US Senate passes Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’, sending it to the House
The United States Senate has passed a sweeping tax bill championed by President Donald Trump, sending the controversial legislation to the House of Representatives for what could be a final vote. Lawmakers passed the bill by a 51-to-50 vote in the Republican controlled-chamber on Tuesday, after Vice President JD Vance broke the tie. The successful vote ended what was a marathon 27 hours of debate in the upper chamber. Three Republicans joined with Democrats to vote against the bill, which would enshrine many of Trump’s signature policies, including his 2017 tax cuts, reductions for social safety net programmes, and increased spending on border enforcement and deportations. Critics on both sides of the aisle have taken aim at the estimated $3.3 trillion the bill would add to the national debt. Others have blasted reductions to programmes like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). They argue that the bill takes support away from low-income families to finance tax cuts that will primarily help the wealthy. Trump, however, has pressed for the bill to be passed by July 4, the country’s Independence Day. The legislation, informally known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill”, now heads back to the House for a Wednesday vote on the updated version. The president found out about the Senate’s passage in the midst of a news conference in South Florida, where he was touting his crackdown on immigration. Despite tight odds in the House, Trump struck an optimistic tone about the upcoming vote. Advertisement “I think it’s going to go very nicely in the House,” Trump said. “Actually, I think it will be easier in the House than it was in the Senate.” The president also downplayed one of the most controversial provisions in the bill: cuts to Medicaid, a government health insurance programme for low-income families. About 11.8 million people are anticipated to lose their health coverage in the coming years if the bill becomes law. “I’m saying it’s going to be a very much smaller number than that, and that number will be all waste, fraud and abuse,” Trump said. Criticisms in the Senate Trump was not the only Republican to be celebrating the passage of the omnibus bill. In the Senate, leading Republican John Thune touted the bill as a victory for US workers. “It’s been a long road to get to today,” Thune said from the Senate floor. “Now we’re here, permanently extending tax relief for hard-working Americans.” But not all Republicans were as enthused about the bill. Three party members – Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Susan Collins of Maine – all voted against its passage. And even a critical vote in favour, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, appeared to express regret in the aftermath. “Do I like this bill? No,” she told a reporter for NBC News. “I know that in many parts of the country, there are Americans who are not going to be advantaged by this bill. I don’t like that.” She later took to social media to criticise the haste of its passage. “Let’s not kid ourselves. This has been an awful process – a frantic rush to meet an artificial deadline that has tested every limit of this institution.” Meanwhile, the top Democrat in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, said that Republicans had “betrayed the American people and covered the Senate in utter shame”. “In one fell swoop, Republicans passed the biggest tax break for billionaires ever seen, paid for by ripping away healthcare from millions of people,” said Schumer. Still, Schumer announced one symbolic victory on Tuesday, writing on the social media platform X that Trump’s name for the legislation, “One Big Beautiful Bill”, had been struck from its official title. Republicans currently hold a trifecta in the US government, with control of the Senate, the House and the White House, giving Democrats reduced power in legislating. But the Republicans have narrow majorities in Congress, leading to uncertainty about the bill’s fate. In the Senate, they hold 53 of the chamber’s 100 seats. In the House, where the bill heads now, they have a majority of 220 representatives to the Democrats’ 212. Advertisement ‘Not fiscal responsibility’ The bill is therefore likely to face a razor-thin margin in the House. An early version that passed on May 22 did so with just one Republican vote to spare. The House Freedom Caucus, a group of hardline conservatives, has continued to baulk at the bill’s high price tag and could push for deeper spending cuts in the coming days. “The Senate’s version adds $651 billion to the deficit – and that’s before interest costs, which nearly double the total,” the caucus wrote in a statement on Monday. “That’s not fiscal responsibility. It’s not what we agreed to.” Billionaire Elon Musk, whose endorsement and funding helped propel Trump to victory in the 2024 presidential election, has also been a vocal opponent of the bill. “What’s the point of a debt ceiling if we keep raising it?” Musk asked on social media on Tuesday. “All I’m asking is that we don’t bankrupt America.” Musk has threatened to fund primary challenges against Republicans who support the bill and even floated on Monday launching a new political party in the US. Trump, however, has brushed aside Musk’s criticism as a reaction to the elimination of tax credits for electric vehicles: The billionaire owns one of the most prominent manufacturers, Tesla. The president also threatened to use the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which Musk helped to found, to strip the billionaire’s companies of their subsidies. “DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon,” Trump said as he travelled to Florida. Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera correspondent Alan Fisher said that public support has been slipping as a clearer picture of the bill has emerged. “The longer this has been talked about and the more details that become public, the fewer Americans support him,” Fisher said. Several recent polls have shown that a majority
Two Chinese nationals charged for trying to recruit spies in US military
The FBI has accused the pair of working on behalf of China’s Ministry of State Security to gather naval intelligence. The United States Department of Justice has charged two Chinese citizens for spying and trying to recruit from within the country’s military ranks. According to Tuesday’s statement, Yuance Chen, 38, and Liren “Ryan” Lai, 39, are accused of working on behalf of China’s foreign intelligence arm, the Ministry of State Security (MSS). The pair allegedly carried out a range of “clandestine intelligence taskings”, including facilitating payments in exchange for national security information, gathering intelligence on Navy bases and attempting to recruit MSS assets. “This case underscores the Chinese government’s sustained and aggressive effort to infiltrate our military and undermine our national security from within,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. According to an affidavit from the FBI, Lai was part of an MSS network “who could travel more easily” between China and the US “to facilitate clandestine operations”. Starting around 2021, he began developing Chen, who is a legal permanent resident, into his asset. After ascertaining that Chen knew people in the US military, Lai urged him to travel abroad to discuss his connections in person, even offering to pay for the tickets, according to the affidavit. The men reportedly met with MSS agents, and in 2022, they left a backpack with $10,000 in cash in a California locker as payment to other individuals for intelligence gathering. In the years that followed, the affidavit says that Chen collected information about the Navy and sent it to Lai, while also discussing recruitment efforts directly with the MSS. Advertisement Some of that information included personal details from Navy employees. In one case, Chen travelled to San Diego, California, to meet with a Navy hire and tour the USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier. Photos included in the affidavit show a visitor’s badge as well as Chen posing with the employee and their child on top of the aircraft carrier’s deck. The FBI says that such interactions are part of China’s campaign to extend its military’s reach. “The PRC [People’s Republic of China] government seeks blue-water naval capabilities as part of their effort to modernize their navy and establish hegemony in the South China Sea,” the affidavit reads. “Blue-water capabilities” generally refer to long-distance maritime efforts, as opposed to operations based closer to domestic shores. “As such, the PRC government tasks and deploys the MSS to surreptitiously target the US Navy and collect intelligence,” the affidavit continues. Both men were charged under the Foreign Agent Registration Act, or FARA, which requires that those working on behalf of another country register with the US government. In recent years, the US government has ramped up its use of the law in its effort to combat alleged Chinese espionage activity. Beijing typically denies such claims and has accused the US of discriminatory tactics. “These charges reflect the breadth of the efforts by our foreign adversaries to target the United States,” US Attorney Craig H Missakian said in the Justice Department statement. “We will continue to undertake counterespionage investigations and prosecutions, no matter how complex and sensitive, to disrupt attempts to weaken our national security.” Adblock test (Why?)
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,224
Here are the key events on day 1,224 of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Here is how things stand on Wednesday, July 2: Fighting A Ukrainian drone attack on an industrial plant in Izhevsk, in central Russia, killed three people and injured 35 others, regional Governor Alexander Brechalov said in a post on Telegram. The drone struck the Kupol Electromechanical Plant, which produces air defence systems and drones for the Russian military, an unnamed official with Ukraine’s Security Service, the SBU, told the Associated Press news agency. A Russian attack on a vehicle evacuating civilians from Pokrovsk, in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, killed one person and injured a policeman, police said. The Ministry of Defence in Moscow said that 60 Ukrainian drones were downed overnight over several regions, including 17 over Russian-occupied Crimea, 16 over Russia’s Rostov region and four over Russia’s Saratov region. Ukraine’s Air Force said on Tuesday that Russia launched 52 Shahed and decoy drones at the country overnight. The United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said on Tuesday that it has been informed of a drone attack last week near Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant that damaged several vehicles near the site’s cooling pond. Weapons Ukrainian Minister of Defence Rustem Umerov announced a new joint weapons production programme with members of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG), an alliance of about 50 countries. The programme would offer “a special legal and tax framework” to help establish new factories, “both on Ukrainian territory and abroad”, Umerov said in a post on social media. The Pentagon has reportedly halted some shipments of air defence missiles and other precision munitions to Ukraine over concerns that US stockpiles are too low, the Reuters news agency reported, citing two unnamed sources. The Pentagon did not immediately comment on the report. A Russian-British dual national appeared in a London court on Tuesday, charged with sending cryptocurrency for pro-Russian separatist militias in eastern Ukraine to buy weapons and military equipment. Advertisement Politics and diplomacy French President Emmanuel Macron called for a ceasefire in Ukraine in his first call with Russian President Vladimir Putin since 2022. A Kremlin statement said that Putin reminded Macron that “the Ukrainian conflict is a direct consequence of the policy of Western states”. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “no one is delaying anything here”, after US envoy Keith Kellogg accused Russia of “stall[ing] for time” on ceasefire talks, “while it bombs civilian targets in Ukraine”. Peskov added: “We are naturally in favour of achieving the goals that we are trying to achieve through the special military operation via political and diplomatic means. Therefore, we are not interested in drawing out anything.” Adblock test (Why?)
Good news for Uber, Rapido! Centre issues new guidelines, they will now be able to…
The Union government on Tuesday for the first time allowed use of non-transport (private) motorcycles for passenger journeys through aggregators, subject to state government approval, providing long-awaited regulatory clarity for India’s shared mobility sector.
Senate passes GOP’s tax and spending bill with Cornyn, Cruz priorities included
The package includes $13.5 billion to reimburse states for border spending. It is expected to meet resistance in the House from some Texas Republicans.
TribCast: A very unusual Supreme Court term
The TribCast gang is finally reunited, just in time to dive into the big cases and unresolved questions from the term.
Oil companies want to sell their wastewater. The Texas Supreme Court decided who gets the profits.
The ruling comes as more companies are seeking to turn a profit on what has long been considered a vexing waste stream.
Cities near LA abandon July 4th celebrations as Trump’s immigration crackdown takes hold
Los Angeles and several surrounding cities are canceling — or postponing — Fourth of July celebrations in response to increased activity by federal immigration officials in the area. The County of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation postponed a summer movie and concert series, while canceling this year’s East Los Angeles Rock’n 4th of July celebration “out of caution and in response to recent ICE enforcement activity.” One of the city’s biggest Fourth of July events that drew thousands in 2024, the Gloria Molina Grand Park Summer Block Party, has been indefinitely postponed due to “the ongoing circumstances impacting the region.” Other communities surrounding Los Angeles also reportedly decided to cancel their Fourth of July events in light of the ongoing federal immigration enforcement in the area, including the cities of Bell Gardens, Boyle Heights, Cudahy, Huntington Park, Whittier and the town of El Sereno. TRUMP DOJ SUES LOS ANGELES OVER SANCTUARY CITY POLICIES In Huntington Park, the cancellation goes beyond just the Fourth of July holiday and includes a 30-day pause on “certain public summer events,” according to a statement released by the city. “Reports of unmarked vehicles and unidentified federal agents have created widespread anxiety, particularly among immigrant and mixed-status families,” according to the Huntington Park statement. “Many residents have expressed fear and uncertainty, leading them to remain indoors, refrain from work, and withdraw from daily public life. Our priority is and will continue to be the safety and peace of mind of our community.” Officials from these communities halting their Independence Day events have been outspoken against the Trump administration’s decision to ramp up federal immigration enforcement. TRUMP ADMIN APPROVES NEWSOM’S REQUEST TO ‘BAIL HIM OUT’ OF DAMAGE LEFT BY VIOLENT LA RIOTS: SBA Huntington Park Mayor Arturo Flores has described the increased prevalence of ICE raids in and around Los Angeles as a “campaign of domestic terror” and “psychological warfare that I’ve only seen in theaters of war,” according to The Guardian. Meanwhile, the vice mayor of the City of Cudahy allegedly called on gang leaders in a now-deleted TikTok post to defend their territory from ICE. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP A report Monday by The New York Times found that, since June 6, “agents from several federal agencies have arrested about 2,000 immigrants in the Los Angeles region,” according to documents obtained by the outlet, which added that the arrests have “been one of the reasons so many are on edge.” This week, the Pentagon released 150 California National Guard troops from their federal security mission in Los Angeles to help fight wildfires.
Federal judge blocks Trump’s immigration policy in shocking decision on Haitian protections
A federal judge shot down the Trump administration’s efforts to end temporary protection status (TPS) for over 520,000 Haitian immigrants currently living in the U.S. The TPS designations for Haitians were expected to expire on Aug. 3 with termination to become effective on Sept. 2. U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan in Brooklyn rejected those plans on Tuesday, saying Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem did not follow a timeline and instructions mandated by Congress to reconsider TPS designations for Haitians. In his decision, Cogan wrote, “Secretary Noem does not have statutory or inherent authority to partially vacate a country’s TPS designation.” Doing so, he added, made her actions “unlawful.” TRUMP ADMIN ENDS TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS FOR HAITIAN MIGRANTS CURRENTLY IN THE US “Plaintiffs are likely to (and, indeed, do) succeed on the merits,” Cogan added. He went on to say Haitians’ interests in living and working in the U.S. “far outweigh” potential harm to the U.S. government. That being said, the government is still able to freely enforce immigration laws and terminate TPS status as established by Congress. Fox News Digital reached out to DHS for comment on the matter, but did not hear back by the time of publication. SUPREME COURT HANDS TRUMP WIN ON REVOKING PAROLE FOR 500K FOREIGN NATIONALS A DHS spokesperson said Friday – before Cogan ruled on the matter – that the decision to end TPS ensures the status is in fact only temporary but also restores the integrity of the U.S. immigration system. “The environmental situation in Haiti has improved enough that it is safe for Haitian citizens to return home,” the spokesperson said. “We encourage these individuals to take advantage of the Department’s resources in returning to Haiti, which can be arranged through the CBP Home app. Haitian nationals may pursue lawful status through other immigration benefit requests, if eligible.” Noem originally made the decision to revoke TPS status from Haitians after reviewing a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) report showing the island nation no longer met the statutory requirements that grant foreign residents the ability to obtain TPS. SUPREME COURT ALLOWS TRUMP ADMIN TO MOVE AHEAD WITH ENDING PROTECTED LEGAL STATUS FOR SOME MIGRANTS Sources at DHS have told Fox News that they are encouraging Haitians living in the U.S. with TPS to use the CBP Home application to secure a safe departure home by offering a complimentary plane ticket and a $1,000 exit bonus. Congress created TPS as part of the Immigration Act of 1990, with the intention of allowing residents of countries who have faced war, disasters or other unsafe and extraordinary conditions, to find refuge in the U.S. The program has the ability to be extended in increments of 18-month periods. The Trump administration has been pressing to roll back TPS designations to fulfill a campaign promise to strengthen the border and deport many illegal immigrants who crossed the border under former President Joe Biden’s administration. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Biden gave Venezuelans TPS status in 2021, then renewed that designation before the end of his term in January 2025. The newest designation will run from April 3, 2025, to Oct. 2, 2026. It is estimated the protection would have applied to about 300,000 Venezuelan nationals, before the Trump administration rolled back the decision. Fox News Digital’s Preston Mizell and Reuters contributed to this report.
ICE investigation leads to prison sentence for ‘dangerous predator’ who abused 2-year-old
An ICE Homeland Security Investigations probe in Maryland led to the sentencing of a man who “used his position of authority” to sexually abuse a 2-year-old and who produced and distributed child sex abuse material online. U.S. District Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander sentenced Maryland man Mark Rice, 38, to 30 years in federal prison and a lifetime of supervised release for producing and distributing child sexual abuse material. The sentence was part of a plea deal. A statement by the Department of Justice said Rice pleaded guilty to one count of producing child sexual abuse material, one count of distributing child sexual abuse material, and one count of possessing child sexual abuse material. According to the DOJ, the charges stemmed from Rice “sexually abusing two minors in his care” while using social media platforms such as Reddit, Telegram, and Kik to distribute materials depicting his victims and to solicit and access materials depicting other children. DOJ DIRECTS US ATTORNEYS TO SEEK TO REVOKE CITIZENSHIP OF NATURALIZED AMERICANS OVER CRIME In a Tuesday statement, ICE said the investigation began in April 2023 when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a cyber tip from Reddit regarding the distribution of child sexual abuse material. Authorities traced the tip to an IP address associated with Rice’s residence in Elkton, Maryland. Maryland State Police questioned Rice regarding the abuse materials, and though he denied the allegations, he was later “observed deleting photos from his phone.” According to ICE’s statement, when Rice showed officers his phone, investigators were able to spot child sexual abuse material in a thumbnail image. Authorities then uncovered additional material in his recently deleted folder. WASHINGTON POST REPORTER ARRESTED ON CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CHARGES AFTER FBI SEARCH AND IS PLACED ON LEAVE ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) reportedly discovered more than 600 child sexual abuse images across Rice’s devices. Investigators also found that Rice used Reddit to connect with people with whom he traded abuse materials using encrypted messaging platforms. According to ICE, Rice began abusing his first victim when she “was less than 3 years old.” He created photographic evidence of the abuse and also documented his abuse of another minor. In the statement, ICE HSI Baltimore Special Agent in Charge Michael McCarthy called the sentencing a “powerful reminder that those who exploit and abuse children will be relentlessly pursued and held accountable.” ‘MARYLAND MAN,’ ACCUSED MS-13 GANGBANGER, COULD FACE DEATH PENALTY OVER DEADLY BORDER DISASTER: FMR PROSECUTOR “There is no place in society for predators who create and distribute child sexual abuse material,” said McCarthy. “These crimes shatter lives, and HSI will never waver in our mission to bring justice to victims by targeting those who commit these horrific acts.” Kelly Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, called Rice “a dangerous predator.” “This sentence reflects the gravity of exploiting the most vulnerable members of our communities,” said Hayes. “We’re committed to working with our law-enforcement partners to aggressively prosecute those who sexually abuse children and participate in networks that perpetuate such exploitation.”