
The Latest: Key Medicaid provision in Trump's bill found to violate Senate rules
The Senate parliamentarian has advised that a Medicaid provider tax overhaul central to President Donald Trump's tax cut and spending bill doesn't adhere to the chamber's procedural rules, delivering a crucial blow as Republicans rush to finish the package this week.
Republicans were counting on big cuts to Medicaid and other programs to offset trillions of dollars in Trump tax breaks – their top priority.
The attention falling on Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough's ruling reflects a broader change in Congress: Lawmakers are increasingly trying to wedge top policy priorities into bills that can't be filibustered. That process comes with special rules designed to deter provisions unrelated to spending or taxes, and that's where the parliamentarian comes in, offering analysis of what does and doesn't qualify.
Trump wants the legislation, which includes tax reductions, Medicaid cuts, and border enforcement, passed by July 4.
Here's the latest: Trump's schedule, according to the White House:
11 a.m. – Trump receives an intelligence briefing in the Oval Office.
3 p.m. – Trump will meet with foreign ministers from Congo and Rwanda in the Oval Office.
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Supreme Court OKs Fee That Subsidizes Phone, Internet Services in Schools, Libraries and Rural Areas
The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the fee that is added to phone bills to provide billions of dollars a year in subsidized phone and internet services in schools, libraries, and rural areas. The justices, by a 6–3 vote, reversed an appeals court ruling that had struck down as unconstitutional the Universal Service Fund, the charge that has been added to phone bills for nearly 30 years. At arguments in March, liberal and conservative justices alike expressed concerns about the potentially devastating consequences of eliminating the fund, which has benefited tens of millions of Americans. The Federal Communications Commission collects the money from telecommunications providers, which pass the cost on to their customers. A Virginia-based conservative advocacy group, Consumers' Research, had challenged the practice. The justices had previously denied two appeals from Consumers' Research after federal appeals courts upheld the program. But the full 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals, among the nation's most conservative, ruled 9–7 that the method of funding is unconstitutional. The 5th Circuit held that Congress had given too much authority to the FCC, and the agency, in turn, had ceded too much power to a private entity or administrator. The last time the Supreme Court invoked what is known as the nondelegation doctrine to strike down a federal law was in 1935. But several conservative justices have suggested they are open to breathing new life into the legal doctrine. The conservative-led court also has reined in federal agencies in high-profile rulings in recent years. Last year, the court reversed a 40-year-old case that had been used thousands of times to uphold federal regulations. In 2022, the court ruled Congress has to act with specificity before agencies can address major questions in a ruling that limited the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to combat climate change. But the phone fee case turned out not to be the right one for finding yet another way to restrict federal regulators. President Donald Trump's Republican administration, which has moved aggressively to curtail administrative agencies in other areas, defended the FCC program. The appeal was initially filed by President Joe Biden's Democratic administration.


Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Lawyers for Kilmar Abrego Garcia Ask Judge to Keep Him in Jail Over Deportation Concerns
Attorneys for Kilmar Abrego Garcia asked a federal judge in Tennessee on Friday to delay his release from jail because of contradictory statements by the Trump administration over whether or not he'll be deported upon release. A federal judge in Nashville has been preparing to release Abrego Garcia to await trial on human smuggling charges. But she's been holding off over concerns that US immigration officials would swiftly detain him and try to deport him again. Abrego Garcia's attorneys are now asking the judge to continue to detain him following statements by Trump administration officials 'because we cannot put any faith in any representation made on this issue by the Justice Department. The irony of this request is not lost on anyone,' the attorneys wrote. Abrego Garcia, a construction worker who had been living in Maryland, became a flashpoint over Trump's hard-line immigration policies when he was mistakenly deported to his native El Salvador in March. Facing mounting pressure and a Supreme Court order, Trump's administration returned him this month to face the smuggling charges, which his attorneys have called 'preposterous.' Justice Department spokesman Chad Gilmartin told The Associated Press on Thursday that the department intends to try Abrego Garcia on the smuggling charges before it moves to deport him, stating that Abrego Garcia 'has been charged with horrific crimes, including trafficking children, and will not walk free in our country again.' Hours earlier, Justice Department attorney Jonathan Guynn told a federal judge in Maryland that the US government plans to deport Abrego Garcia to a third country that isn't El Salvador. Guynn said there was no timeline for the deportation plans. Abrego Garcia's attorneys wrote in their filing on Friday that Guynn's statements were 'the first time the government has represented to anyone that it intended not to deport Mr. Abrego back to El Salvador following a trial on these charges but to deport him to a third country immediately.' The filing by Abrego Garcia's lawyers also cited a post on X on Thursday from White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson: 'Abrego Garcia was returned to the United States to face trial for the egregious charges against him,' Jackson stated. 'He will face the full force of the American justice system–including serving time in American prison for the crimes he's committed.' Abrego Garcia's attorneys wrote Friday the Trump administration brought Abrego Garcia back only to convict him in the 'court of public opinion.' 'In a just world, he would not seek to prolong his detention further,' his attorneys wrote. 'And yet the government–a government that has at all levels told the American people that it is bringing Mr. Abrego back home to the United States to face American justice–apparently has little interest in actually bringing this case to trial.' Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty on June 13 to smuggling charges that his attorneys have characterized as an attempt to justify his mistaken expulsion to a notorious prison in El Salvador. Those charges stem from a 2022 traffic stop for speeding in Tennessee during which Abrego Garcia was driving a vehicle with nine passengers without luggage. US Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes in Nashville wrote in a ruling Sunday that federal prosecutors failed to show that Abrego Garcia was a flight risk or a danger to the community. During a court hearing Wednesday, Holmes set specific conditions for Abrego Garcia's release that included him living with his brother, a US citizen, in Maryland. But she held off on releasing him over concerns that prosecutors can't prevent US Immigration and Customs Enforcement from deporting him. Holmes ordered Abrego Garcia's lawyers and prosecutors to file briefs on the matter Thursday and Friday, respectively.


Al Arabiya
3 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Nike Shares Soar After a Production Shift Away From China, But Warns of a $1 Billion Tariff Hit
Nike's shares jumped at the opening bell Friday after the company said it's shifting some production away from China. But it also warned that tariffs imposed by the Trump administration will cost it about $1 billion before it makes internal changes, which include surgical price increases in the US starting this fall. Nike is not the first retail company to warn of price hikes when students are heading back to school. Walmart said last month that its customers will start to see higher prices this month and next when the back-to-school shopping season goes into high gear. Walmart also cited higher costs from tariffs. Nike is shifting production to avert looming tariffs in China. Production in China represents about 16 percent of the footwear that Nike imports into the US, Chief Financial Officer Matthew Friend said during a conference call late Thursday. That production will be cut to the high-single-digit range by the end of fiscal 2026 as Nike shifts production elsewhere, he said. President Donald Trump and his Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said late Thursday that the US and China have signed a 'trade agreement,' but provided no details. Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, and Puma were among 76 companies that signed on to a letter in April addressed to Trump asking for a footwear exemption from reciprocal tariffs. The letter warned tariffs would 'become a major impact at the cash register for every family.' Nike said that it will begin to implement 'surgical price increases' as part of its 'regular approach to seasonal planning' beginning this fall, Friend said. The potential for higher prices from Trump's tariffs have raised alarms for families, notably those who already spend a good chunk of money on equipment needed to participate in sports. Also on Thursday, Nike reported a quarterly profit of $211 million, or 14 cents per share. Revenue totaled $11.1 billion. Both edged out Wall Street projections. Nike is already facing a pullback in spending by Americans who have grown anxious about the direction of the US economy. 'While it's still the most significant brand in sportswear, a boredom factor seems to have settled over the Nike brand,' wrote Neil Saunders, Managing Director of GlobalData. 'In markets like China, where overall market growth has slowed a little, Nike is also on the back foot for similar reasons,' Saunders wrote. 'We also see some anti-US brand sentiment creeping in, which is unhelpful and difficult to resolve.' Shares of Nike, based in Beaverton, Oregon, jumped 15 percent at the opening bell Friday.