Friday, July 18 | By Alexis Simendinger & Kristina Karisch |
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| ▪ Trump's canceled spending leaves Dems hanging ▪ President threatens to sue WSJ over Epstein story ▪ Do Democrats need to coalesce for 2026? ▪ Israel strikes Gaza's only Catholic church |
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© The Associated Press | Alex Brandon |
Trump's big legislative week, and some warnings
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In the battle over President Trump's spending priorities, Republicans say they're running the table, leaving Democratic lawmakers and a tiny band of GOP critics in the dust. Passage of Trump's gargantuan agenda otherwise known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act? Check. Cancellation this week of $9 billion in already enacted appropriations opposed by the president (the first such successful clawback since 1999)? Check. Historic passage of crypto legislation? Check. A Senate sprint to confirm controversial Trump nominees? Check. "One year ago, our country was a dead country and now it's the hottest country anywhere in the world," Trump says. The president and his allies this week celebrated accomplishments, even as the administration wrangled to resolve GOP clashes and to appease MAGA supporters during a conspicuous revolt against the Justice Department while clamoring for more information about Jeffrey Epstein. Democrats concede Republicans are making the most of their narrow House and Senate majorities while Trump maintains a tight grip on his party and boldly tests his executive sway over the legislative branch — including his clawback of billions of dollars known as rescissions, achieved 24 hours before a statutory deadline. The cuts will impact about $8 billion in foreign aid and promotion of democracy abroad, including through the former U.S. Agency for International Development, along with $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, including PBS and NPR. The House vote late Thursday was 216-213. "We're gonna downsize the scope of government," Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said following the vote. "Government is too large, it does too many things and it does almost nothing well." Democrats may have gained little legislative traction on their side of the aisle to date, but some of their GOP colleagues have joined them in openly chafing at White House expectations. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) had to surmount major hurdles inside his conference to succeed in canceling what he described as minor spending that Trump and conservatives opposed. "I think $9 billion is a very small amount of money — as I mentioned, one-tenth of 1 percent of all federal spending," he told Fox News on Wednesday. "But we've got to look at all aspects of the federal budget and figure out where we can root out waste, fraud and abuse." The Speaker and the White House budget director, each eager to appease fiscal hawks, say more such cancellations of previously approved spending are ahead. Democrats have suggested they might try to shut down the government in September to showcase their opposition to Trump's after-the-fact budget deletions. Some Republicans in Congress worry voters in next year's midterm contests will punish the party in power. The history of midterm wipeouts supports their caution. The economy has been weakening, according to this year's data. And Democratic voters appear to be more motivated than Republicans ahead of the elections, new polling shows. Trump's supporters approve in general of slashing federal spending and shrinking deficits, but erasing federal and state benefits and services is a political risk, according to bipartisan analysts, if average Americans don't feel better off when they cast their ballots. Some lawmakers from red states say they're having second thoughts about the billions in cuts they helped enact affecting rural hospitals. Those reductions may never happen. Trump's job approval is underwater on issues including the economy, immigration, health care and government spending, all of which are top of mind among voters, according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Roughly half of surveyed U.S. adults report the president's second-term policies have "done more to hurt" them, the survey found. House Ways and Means Committee member Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) this week described being called "a racist" by some colleagues because of his support for Medicaid cuts and work verification requirements included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. "I think work matters in America," he said during the Hill Nation Summit. "You create jobs so people can work, not be dependent on the government," he added. A few fed-up Republican senators eager in the first six months of Trump's second term to back his agenda, whether in philosophical solidarity or fearful of political punishment, have suggested their support could be conditional, especially amid future tests of Congress's power of the purse and if lawmakers can't dictate how any future rescissions are carried out by the executive branch. But as The New York Times pointed out, even GOP lawmakers who grouse have repeatedly bowed to the president. ▪ The Washington Post: The administration's plan to shrink the size of government, in charts. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), both moderates, opposed the $9 billion rescissions bill this week. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) bucked a procedural step before voting for the final measure. He objected to what he called the administration's insistence on "a blank check." Collins says she will seek reelection next year. McConnell is retiring at the end of his term. "I suspect we're going to find out there are some things that we're going to regret," Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said Wednesday from the floor. "Some second- and third-order effects. And I suspect that when we do, we'll have to come back and fix it." He has clashed with Trump this year and announced he will leave the Senate when his term is up. Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said he supported the rescissions bill "with reservations" and "concerns." "Congress has the power of the purse. The president has the power to enforce. In this situation, there's a specific amount stated that will be rescinded," Wicker said on the Senate floor. "But this Congress will not be allowed to choose those specific cuts. That will be done by somebody in the Office of Management and Budget in the White House," he continued. "And in this situation, it will amount to the House and Senate basically saying: 'We concede that decision voluntarily to the executive branch.'" |
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Smart Take
with Blake Burman |
| Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem made big news at the Hill Nation Summit on Wednesday when she told me she was considering changes to TSA requirements for liquid sizes in carry-on bags. This news came just after she announced that airline passengers would no longer have to take off their shoes for screenings. On Thursday, she continued making changes, which include opening special security lanes for military members and their families. I spoke with former Transportation Security Administration Administrator John Pistole, who suggested that our current technology is now at a place where we can reexamine airport procedures, especially when it comes to liquids. "I think it's a great time to look at it because of a couple factors," he said. "One, technology has improved. The technology has actually been there for quite a while." Pistole later told me these decisions are also "risk-based." What's clear over the last two days is the Department of Homeland Security is taking a serious look at completely reimagining the airport experience. |
Burman hosts "The Hill" weeknights, 6p/5c on NewsNation. |
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- CBS will end its long-running "Late Show with Stephen Colbert" next year. The network said it is a "purely a financial decision" and unrelated to parent company Paramount's planned merger with Skydance.
- Trump's latest executive order creates a new category of noncareer federal employees. The White House says the "Schedule G" employees will boost operations.
- The new-car average manufacturer's suggested retail price hit $51,124 last month, nearing a new record, according to Kelley Blue Book. Twenty percent of households with car payments, according to Bank of America's data, are paying more than $1,000 a month.
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© The Associated Press | J. Scott Applewhite |
EPSTEIN MEMO: The House Rules Committee late Thursday advanced a resolution calling for — but not legally requiring — the DOJ to release some information related to Jeffrey Epstein, the sexual predator and disgraced financier, as a number of Republicans express anger at the Trump administration's handling of the saga. The panel voted 9-4 along party lines to send the measure to the House floor, with Democrats objecting to the resolution being non-binding. The House Republican conference is grappling with GOP frustrations over the Trump administration's handling of the saga. It is unclear when leadership plans to stage a floor vote on the Epstein measure. House Rules Committee Chair Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) said Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) would make that announcement. The measure directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to make public "all credible" documents, communications and metadata related to the investigations into and prosecutions of Epstein and his convicted former longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell, with certain exceptions. An amendment offered by ranking member Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) to tee up a more forceful bill from Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) to require the DOJ to disclose Epstein material was promptly dismissed by Republicans. ▪ ABC News: Unreleased Epstein files include logbooks for his private island, records show. ▪ The New York Times: A timeline of what we know of Trump and Epstein. Trump said Thursday he was authorizing Bondi to release relevant grand jury testimony in the Epstein case, stopping short of directing officials to release the FBI files demanded by supporters. A number of prominent allies of the president have for years pushed conspiracy theories about Epstein's death and claim that a "client list," which officials say does not exist, would reveal ties between Epstein and prominent Democrats. The president this week launched barbs at those he called "weaklings" and "foolish Republicans" focused on the Epstein case, putting him on a collision course with many members of his MAGA base. The president would not recommend appointing a special prosecutor to look into the Epstein case, , rebuffing calls from some allies. Trump a day earlier a similar question. The White House is also forcefully pushing back on a new Wall Street Journal report headlined: "Jeffrey Epstein's Friends Sent Him Bawdy Letters for a 50th Birthday Album. One Was From Donald Trump." Trump has slammed the Journal for the story, which detailed a birthday correspondence the newspaper claims Trump sent Epstein in 2003. The president has denied writing the message and said he will sue the outlet. "President Trump will be suing The Wall Street Journal, NewsCorp, and Mr. Murdoch, shortly. The Press has to learn to be truthful, and not rely on sources that probably don't even exist," read a statement posted to the president's Truth Social account. "President Trump has already beaten George Stephanopoulos/ABC, 60 Minutes/CBS, and others, and looks forward to suing and holding accountable the once great Wall Street Journal," the statement continued. Meanwhile, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) on Thursday slammed the Trump administration for not making Epstein's financial records available to Congress and the public. "Big news from my investigators on Epstein's sex trafficking operation: the Trump administration has an Epstein file detailing 4,725 wire transfers and almost $1.1 billion flowing through just one of his banks," Wyden alleged in a post on the social platform X. "Hundreds of millions more through others." ▪ The Hill: Podcaster Theo Von called out Vice President Vance on Wednesday for changing his stance on the release of files related to Epstein. CRYPTO: The House passed legislation Thursday setting up a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins, after GOP leadership managed to stem a revolt from competing factions in the conference that brought the floor to a standstill. The House passed the GENIUS Act by a vote of 308-122 at the end of a roller-coaster "crypto week" in the House during which GOP leadership had hoped to easily pass a trio of digital asset bills. The landmark legislation marks a major win for the industry. The bill regulating dollar-backed digital tokens now heads to Trump's desk, where he has indicated he is eager to sign it. Rep. Maxine Waters (Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, has lobbied against the crypto legislation all week, labeling it "anti-crypto corruption week" and underscoring her concerns with the president's expanding involvement in the industry. The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act also cleared the House in a 294-134 vote, with 78 House Democrats joining all Republicans to support it. Despite the eventual passage of the crypto bills, House Republicans who were riding high after passing Trump's tax cut megabill earlier this month got a rude awakening this week when the fight over the bill froze the House floor for more than a day, The Hill Emily Brooks reports. The dispute, complete with record-setting procedural rebellions, served as confirmation that chaos is officially the norm in the razor-thin House GOP majority — and Trump himself is often necessary to break the gridlock. WALK OUT: Controversial Trump nominees Emil Bove and Jeanine Pirro cleared confirmation votes in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday over objections from Democrats — who walked out of the hearing chamber. Trump tapped Bove, who previously served on his personal criminal defense team, to be a judge with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, and he nominated Pirro, a former county judge and Fox News host, to be U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C. ▪ The Hill: Watch Democrats walk out over the Bove vote. ▪ The New York Times opinion: Trump's plans to put Bove on the Supreme Court. LEGACY: Sen. Mitch McConnell played his cards close to the vest before voting Tuesday night against a motion to proceed to the package of $9 billion in Trump-requested funding cuts. The Kentucky Republican and former Senate GOP leader ultimately voted for the recissions package. While many Senate Republicans are under intense pressure to support Trump's agenda, McConnell feels unencumbered by a looming midterm cycle as he plans to retire. He's quietly laying out a record of votes to make a loud statement on areas where he thinks the Trump-aligned GOP is moving in the wrong direction, The Hill's Alexander Bolton reports. |
- The president will participate in a swearing-in ceremony for IRS Commissioner Billy Long at 1:30 p.m. Trump at 2:30 p.m. will sign the cryptocurrency regulatory measure, the GENIUS Act, in the East Room. He will also sign legislation that rescinds $9 billion in previously approved funding, approved by the House and Senate. Trump will host a dinner at 7 p.m. for Republican senators at the White House.
- The House meets at noon on Monday.
- The Senate will convene on Monday at 3 p.m.
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DNC CLASHES: Gun control activist David Hogg shed fresh light on his internal battle with the Democratic National Committee (DNC) during his tenure as vice chair earlier this year at The Hill Nation Summit in Washington. Hogg told The Hill's Julia Manchester that he was ultimately given an ultimatum to do nothing with Leaders We Deserve and "collect a check" or keep his "largely ceremonial title" as vice chair at the DNC. Hogg launched Leaders We Deserve in an effort to elect a new generation of lawmakers and drew headlines for the group's $20 million effort to primary safe House Democrats. The activist has repeatedly maintained that the group would not target House Democrats facing uphill reelection bids, also known as "Frontline Members." "I didn't want to be in a position where it's like, 'Oh, I'm just going to keep this ceremonial role because I care so much about this title,'" Hogg said, "instead of actually doing what I felt was necessary in order to help create the change that I thought was desperately needed right now." The shake-up comes as Democrats reckon with their leadership and messaging following their losses in 2024. Some, like Hogg, insist the party must invest in younger generations, while others are searching for leadership among party veterans. DNC Chair Ken Martin said Wednesday his party must regain voters' trust by showing "we give a damn about their community, about their family, being present and having conversations when it's not a transaction, where we're asking them to do something for me." ▪ The New York Times: In a wide-ranging interview, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) took stock of her party's deep-seated woes, warning Democrats not to be "so damn scared." TRUMP'S HEALTH was thrust into the spotlight on Thursday afternoon, as the White House revealed he had been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a vein condition that is common in people older than 70. ▪ The Hill: Five things to know about chronic venous insufficiency. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt shared a note from Trump's physician during a press briefing that detailed the exam. Trump, 79, underwent ultrasounds and a "comprehensive exam" that included a diagnostic vascular study. Trump had his annual physical exam in April, after which his physician wrote a memo stating the president was in "excellent health." The president will be 82 when he leaves office, which would make him the oldest commander in chief in history at the end of his term. FEDERAL RESERVE: Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought told reporters on Thursday that administration officials wanted to visit the Federal Reserve to observe the renovations at its Washington headquarters. Administration officials assert Fed Chair Jerome Powell has mismanaged the project, resulting in a cost overrun, and have demanded that he provide answers about the project to the White House budget office. As Trump continues to muse about firing Powell, Vought doubled down on Thursday. "I think the president was pretty clear yesterday: He's unlikely to fire the chairman, but he has substantial concerns with regard to how he's managed the Fed," Vought said, adding they were "trying to get a site visit and go over there." Fed renovation expenses make for shaky legal ground to oust the chair of the independent Fed, legal experts suggest, but they said they think the White House wants to "damage this guy's image." ▪ CNBC: Calling for major changes, former Fed board member Kevin Warsh said he believes the next Fed chair will maintain the central bank's independence from political pressure, even under the Trump administration. ▪ The Wall Street Journal: The global risks that come with the loss of an independent Fed. Countries around the world have come to expect an independent U.S. central bank. |
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© The Associated Press | Jehad Alshrafi |
ISRAEL: Israel struck the compound of the only Catholic church in Gaza on Thursday, killing three people and wounding 10 others, including the parish priest. The late Pope Francis had regularly spoken to the priest about the situation in the war-ravaged enclave. Israel issued a rare apology and said it was investigating after the strike triggered a flood of condemnation from world leaders — including Trump, who spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the phone on Thursday. Pope Leo XIV on Thursday renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire. ▪ The Washington Post: Several smaller countries are taking a stand against Israel's conduct of the war in Gaza. Critics are skeptical about their impact, but others see the pressure as a first step in a global shift. ▪ The New York Times: Talks for a two-month truce in Gaza appear to have stalled, with disagreements over aid distribution and unresolved questions about a permanent cessation of hostilities. UKRAINE: Trump's decision to ramp up military aid to Ukraine is a signal to Kyiv to abandon peace efforts, Moscow said on Thursday, vowing it would not accept the "blackmail" of Washington's new sanctions ultimatum. Trump announced a toughened stance on Russia's war in Ukraine on Monday, setting a 50-day deadline for Moscow to reach a ceasefire or face sanctions. But analysts say the pause gives the Kremlin a window to exploit the incremental gains of recent weeks, putting key Ukrainian strongholds in peril. ▪ Time magazine: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appoints a new government and races to boost arms production. ▪ CNN: Ukrainian military leaders stress it would be "nearly impossible" to fight Russia without drones. ▪ Washington Monthly: Inside the dramatic shift in Trump's thinking about the Russia-Ukraine war. |
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- Trump is fighting a conspiracy the only way he knows how, by Ramesh Ponnuru, columnist, The Washington Post.
- This is who's really driving the decline in interest in liberal arts education, by Jennifer Frey, guest essayist, The New York Times.
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© The Associated Press | Jose Luis Magana |
And finally … 👏👏👏 Congratulations to our Morning Report Quiz winners! Congress watchers knew their way around legislative history and rescissions bills. ✂️ 🧩 Here's who went 4/4: Stan Wasser, Harry Strulovici, Lynn Gardner, Rick Schmidtke, James Morris, Tom Chabot, Jess A. Elger, William Chittam, Alan Johnson, France Cordova, Neil Bergsman, Michael B. Kitz, Jenessa Wagner, Richard E. Baznik, Mark R. Williamson, Linda L. Field, Bill Moore, Brian Hogan, Mark Roeddiger, Terry Pflaumer, Savannah Petracca, Carmine Petracca, Stanton Kirk, Steve James, Luther Berg, Joe Merchen and Pam Manges. Readers knew that among a menu of quiz answers, it's correct that a president can approve and spend the money Congress blesses, defer spending with notification to Congress, or object to congressionally approved and enacted funding and erase it through new legislation that rescinds it. Thus, the best answer: "all of the above." TRUE: Congress has 45 days to approve legislation requested by the White House to rescind funding previously enacted. Congress in 1974 adopted a change allowing presidents to request to cancel appropriated funds. The rescissions measure in play on Capitol Hill this week focused on foreign aid and public broadcasting, but did not target Defense Department funding. |
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