The GOP Megabill Policies on the Senate Chopping Block
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.'
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CNN
a few seconds ago
- CNN
Trump set to announce Kennedy Center Honorees as he tries to put his stamp on DC
President Donald Trump will appear at the Kennedy Center on Wednesday, where he's expected to announce the first recipients of its hallmark honors since he seized control of the institution's board earlier this year. The visit to the iconic performing arts complex comes as Trump seeks greater authority over Washington, DC, and its most prominent cultural institutions in an aggressive bid to put his stamp on the Democratic-led city. Trump — who was installed as Kennedy Center chairman in February — teased the new slate of honorees in a Truth Social post on Tuesday that also alluded to Republican efforts in Congress to rename the complex after him. 'GREAT Nominees for the TRUMP/KENNEDY CENTER, whoops, I mean, KENNEDY CENTER, AWARDS,' Trump wrote. The Kennedy Center later said it's 'honored' to host the president and appeared to preview a slate of honorees that included a 'country music icon, an Englishman, a New York City Rock band, a dance Queen and a multi-billion dollar Actor.' The visit will mark the president's third Kennedy Center appearance since returning to the White House, underscoring his personal interest in the activities of the performing arts center. A White House official said Trump would tour the Kennedy Center, as he weighs how to spend the $250 million that Republicans set aside in July for renovations to the center as part of their tax and spending bill. 'Thanks to his advocacy, our beautiful building will undergo renovations to restore its prestige and grandeur,' the Kennedy Center said Tuesday on X. In addition to taking control of the performing arts center, Trump has pressured DC's museums, memorials and other historic sites to recast American history in a more favorable light, criticizing what he called in a March executive order a 'revisionist movement' meant to 'undermine the remarkable achievements of the United States.' On Tuesday, the White House ordered a review of Smithsonian museums and exhibits to ensure alignment with that directive. The president has also embarked on wide-ranging renovation of the White House. And in an unprecedented move this week fueled by his personal frustration with incidents of crime and homelessness in DC, Trump federalized the city's police force. The sprawling effort to exert federal influence across DC is an escalation from his first term, during which he remained largely disengaged from the cultural institutions of a city that had overwhelmingly rejected him at the ballot box. Trump notably declined to attend the Kennedy Center Honors all four years after some of the honorees in 2017 said they would boycott a traditional White House pre-reception. Yet since returning to office, he has prioritized bending key elements of DC to his will, as part of what officials have framed as an effort to beautify the city and its key institutions and drive out what Trump has long criticized as 'woke' elements that don't conform to his worldview. The Kennedy Center has served as an early focal point of that project, drawing an institution that had traditionally remained above the fray of partisan politics directly into the center of the nation's culture wars. Trump in February dismissed a slew of Democratic appointees from the center's board of trustees, replacing them with aides and allies that included chief of staff Susie Wiles and second lady Usha Vance. Trump was subsequently elected chairman, with longtime confidant Ric Grenell installed as the Kennedy Center's new president. The takeover prompted sharp criticism from Democrats and angered artists connected to the Kennedy Center — including the producer of the hit musical 'Hamilton,' who cancelled an upcoming run of the show that was supposed to go through 2026. A series of other prominent artists, including director Shonda Rhimes and musician Ben Folds, resigned from their positions at the center. Since then, Trump has taken a hands-on approach to overhauling programming and drawing up plans for renovating the complex. On Monday, the Kennedy Center said it would host the premier of a film produced by the Christian Broadcasting Network that 'showcases the remarkable resurgence of faith among the youth in America.' It's an early sign of how programming may shift under the Trump-appointed leadership. The movie includes an appearance by Ben Carson, Trump's former secretary of Housing and Urban Development. That premier follows an earlier run of 'Les Misérables' — a favorite musical of Trump's — that the president attended in June. The appearance drew a mixed reaction, with some attendees booing Trump and four drag queens sitting below the presidential box in protest of his prior vows to rid the Kennedy Center of drag shows. Yet within the GOP, the Kennedy Center has become another rallying point for demonstrating loyalty to Trump. In July, House Republicans added a measure to a spending bill that would rename the center's opera house after first lady Melania Trump. Soon after, Rep. Bob Onder of Missouri introduced the Make Entertainment Great Again Act, which would go a step further and strip former President John F. Kennedy's name from the complex in favor of making it the 'Donald J. Trump Center for Performing Arts.' But ahead of Trump's visit on Wednesday, that proposal had yet to gain steam; so far, Onder's legislation has not attracted a single co-sponsor.
Politico
a few seconds ago
- Politico
Chris Murphy goes all in on funding bill boycott as Dems seek bipartisanship
Chris Murphy has been warning for months that voters want Democrats to fight. This summer, the Connecticut senator is picking a battle that puts him at odds with his Democratic colleagues. Murphy has made surprising moves over the last month to protest bipartisan government funding talks as a member of the Appropriations Committee, demonstrating his vision of what opposition to President Donald Trump should look like and further stoking speculation about his own presidential ambitions. The third-term senator said in a recent interview that Trump "doesn't give a fuck what we write' into spending legislation. And so he sees no reason to participate in the drafting of funding bills if the president is going to keep withholding billions of dollars Congress already approved and goading Republican senators to claw back more. 'Every single day, there's new evidence that our democracy is falling, and you've got to take stands. You have to take fights,' Murphy explained. 'I just worry — every time that we go along with these appropriations bills, we're putting a bipartisan veneer of endorsement on an illegal process that's ultimately part of his campaign to destroy our democracy.' As the top Democrat on the appropriations panel that funds the Department of Homeland Security, Murphy occupies a role that has historically demanded across-the-aisle collaboration. But in recent weeks, he opposed all spending measures advanced during Senate Appropriations Committee markups for which he was present, challenged his Republican counterpart on the DHS funding bill and voted 'no' on the Senate's first bipartisan funding package of the year. 'I'm nothing if not consistent. I don't like the position I'm in,' Murphy said. 'It's lonely. 28-to-1 votes are lonely.' So far, Murphy isn't slamming his colleagues for embracing bipartisan negotiations, and his peers aren't directly criticizing his approach. But they aren't exactly praising him either. 'He has the right to his opinion," said the top Democratic appropriator in the Senate, Patty Murray of Washington. "And I just have the opinion that the more we can do to get bills done, the better chance we have of getting better things for our country.' Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii, one of Murphy's friends and another senior member of the Appropriations Committee, said Democrats have a duty to at least attempt to strike a cross-party compromise on federal spending ahead of the Sept. 30 shutdown deadline. 'I'm not his spokesperson,' said Schatz, who is in line to be the chamber's Democratic whip in the next Congress. 'So all I can say is: We've been demanding a bipartisan process. So when there's a step in that direction, I think it's our obligation to try to be constructive.' While Murphy has never been a moderate, he has grown rapidly into a liberal firebrand in recent years. Once best known on Capitol Hill for his advocacy for gun control and his foreign policy expertise, he's now a frequent anti-Trump voice on cable news shows and has waded into controversial social topics like the nation's 'male identity' crisis. But Murphy's latest political stand against Trump comes as his name is floated for a bigger-stage battle against Republicans — this time as a presidential contender in 2028. If the 52-year-old senator seeks the Democratic nomination in three years, his protest of government funding bills could help differentiate him as a candidate who fought the Trump administration with more than just verbal criticism. 'It does fit, right? These are strategies that would make sense if he's interested in a national platform and to run for office like president,' said Hans Noel, a Georgetown University professor who studies presidential nominations. 'There's some appeal to a lot of voters — of fighting — especially at the national stage, where he doesn't have to worry about winning over allies for legislative progress,' Noel continued. 'Murphy has been somebody who's been talking on a national stage for a long time. It's not completely new. But he's somebody who's got that kind of appeal.' This past week, Murphy spent his birthday at an event with progressives in Arizona, where he talked broadly about the need for Democrats to balance opposition with real policy commitments: 'We can't just be against Donald Trump. We've got to give people a vision of something different.' Since Trump's election last November, Murphy has grown a beard, announced the end of his 17-year marriage and sparked rumors about romantic ties to a prominent Democratic strategist. In April, he hosted a town hall back in rural North Carolina — more than 500 miles from his blue home state. Then this summer, he launched a PAC aimed at taking on Trump and Republicans in Congress. Murphy hasn't always resisted negotiations with Republicans. In 2022, after a gunman left 21 people dead inside a Texas elementary school, he undertook weeks of painstaking talks that resulted in the first significant federal gun-control legislation in two decades. It was the culmination of a nearly decade-long fight for Murphy, who represented Sandy Hook Elementary School in the House at the time of that devastating 2012 shooting. His next foray into bipartisan talks did not have a happy ending. Last year he scrupulously crafted the high-profile bipartisan border deal with Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford, in an attempt to enact Congress' first major immigration overhaul in more than three decades. Then Trump chilled Republican support for the bill. To Murphy, it signaled that Republicans couldn't be trusted to be good-faith actors in negotiations to fund the government: 'I think that drama was early proof that they're never going to cross him,' he said of Republicans' loyalty to Trump. This belief was further cemented when Murphy's GOP colleagues cleared Trump's $9 billion rescission request last month targeting public broadcasting and foreign aid. 'They can say that they're going to honor the words on the page,' Murphy said. Yet if Trump 'decides to ignore the law,' he continued, 'I just don't think that my Republican colleagues are going to really fight to protect it.' Democratic leadership's interest in engaging in bipartisan funding negotiations, from which Murphy is abstaining, is a relatively new development. Just a month ago, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer penned a lengthy 'dear colleague' letter insinuating that his members should cut off cross-party talks if Republicans accepted the White House's rescissions package. Nine days later, Senate Republicans banded together to pass that bill. And five days after that, Schumer stood with his House counterpart, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, to announce that Democrats still 'want to pursue a bipartisan, bicameral appropriations process.' It has left Murphy as the lone Democratic appropriator continually opposing the funding bills his colleagues are trying to advance, even as he readily admits it's not the substance of the spending measures he's against. 'The bills themselves are good, bipartisan bills,' said Murphy. 'It's just — I don't believe that anything in there is actually going to be implemented.' This is the case Murphy said he wants to get through to Sen. Katie Britt, the Alabama Republican who chairs the Homeland Security appropriations panel opposite Murphy. The two lawmakers were seen last month in a heated exchange in the well of the Senate floor after passage of the clawback request. Britt described the conversation, captured by C-SPAN cameras, as 'a spirited dialogue,' vowing: 'I'll continue to work in good faith, as I always have.' Murphy, however, said negotiations on the DHS funding bill will be meaningless if Trump and Republicans are going to undermine the spending directives when the measure becomes law. 'We had an animated discussion,' Murphy said of his talk with Britt. 'Obviously it's hard to write a bill when the administration is going to stab you in the back as soon as you write it, especially in a space as difficult as immigration and DHS.' He pointed to specific examples of how Trump has already undermined appropriators, including the president's efforts to fund the controversial 'Alligator Alcatraz' immigration detention center in Florida by diverting money Congress appropriated for 'humane' alternatives to detainment. 'And you know,' Murphy continued, 'he's going to use the money in this budget to treat immigrants like animals.' Jordain Carney, Katherine Tully-McManus and Cassandra Dumay contributed to this report.
Newsweek
a few seconds ago
- Newsweek
Trump Supporter Detained by ICE Agents Regrets Vote
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A California man who voted for President Donald Trump has spoken out after being detained by immigration agents. Brian Gavidia, a 29-year-old American citizen from Montebello, joined a lawsuit challenging immigration enforcement tactics after federal agents detained him on June 12, NBC 4 Los Angeles reported. "I truly believe I was targeted because of my race," Gavidia told the outlet. Newsweek has contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment. An agent surveys migrants coming for their hearings at an immigration court in New York. An agent surveys migrants coming for their hearings at an immigration court in New York. Andrea Renault/STAR MAX/IPx Why It Matters Millions of Americans voted for Trump in support of his promise to carry out widespread deportations of migrants living in the U.S. illegally, particularly those with criminal records. As immigration enforcement efforts ramp up across the country, concerns are mounting that the Trump administration is not, as it pledged, targeting the "worst first." Newsweek has documented several cases of Trump supporters being affected by the immigration raids. What To Know Gavidia voted for Trump believing that his administration's immigration agenda would target criminals, not everyday citizens, NBC 4 Los Angeles reported. He told the outlet that during an immigration enforcement operation in the San Gabriel Valley, a federal agent pushed him against a wall and demanded proof of citizenship, asking him the name of the hospital where he was born. Footage circulating on social media shows Gavidia shouting, "I was born here in the states, East LA bro!" The video shows agents, who are wearing vests with "Border Patrol Federal Agent" on them, holding Gavidia's hands behind his back. Agents allegedly confiscated his Real ID and phone. Gavidia was later released and recovered his phone, but he said he never received his ID. Convinced he was targeted because of his Latino heritage, Gavidia now rejects his prior support for the president. "I believe it was a mistake because he ran on lies," Gavidia said. "He said criminals." "If this was going to happen, do you think we would have voted? We're humans. We're not going to destroy our community. We're not going to destroy our people," he continued. Gavidia is among seven plaintiffs in an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit that resulted in a court order limiting when federal agents can initiate immigration enforcement. The filing requested that the court prohibit raids conducted without reasonable suspicion or probable cause. It also said agents concentrated operations in places where Latino workers were often found, such as local car washes and outside Home Depot locations. California has been a key battleground state for immigration enforcement operations after Trump ordered federal agents to ramp up arrests in Democratic cities. On August 1, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a temporary restraining order, originally issued by a federal judge, that placed limits on how the federal government could carry out immigration enforcement operations in Southern California. An attorney for the Trump administration argued before a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, seeking a stay of the temporary restraining order while the case was appealed. The panel denied the request. The decision upholds a July 11 ruling granting a restraining order sought by immigrant rights advocates to limit federal immigration enforcement in Los Angeles and other areas of Southern California. Under Judge Maame E. Frimpong's directive, officers and agents may not detain individuals unless they have reasonable suspicion that the person is in the United States in violation of immigration law. What People Are Saying Brian Gavidia told NBC 4 Los Angeles: "I believe I was racially profiled. I believe I was attacked because I was walking while brown. Where is the freedom? Where is the justice? We live in America. This is why I'm fighting today. This is why I'm protecting the Constitution." What Happens Next Despite the legal restrictions, immigration raids continue. The Trump administration has appealed the Ninth Circuit's decision that upheld the temporary restraining order. The case is now before the U.S. Supreme Court, which will decide whether to lift or uphold the restrictions limiting broad-based immigration enforcement in Los Angeles.
