Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) is doubling down on his concerns about a bill that would make sweeping changes to taxes, Medicaid, food stamps and more after it was passed last month in the Republican-led House at the urging of President Donald Trump, USA Today reports.
Said Johnson: “It’s completely unsustainable.”
He added: “I want to see him succeed. But again, my loyalty is to the American people, to my kids and grandkids. We cannot continue to mortgage their future.”
“I’m a little stuck in a bind, where I’m like, well, I don’t want to speak up against the administration but I also don’t want to take responsibility for everything the administration’s doing.”
— Elon Musk, in an interview with CBS News.
“Six months out from November, Virginia Democrats believe the governor’s race is Abigail Spanberger’s to lose,” Politico reports.
“There’s a risk the former member of Congress could get bogged down by national malaise toward the Democratic Party, and her margins could end up being tight because of the negative Democratic brand.”
“But Democrats are hopeful that Spanberger can overcome that national dynamic. She flipped a competitive district in 2018 that stretches into rural Southwest Virginia and she benefits from the unpopular actions of President Donald Trump. His stop-and-start trade war coupled with the elimination of thousands of federal jobs and looming Medicaid cuts are widely unwelcome in the Commonwealth. Spanberger enjoys strong name recognition and is far out-fundraising her opponent, a candidate who even some fellow Republicans are wincing about.”
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Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) called for an “end all U.S. military aid to Israel now.”
Said Massie: “Nothing can justify the number of civilian casualties (tens of thousands of women and children) inflicted by Israel in Gaza in the last two years.”
CNN Poll: “Americans see Republicans and Democrats as offering vastly contrasting visions of the country. An 81% majority say they see important differences between the two parties, marking an increase from two years ago across political, age and educational lines. Just 18% say the parties are ‘pretty much the same,’ down from 28% in 2023 and roughly one-third in CNN and Gallup polling dating back to 2002.”
“But even among those who say there are critical differences between the two major parties, a sizable minority say neither reflects their vision across a range of issues: Nearly 20% who see such differences still say neither party reflects their perspective on at least 5 out of 9 issues they were asked about in the poll.”
“Ukraine launched audacious drone attacks on four military airports inside Russia, destroying more than 40 warplanes in the biggest blow of the war against Moscow’s long-range bomber fleet,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The attack, dubbed ‘Spider’s Web,’ took a year and a half to prepare, officials at Ukraine’s main security and intelligence agency, the SBU, said on Sunday. Ukraine’s drones targeted Russia’s Belaya, Ivanovo, Dyagilevo and Olenya air bases, all of which house Russian military planes.”
“The bombardment is a significant victory for Ukraine’s deep-strike program, which uses drones to target crucial materiel on Russia’s soil.”
Associated Press: Ukraine destroyed more than 40 military aircraft in a drone attack deep inside Russia, official says.
President Trump shared a post alleging that Joe Biden was “executed in 2020,” and replaced with “clones” and “robotic engineered soulless mindless entities.”
Politico: “Trump-appointed regulators are nearing completion of a proposal that would relax rules on how much of a capital cushion the nation’s largest banks must have to absorb potential losses and remain solvent during periods of economic stress… It could be released in the coming months.”
Washington Post: “Lawyers say both the sanctions and the negotiated deals have had a chilling effect, with some firms declining to work on issues counter to the administration’s goals, including on immigration.”
Wall Street Journal: “About 1.9 million foreigners arrived at the U.S.’s main airports in the past four weeks, down 6% from the same period last year… Airline bookings data for the summer suggest things won’t be picking up soon. Flight bookings to the U.S. from Europe are down by about 12% through August. San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles are seeing even larger declines.”
“Overseas travelers say they are swapping U.S. vacation plans for trips to Europe or in their own countries. Some cite the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and reports of foreign visitors being detained or deported from the U.S. Others say they want to signal their discontent with the White House’s policies, echoing boycotts of American-made products by Canadians and Teslas in Europe.”
Los Angeles Times: “Narratives of travel disruptions under the Trump administration have given pause to U.S. officials and industry experts concerned not only with the immediate economic consequences of a slower summer season, but with the prospects of anemic attendance at World Cup games next year and, beyond, for the Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.”
CNBC: Safer to stay home? European firms rethink travel policy over U.S. border control concerns.
“Contentious provisions related to judicial powers, artificial intelligence, gun suppressors and transgender care tucked inside House Republicans’ tax and spending megabill could be struck by the GOP-led Senate after it returns to work next week,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The final bill must comply with the Senate’s Byrd Rule, named for the late West Virginia Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd, which prevents lawmakers from using the special budget reconciliation process to advance unrelated policies. Reconciliation allows Republicans to pass President Trump’s ‘big, beautiful’ bill with just 51 votes—rather than the 60 usually required in the Senate—but only if their provisions all have a meaningful fiscal impact that aren’t “merely incidental.””
CNBC: House GOP passed trillions in tax cuts. How Trump’s ‘big bill’ could change in the Senate.
“Before being confirmed as the director of the FBI, Kash Patel made clear his intent to remake it in his own image, reflecting a larger desire by the White House to bend the agency to its will,” the New York Times reports.
“Behind the scenes, his vision of an FBI under President Trump is quietly taking shape. Agents have been forced out. Others have been demoted or put on leave with no explanation. And in an effort to hunt down the sources of news leaks, Mr. Patel is forcing employees to take polygraph tests.”
“Taken together, the moves are causing worrisome upheaval at the FBI, eliciting fear and uncertainty as Mr. Patel and his deputy, Dan Bongino, quickly restock senior ranks with agents and turn the agency’s attention to immigration.“
“The government’s monthslong quest to wring savings from federal contractors is widening beyond consulting firms and entering a new phase focused on tech companies,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The Trump administration is moving its spending review beyond consulting firms, such as Accenture and Deloitte, to now scrutinize contracts at a collection of companies providing sometimes obscure technology services to federal agencies.”
“The Israeli military announced on Saturday night that it had killed Muhammad Sinwar, one of Hamas’s top military commanders in Gaza, during airstrikes this month that targeted the vicinity of a hospital in southern Gaza,” the New York Times reports.
“The Trump administration is stepping up its criticism of long-standing U.S. allies in Western Europe over free speech and other democratic ideals, even as President Donald Trump has pledged to stop lecturing foreign nations and dramatically softened Washington’s approach to the world’s autocracies,” the Washington Post reports.
“In recent days, Trump officials have made a series of head-spinning moves signaling the foreign policy shift that’s underway, with the State Department leading the charge. The administration intends to establish a new office within the department that is focused on ‘natural rights’ and what officials characterized as ‘free speech backsliding’ in Europe.”
Tim Walz on Saturday delivered blunt advice to fellow Democrats in an address to party activists and officials: “We’ve got to find some goddamn guts to fight for working people,” Politico reports.
He added: “The party of the working class lost a big chunk of the working class. That last election was a primal scream on so many fronts.”
Of Republican control, he acknowledged: “Some of it is our own doing.”
“New York City’s mayoral race is operating under the shadow of a politician from Queens: Donald Trump,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“With less than a month to go until the Democratic primary on June 24, the Republican president’s name is on the lips of its candidates as much as any of the issues affecting the city.”
“Trump’s looming threat to cut federal funding to cities that don’t cooperate with immigration authorities has left candidates vying to convince voters they are the person who can handle the president.”
Daily Beast: “As much as $16 million has been earmarked for filling in the damage left by tanks rumbling down civilian streets… Steel plates at least an inch thick will be laid across sections of the route where M1A1 Abrams tanks, each weighing around 140,000 pounds, and other treaded vehicles will make turns. Similar protection will not be laid out along straight sections of the roadway.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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