Latest news with #Senate-passed
Newsweek
5 days ago
- Politics
- Newsweek
Gen Z is Shifting Back Toward Democrats
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. After months of wavering support and signs of growing disillusionment, new polling suggests Gen Z voters are beginning to drift back toward the Democratic Party. The latest Pew Research data shows that 49 percent of Gen Z voters lean toward the Democrats, while 43 percent lean toward the Republicans. That marks a shift from 2024 when more Gen Z voters leaned toward the Republicans than the Democrats for the first time ever, with 47 percent backing Republicans and just 46 percent identifying as Democrats. Why It Matters In the 2024 election, Trump made inroads with young voters, narrowing the Democrats' traditional lead among Gen Z—a group that has typically leaned left in recent cycles. According to AP VoteCast, voters ages 18 to 29 supported Kamala Harris over Trump by just 51 percent to 47 percent. By comparison, in 2020, Joe Biden carried the same age group by a much wider margin, winning 61 percent to Trump's 36 percent. Now, that shift appears to be reversing among a generation that had showed signs of warming to Trump's populist messaging. House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (Democrat of New York) lead House Democrats to a press conference denouncing the Senate-passed spending bill on the steps of the US Capitol... House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (Democrat of New York) lead House Democrats to a press conference denouncing the Senate-passed spending bill on the steps of the US Capitol Building in Washington DC, on Wednesday, July 2, 2025. More Aaron Schwartz/AP What To Know In 2020, Gen Z leaned Democratic by an 18-point margin (55 percent to 37 percent), a gap that widened to 32 points in 2021 (63 to 31). Support narrowed slightly over the next two years, with Democrats holding a 17-point lead in both 2022 and 2023 (55 to 38), before collapsing in 2024. The 2024 shift was widely attributed to economic frustration, discontent with President Biden, and the GOP's increasingly aggressive outreach to younger voters—especially on social media platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. But the latest numbers suggest Republicans may have peaked, as Democrats begin to regain ground with a generation that strongly supports issues like climate action, abortion rights, and student debt relief. The shift comes as Trump's approval rating among Gen Z has fallen to historic lows. The latest CBS/YouGov survey, conducted between July 16—18 among 2,343 adults, found just 28 percent of voters aged 18 to 29 now approve of Trump's performance, while 72 percent disapprove—a net approval rating of -44. That's down from -20 in early June and -12 in late April. Morning Consult's latest poll, conducted between July 18—20 among 2,202 registered voters, recorded similar numbers: 71 percent of Gen Z disapprove of Trump's job performance, compared with just 24 percent who approve, giving him a net rating of -47. And the poll shows the sharp downturn is being driven by growing discontent over Trump's handling of the economy, inflation, immigration, and key policy decisions. Economic frustration remains the dominant factor. Gen Z voters—many of whom are burdened by rising living costs—have turned sharply against Trump on economic issues. In February, he held a net +4 approval on the economy among young voters. By July, that had collapsed to -42. His approval on inflation fell even further, from -10 in February to -46 by mid-July, amid continued price hikes and discontent over tariffs. Meanwhile, the latest poll showed that nearly half (49 percent) of Gen Z voters now blame Trump's policies for the current state of the economy, while just 14 percent say the same of Biden, and a growing majority—62 percent—believe the economy is getting worse, and 58 percent say they are personally worse off under Trump's second term. His immigration crackdown has also begun to backfire. After briefly gaining support in March, Trump's immigration approval among Gen Z dropped to -40 by July. While the administration has reduced unlawful border crossings and increased enforcement, many young voters are alarmed by expanded ICE raids and detention centers—especially as broader public sentiment moves in the opposite direction. According to new Gallup polling, only 30 percent of Americans now support reducing immigration, down from 55 percent in 2024. Support for maintaining or increasing immigration has grown across party lines, and 79 percent now say immigration is a "good thing"—a record high that surpasses sentiment during Trump's first term. Gen Z's disillusionment extends beyond economics and immigration. A growing majority disapprove of Trump's broader agenda: 71 percent oppose his "Big Beautiful Bill Act," which critics say favors tax cuts for the wealthy at the expense of social programs. Meanwhile, 84 percent disapprove of how Trump has handled the Jeffrey Epstein files—the highest disapproval on that issue among any age group. Back in April, polling analysis by pollster G. Elliott Morris showed that young voters are not particularly fond of Trump's policies, with his immigration and tariffs policies attracting the largest amount of discontent from Gen Z. Morris argues that Gen Z's shifting political behavior is less about ideological alignment and more about disaffection with the political system itself. As he puts it, "young people weren't very 'Trumpy' to begin with, and they're not particularly prodemocratic now. Instead, they're anti-incumbent." Rather than being deeply partisan, Morris describes young voters as viewing politics "as a transaction, rather than a contest between ideas." In his view, their vote is less about loyalty to a candidate or party and more about asking, "what have you done for me lately?" He paints a bleak picture of Gen Z's reality, noting that for many, "the economic future looks out of reach, and it seems like the government isn't doing much here at home to help you, in particular." This fuels what he calls a "scarcity, anti-system, anti-party mindset," where even traditionally left-leaning young voters are willing to turn on Democrats—or Trump—when they feel neglected. In explaining why Gen Z turned on Trump after briefly supporting him in 2024, Morris writes: "If young people are mostly just elastic, anti-system voters, then the young Trump converts in 2024 aren't really MAGA Republicans so much as stressed-out, ideologically unaware, alienated young adults, in want of a party." And in his conclusion, Morris sums up the dynamic driving Gen Z's political volatility: "Young people did not move toward Trump in 2024 because they're more MAGA, they moved toward Trump because they're sensitive to economics and don't trust 'the system.' And that's ultimately why Trump has lost them, too." What Happens Next Party affiliation data is likely to fluctuate throughout Trump's second term.
The Hill
18-07-2025
- Business
- The Hill
Here are the Republicans who voted against Trump's funding claw backs
House Republicans greenlighted the first series of funding cuts recommended by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), with the $9 billion batch of rescissions heading to President Trump's desk for signing. The lower chamber approved the cuts, which claw back the federal funding for both public broadcasting and foreign aid, in a 216-213 late Thursday night vote. Nearly all House Republicans voted for the package, with the exception of two. Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.) and Mike Turner (Ohio) joined with all Democrats to oppose the DOGE cuts. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) took a victory lap following its passage — after controversy around the Trump administration's handling of files related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein held up the vote. 'The Republican Party and President Trump and everybody that works on our side have promised fiscal responsibility and fiscal discipline and we're delivering on those promises again tonight,' Johnson told reporters following the vote. 'I'm delighted to send that over to the president's desk for signature and he'll sign that quickly,' he added. The Senate passed the recissions package early Thursday morning in a 51-48 vote, handing another legislative victory to Trump, who has vowed the shrink the scope of the federal government. Two Republican senators also joined Democrats in opposing the measure: Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (Maine) and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska). Collins, a moderate Republican, has previously expressed concerns on how the cuts would be implemented, worries she related to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought during a Tuesday lunch meeting. Sen. Majority Leader John Thune, prior to the House's final vote, called the Senate-passed package 'a small but important step toward fiscal sanity that we all should be able to agree is long overdue.' The first recissions package — as Vought indicated Thursday that more are in the works —contains cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which the Trump administration has heavily targeted. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the formal end of its operations earlier this month. The measure also features claw backs aimed at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds PBS and NPR — two news outlets that conservatives, including the president, have argued are biased in their coverage and should not be funded by the federal government.
The Sun
18-07-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Congress approves US$9b Trump cuts to foreign aid, media
WASHINGTON: US Republicans yesterday approved President Donald Trump's plan to cancel US$9 billion (RM38 billion) in funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting, vowing it was just the start of broader efforts by Congress to slash the federal budget. The cuts achieve only a tiny fraction of the US$1 trillion in annual savings that tech billionaire and estranged Trump donor Elon Musk vowed to find before his acrimonious exit in May from a role spearheading federal cost-cutting. But Republicans – who recently passed a domestic policy bill expected to add more than US$3 trillion to US debt – said the vote honoured Trump's election campaign pledge to rein in runaway spending. 'President Trump and House Republicans promised fiscal responsibility and government efficiency,' House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement just after the vote. 'Today, we're once again delivering on that promise.' Both chambers of Congress are Republican-controlled, meaning a mostly party-line House of Representatives vote of 216 to 213, moments after midnight, was sufficient to approve the Senate-passed measure. The bill now heads to the White House to be signed by Trump, who praised his backers in the House. 'REPUBLICANS HAVE TRIED DOING THIS FOR 40 YEARS, AND FAILED... BUT NO MORE. THIS IS BIG!!!' he wrote on Truth Social. Most of the cuts target programs for countries hit by disease, war and natural disasters. But the move also scraps US$1.1 billion that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was due to receive over the next two years. Conservatives say the funding – which goes mostly to more than 1,500 local public radio and TV stations, as well as to public broadcasters NPR and PBS – is unnecessary and has funded biased coverage. The bill originally included US$400 million in cuts to a global AIDS program that is credited with saving 26 million lives, but that funding was saved by a rebellion by moderate Republicans. The vote was a win for Trump and fiscal hawks seeking to support the mission of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), launched by Musk as Trump was swept to power, for radical savings. Congress had already approved the cash that was clawed back, and Democrats framed the bill as a betrayal of the bipartisan government funding process. They fear Trump's victory clears the way for more 'rescissions packages' canceling agreed spending. 'Instead of protecting the health, safety and well-being of the American people, House Republicans have once again rubber stamped Donald Trump's extreme, reckless rescissions legislation,' House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a joint statement with fellow top Democrats. Republicans need some Democratic votes to keep the government funded past September, and the minority party had threatened to abandon any plans for cooperation if the DOGE cuts went ahead. Jeffries and fellow Democrats seemed to suggest as much yesterday. 'Tonight's vote... makes it clear that House Republicans are determined to march this country towards a painful government shutdown later this year,' they said in the statement. Although they are in the minority, Democrats have leverage in funding fights because a budget deal would need at least 60 votes in the 100-member Senate and Republicans only have 53 seats. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called it 'a dark day for any American who relies on public broadcasting during floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and other disasters.' White House budget chief Russell Vought told an event hosted Thursday by the Christian Science Monitor that the administration was likely to send another rescissions package to Congress. – AFP
Int'l Business Times
18-07-2025
- Business
- Int'l Business Times
US Congress Approves $9 Bn In Trump Cuts To Foreign Aid, Public Media
US Republicans early Friday approved President Donald Trump's plan to cancel $9 billion in funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting, vowing it was just the start of broader efforts by Congress to slash the federal budget. The cuts achieve only a tiny fraction of the $1 trillion in annual savings that tech billionaire and estranged Trump donor Elon Musk vowed to find before his acrimonious exit in May from a role spearheading federal cost-cutting. But Republicans -- who recently passed a domestic policy bill expected to add more than $3 trillion to US debt -- said the vote honored Trump's election campaign pledge to rein in runaway spending. "President Trump and House Republicans promised fiscal responsibility and government efficiency," House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement just after the vote. "Today, we're once again delivering on that promise." Both chambers of Congress are Republican-controlled, meaning a mostly party-line House of Representatives vote of 216 to 213, moments after midnight, was sufficient to approve the Senate-passed measure. The bill now heads to the White House to be signed by Trump, who praised his backers in the House. "REPUBLICANS HAVE TRIED DOING THIS FOR 40 YEARS, AND FAILED... BUT NO MORE. THIS IS BIG!!!" he wrote on Truth Social. Most of the cuts target programs for countries hit by disease, war and natural disasters. But the move also scraps $1.1 billion that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was due to receive over the next two years. Conservatives say the funding -- which goes mostly to more than 1,500 local public radio and TV stations, as well as to public broadcasters NPR and PBS -- is unnecessary and has funded biased coverage. The bill originally included $400 million in cuts to a global AIDS program that is credited with saving 26 million lives, but that funding was saved by a rebellion by moderate Republicans. The vote was a win for Trump and fiscal hawks seeking to support the mission of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), launched by Musk as Trump was swept to power, for radical savings. Congress had already approved the cash that was clawed back, and Democrats framed the bill as a betrayal of the bipartisan government funding process. They fear Trump's victory clears the way for more "rescissions packages" canceling agreed spending. "Instead of protecting the health, safety and well-being of the American people, House Republicans have once again rubber stamped Donald Trump's extreme, reckless rescissions legislation," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a joint statement with fellow top Democrats. Republicans need some Democratic votes to keep the government funded past September, and the minority party had threatened to abandon any plans for cooperation if the DOGE cuts went ahead. Jeffries and fellow Democrats seemed to suggest as much on Friday. "Tonight's vote... makes it clear that House Republicans are determined to march this country toward a painful government shutdown later this year," they said in the statement. Although they are in the minority, Democrats have leverage in funding fights because a budget deal would need at least 60 votes in the 100-member Senate and Republicans only have 53 seats. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called it "a dark day for any American who relies on public broadcasting during floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and other disasters." White House budget chief Russell Vought told an event hosted Thursday by the Christian Science Monitor that the administration was likely to send another rescissions package to Congress.
New Straits Times
18-07-2025
- Business
- New Straits Times
US Congress approves US$9bil in Trump cuts to foreign aid, public media
WASHINGTON: US Republicans early Friday approved President Donald Trump's plan to cancel US$9 billion in funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting, vowing it was just the start of broader efforts by Congress to slash the federal budget. The cuts achieve only a tiny fraction of the US$1 trillion in annual savings that tech billionaire and estranged Trump donor Elon Musk vowed to find before his acrimonious exit in May from a role spearheading federal cost-cutting. But Republicans – who recently passed a domestic policy bill expected to add more than US$3 trillion to US debt – said the vote honored Trump's election campaign pledge to rein in runaway spending. "President Trump and House Republicans promised fiscal responsibility and government efficiency," House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement just after the vote. "Today, we're once again delivering on that promise." Both chambers of Congress are Republican-controlled, meaning a party-line House of Representatives vote of 216 to 213, moments after midnight, was sufficient to rubber-stamp the Senate-passed measure. Most of the cuts target programs for countries hit by disease, war and natural disasters but the move also scraps US$1.1 billion that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was due to receive over the next two years. Conservatives say the funding – which goes mostly to more than 1,500 local public radio and TV stations, as well as to public broadcasters NPR and PBS – is unnecessary and has funded biased coverage.
