ripped into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, a Trump appointee who has held off on benchmark rate cuts until the U.S. central bank can gauge the impact of Trump’s tariffs.
“I would remind the Fed chair, and I would remind the entire world, that this is a president who was a businessman first, and he knows what he is doing,” said Leavitt.
The White House spokeswoman opened Monday’s briefing by reading a note from Trump to Powell.
“Jerome, you are, as usual, too late,” Leavitt said, reading the correspondence from the president. “You have cost the USA a fortune and continue to do so. You should lower the rate by a lot. Hundreds of billions of dollars are being lost and there is no inflation.”
The Fed’s preferred measure of inflation, the personal consumption expenditures price index, is tracking at 2.3% annually, slightly higher than the Fed’s 2% target. The Fed sees political independence as a key value for the integrity of the monetary policies it sets with the goals of stabilizing prices and maximizing employment.
Leavitt demurred when asked why Trump had not simply fired Powell, a move that could rattle financial markets. She said the question could be asked to Trump directly. Trump has said he could fire Powell if he wanted, but a recent Supreme Court ruling indicated that the Fed chair has a unique status.
Leavitt says Thune and Johnson were at the White House
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says of the Trump-backed tax cut and spending bill seemingly on the verge of clearing Congress, “Republicans need to stay tough and unified during the home stretch, and we are counting on them to get the job done.”
Leavitt told reporters during her briefing that Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson were at the White House on Monday to discuss passing what Trump calls the “big, beautiful bill.”
Leavitt also said Trump was confident the bill would be passed and at the White House to be signed by July 4, an informal deadline the president has been pushing for weeks.
Homeland Security secretary and Florida congressman to join Trump on visit to new immigration detention facility
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a news briefing Monday that Kristi Noem, the secretary of Homeland Security, and Florida Republican Rep. Byron Donalds will join Trump and DeSantis Tuesday to view the detention facility in the Florida Everglades.
Leavitt said the new facility has only one road in and the only way out for those detained there is on a flight.
“It is isolated and surrounded by dangerous wildlife and unforgiving terrain,” Leavitt said.
Republicans reject amendments to Trump’s big bill on key Democratic priorities
In the runup to a final Senate vote on President Donald Trump’s big bill of tax cuts and spending cuts, Republicans have voted down Democratic amendments to strike portions of the bill that would reduce funding for rural hospitals, food stamps and Medicaid.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, joined Democrats on an amendment to strike language that would force rural hospitals to limit their services. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, joined Democrats on that vote and a separate Democratic motion to prevent the legislation from shifting some food stamp costs to states.
On a party line vote, Republicans also dismissed a motion by Democrats to strike any provision that would cut Medicaid.
Trump planning to visit Everglades migrant detention site dubbed ‘Alligator Alcatraz’
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said President Donald Trump is planning to visit on Tuesday a site in the Everglades where Florida officials want to detain migrants, which they have named “Alligator Alcatraz.”
The Florida Republican said the site “will be ready for business” by Tuesday.
“What’ll happen is you bring bring people in there. They ain’t going anywhere once they’re there, unless you want them to go somewhere, because good luck getting to civilization. So the security is amazing,” DeSantis said, hinting at the alligators that swim in the wetlands surrounding the abandoned airport site and prompting some laughs from the audience at an unrelated press conference.
DeSantis said he spoke with Trump over the weekend, and announced the site obtained approval from the Department of Homeland Security last week.
Trump planning to visit Everglades migrant detention site dubbed ‘Alligator Alcatraz’
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Trump is planning to visit on Tuesday a site in the Everglades where Florida officials want to detain migrants, which has been dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.”
The Florida Republican said the site “will be ready for business” by Tuesday.
“What’ll happen is you bring bring people in there. They ain’t going anywhere once they’re there, unless you want them to go somewhere, because good luck getting to civilization. So the security is amazing,” DeSantis said, hinting at the alligators that swim in the wetlands surrounding the abandoned airport site and prompting some laughs from the audience at an unrelated press conference.
DeSantis said he spoke with Trump over the weekend, and announced the site obtained approval from the Department of Homeland Security last week.
Trump administration finds Harvard failed to protect Jewish students
Harvard University failed to protect Jewish students from harassment, the Trump administration concluded after an investigation, threatening to cut all federal funding from the Ivy League school if it fails to take action.
A federal task force sent a letter to Harvard on Monday finding the university violated civil rights laws requiring colleges to protect students from discrimination based on race or national origin.
It says investigators found Harvard was at times a “willful participant in anti-Semitic harassment of Jewish students, faculty, and staff” and that campus leaders allowed antisemitism to fester on the campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The Senate has launched its first vote of the day, and it’s wonky
It’s a challenge to the Republicans’ budgeting method for the big bill that Democrats decry as “magic math” and are trying to strike from the process.
GOP senators have argued that Trump’s 2017 tax cuts are considered “current policy” and extending them indefinitely shouldn’t be counted in the total cost of the package.
Democrats argue that the Trump tax breaks, which are set to expire if Congress fails to act this year, are piling onto the national deficit. The actual vote is in the weeds — a motion to appeal the ruling of the chair that allows the budgeting method to move ahead.
Senate Majority Leader Thune says “it’s time to vote” on Trump’s big bill
Sen. John Thune says “it’s time to vote” on the massive tax and spending cuts package that has been moving through the Senate for several weeks and that Trump wants on his desk by July 4.
Thune pushed back on Democratic arguments that it would hurt working people, noting that Congress passed new work requirements for welfare recipients under President Bill Clinton in the 1990s.
The GOP bill includes new work requirements for Medicaid and Food stamp recipients, among other cuts to those programs.
“This is good for the American people,” Thune said.
Senate opens with long day ahead as Republicans try to pass Trump’s big bill
The Senate is beginning an all-day session of amendment votes ahead of an expected final vote on Trump’s big bill of spending cuts and tax cuts. The session could last into the night.
Democrats are expected to offer amendments to strike tax breaks for the wealthy and and cuts to the Medicaid program, among many others.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said in opening remarks that he will start with an amendment that would block any provisions that increase costs for working families or small businesses “to pay for tax cuts for billionaires.”
“The American people will not forget what Republicans do in this chamber today,” Schumer said.
Senate Republicans in sprint on Trump’s big bill after weekend of setbacks
The Senate will try to sprint ahead on President Donald Trump’s big bill of tax breaks and spending cuts after a weekend of setbacks.
An all-night session to consider an endless stream of proposed amendments, called a vote-a-rama, was abruptly postponed.
It’s now scheduled to launch when the Senate gavels open Monday. With Democrats united against the Republican president’s legislation, the voting could take all day.
The day ahead could be pivotal for Republicans, who are racing to meet Trump’s Fourth of July deadline to pass the bill. The House is being called back to session for votes as soon as Wednesday, if the Senate can pass the bill.
Trump suggests no extension on tariff pause
Speaking to Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business, Trump reiterated his desire to send “a very fair letter” to each country letting them know what their tariff rates will be.
The president said “I don’t think I’ll need to” extend the pause on higher tariffs, which are supposed to take effect on July 9.
He mused about what one of his letters could say. “Dear Mr. Japan, here’s the story, you’re going to pay a 25% tariff on your cars,” he said.
Congo’s top diplomat tells AP she trusts US to uphold its part of peace deal
Congo’s foreign minister dismisses skepticism about the Trump administration’s mediation role in a peace deal for her mineral-rich country, telling the Associated Press she is confident the U.S. will uphold its part of the deal.
Therese Kayikwamba Wagner spoke to the AP after signing a deal with her Rwanda counterpart to end decades of bloody fighting in eastern Congo. The Trump administration agreed to use its influence to honor the press both countries to honor the deal. In return, the U.S. hopes for improved American access to east Congo’s critical minerals.
Some Congolese are skeptical. They fear the U.S. will take the minerals without helping calm a conflict that has killed 6 million.
The United States “has been a reliable partner on many other issues that we have dealt with,” Wagner told the AP.
“So there is no doubt in this moment … when it comes to the credibility of the U.S as a partner, be it for a peace process where we have signed a very important agreement today or for investment from the U.S.,” she said.
