Good evening. I know the big news of the day is the Budget Bill, but there is so much more now for you to know about. If you value fearless, independent reporting in moments like this, please consider subscribing. Your support keeps this going.
Here’s the news:
Donald Trump is set to sign the "Big Beautiful Bill" the following day at 5 p.m.
House Republicans blasted YMCA to celebrate passage of Trump’s “big, beautiful bill”
One House Republican, Derrick Van Orden, from Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District, tweeted out his thoughts regarding the budget bill and how it will take away healthcare from millions of Americans. He later had to delete it because of the backlash:
California Governor Gavin Newsom reacted to the passage of Trump’s mega bill, stating: “17 million people just lost health care. 18 million kids just lost school meals. 3 million Americans just lost food assistance. And $3.5 trillion was added to the deficit.”
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Joe Biden condemned the passage of Trump’s tax-and-spending bill, with Harris calling it “Project 2025 in action” and warning it enacts the Heritage Foundation’s blueprint by cutting health care and food assistance, while Biden called the bill “reckless” and “cruel,” citing cuts to Medicaid, food aid, rural hospitals, and potential Medicare reductions, all to fund tax breaks for billionaires.
U.S. House Republicans canceled all planned votes for the following week.
ICE became the largest federal law enforcement agency in American history because of the budget bill.
Hours later, the Supreme Court lifted the final obstacle to ICE deporting people to any country, including conflict zones or places where migrants might face enslavement.
The Court agreed to pause a lower court order that had blocked the deportation of migrants with criminal records to South Sudan.
This decision allowed the deportation of the men, who had been held for weeks at a military base in Djibouti.
Justice Sotomayor dissented, remarking that it seemed as though Trump had the Supreme Court “on speed dial.”
Trump said, regarding the war with Ukraine, that he made no progress at all in that day's phone call with Putin.
The U.S. Department of Defense deployed 200 Marines to support ICE operations in Florida.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Mexican boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. in California and began deportation proceedings, citing cartel ties, multiple criminal convictions, and an active arrest warrant in Mexico for weapons trafficking and organized crime.
Chávez Jr., 39, was taken into custody in Studio City, Los Angeles, after DHS stated he was living in the U.S. unlawfully and posed a public safety threat — despite having fought YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul just five days earlier in a highly promoted Anaheim match that reportedly generated over $1.5 million in gate revenue.
Former CBS News anchor and 60 Minutes correspondent Dan Rather criticized the $16 million settlement between Paramount (CBS News' parent company) and Donald Trump, calling it a “sad day for journalism” and accusing the network’s corporate owners of capitulating to political pressure; the settlement stemmed from Trump’s lawsuit alleging that a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris had been doctored to influence the election—claims legal experts widely dismissed as meritless—yet Paramount agreed to the payout as it moves forward with an $8 billion merger with Skydance Media.
A Guardian investigation revealed that the Trump administration’s dismantling of the National Science Foundation (NSF) risks losing a generation of scientific talent to overseas competitors, as unprecedented political interference—particularly from the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (Doge)—undermined the NSF’s peer-reviewed process, slashed staff, programs, and grants, and jeopardized the future of U.S. industries and economic growth, according to multiple current and former NSF employees.
The EU and U.S. were nearing a high-level “framework” trade deal aimed at averting 50% tariffs on all EU exports by Trump’s self-imposed deadline the following Wednesday; while talks in Washington were expected to go down to the wire, diplomats indicated the EU was willing to accept Trump’s proposed 10% blanket tariffs in exchange for an extension of negotiations and possible concessions on a separate 25% car tariff impacting the German auto industry—U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent hinted at a possible deal after meeting with EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič, saying the U.S. was “going to see a lot more trade deals.”
See you in the morning.
— Aaron
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