“Speaker Mike Johnson offered GOP holdouts a detailed proposal on Monday to set the SALT deduction cap at $40,000 for anyone who makes less than $751,600 a year,” Axios reports.
Trump’s Pick to Lead IRS Promoted Fake Tax Credit
“Billy Long, a former Republican congressman from Missouri whom President Trump has tapped to lead the Internal Revenue Service, encouraged people to claim a tax credit that the IRS has said does not exist,” the New York Times reports.
“Mr. Long’s effort to promote the tax credit, along with his peddling of a separate, fraud-ridden pandemic-era tax break, will be under close scrutiny on Tuesday when he appears before the Senate Finance Committee for his confirmation hearing.”
Trump Brings Back His Most Toxic Officials
CNN: “At least four people from Donald Trump’s first term who were deemed too extreme or politically toxic to win Senate confirmation – or even keep their jobs – are now back in the fold and in some cases with more power than before.”
“All of them were in some way demoted or removed from their jobs in Trump’s first term but have now been reappointed or renominated – part of a pattern in Trump’s second term to bring back figures once rejected for promoting conspiracy theories or inflaming racial and gender tensions.”
“In 2025, they’re no longer fringe – they’re in charge.”
Trump Organization Wants Tower in Vietnam
Eric Trump is traveling to Vietnam this week for talks about a potential new Trump Tower in Ho Chi Minh City, while the country is trying to get out from under his father’s tariffs, the Financial Times reports.
Democrats Expected to Grill Marco Rubio
“Secretary of State Marco Rubio heads to Capitol Hill today for the first time since his confirmation, and Democrats have a thing or two on their minds,” the Washington Post reports.
“Expect Democrats to grill Rubio on his role dismantling USAID and falling in line with the isolationist foreign policy that has taken over the State Department under the Trump administration.”
“For many Democrats, it will be a chance to express a sense of betrayal. Democratic senators heartily endorsed Rubio to be the nation’s top diplomat when Trump nominated him last year, believing him to be a steady hand in an otherwise precedent-defying administration. Instead, Rubio fell in line with the president.”
Quote of the Day
“I’m just not sure if there’s anything the president could tell me that will change my mind at this point. I’m a hard no.”
— Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-MD), quoted by Semafor, on President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.”
Virginia Republicans Already Bracing for Grim November
“Virginia Republicans are bracing for November with a growing sense of doom,” Politico reports.
“The GOP already faced a tough climate in this year’s elections thanks to tech billionaire Elon Musk’s war on the state’s robust federal workforce. Then came a bitter, intraparty feud over Republicans’ lieutenant governor candidate. Now, some Republicans are privately expressing concerns about the viability of their gubernatorial nominee, Winsome Earle-Sears.”
The Biden Book Is Out
The reviews are in for Original Sin by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson and none push back on the book’s central claims — that Joe Biden’s inner circle actively covered up his health decline.
The New York Times calls the book a “damning portrait of an enfeebled Biden protected by his inner circle.”
The Washington Post describes “an elderly, egotistical president shielded from reality by a slavish coterie of loyalists.”
The Wall Street Journal calls it “a conspiracy in plain view.”
Politico says it’s “a devastating portrait of an ailing, geriatric leader surrounded by mendacious aides.”
Keisha Lance Bottoms Runs for Georgia Governor
Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D), who gained national prominence scrapping with President Donald Trump before joining President Joe Biden’s inner circle, entered the race for Georgia governor Tuesday with a vow to bring “battle-tested” leadership to the Capitol, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
Said Bottoms: “Right now, people want somebody who’s fighting for them. People have seen me fight. They know that I’m not afraid of Donald Trump. They know that I know how to deliver in uncertain times.”
Kathy Hochul Has Some Work to Do
A new Siena Research poll in New York finds just 36% of voters are prepared to re-elect Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), compared to 55% who want “someone else,” a net 10-point negative movement from April.
No Deal on SALT Deduction After Late-Night Talks
“A group of blue-state Republicans left a huddle with Speaker Mike Johnson late Monday night feeling uncertain if they could clinch a final deal with GOP leaders over a key tax in the coming hours,” Politico reports.
“Speaker Mike Johnson said negotiators are not quite there yet.”
“One offer discussed included a $40,000 SALT cap with an income limit that steeply tapered off within several years. That was not what SALT Republicans had expected, and some privately bristled at the latest presentation from the speaker.”
The Obama Coalition Turned Into the Trump Coalition
Cook Political Report: “Back in 2012, Barack Obama’s campaign had a mantra — a younger, more diverse electorate was the key to reelection. Had the 2024 electorate been in place in 2012, the team in Chicago would’ve been over the moon. The electorate last fall was three points less white than it was 12 years ago. What’s more, the youngest cohort of voters by generational breakdown made up 36% of the electorate (compared to 18% in 2012), while the oldest cohort was just 39% (down from 57% in 2012).”
“And, yet, that coalition was much friendlier to Donald Trump than to any other GOP nominee.”
“So what happened?”
Playbook: “Harris seriously struggled with younger, more-diverse and less-engaged voters shifting significantly to the right — a change from Democrats’ typically stronger showing with infrequent or new voters.”
Trump Finally Enters the Fray
Punchbowl News: “President Donald Trump will leave the gold-gilded White House this morning to join a rambunctious and divided House Republican Conference in the dank Capitol basement.”
“Trump’s goal is to try to get the House Republican Conference to coalesce around the “One Big, Beautiful Bill.” Speaker Mike Johnson can’t close this vote out on his own. As we saw with the speaker vote, the government-funding bill and the budget resolution earlier this year, Trump remains the only person in town who can move House Republicans en masse.”
“But what he’ll find this morning is a House Republican Conference with vastly different interpretations of Trump-era Republicanism.”
Washington Post: The fate of Trump’s agenda rests with the House GOP’s “five families.”
The Hill: Here’s what’s in the GOP’s 1,116-page “big, beautiful bill.”
Trump Backs Off Demand That Russia Declare Cease-Fire
“President Trump on Monday backed off his demand that Russia declare an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine, instead endorsing President Vladimir Putin’s call for negotiations between Ukraine and Russia,” the New York Times reports.
“It was a shift from Mr. Trump’s recent threats of more pressure on Russia, such as when he raised the prospect of new banking sanctions in April because Mr. Putin may not ‘want to stop the war’ and ‘has to be dealt with differently.’”
“Mr. Trump also appeared enthusiastic to surrender his mediating role to a higher power: the pope.”
Migrant Labor Force Withstands Mass Deportations
“President Trump’s mass-deportation push has instilled widespread fear among migrants. What it hasn’t done, so far, is stop many from showing up for work,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“While data covering immigrants lacking permanent legal status is fragmentary, what’s available shows no broad pullback from the labor force.”
U.S. Fiscal Situation Threatens Good Mood on Wall Street
Wall Street Journal: “Investors sold U.S. government bonds and the dollar on Monday, after Moody’s Ratings late last week stripped the U.S. of its last triple-A credit rating, citing large budget deficits and rising interest costs. Adding to the nerves about America’s debt trajectory, the House Budget Committee approved a tax-and-spending bill Sunday that is projected to add trillions of dollars to those deficits.”
“Though stocks ended the session higher, selling pushed up yields on longer-term Treasurys, which rise when bond prices fall. The yield on the 30-year bond briefly topped 5% before settling just below that threshold, still near its highest level of the year.”
Senate Advances Major Crypto Regulation Bill
“The Senate advanced a major cryptocurrency regulation bill Monday on a bipartisan vote two weeks after every Senate Democrat united to block it,” NBC News reports.
“The procedural vote on the GENIUS Act — which would establish the first regulatory framework for issuers of stablecoins, digital tokens pegged to fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar — was 66-32. Sixteen Democrats voted with the majority of Senate Republicans to advance the bill.”
Apple May Raise iPhone Prices Without Blaming Tariffs
“Apple is weighing price increases for its fall iPhone lineup, a step it is seeking to couple with new features and design changes,“ the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The company is determined to avoid any scenario in which it appears to attribute price increases to U.S. tariffs on goods from China, where most Apple devices are assembled.”
John Gruber: “If iPhone prices go up in September, everyone who isn’t drunk on MAGA juice is going to blame it on the tariffs.”
