Trump is expected to sign his huge bill of tax and spending cuts at the White House July 4 picnic
Against odds that at times seemed improbable, Trump achieved his goal of celebrating a historic — and divisive — legislative victory in time for the nation's birthday. Fighter jets and stealth bombers are to streak the sky over the annual White House Fourth of July picnic where Trump plans to sign the bill.
The legislation, the president said, is 'going to make this country into a rocket ship. It's going to be really great.' Democrats assailed the package as a giveaway to the rich that will rob millions more lower-income people of their health insurance, food assistance and financial stability.
'I never thought that I'd be on the House floor saying that this is a crime scene,' Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said during a record-breaking speech that delayed the bill's passage by eight-plus hours. 'It's a crime scene, going after the health, and the safety, and the well-being of the American people.'
The legislation extends Trump's 2017 multi-trillion dollar tax cuts and cuts Medicaid and food stamps by $1.2 trillion. It provides for a massive increase in immigration enforcement. Congress' nonpartisan scorekeeper projects that nearly 12 million more people will lose health insurance under the law.
The legislation passed the House on a largely party-line vote Thursday, culminating a months-long push by the GOP to cram most of its legislative priorities into a single budget bill that could be enacted without Senate Democrats being able to block it indefinitely by filibustering.
It passed by a single vote in the Senate, where North Carolina Republican Thom Tillis announced he would not run for reelection after incurring Trump's wrath in opposing it. Vice President JD Vance had to cast the tie-breaking vote.
In the House, where two Republicans voted against it, one, conservative maverick Tom Massie of Kentucky, has also become a target of Trump's well-funded political operation.
The legislation amounts to a repudiation of the agendas of the past two Democratic presidents, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, in rolling back Obama's Medicaid expansion under his signature health law and Biden's tax credits for renewable energy.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates the package will add $3.3 trillion to the deficit over the decade and 11.8 million more people will go without health coverage.
Trump exulted in his political victory Thursday night in Iowa, where he attended a kickoff of events celebrating the country's 250th birthday next year.
Winnipeg Jets Game Days
On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.
'I want to thank Republican congressmen and women, because what they did is incredible,' he said. The president complained that Democrats voted against the bill because 'they hate Trump — but I hate them, too.'
The package is certain to be a flashpoint in next year's midterm elections, and Democrats are making ambitious plans for rallies, voter registration drives, attack ads, bus tours and even a multiday vigil, all intended to highlight the most controversial elements.
Upon his return to Washington early Friday, Trump described the package as 'very popular,' though polling suggests that public opinion is mixed at best.
For example, a Washington Post/Ipsos poll found that majorities of U.S. adults support increasing the annual child tax credit and eliminating taxes on earnings from tips, and about half support work requirements for some adults who receive Medicaid.
But the poll found majorities oppose reducing federal funding for food assistance to low-income families and spending about $45 billion to build and maintain migrant detention centers. About 60% said it was 'unacceptable' that the bill is expected to increase the $36 trillion U.S. debt by more than $3 trillion over the next decade.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Montreal Gazette
24 minutes ago
- Montreal Gazette
Josh Freed: Celebrate Canada and Quebec by swatting bugs and jumping in a lake
Our two national holidays have come and gone, but like most Montrealers I hardly noticed them, which is usually a sign that all's well in Quebec. The two days are barometers of our political times, so here's my post-holiday review of Canada Day and St-Jean. Canada Day has never been an overly patriotic or nationalistic day, one of many advantages of being Canadian. Most Canadians traditionally celebrate by going to the country for the long weekend to smack bugs and jump in a lake. But this year Canada Day was on steroids in much of the country as people belted out the anthem, unfurled supersized U.S.-style Canadian flags and wore T-shirts saying 'Canada is not for sale' and 'Never 51!' Here in Montreal, the Canada Day parade was cancelled at the last minute, as usual. But a small informal 'march' happened in Old Montreal that attracted so many sympathetic American and European tourists, they probably outnumbered us locals, who don't always attend these things. Canada's new nationalism has also infected Quebec, where recent polls show most Quebecers are very proud to be Canadian, even more so than people in some other provinces. Many francophones are suddenly feeling sappy about maple syrup, Mounties and moose, while humming the national anthem in the shower. The secret glue that's cementing our country is U.S. President Donald Trump, who's made us all appreciate what he's threatened to take away. From coast-to-coast we're taking pride in boycotting U.S. goods and discussing where in the States we aren't going. 'So where are you NOT going this summer?' 'Oh, we're not going to Vermont or Old Orchard, like we usually do. We'll be staycationing in Snowdon instead. And where WON'T you be going?' Meanwhile, in Ottawa, our new PM, Mark Carney, gave a brief speech on July 1 about Canada being a kind, caring nation, and it rang true given that our southern neighbour has officially abandoned those virtues. Instead, the U.S. has embraced a new motto: 'Nice guys and countries finish last.' As much of the world turns crueller and more selfish, Canada is managing to look good, by just not changing much. Our PM was elected as a Liberal, but he's a former banker who's pushing his party to the centre, talking pipelines, business, and 'Build baby, build,' while still sounding liberal about social policy. So he's kind of a Liberal Conservative. Until a few decades ago, we had a party like that called the Progressive Conservatives, under leaders like Joe Clark and Brian Mulroney. But then Western 'reformers' turned it into the more radical and shrill Conservative party that Pierre Poilievre now incarnates. Lately, with Trump threatening, many Canadians were ready to move to the political centre, so the Liberals did, stealing economic policies from the Tories but staying socially liberal. Thus we elected Carney, an old-fashioned Progressive Conservative. Our new Liberal PM is actually a Red Tory. St-Jean: Canada Day's new patriotism may have stolen some thunder from Quebec's Fête nationale this June 24, though nationalism has been on the decline here for years. There was a big Rachel Ave. parade and hundreds of low-key block parties and concerts, but most Quebecers celebrated the day like other Canadians — by going to the country to swat bugs and jump in a lake. Much of the francophone media's June 24 coverage was about remembering a famous St-Jean night 50 years ago, in 1975, when more than a million people celebrated atop Mount Royal in a great wave of nationalism. One of them was me, curious to see a remarkable event that symbolized the times. I still remember the scene: There were vast mobs of people swathed head-to-toe in fleur-de-lis, and giant bonfires being lit everywhere you looked, occasionally barbecuing Canadian flags. Gilles Vigneault had just written 'Gens du Pays' for the occasion, which quickly became Quebec's unofficial national anthem, and also its Happy Birthday song, even for many anglos. The crowds sang it again and again along with 'le Québec aux Québécois' until dawn, when the police broke up the party. But as usual in Quebec, as an anglo I felt totally welcomed as part of the gang by nationalists delighted I was there to celebrate. The intensity of the nationalism was awesome and remained so for several years. Compare that with more recent St-Jean activities: genteel neighbourhood block parties attended by all ethnicities and outdoor concerts that are dwarfed by the jazz festival, which is practically Quebec's modern national holiday. Like Canada Day, June 24 has become more of a national day off. This St-Jean I didn't even see many fleur-de-lis flying on homes in my Plateau neighbourhood, which was once festooned with them. These days people are proud to be Quebecers, but proud to be Canadians, too. Quebecers aren't heading to Mount Royal in millions, but we are all thrumming proudly, pleased our province and our country feel like a refuge against a threatening world. Quebecers are still fighting for sovereignty, but like most Canadians, that's now sovereignty from the U.S. So let's thank Donald Trump for making our national holidays great again.
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Girls missing from camp as deadly flooding batters Texas
July 4, 2025 | A group of children is missing after flash floods ravaged a Texas summer camp. Donald Trump signs his 'big, beautiful bill' into law. And NHL star Jonathan Toews prepares to return to the ice after battling long COVID.
Ottawa Citizen
an hour ago
- Ottawa Citizen
MacDougall: Can Carney keep the Canadian dream from becoming a nightmare?
Article content Add this to a public service very much still resisting the urge/unable to work in offices in the downtown core, and the sense of impotence compounds. Article content And while it's surely un-Canadian to kick a man while he's down — and irrelevant — a lot of the blame can be placed at the feet of Trudeau. The former prime minister called an unnecessary election in the midst of the COVID pandemic. He got dinged three times by the ethics commissioner. He urged his MPs to stonewall legitimate lines of enquiry. He puffed up the public service to enormous levels. Is it any wonder the system isn't delivering? Article content Worst of all, Trudeau and his team saw the incoming threat of Trump and did zero to prepare. Instead of realizing that he was a busted flush and leaving in the summer of 2024, Trudeau soldiered on until early 2025, when the Trump nightmare was fully formed. And while Carney proved more adept than Kamala Harris in replacing a problematic leader, the process left our systems in neutral when the country needed to be in top gear. Article content Carney's assured start has him riding high in the polls. But the dream start will turn into a nightmare unless the prime minister finds ways to both galvanize and trust others to help. Re-establishing the Canada dream is beyond the efforts of one man, no matter how smart he might be.
