President Trump “was spotted wearing reading glasses in his motorcade over the weekend, a rare sighting of the president who reportedly avoids using them in public,” Newsweek reports.
Tillis Gave Trump the Heads Up About Not Running Again
“Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) told President Trump to start looking for his replacement in the upper chamber prior to the president’s missive saying that he would start interviewing candidates to primary him,” The Hill reports.
“According to a text shared with The Hill between Trump and Tillis, the North Carolina lawmaker told the president as much at 9:54 p.m. EDT on Saturday — seven minutes before Trump’s Truth Social post.”
Elon Musk Could Have the Keys to Sensitive Data
Washington Post: “For months, Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service plumbed the federal government’s information systems, scouring arcane internal records that the billionaire said were guiding his hunt for waste.”
“Now that Musk has stepped away from his government role, some of that data could be valuable in another way — by giving the world’s richest man a competitive advantage over his rivals in the private sector.”
What It Took to Get Lisa Murkowski’s Vote
American Prospect: “The federal share of payment for Medicaid would be increased for ‘the state with the highest separate poverty guideline.’ That happens to be Alaska. Their share would increase 25 percent above that of a typical state.”
“Other programs bundle together benefits for ‘noncontiguous states,’ referring to Alaska and Hawaii. That includes an exemption from work requirements for SNAP, an increase in Medicare reimbursement rates to select health care providers, and a waiver from the cost-sharing provisions, whereby a state must contribute to SNAP funding… The reason Hawaii is getting this bounty is to get around the rules of budget reconciliation, where everything must have primarily a budgetary purpose. If Alaska were singled out by itself, then Democrats could charge that the riders were simply policy meant to benefit Alaska…”
“However, other benefits truly only benefit Alaska-based interests. For example, western Alaskan fishing villages get a special tax exemption. And Alaskan whaling captains will be able to deduct $50,000 of their business expenses as a charitable contribution, up from $10,000 under current law.”
Justices to Hear Case on Political Party Spending Limits
“The Supreme Court will hear a significant campaign finance case next term that will examine whether it violates the Constitution to restrict the amount of money that political parties can spend in coordination with individual candidates,” the Washington Post reports.
“The national Republican senatorial and congressional committees, then-Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) and then-Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) filed suit over the limits in 2022, saying they conflict with the free speech rights guaranteed by the First Amendment.”
Trump Will Have Massive War Chest for Midterm Elections
President Trump has secured commitments for a record-shattering $1.4 billion since Election Day 2024, Fox News reports.
And advisors say he will be “an even more dominant force” for Republicans in the 2026 midterms.
Senate Republicans Rush to Overcome Internal Clashes
“Republican party leaders are rushing to overcome lingering internal fights over President Donald Trump’s massive tax and spending package as Democrats launch attacks to exploit the divisions,” Bloomberg reports.
“Senate Republicans were still at odds Monday over how much to cut Medicaid and other social safety-net programs and how rapidly to end Biden-era clean energy tax breaks as Democrats gained the chance Monday to force votes on amendments to the package.”
“Democrats, locked out of power in Washington, are aiming to offer amendments during a marathon voting session to exploit the infighting and make the GOP goal of getting holdouts to back the bill as soon as tonight more difficult.”
Politico: Vote-a-rama, last hurdle before megabill’s Senate approval, is underway.
Trump Claims He Has a Buyer for TikTok
President Trump said that he had found a buyer for the TikTok short-video app, which he described as a group of “very wealthy people” whose identities he will reveal “in about two weeks,” the South China Morning Post reports.
He added: “I think I’ll need probably China’s approval. I think President Xi will probably do it.”
What’s in the Bill?
The Washington Post’s most-read article this morning details what’s in the Senate version of President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.”
David Axelrod notes that Republicans are “racing to ram this bill through” because “the longer it goes… the closer you look… the uglier it gets.”
Outlook for U.S. Economy Remains Uncertain
“U.S. stocks have strongly rebounded after a rough start to the year, even as the outlook for the world’s largest economy and its interest rates remains as uncertain as ever,” CNBC reports.
Said Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic: “The story there is that we are really starting to hear clear signs that they’re expecting to raise prices, but how high and when that will happen is still quite unknown.”
Axios: Investors have moved into a post-tariff world.
Mike Collins Weighs Georgia Senate Bid
Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) is inching closer to launching a Senate campaign as Republicans scramble to find a consensus candidate who can defeat Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Punchbowl News reports.
Trump Says Harvard Violated Students’ Civil Rights
“The Trump administration informed Harvard University that its investigation found that it violated federal civil-rights law over its treatment of Jewish and Israeli students, putting the federal funding of the nation’s oldest university further at risk,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The investigation is the latest in the battle between the White House and Harvard. The Trump administration has sought to make the wealthiest U.S. university exhibit A in its fight against liberal institutions it says didn’t take antisemitism and DEI concerns seriously.”
Quote of the Day
“These inner-city rats, they live off the federal government. And that’s one reason we’re $37 trillion in debt. And it’s time we find these rats and we send them back home, that are living off the American taxpayers that are working very hard every week to pay taxes.”
— Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), quoted by AL.com.
Democrats Plan New Organizing Push
“Democratic groups are launching a major organizing push Monday to attack Republicans’ signature bill this summer and prepare for the coming elections, an effort that will focus on voter registration and volunteer efforts to make their case to community groups not focused on politics,” the Washington Post reports.
“The new initiative is led by the Democratic National Committee, the state party chair association and Democrats’ House, Senate and gubernatorial campaign arms. It will ramp up the party’s activity ahead of this fall’s elections and the 2026 midterms, which will serve as a referendum on President Donald Trump’s second term and test Democrats’ ability to rebound.”
Senate Republicans May Still Not Have the Votes
“Senate Republicans said they expected to begin voting on amendments to the domestic policy bill at 9 a.m. Monday, after taking a break likely sometime after midnight, rather than working all night,” the New York Times reports.
“The decision not to move from debate straight into the so-called vote-a-rama, an hours-long series of votes on amendments, could indicate that Republican leaders are still struggling to lock in support.”
Washington Post: “The GOP is racing to push the mammoth budget proposal across Trump’s desk by a self-imposed July 4 deadline, but fissures remain within the party over the cuts to social benefit and anti-poverty programs and the bill’s growing price tag.”
Wall Street Journal: “If the Senate manages to pass the bill, getting the measure to Trump by Republicans’ self-imposed July 4 deadline would require another vote from the House. That might be challenging in that chamber as well, where Republicans have a narrow 220-212 majority and their initial version of the bill passed by just one vote last month.”
For members: A Few Thoughts on the “Big, Beautiful Bill”
Miller Directs Trump’s Policies on Immigration, Ivy League
“The Trump White House is moving at a far faster clip in 2025 to remake the federal government and American life, in large part because Stephen Miller has put the agenda on steroids,” Bloomberg reports.
“Miller, 39, has amassed power and influence through nearly a decade in President Donald Trump’s orbit. Long seen as the driving force behind the West Wing’s immigration policies, Miller is now also leading the campaign to bend the nation’s top universities to Trump’s will.”
Trump Is Building National Citizenship System
“The Trump administration has built a searchable national citizenship data system,” NPR reports.
“The tool is designed to be used by state and local election officials to ensure only citizens are voting. But it was developed rapidly without a public process, and some of those officials are already worrying about what else it could be used for.”
China’s Communist Party Has 100 Million Members
“Membership in China’s ruling Communist Party passed the 100 million mark, but the pace of growth slowed for the third straight year amid Beijing’s long-running push to rein in the party’s expansion,” Bloomberg reports.
