House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters he was “surprised” by Elon Musk’s criticism of the “big, beautiful bill” after the two of them discussed the legislation.  While the speaker expressed confidence in the bill, he acknowledged that it took Congress “decades” to reach a point where the national debt has crept past $36.2 trillion and that it would take more than one bill to fix the situation....

It could be the end of the line for the “train to nowhere.” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has released a scathing report exposing what he said is the unfeasibility of California’s long-troubled high-speed rail project – threatening to pull the plug on a plan that already has the federal government on the hook for $6.9 billion while Californians are underwriting an additional $9 billion. Duffy said that the...