Unsure when Trump's big bill will move forward? So are the senators
Members of the upper chamber are divided on a handful of provisions, including reforms to Medicaid, along with the legislation's trillion-dollar price tag. As Senate Republican leadership tries to settle disputes and get everybody on board, there is a lack of consensus as to when a vote will even happen - and a fast-approaching and self-imposed July 4 deadline that suggests everyone could be working this weekend.
Big Beautiful Bill 101: What you need to know about Trump's tax bill
"We've got a lot of work to do," Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, told reporters on June 25.
Johnson has been a public critic of the president's "big, beautiful bill," citing concerns about how much it would add to the federal deficit.
Asked whether disagreements might be ironed out by the end of the week, Johnson said, "I can't imagine it would be."
Some of his colleagues are more optimistic they can get those t's crossed in the coming days.
Some are saying they can cross the t's before the end of the week in Washington.
"We're going to get the bill across the finish line by Saturday," Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, said, adding that his prediction is, "Saturday at 3 o'clock!"
Saturday, 3 p.m., he clarified, as the Senate is not a stranger to twilight votes.
Trump and members of his administration have said they want the bill on the president's desk come Independence Day. But there are more steps than just Senate approval needed between now and July 4.
If and when the Senate passes their version of the spending bill, the legislation must be reconciled with the House - where lawmakers narrowly approved the first version.
Questions remain as to whether, once the Senate does their part, House Speaker Mike Johnson can once again herd his conservative-heavy crew to get this bill out of Congress.
Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, said he thinks lower chamber Republicans would struggle to say no - and as a result, disappoint the president.
"There's so many great things in this bill," he told reporters, "I think it's going to be hard for the House to vote against it."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
14 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Pete Hegseth rips into the media for overshadowing 'historic' Iran strikes as Trump admin grapples with intel leak fallout: Live updates
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ripped into the media for failing to positively cover Donald Trump 's 'historically successful' strikes on Iran. The president over the weekend authorized 30,000 pounds of explosives to 'obliterate' Iran's three largest nuclear sites dubbing it a total success. But days later, a leaked report from the Pentagon 's Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) reportedly stated that the U.S. strikes only delayed Iran from getting a nuclear weapon by a couple of months. It also said that much of the enriched uranium was moved out ahead of the B-2 bomber hits. Hegseth is holding a press conference at the Pentagon on Thursday morning to slam CNN, the New York Times and other outlets that disclosed the report's findings calling it 'preliminary.' Follow along with Daily Mail's live blog: 12:16 Hegseth to media: It's in 'your blood to cheer against Trump' Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ripped the media during his press conference at the Pentagon, saying it's in 'your blood to cheer against Trump.' Hegseth passionately defended Saturday's air strike on Iran and blasted the media for reporting on an early intelligence assessment that cast doubt on its success. 'I mean specifically you, the press corps, because you cheer against Trump so hard, like it's in your DNA and in your blood to cheer against Trump. You want him not to be successful so bad, you have to cheer against the efficacy of the strikes. You have to hope they were not effective.' Hegseth blasts media in defense of Trump's Iran airstrike 'Let me read the bottom line here,' Hegseth said during a press conference at the Pentagon. 'President Trump directed the most complex and secretive military operation in history and it was resounding success resulting in a ceasefire agreement and the end of the 12-day war.' He then when on to criticize CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times and other outlets that reported on a preliminary intelligence report that said little damage was done to Iran's nuclear program. 'It is preliminary. It points out it is not coordinated with the intelligence community at all, there is low-confidence in this report, there are gaps in,' he said. 12:09 Exclusive:Trump's approval rating revealed after Iran strikes divide the nation For all the twists and turns of the '12 Day War' between Israel and Iran - including President Donald Trump's decision to drop bombs on three Iranian nuclear sites - the president's approval rating remained extraordinarily stable. A new Daily Mail/J.L. Partners poll found that Trump's approval rating stood at 47 percent. It was also 47 percent on June 6, before Israel made the decision to start bombing Iran on June 12, with the goal of obliterating the Islamic regime's nuclear program. And it was 47 percent on June 18, three days before the U.S. got involved. The president's disapproval rating stayed at 53 percent throughout. Trump's approval rating revealed after Iran strikes divide the nation Americans voters have responded to President Donald Trump's leadership in the so-called '12 Day War,' a new poll from the Daily Mail and J.L. Partners revealed.
BBC News
21 minutes ago
- BBC News
Hegseth giving Pentagon briefing after Iranian leader says they gave 'heavy slap' to US
Update: Date: 13:07 BST Title: Hegseth praises Trump's 'game-changing' achievements at Nato summit Content: Pete Hegseth, US Defence Secretary, is speaking now. He first references the Nato summit in the Netherlands, which he has just returned from. What President Trump achieved "was game-changing and historic," he says, after Nato's 32 members committed to spend 5% of GDP on defence spending. Update: Date: 13:05 BST Title: Hegseth speaking now - watch live above Content: Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen Dan Caine are now on stage to deliver their remarks. Stick with us as we bring you the top lines from the briefing. Update: Date: 12:59 BST Title: US defence update about to begin Content: US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth is about to give an update from the Pentagon on the impact of US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities at the weekend. He'll be speaking alongside Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen Dan Caine. Earlier, Donald Trump posted on Truth Social to say it would be a "major" update. You can watch the briefing too by pressing Watch Live at the top of this page. Update: Date: 12:44 BST Title: Ayatollah faces significant political decision on future of nuclear programme Content: Frank GardnerSecurity correspondent There are several elements to a potential nuclear weapons programme, and it's highly unlikely that the US, or even Israel, knows the answers to the status of all of them inside Iran right now. First off, there is the highly enriched uranium (HEU). The UN's nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, is concerned about the whereabouts of 408kg (900lb) of this HEU, which is close to weapons grade, ie a substantial component for up to nine nuclear bombs, should Iran decide to build them. It is unlikely that material was destroyed in the air strikes, and more likely that Iran has spirited it away to a secret destination underground somewhere else. Then there are the centrifuges. When used in a 'cascade', these spin at high speed to enrich the uranium. A key question is whether the centrifuges in the subterranean hall deep inside the mountain at Fordo are still intact, destroyed, or damaged by the massive explosions above them. Unless the US has secret intelligence, either through human informants or signals intercepted, it's unlikely that either the Pentagon or the IAEA could know what state these centrifuges are in. Twelve days of Israeli air strikes have killed some of Iran's top nuclear scientists as well as military commanders. But it is almost impossible that they would have eliminated decades of Iranian nuclear research, stored in hard drives, vaults, and in the brains of scientists. Finally, there is the political decision to which the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has the final say in deciding what's next with its nuclear programme. Will he return to talks, submit to US and Israel demands to give up enrichment on its territory, or will he permanently cease all co-operation, raising suspicions that he could be racing to rebuild its suspect nuclear programme? Update: Date: 12:37 BST Title: Ayatollah Khamenei delivers first video message since US strikes Content: Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, delivered his first video message since US strikes on his country and Iran's ceasefire with Israel. News of the address started to trickle in through social media and Iranian state media, before his message in full was broadcast around 14:05 local time (11:35 BST). His comments come two days after a ceasefire ended a 12-day war between Iran and Israel. Israeli strikes on Iran killed at least 627 civilians, according to Tehran's health ministry. Iran's attacks on Israel killed 28 people, as reported by AFP news agency. Update: Date: 12:23 BST Title: Khamenei says US failed to achieve anything significant - Trump says otherwise Content: As we've just reported, Iran's supreme leader downplayed the impact of the US strike on three of Iran's nuclear sites, suggesting they had "failed to achieve anything significant". This directly contradicts Donald Trump's claims that the US had "obliterated" Iran's nuclear programme with its operation - which involved 125 US military aircraft and targeted the sites of Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan. Speaking at the Nato summit in the Netherlands yesterday, Trump rejected a Pentagon intelligence report that suggested the US had only set back Iran's programme "by a few months". Instead, Trump insisted that the nuclear sites in Iran were "completely destroyed" and accused the media of "an attempt to demean one of the most successful military strikes in history". Standing alongside Trump at the Nato podium, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth also dismissed the report, and argued that the evidence of what had been bombed "is buried under a mountain, devastated and obliterated". And this was followed-up by CIA director John Ratcliffe, who later said there was "credible intelligence" Iran's nuclear programme had been "severely damaged". Update: Date: 11:59 BST Title: US strikes were never about nuclear, but about Iran surrender - Khamenei Content: Ghoncheh HabibiazadBBC Persian Iran's supreme leader says the US military action was never about nuclear issues or nuclear enrichment - but about "surrender". One day it's about human rights, another day it's about women's rights, then it's about the nuclear issue, then about the missiles, he says. But he adds that actually in its core, it has always been about one thing: they want Iran to surrender. Update: Date: 11:55 BST Title: 'The word surrender is not in our vocabulary' Content: Ghoncheh HabibiazadBBC Persian, World Service reporter Ayatollah Khamenei continues, saying that the Iranian people demonstrated their unity - sending a message that "our people are one voice". He says Trump called on Iran to "surrender", but his comments were 'too big for the mouth of the president of the United States'. "For a great country and nation like Iran, the very mention of surrender is an insult," Khamenei adds. He adds that Donald Trump accidentally revealed a truth - that the Americans have been opposing the Islamic Republic of Iran from the very beginning. Update: Date: 11:50 BST Title: US failed to achieve anything significant and exaggerated it - Khamenei Content: Ghoncheh HabibiazadBBC Persian In his statement, Ayatollah Khamenei says the US "failed to achieve anything significant" by attacking Iran's nuclear facilities. He says US President Donald Trump had made an 'unusually exaggerated' account of what had taken place. It was clear he needed to do it, says Khamenei - adding that anyone listening could tell the US were overstating things to distort the truth. We attacked one of the US's key bases in the region, and here, they tried to downplay it, he says. Update: Date: 11:39 BST Title: Khamenei starts speaking Content: Khamenei's speech has just begun - we'll bring you lines on what he's saying very shortly. Update: Date: 11:36 BST Title: Khamenei praises unity of Iranian people Content: Ghoncheh HabibiazadBBC Persian Ayatollah Khamenei has just posted another message, this time reported by the semi-official Fars News Agency on Telegram. "A third congratulation, congratulations on the unity of the Iranian nation," he writes. "A nation of around 90 million stood united, with one voice, shoulder to shoulder, in support of the armed forces. "The Iranian nation demonstrated its distinguished character and showed that, when necessary, a single voice will be heard from this nation." Update: Date: 11:28 BST Title: Iran delivered a 'hard slap to America's face' Content: We can now bring you more from Ayatollah Khamenei, who in a post on X says congratulations once more to his country, focusing this time on "our beloved Iran's victory over the American regime". He says the US "entered a direct war because it felt that if it did not, the Zionist regime would be completely destroyed". Khamenei goes on to suggest the US "gained no achievements from this war," adding that Iran was able to emerge "victorious" and "delivered a hard slap to America's face". Update: Date: 11:19 BST Title: Khamenei not been seen for more than a week Content: Khamenei was last seen by the public on 18 June when he gave a televised statement Iran's supreme leader has not been seen for over a week - he last gave a televised statement from an undisclosed location on 18 June. Earlier today, Israeli media was heavily questioning the whereabouts of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. BBC Monitoring - which looks at media reports - said Israeli media have been keen to highlight prospects of regime change inside Iran and hopes that Israeli strikes on Iran could spark protests against the leadership from within Iran. On Channel 14 News, commentators claimed Khamenei's days as leader are numbered, adding that he's in a state of "mental anguish". Update: Date: 11:11 BST Title: What has the US bombed and what weapons were used? Content: While we wait for Ayatollah Khamenei's video address to be broadcast, let's have a look at what we know about the impact of the US strikes on Iran. Washington says the strikes have significantly set back the prospects of Iran building nuclear weapons after three of Tehran's main nuclear facilities were hit. The operation – nicknamed Midnight Hammer - involved 125 US military aircraft and involved the sites of Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz. They were hit between 22:40 GMT and 23:05 GMT on Saturday (02:40-03:05 on Sunday Tehran time), the US says. Fourteen GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs) were dropped on the Fordo site, a nuclear enrichment facility buried deep below a mountain outside Tehran, which is vital to Iran's nuclear ambitions. At the same time, two dozen cruise missiles were launched at the Isfahan site from a submarine – in total, 75 'precision-guided weapons' were used during the operation. Update: Date: 11:02 BST Title: Ayatollah says Iran secured 'victory' over Israel Content: As we wait to bring you the top lines from Khamenei's speech, the ayatollah has just posted on X to congratulate the Iranian people for the "victory" over Israel. "I offer my congratulations on the victory over the fallacious Zionist regime," he writes. Update: Date: 11:01 BST Title: Iran's Ayatollah speaks for first time since ceasefire as Hegseth prepares 'major' update Content: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, will speak within the next few minutes in a video message, marking his first message since the US announced a ceasefire between Iran and Israel. The message comes hours before US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth is due to hold a news conference, where he'll give an update on the impact of US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities over the weekend. US President Donald Trump, writing on Truth Social, says the "major" update will be delivered from the Pentagon at 08:00 EST (13:00 BST), when Hegseth will be joined by military representatives. "The News Conference will prove both interesting and irrefutable," Trump adds. Speaking from a Nato summit yesterday, Hegseth was emphatic that US strikes had significantly diminished Tehran's nuclear capabilities. But earlier reports quoting US intelligence sources suggested the strikes had only set Iran's nuclear programme back by months and key components had not been destroyed. Stick with us as we bring you the latest updates on this story.
Daily Mail
21 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Trump's approval rating revealed after Iran strikes divide the nation
For all the twists and turns of the '12 Day War' between Israel and Iran - including President Donald Trump 's decision to drop bombs on three Iranian nuclear sites - the president's approval rating remained extraordinarily stable. A new Daily Mail/J.L. Partners poll found that Trump's approval rating stood at 47 percent. It was also 47 percent on June 6, before Israel made the decision to start bombing Iran on June 12, with the goal of obliterating the Islamic regime's nuclear program. And it was 47 percent on June 18, three days before the U.S. got involved. The president's disapproval rating stayed at 53 percent throughout. That doesn't mean that Trump's actions during the Israeli-Iranian conflict didn't have some consequences. Around a third of voters said their view of the president has gotten more negative in recent weeks. Thirty-six percent shared this opinion, while another 30 percent said they view Trump more positively. When respondents were asked why their view of Trump became more negative, 30 percent said it was because they feared war and conflict with Iran. Twenty percent answered it was Trump's 'dictatorial behavior' and the fact that he bombed Iran without Congressional approval beforehand. Another 16 percent they were worried about the president being too self-interested and ego-driven. On the flip side, among the 30 percent who responded that they viewed Trump more favorably, Iran was also cited - with 30 percent saying so. On Monday night, the president announced that a ceasefire deal had been agreed to between Israel and Iran after Iran responded to the U.S. attack by firing missiles - that were intercepted - toward the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. The poll was conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday - and on Tuesday morning Trump used the F-bomb to school Israel and Iran, as he encouraged them to keep the ceasefire in place. So far it has held. Another 24 percent who said they had a more positive view of Trump did so because of his 'strong leader' and 'strength.' The biggest group, 36 percent, said they viewed Trump more positively because he was fulfilling his campaign promises and getting things done. On the campaign trail during the 2024 cycle, the president had pledged to keep the United States out of World War III and also out of prolonged military entanglements - like the War on Terror-era wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The poll of 1,025 registered voters was conducted June 24-25. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent.
