Business investors and wealthy Americans are among the biggest winners in U.S. President Donald Trump’s tax bill. Those hit the hardest by the sweeping package include elite universities and immigrants. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/07/04/world/politics/trump-tax-bill-winners-losers/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #politics #us #donaldtrump #republicans #congress #taxes
Republicans and Democrats in Congress are working out how to use U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tax-cut and spending bill to gain an edge in the 2026 midterm elections. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/07/04/world/politics/republicans-democracts-2026-midterm-elections/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #politics #us #congress #donaldtrump #republicans #democrats
After days of intense behind-the-scenes pressure from the White House, Congress proved to be no match for a president at the peak of his power. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/07/04/world/politics/trump-win-politcal-power-extend/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #politics #us #donaldtrump #republicans #congress
The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives narrowly approved President Donald Trump's tax-cut package on Thursday, which will now go to him to sign into law. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/07/04/world/politics/trump-big-beautiful-bill-pass/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #politics #donaldtrump #republicans #us #congress
#HakeemJeffries talked about #Republicans rollback of #Biden-era #CleanEnergy#TaxCredits. Jeffries pointed to a letter from several #HouseRepublicans who had asked for those credits to be preserved.
Jeffries has at times singled out members of #Congress whose seats #Democrats hope to flip next year. He has been particularly critical of Reps #DavidValadao of #California & #JuanCiscomani of #Arizona, who both have objected to the bill’s provisions at various points but have voted to advance it.
Cory Doctorow
boosted
The #Trump admin has declined to release nearly $7 billion in federal #funding for #schools that helps pay for after-school & summer programs, support for #students learning English, #teacher training & other services.
The money, which was already allocated by #Congress, was expected to be released by Tuesday. But in an email on Monday, the Trump #Education Department notified #state education agencies that the money would not be available.
#law #policy #idiocracy
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/01/us/trump-education-funds.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
The #Trump admin has taken an aggressive approach to cutting back the federal government’s role in #education, including plans to eliminate the Education Department entirely. Though only #Congress can abolish the department, the Trump admin has taken an ax to education staffing & #funding more broadly as it seeks to whittle down the department.
The admin has suggested that it may seek to eliminate the nearly $7 billion in frozen funding. [which it absolutely cannot do]
#RussVought, the director of the White House #OMB, said during a #Senate#Appropriations Cmte hearing last week that the admin was considering ways to claw back the funding through a process known as rescission. The admin would formally ask lawmakers to claw back a set of funds it has targeted for cuts. Even if #Congress fails to vote on the request, #Trump’s timing would trigger a #law that freezes the money until it ultimately expires.
“No decision has been made,” Vought said.
The move is likely to be challenged in #court & has already been criticized [correctly characterized] as #illegal by #Democrats & #teachers’ #unions, who emphasized that the money had been appropriated by #Congress & was approved by #Trump in March as part of a broader #funding bill.
“This is lawless,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.
The #Trump admin has taken an aggressive approach to cutting back the federal government’s role in #education, including plans to eliminate the Education Department entirely. Though only #Congress can abolish the department, the Trump admin has taken an ax to education staffing & #funding more broadly as it seeks to whittle down the department.
The admin has suggested that it may seek to eliminate the nearly $7 billion in frozen funding. [which it absolutely cannot do]
“It’s catastrophic,” said Jodi Grant, executive director of the Afterschool Alliance, a group that works to expand after-school services for #students. She estimated that the federal dollars for after-school & summer-school programs — about $1.3 billion annually — support 1.4 million students, mostly lower income, representing about 20% of all students in after-school programs nationally.
The move is likely to be challenged in #court & has already been criticized [correctly characterized] as #illegal by #Democrats & #teachers’ #unions, who emphasized that the money had been appropriated by #Congress & was approved by #Trump in March as part of a broader #funding bill.
“This is lawless,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.
Trump and Senate leaders work overtime to secure votes for spending bill https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/06/29/world/politics/us-congress-trump-tax-bill/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #politics #us #congress #taxes #donaldtrump #budgets
Tim Chambers
boosted
“Tucked into the Senate GOP reconciliation bill is a🚨$5 TRILLION increase in the debt limit.
Full text of Senate BBB weighs in at 940 pages:”
-J Dupree
Democracy dies in darkness.
#BBB#Debt#Congress#Republicans#Deceit#DebtLimit#Austerity#Medicaid#Budget#TrumpRegime#Lies#USPol
https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/the_one_big_beautiful_bill_act.pdf
ProPublica
boosted
Congress Is Pushing for a Medicaid Work Requirement. Here’s What Happened When Georgia Tried It.
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GOP lawmakers want to nationalize Medicaid work requirements to offset Trump’s proposed tax cuts. Yet Georgia’s example shows that this could threaten health care for nearly 16 million Americans and cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.
https://www.propublica.org/article/georgia-medicaid-work-requirement-big-beautiful-bill?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
#News#Medicaid#Healthcare#Congress#Trump#GOP#BigBeautifulBill
The Republican-led U.S. Senate rejected a Democratic-led bid on Friday to block President Donald Trump from using further military force against Iran, hours after the president said he would consider more bombing. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/06/28/world/politics/senate-trump-iran-war-powers/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #politics #iran #us #congress
The second #Trump admin skipped the pretense, opting to speed-run the #US into conflict, at a time when public polling shows that the idea of #war with #Iran is spectacularly unpopular with the American people.
In his address to the nation Saturday evening, Trump said, "Our objective was the destruction of Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity & a stop to the #nuclear threat posed by the world's number one state sponsor of terror."
'There Is No Intel': #Trump's Attacks on #Iran Were Based on Vibes, Sources Say
Following Trump's attacks on Iran, an admin official tells Rolling Stone, "The intelligence assessments have not really changed"
After Trump's decision to strike 3 Iranian #nuclear facilities on Sat, admin ofcls are barely bothering to pretend the unprecedented—& potentially calamitous—attacks were motivated by new #intelligence suggesting Iran was on the brink of having nuclear weapons.
Just months ago, Trump's Director of National Intelligence #TulsiGabbard testified to #Congress, in her opening statement, that the US intel community "continues to assess that #Iran is not building a #nuclear weapon" & had not reauthorized its nuclear weapons program.
While #Trump recently publicly disputed Gabbard's testimony, acc/to 2 admin ofcls with knowledge of internal deliberations in recent weeks, Trump's decision to strike was not driven by any new US #intelligence on Iran.
The board is also concerned that the budget that Secretary of #State#MarcoRubio is requesting from #Congress for the next fiscal
year #cuts spending for the Bureau of #Educational & #Cultural Affairs, which includes the #Fulbright program, to $50 million from $691 million this fiscal year. [Holy crap!!! That’s insane]
#law#FirstAmendment#AcademicFreedom#SeparationOfPowers#Trump #tyranny#AbuseOfPower #authoritarianism#AmericanAutocracy
The memo written by the board says that members are resigning “rather than endorse unprecedented actions that we believe are impermissible under the #law, compromise #US national interests & #integrity, & undermine the mission & mandates #Congress established for the #Fulbright program nearly 80 years ago,” according to a copy obtained by The Times.
#FirstAmendment#AcademicFreedom#SeparationOfPowers#Trump #tyranny#AbuseOfPower #authoritarianism#AmericanAutocracy