The U.S. Senate passed President Donald Trump’s big bill on the narrowest of votes Tuesday with Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote.
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THE DRAMA AND THE DETAILS IN THE SENATE’S BIG VOTE
By Lisa Desjardins, @LisaDNews
Correspondent
From the outside, I feel sure you know: Today’s vote in the U.S. Senate, on Trump’s big bill, was dramatic.
In the chamber, it was even more so.
First, let me bring everyone up to speed.
What happened
The Senate passed its version of President Trump’s massive tax cut and spending cut bill by the narrowest of margins, 51-50. Vice President JD Vance had to break the tie.
This after the longest vote-a-rama in history. Senators cast 49 votes in a marathon 27-hour session, going over stacks of potential amendments to the bill.
This after an amazing sight, something I have never witnessed before.
As some of you know, in the “budget reconciliation” process used here, each provision must go through the “Byrd” process or “Byrd bath,” cheekily named for former West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd. This checks that each provision has a budgetary effect.
Few people have seen this process in real time, it is typically behind closed doors.
Today, as I stepped into the gallery above the chamber, my friend and fellow Capitol nerd Jamie Dupree jogged over to me. “It’s a live Byrd bath!”
There on the chamber floor, with most of the U.S. Senate seated (also unusual), we saw one Democratic and one Republican staffer standing as if in a courtroom, looking up and inches away from Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough. They were making their cases to her about last-minute additions to the bill — and whether they qualified for this process.
Why this final Byrd bath mattered
I soon had sources telling me that this final Byrd bath included a provision that eased Medicaid cuts on Alaska and Hawaii — something Murkowski and Republican leaders had worked out to help ease her concerns.
But, as senators waited to vote, I learned the parliamentarian ruled that the proposal did not pass muster.
Suddenly, Murkowski — the decisive vote — was no longer a sure “yes.”
She and Republican leaders went into a side room. After she returned, with a serious and unsatisfied look on her face, she voted “yes.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Ala., (center) and Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wy., (center right), walk toward the Senate floor to get President Donald Trump's big bill through Congress. Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Why? My colleagues and friends Ryan Nobles and Frank Thorp of NBC managed to conduct this extraordinary interview with Murkowski afterward. Her answer: She did this for her state.
What the Senate changed
We are still sorting out what is in this final Senate draft, which was released in the hour before the vote. A few things we know:
The fund for rural health doubled, from $25 billion to $50 billion. This was something that helped Murkowski’s comfort level, but not Collins’.
A new proposed tax on wind and solar energy was dropped.
What happens now?
The bill now goes to the U.S. House, where it already faces severe headwinds.
Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., a member of the House Freedom Caucus who is known for breaking with the party, especially over fiscal issues, told me a few hours ago that he is a “no” on the Senate bill.
That is in addition to Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.
Just two more “no” votes and this cannot pass the House. Judging from the calls and texts from my Republican sources, those “no” votes are most certainly there.
In addition to irate fiscal conservatives (the Senate bill now adds more to the deficit), some moderates like Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., are concerned about steeper Medicaid cuts in the bill.
Can they meet the July 4 deadline?
All things are possible in Congress, where the rules of time and space do not exist as they do elsewhere.
But, at this moment, it feels like a very uphill climb. And one that could have repercussions for Republicans that they have not yet analyzed.
The conclusion here: Keep a close watch on Congress the next few days. What happens here will have a major impact on taxes, health care and a slew of other issues in the U.S.
One Big Question: Will a Republican-led Congress get the bill across the finish line by the self-imposed July Fourth deadline? NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter discuss.
Perspectives: A new podcast, “The Network,” explores the grassroots movements that helped women circumvent abortion bans and restrictions in Latin America.
WHAT AMERICANS THINK ABOUT TRUMP’S DEPORTATIONS RIGHT NOW
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents look over lists of names inside a New York courthouse before making arrests. Photo by Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images
By Joshua Barajas
Senior Editor, Digital
As President Donald Trump seeks to keep his campaign promise of mass deportations, a majority of Americans say actions by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have “gone too far,” according to a new PBS News/NPR/Marist poll.
More than half of U.S. adults — 54% — described ICE’s actions in enforcing the country’s immigration laws as having “gone too far.” Another 18% percent said the agency has not gone far enough, while 26% said they’d describe ICE’s actions as “about right.”
Most Americans — 80% — also said they support or strongly support the U.S. government deporting immigrants without permanent legal status who have been convicted of a violent crime. That includes more than 90% of Republicans, 81% of independents and 75% of Democrats.
The numbers shift when Americans are asked about deporting immigrants under different circumstances.
Graphic by Jenna Cohen/PBS News
Immigrants without permanent legal status in the U.S. who have been convicted of a nonviolent crime: 59% support or strongly support deportations of this group, while 40% oppose deportation. The level of support was higher among Republicans (86%) and independents (57%) than Democrats (36%).
Immigrants without permanent legal status in the U.S. who work in agricultural and food service: Overall, 55% oppose or strongly oppose deporting this group, while 44% support or strongly support deportations. These deportations saw a lower level of support among Republicans (73%), independents (40%) and Democrats (22%).
Students who are in the U.S. on temporary visas that have expired: Americans were split on whether they were OK with deportations of this group, with 49% supporting and 50% not supporting. Support for deportation was high among Republicans (77%), while 53% of independents and 72% of Democrats said they oppose or strongly oppose forcing this group to leave.
Steven Singh, a 45-year-old independent in Southern California, said when it comes to deportation policies, Trump is enforcing the law “and that’s acceptable.”
The current moment, he added, is “really exposing the problem that we don’t have a cohesive immigration policy and that falls on Congress.”
Singh said he’d also support a “more streamlined pathway” to citizenship for immigrants and mentioned one group he didn’t want to see caught in the crosshairs.
“I hate to see the students being deported as a weapon to spread someone’s political ideals and silence others,” he said.
Native American and Indigenous people say the administration’s proposed cuts, which target health and education programs for their communities, are a continuation of the federal government’s historical failure to deliver on what it promised in land and peace agreements.
Those long-standing documents, including hundreds of treaties, “establish a government-to-government relationship that historically was supposed to be built on mutual respect and guaranteed services,” Edgar Villanueva, founder and CEO of the Decolonizing Wealth Project and Liberated Capital, told PBS News Weekend’s John Yang. “All of these cuts happening now, in the name of policy tweaks or efficiency, really are breaches of trust and law.”
In time, Villanueva added, tribal nations will be spending more time in court, pushing back on these decisions.
THIS WEEK’S TRIVIA QUESTION
By Ali Schmitz
Politics Producer
Plenty of presidents boast about their level of patriotism, but only one shares his birthday with the United States.
Our question: Which president was born on July 4?
Send your answers to [email protected] or tweet using #PoliticsTrivia. The first correct answers will earn a shout-out next week.
Last week, we asked: Which U.S. state sought to repeal its ranked choice system last year?
The answer: Alaska. The ballot measure to scrap The Last Frontier’s ranked choice voting failed by some 600 votes. In the 2024 elections, five states rejected measures to adopt the system, with voters in Washington, D.C., approving it for its federal and municipal elections.
Congratulations to our winners: Tim Smith and Tanya Mehri!
Thank you all for reading and watching. We’ll drop into your inbox next week.
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