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Here’s where things stand on Thursday 3 July 2025:
- The United States House of Representatives are voting on President Donald Trump’s signature piece of legislation, a policy and budget document informally called the One Big Beautiful Bill.
- The bill, however, faces opposition within Trump’s Republican Party, where members have voiced concerns about the trillions it is likely to add to the national debt and cuts to social safety-net programmes like Medicaid.
- Trump has criticised Republicans for ‘taking so long’ to pass the tax bill.
- A federal judge has ruled that President Trump exceeded his authority by imposing a blanket ban on asylum at the southern US border, blocking the decision.
- The media company Paramount has signed a $16m settlement with Trump after the president alleged the TV news programme 60 Minutes deceptively edited an interview with his campaign rival, Kamala Harris.
The five Republican ‘no’ votes stalling Trump’s bill
These are the five Republican holdouts who have voted “no” in the procedural vote to advance the legislation:
- Rep Victoria Spartz of Indiana
- Rep Andrew Clyde of Georgia
- Rep Keith Self of Texas
- Rep Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania
- Rep Thomas Massie of Kentucky
In addition, eight Republicans have yet to vote. Members can change their vote at any point until voting closes.
Assuming all Democratic members are present and voting “no”, Trump can afford to lose only three Republican votes if the bill is to advance to a final vote.
Can US-brokered DRC-Rwanda deal deliver peace?
The conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), fuelled in part by its long history with neighbouring Rwanda, has created one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world.
With a US-brokered agreement between the DRC and Rwanda to end the conflict on the table, could there finally be peace?
Trump lambasts Republican hold outs, says it should be ‘easy vote’
As voting continues to stall in the House of Representatives on his Big Beautiful Bill, the US president wrote on his Truth Social platform that “FOR REPUBLICANS, THIS SHOULD BE AN EASY YES VOTE. RIDICULOUS!!!”
In a separate earlier post, Trump asked “What are the Republicans waiting for???”
“What are you trying to prove??? MAGA IS NOT HAPPY, AND IT’S COSTING YOU VOTES!!!” he said.
House split 217-207 against moving bill forward as vote rolls on
With the procedural vote on moving Trump’s bill forward stretching past the three-hour mark, the numbers are currently tilted against the president.
So far, 217 House Representatives have voted against advancing the legislation, including five Republicans, while 207 are in favour.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson can only afford to lose three Republican votes, meaning he will need to flip some holdouts in his party to move the legislation forward.
Members can change their vote until voting ends, and eight Republicans have still not voted.
Another Republican votes against advancing Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill
President Trump’s hopes of passing his Big Beautiful Bill have taken a blow as another Republican lawmaker, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, has voted “no” against a key procedural vote to advance the legislation.
The vote continues as House Speaker Mike Johnson has said he will keep it open “as long as it takes”, with CNN reporting that Republican leaders are working in real time to flip holdouts in a furious last-minute scramble.
“I’ll keep it open as long as it takes to make sure we’ve got everybody here and accounted for and all the questions answered,” Johnson told Fox News. “I made that commitment to my members.”
There are currently five “no” votes on the board, though this could change if Johnson’s appeals are successful, with eight Republican lawmakers yet to vote.
Trump says ‘MAGA not happy’ Republicans taking so long to pass bill
Trump took to social media to question why Republicans are taking so long to pass his “Big, Beautiful Bill”.
“Largest Tax Cuts in History and a Booming Economy vs. Biggest Tax Increase in History, and a Failed Economy,” Trump said. “What are the Republicans waiting for???”
“What are you trying to prove??? MAGA IS NOT HAPPY, AND IT’S COSTING YOU VOTES!!!”
Australia says US missile purchase shows commitment to defence spending
Australia’s Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy on Thursday confirmed the purchase of AIM-120C-8 and AIM-120D-3 missiles developed by US defence company Raytheon Technologies, with Canberra saying the $1.3bn deal underscores its commitment to defence spending.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who is yet to meet President Trump, has previously rebuffed Washington’s request for it to lift its long-term defence spending to 3.5 percent of gross domestic product.
The new supersonic missiles will be used by Australia’s F/A-18 and F-35 fighter jets and a new army brigade focused on striking aerial targets up to 500 kilometres (310 miles) away, Conroy said.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who met with her US counterpart Marco Rubio on Tuesday in Washington, said Australia had already committed to its largest peacetime increase in defence funding.
Lawyers of Abrego Garcia say he was severely mistreated in El Salvador prison
Lawyers for Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man returned to the US in early June after being wrongfully deported to his native El Salvador, say he suffered severe mistreatment in a high-security prison in the Latin American nation.
A court filing on Wednesday in the US District Court for the District of Maryland provided Abrego Garcia’s first firsthand description of his experience in the Salvadoran prison, CECOT.
“Plaintiff Abrego Garcia reports that he was subjected to severe mistreatment upon arrival at CECOT, including but not limited to severe beatings, severe sleep deprivation, inadequate nutrition, and psychological torture,” his lawyers said in the filing, adding that he lost 31 pounds (14kg) in his first two weeks there.
The Trump administration deported Abrego Garcia – a Maryland resident, whose wife and young child are US citizens – on March 15, despite a 2019 immigration court ruling that he not be sent to El Salvador because he could be persecuted by gangs.
Trump officials later called his removal an “administrative error”, and the Justice Department brought Abrego Garcia back to the US on June 6.
US families brace for devastating Medicaid cuts under Trump’s massive tax and spending plan
President Trump’s proposed tax and spending bill, dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill, could have significant consequences for millions of Americans relying on Medicaid.
The legislation, if approved, would cut approximately $1 trillion from the programme over the next decade, potentially leaving 12 million people without health insurance by 2034.
The bill introduces work requirements and stricter verification processes for Medicaid recipients, which some beneficiaries say are already causing issues with coverage.
Siemens says US has lifted chip software curbs on China: Report
Germany’s Siemens has received a notice from the US government saying restrictions on the export of chip design software to China have been lifted, Bloomberg News reported, citing a statement from the tech company.
Siemens has restored complete access to its software and technology for Chinese customers, Bloomberg reported.
The German company and the US Department of Commerce did not immediately respond to Reuters’s requests for comment.
Earlier on Wednesday, the US sent letters to ethane producers to rescind a restrictive licensing requirement on exports to China imposed last month.
Last week, the United States and China resolved issues over rare earth mineral and magnet shipments to the US, settling a dispute that had undermined a trade deal reached in May.
While the pair disputed rare earth trade issues, the US curbed aviation exports, including suspending licences for GE Aerospace to ship jet engines for the C919 of Chinese plane maker COMAC.
The US also suspended licences for nuclear equipment suppliers to sell to Chinese power plants and restricted exports, including from electronic design automation software makers Cadence Design Systems, Synopsys and Siemens EDA.
China’s Commerce Ministry said on Friday that following talks with the US, the countries have confirmed a framework under which China will review export applications for controlled items while the US will cancel corresponding restrictive measures.
Ralph Norman flips, says he will back bill after Trump assurances
Ralph Norman, one of several Republican holdouts who said he would vote against Trump’s bill “unless something changes”, has a short while ago announced he will back it in the procedural vote and final passage.
Norman of South Carolina told reporters on Wednesday that backing the bill is “the right thing to do at the right time”, explaining his change of heart by saying that he had received assurances from Trump that concerns will be addressed.
Norman said the president had given assurances during their meeting at the White House on Wednesday that concerns over the slower phase-out of green energy tax credits, as well as other conservative priorities, would be “dealt with”.
“We got clarification on what’s going to be enforced. We got clarification on how the [Inflation Reduction Act clean energy tax credits] were going to be dealt with. We got clarification on the tax cuts – and still we’ll be meeting tomorrow on the specifics of it. But no, I feel comfortable with this,” Norman said.
Tensions between two Republican wings on ‘Big Beautiful Bill’
There have been so many procedural hurdles, and it’s not looking too good because there is a vote going on now to bring this bill to the floor for debate, but already four Republican representatives have said no to that, and it only takes three of them defecting to make the measure not advance
But they can still change their mind before the vote closes, and it’s still currently open, and they’ve been known to do that in the past.
But what’s really at odds here is this division within the Republican Party itself.
There are the conservatives who are against adding to the national deficit by more than $3 trillion, and then there are the Republicans who are moderates who are opposed to these rather sharp cuts to Medicaid, which is the healthcare programme for the poorest Americans, and also cuts to food assistance to the needy.
And so all throughout the day, there has been this tension between these two wings.
Certainly, Trump himself has been laying on that pressure – being optimistic, saying that he believes there could still be a final vote tonight.
It’s still anyone’s guess, and it could certainly take all night before we have an outcome to this.
And if this House does not pass this current version of the bill, there is still a chance they could add changes to it, pass it then, but then it will go back to the Senate, and then we start this process all over again, which is what Trump has said he does not want to happen.
He wants to sign this legislation into law on Friday, on Independence Day.
More on Trump’s trade deal with Vietnam
Earlier, we reported that President Trump said he had struck a trade deal with Vietnam, in which he claimed “Vietnam will pay the United States a 20% Tariff on any and all goods sent into our Territory, and a 40% Tariff on any Transshipping”.
The exact terms of the deal are yet to be formally announced, but tariffs are almost always paid by the company that is buying and importing the goods, rather than the country from which the products are produced and exported.
Announcing the phone call between Trump and Vietnamese leader To Lam, Vietnamese state media made no mention of any deal in which Vietnam would be liable to pay the US-imposed tariffs.
In his Truth Social post, Trump also claimed that as part of the deal, “Vietnam would accept US products with a zero percent tariff”. Vietnam, Washington’s 10th-largest trading partner, has confirmed it will provide “preferential market access for US goods, including large-engine cars”.
We will bring you more information when we have it.
South Korea’s Lee says seeking mutually beneficial outcome from US trade negotiations
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung says he is doing his best to achieve a “mutually beneficial and sustainable” outcome from trade negotiations with the United States.
Lee made the comments during a news conference to mark his first 30 days in office.
House Republicans advance towards vote on Trump’s tax-cut bill
Republicans in the House of Representatives have moved closer towards advancing Trump’s massive tax-cut and spending bill, appearing to overcome concerns over its cost that had been raised by a handful of hardliners.
As lawmakers shuttled in and out of closed-door meetings, a procedural vote was held open for more than seven hours to give Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson time to convince holdouts to back the president’s signature bill. In the end, it passed 220-212 along party lines, an indication but not a guarantee that Trump may have won over sceptics.
One more preliminary vote was scheduled ahead of the main vote on the bill on the House floor, when minority Democrats, critical of cuts to social spending, were expected to make a final stand against the legislation.
Leaving Speaker Johnson’s office before the procedural vote closed, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer told Reuters that progress was being made.
“There’s going to be a vote tonight, and we’ll finish voting on the rule, and then we’ll do the debate. We’ll vote on the bill,” Emmer said.
Trump claims US illegal border crossings down to ‘lowest recorded numbers in US history’
Posting on Truth Social, President Trump said US Customs and Border Protection “only had 25,243 ‘Nationwide Encounters’ throughout the entire month” of June, with zero “illegal aliens” released into the country.
“America’s Borders are Safe and Secure, and the entire World knows it. All we need to do is keep it this way, which is exactly why Republicans need to pass ‘THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’,” he wrote.
President Trump’s border tsar, Thomas Homan, cited different figures for June, saying “total Border Patrol encounters for the entire month” amounted to “6,070”.
“President Trump has created the most secure border in the history of the nation and the data proves it. We have never seen numbers this low. Never,” Homan wrote.
Trump says ‘looks like’ House ready to vote tonight
With voting frozen in the House of Representatives on Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the US president has now claimed “it looks like the House is ready to vote tonight”.
“We had GREAT conversations all day, and the Republican House Majority is UNITED, for the Good of our Country, delivering the Biggest Tax Cuts in History and MASSIVE Growth,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Earlier, we reported that House Speaker Mike Johnson said he is trying to convince the holdouts in his party to back the controversial legislation and “we’re planning on a vote today”.
Diddy verdict raises questions over domestic abuse, power and coercion
The trial of music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has culminated in a verdict, after more than seven weeks of intense media scrutiny and testimony about drug-fuelled celebrity sex parties.
But beneath the salacious details, advocates say there are critical takeaways about how sexual violence is understood – and sometimes tolerated – within the criminal justice system.
On Wednesday, a federal jury in the United States delivered a split decision.
It found Combs guilty of transporting individuals to engage in prostitution, but not guilty of the weightier question of whether he engaged in sex trafficking or racketeering for flying girlfriends and sex workers to the parties he organised.
Read our full story here.
Trump to host African leaders to discuss ‘commercial opportunities’
President Trump will host leaders from five African nations in Washington next week to discuss “commercial opportunities”, the Reuters news agency reports, citing an unnamed White House official.
Trump will host leaders from Senegal, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia and Mauritania for a discussion and lunch at the White House on July 9, the official said on Wednesday.
“President Trump believes that African countries offer incredible commercial opportunities which benefit both the American people and our African partners,” according to the official.
The Trump administration will hold a wider summit for the five African countries from July 9-11, according to the Africa Intelligence and Semafor news outlets.
Another Republican signals hesitations over ‘Big Beautiful Bill’
House Republicans need every vote they can muster to pass President Trump’s signature legislation, the One Big Beautiful Bill.
But in the last couple of hours, another Republican has signalled he will not back the latest version of the bill, which was approved yesterday by the Senate.
“The Senate’s version of the BBB is morally and fiscally bankrupt,” Representative Keith Self of Texas wrote on social media. “We must get back closer to the House-passed version.”
That version passed on May 22.
Tesla sales slide amid Musk’s role in Trump’s government
The electric vehicle maker Tesla has announced a 13-percent drop in its global car sales over the last three months, compared to a year prior.
That time frame coincides with Tesla founder Elon Musk’s tenure in the White House, as part of President Trump’s second term.
Sales from April to June last year were at 443,956. But during that same period this year, they dropped to 384,122.
Critics point out that Musk’s car brand has faced a public backlash following his leadership role in Trump’s dramatic government-slashing initiative, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Musk and Trump have since had a public falling-out over the fate of the One Big Beautiful Bill.
House Speaker Mike Johnson says he expects to vote tonight
As voting remains frozen on Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, House Speaker Mike Johnson has said he is trying to convince the holdouts in his party to back the controversial legislation.
“We’re planning on a vote today,” he told reporters a short while ago, the Reuters news agency reports.
Trump is pressing lawmakers to get him the bill to sign into law by the July 4 Independence Day holiday, but with a narrow 220-212 majority, Johnson can afford no more than three defections from the Republican Party.
Trump’s claim of ‘final’ Gaza ceasefire deal yet to get backing from Hamas, Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet responded to Trump’s claim yesterday that Israel had accepted a “final proposal” for a 60-day ceasefire.
Hamas, meanwhile, has said it has received and is studying the proposal.
The Trump administration helped broker a ceasefire shortly after taking office in January, but the agreement collapsed in March of last year, when Israel renewed its military operation.
A new agreement has remained elusive as Israel has upped its attacks. To date, at least 57,012 Palestinians have been killed in the enclave.
Follow along with our live coverage of the war here.
Photos: House remains in limbo over Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill
The House of Representatives remains stalled over whether to pass President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, a collection of budget and policy priorities. Here are some of the images from today’s events, as Democrats rally against the legislation – and Republicans gather votes.
![Backed by fellow Democratic House members, US House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks on the steps of the US Capitol. Democrats excoriated the bill and urged their Republican colleagues not to cave into pressure to pass it. [Kevin Lamarque/Reuters]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025-07-02T144808Z_1795364843_RC2EEFA8Y7LS_RTRMADP_3_USA-CONGRESS-TAX-1751494946.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
![House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris speaks to reporters. Harris and other hardliners will have to come on board if the GOP is going to get the numbers needed to pass the bill. [Kevin Lamarque/Reuters]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025-07-02T184608Z_688460770_RC2HEFA66UO3_RTRMADP_3_USA-CONGRESS-TAX-1751494964.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C541&quality=80)
![Pizzas are delivered to the office of Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. Johnson spent the day trying to get Republican holdouts onboard. [Kevin Lamarque/Reuters]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025-07-02T184956Z_983707772_RC2GEFA6OJ3T_RTRMADP_3_USA-CONGRESS-TAX-1751494983.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C534&quality=80)
![Speaker of the House Mike Johnson speaks to the press, as Republican lawmakers struggle to pass the president's sweeping bill. [Annabelle Gordon/Reuters]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025-07-02T191154Z_317197342_RC2HEFAW0HP0_RTRMADP_3_USA-CONGRESS-TAX-1751494996.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
![Texan Congressman Chip Roy walks in Congress Wednesday. Roy is among the Republican holdouts who have critcised the bill for increasing deficit spending. [Annabelle Gordon/Reuters]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025-07-02T211007Z_324662581_RC2KEFANKHJN_RTRMADP_3_USA-CONGRESS-TAX-1751495009.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
![Democratic Conresswoman Madeline Dean holds a binder titled "Why would anyone vote for Trump's Terrible, Big Ugly Bill?" during Wednesday's session. [Annabelle Gordon/Reuters]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025-07-02T211140Z_2022574085_RC2KEFADNGOR_RTRMADP_3_USA-CONGRESS-TAX-1751495036.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
Columbia University student data stolen by politically motivated hacker, university says
A politically motivated hacker breached Columbia University’s data systems last week, stealing troves of student documents while briefly shutting down the school’s computer systems, a university official said Wednesday.
The June 24 cyberattack prompted widespread network outages on campus, locking students and staff out of their email accounts, coursework and video conference software for several hours. On the same day, images of President Donald Trump’s smiling face appeared on several public monitors across the Manhattan campus.
A spokesperson for Columbia declined to elaborate on the political motivations behind the attack. But officials described a highly sophisticated “hacktivist” who had gained access to private student records in an attempt to further a political agenda.
The spokesperson said it was unclear if the Trump photo display was connected to the data breach.
“We are investigating the scope of the apparent theft and will share our findings with the University community as well as anyone whose personal information was compromised,” the school said.
The cyberattack comes as Columbia remains in the crosshairs of the Trump administration, which has threatened to pull $400m in federal funds over what it claims is the school’s failure to protect Jewish students.
Negotiations over a possible settlement are ongoing. The university has already agreed to a host of changes demanded by Trump, including placing its Middle East studies department under new supervision and overhauling its rules for protests and student discipline.
Republican Massie suggests he is a sure vote against tax bill
Congressman Thomas Massie, a libertarian who has shown a willingness to oppose Trump’s agenda, explains the proverbial “Massie’s Law”.
“Where N = number of Republicans required to stop a bad bill, number of Republicans voting Nay = N-1,” Massie wrote in a social media post.
Massie appears to be suggesting that he is a guaranteed “no” vote on bills that he sees as bad, including Trump’s tax bill. Hence, the number of defectors needed to stop the bill should not include him; he’s already there.
Tipped workers say proposed tax benefits not worth the cuts to Medicaid and SNAP
At its surface, Trump’s bill promises to put more money in the pockets of servers, bartenders and other tipped workers. But it has been criticised by worker-centric advocacy groups and restaurant workers themselves, who caution against embracing it too quickly because it also comes with cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, which workers in the restaurant industry disproportionately rely on.
According to One Fair Wage, about 66 percent of tipped workers in the US don’t earn enough to pay federal income tax, so eliminating tax on tips wouldn’t help the majority of restaurant workers.
“More tipped restaurant workers would lose their Medicaid than would gain small tax benefits. This is not the right solution,” Saru Jayaraman, founder of the advocacy group One Fair Wage, told Al Jazeera.
“Why are these workers on Medicaid to begin with? Because they earn a sub-minimum wage and can’t afford to take care of themselves.”
To better understand why many restaurant workers feel the tax benefit falls short, read our full story here.
Trump calls on Fed Chair Powell to resign
The US president renewed his attacks on Jerome Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve.
“‘Too Late’ should resign immediately!!!” Trump said in a social media post, invoking a moniker he often uses to refer to Powell.
His comment was accompanied by a link to a Bloomberg article that quoted a similar call by Bill Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
Pulte had also urged Congress to investigate Powell over his response to lawmakers’ questions about a lavish renovation plan at the central bank.
Trump has had Powell in his crosshairs since returning to the White House in January. The president wants the independent US central bank, known as the Fed, to swiftly lower interest rates.
The Federal Reserve, however, has been conservative in its approach to cutting rates, citing economic uncertainty and the risk of inflation.
Fact Check: Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill does not let him delay or cancel elections
Social media users are falsely claiming that Trump’s sprawling tax bill will give the president undue influence over US elections.
“The reason the GOP isn’t concerned about the midterms and why they are pushing this bill is because it gives Trump power to cancel elections,” reads one X post. “If this bill passes – it’s the end of the country. Democracy is over.”
The bill contains no such provision. Here’s a closer look at the facts.
CLAIM: President Donald Trump’s tax bill will allow him to delay or cancel elections.
FACT: That’s false. There is nothing in the legislation that would allow Trump, or any future president, to stop an election from going forward. According to legal experts, a constitutional amendment would have to pass for anyone to have the ability to cancel a federal election. The timing of elections for federal offices is stipulated in federal law, and it is highly unlikely that Congress would pass a bill allowing the president to change that timing, experts said.
“Although President Trump might like to cancel or postpone an upcoming election if he thought his party was going to fare poorly, the One Big Beautiful Bill does not actually grant him that power,” said Barry Burden, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Elections Research Center and a political science professor.
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson called the false claims “obviously fake news”.
Burden and other experts agree that these allegations may stem from a misunderstanding of a section of the bill on judicial enforcement that was included in the version passed by the House. That section was removed from the bill after Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled that it violates the so-called Byrd Rule, which essentially bars policy matters in budget reconciliation bills.
Section 70302 could have made it easier for Trump to disregard federal court rulings, requiring parties seeking preliminary injunctions or temporary restraining orders to put down a “security”, such as a cash bond, before the court could issue contempt penalties.
Regardless, such a provision would not allow Trump to delay or cancel elections, even if he tried.
Voting remains frozen as the House speaker works on Republican holdouts
The speaker froze the voting for now, and is taking this time to meet with all those Republican members who are saying that they are concerned – and they fall into two camps. There are those who are the fiscal conservatives who are not supportive of the bill adding to the nation’s debt by more than $3 trillion, and then there are the Republican moderates who are equally unhappy with the bill cutting Medicaid, which is the federal safety net healthcare programme for America’s poorest and the disabled. If this bill is passed, some 11 million more Americans will lose their health insurance as a result.
So now, both of those groups are meeting separately with members of the White House, as well as with the Republican leadership, to try to see if they can be lulled into supporting this bill, even given their hesitations. There is a pressing deadline here – an artificial one, by the way, set by Donald Trump. He said he wants to sign this bill into law by Independence Day, which is just two days away (July 4th).
Where things stand with the bill
With the sun about to set on Washington, DC, Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill is progressing through the House of Representatives at a snail’s pace.
Hours-long procedural votes have been taking place all day, presumably to buy time for Speaker Mike Johnson to convince Republican holdouts to back the bill.
So far, several members who met with Trump earlier today have expressed willingness to back the proposal. But according to US media reports, a handful of legislators are still not convinced – enough votes to sink the bill.
The measure will need at least two more rounds of voting to pass: a procedural one to end the debate and the final vote on the bill itself.
Obama rallies against Trump’s tax bills
Former Democratic President Barack Obama says Trump’s tax proposal would cut healthcare benefits for millions of Americans.
“If the House passes this bill, it will increase costs and hurt working class families for generations to come. Call your representative today and tell them to vote no on this bill,” he said in a social media post.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is denied bail after mixed verdict clears him of top charges in sex crimes case
A judge has declined to grant bail to Sean “Diddy” Combs, potentially allowing the hip-hop mogul to be freed to await sentencing in his sex crimes case.
The bond decision issued Wednesday came after a jury earlier in the day convicted Combs of federal prostitution-related offences but acquitted him of sex trafficking and racketeering charges.
Combs, 55, has been behind bars since his arrest in September.
The Grammy-winning impresario stands convicted of two counts of a crime – transportation to engage in prostitution – that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. But jurors cleared him of charges that could have put him behind bars for life.
His lawyers argued that the acquittal on those counts changed the legal landscape enough that he should be freed on a $1m bond. Prosecutors said he remained a flight risk.
Judge Arun Subramanian said the applicable law didn’t allow for Combs’s release at this point.
Among other reasons, the judge noted Combs’s violent history: “At trial, the defence conceded the defendant’s violence in his personal relationships, saying it happened with Cassie and Jane.”
As the judge spoke, Combs remained stoic with his hands in his lap.
New CIA report criticises investigation into Russia’s support for Trump in 2016
A declassified CIA memo has challenged the work intelligence agencies did to conclude that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election because it wanted Republican Donald Trump to win.
The memo released Wednesday was written on the orders of CIA director John Ratcliffe, a Trump loyalist who spoke out against the Russia investigation as a member of Congress. It finds fault with a 2017 intelligence assessment that concluded the Russian government, at the direction of President Vladimir Putin, waged a covert influence campaign to help Trump win.
It does not address that multiple investigations since then, including from the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee in 2020, reached the same conclusion about Russia’s influence and motives.
The eight-page document is part of an ongoing effort by Trump and close allies who now lead key government agencies to revisit the history of a long-concluded Russia investigation, which resulted in criminal indictments and shadowed most of his first term but also produced unresolved grievances and contributed to the Republican president’s deep-rooted suspicions of the intelligence community.
The report is also the latest effort by Ratcliffe to challenge the decision-making and actions of intelligence agencies during the course of the Russia investigation.
![CIA Director John Ratcliffe at his swearing in ceremony in Washington, DC, onJanuary 23, 2025. On Wednesday, the CIA released a memo of Ratcliffe's criticizing the investigation into Russian election interference. [Nathan Howard/Reuters]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025-01-23T214955Z_1398745575_RC2XFCAXFISG_RTRMADP_3_USA-TRUMP-RATCLIFFE-1751490532.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
Former January 6 rioter sentenced to life in prison for FBI attack plot
Upon taking office for a second term, President Trump issued a pardon to nearly all of his supporters involved in the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
The extent of that pardon, however, cropped up in a case in Tennessee, where a former January 6 rioter was convicted of a plot to attack the Knoxville office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Edward Kelley was convicted last November of conspiring to murder federal employees, influencing federal officials by threat and solicitation to commit a violent crime.
According to prosecutors, Kelley planned to retaliate against officers who were involved in his arrest after the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
“The proof at trial established that Kelley targeted law enforcement because of their anticipated role in the civil war that Kelley hoped to initiate and because of his animus towards those who participated in his May 2022 arrest and search of his home,” prosecutors wrote in court filings.
His defence team had attempted to use Trump’s pardon to overturn Kelley’s conviction. But the court refused.
On Wednesday, US District Judge Thomas Varlan sentenced Kelley to life in prison for the FBI assassination plot.
Iranian nuclear programme degraded by up to two years, Pentagon says
The Pentagon has said that Iran’s nuclear programme has been degraded by up to two years following US strikes that it says destroyed the three sites targeted by the United States.
Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesperson, offered the estimate at a briefing to reporters on Wednesday, adding that the official estimate was “probably closer to two years”.
Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Patty Culhane stressed that the briefing doesn’t undermine President Trump’s repeated claim that Iran’s nuclear program was “obliterated”.
“He’s not taking back what the president has said, that the facilities were completely obliterated. He’s just now simply saying, without explaining what would seem to be a contradiction, that the assessment now is that any enrichment, any factor of the nuclear weapon, has been set back by two years,” she said.
Suspect in University of Idaho quadruple murder pleads guilty
It was a case that sparked a nationwide manhunt: the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students in 2022.
The town of Moscow, Idaho, had not experienced a homicide in five years. But that changed on November 13, 2022, when Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen were discovered dead in a house rental.
On Wednesday, a graduate student from Washington State University named Bryan Kohberger pleaded guilty to their murders, in exchange for avoiding the death penalty.
He was arrested at his parents’ house in Pennsylvania a few weeks after the crime.
As part of his plea deal, Kohberger will serve four life sentences and cannot appeal. A sentencing hearing is set for July 23.
Many Republicans still have reservations about the bill
Republicans in the House of Representatives are hoping to hold a vote on the president’s spending bill by Wednesday evening, but that is proving difficult, given the fact that there are many who still hold reservations about the bill.
Trump today held meetings with moderate Republicans as well as further right Republicans known as the Freedom Caucus here at the White House. He’s trying to get every vote, given the fact that even though Republicans hold the majority in the House of Representatives, in order to get this passed, the White House and Republicans can only afford to lose a handful of Republican votes.
The Republicans who are sceptical fear this is going to create an even larger federal deficit, something the Congressional Budget Office does back up – increasing the debt by some $3.3 trillion.
And when it comes to Democrats, they are opposed to the fact that this could hurt the working class Americans who rely on Medicaid – the government health insurance programme for low income Americans. A handful of Republicans hold this same concern, given that this is something that is a concern to many rural Americans.
That’s why, again, the US president has been working the phones on Wednesday, trying to get this across the finish line and to a final vote and get this passed by his arbitrary deadline of July 4.
Here is the math in the House
Ultimately, the passage or failure of Trump’s tax bill in the House is a numbers game.
Republicans have a 220-212 majority. Three seats – previously held by Democrats who died this year – remain vacant.
If the Democrats remain unanimous in their opposition to the bill, they will need four Republican defections to sink the proposal.
A 216-216 vote would not be enough for the legislation to pass. A legislative measure cannot be adopted without a simple majority.
Vice President JD Vance cast the tie-breaking vote for the bill in the Senate on Tuesday to push it over the line, but he does not have that authority in the House.
Congressional Black Caucus holds briefing against ‘Big Beautiful Bill’
Standing outside the Capitol, members of the Congressional Black Caucus, a nonpartisan but largely Democratic body, voiced their opposition to Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill”.
“The swamp math just doesn’t work,” said Representative Gwen Moore of Wisconsin, as she cast doubt on Republican claims that the budget-and-spending bill would boost the US economy.
“The White House and the Republicans in Congress have agreed that we’re going to have never-before-seen growth from these tax cuts. Well, I’ve old enough to know that, in the last 45 years of trickle-down theories, that we ain’t seen one drop of trickle. And this bill is no different. Tax cuts do not pay for themselves.”
A fellow Democrat, Representative Robin Kelly of Illinois, warned that the bill would only heighten the public health crisis unfolding in the US.
“ Republicans are stealing our healthcare. They’re closing our hospitals and health clinics. They are exacerbating gun violence and maternal mortality,” she said. “Simply put, this bill is deadly.”
Critics of the One Big Beautiful Bill have warned that cuts to the government health insurance programme Medicaid could leave more than 11 million additional people uninsured.
What was Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs found guilty of – and what’s next?
Earlier today, a New York jury found musician Sean “Diddy” Combs guilty of prostitution-related offences but cleared him of more serious charges after a federal criminal trial.
The weekslong trial saw two of the music mogul’s former girlfriends – singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and a second woman referred to as “Jane” – testify that Combs physically and sexually abused them.
While Combs was acquitted of racketeering conspiracy and two counts of sex trafficking, he was convicted of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, which each come with a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Lawyers for Combs asked that he be released on bail. His sentencing will come at a later date.
Catch up on the case with our explainer here.
Pentagon confirms ‘review’ on aid to Ukraine
Defense Department spokesperson Sean Parnell says the US is conducting a “capability review” of military assistance to Ukraine, without elaborating or confirming reports that Washington has halted the transfer of missiles and ammunition to Kyiv.
“The Department of Defense continues to provide the president with robust options regarding military aid to Ukraine, consistent with his goal of bringing this tragic war to an end,” Parnell told reporters.
“And at the same time, the department is rigorously examining and adapting its approach towards achieving this objective while also preserving US military readiness and defence priorities that support the president’s ‘America First’ agenda.”
He added that the Pentagon will not be providing updates on specific weapons sent to Ukraine.
Attorney General Bondi calls UPenn transgender athlete decision a ‘win’
Attorney General Pam Bondi has applauded President Trump for his efforts to restrict transgender participation in school sports, a day after the administration settled a case with the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn).
The prestigious Ivy League university, and Trump’s alma mater, had previously been the subject of a federal civil rights case for its policy of allowing transgender athletes to compete.
The most famous among them was Lia Thomas, whose athletic achievements in women’s swim competitions have sparked controversy. She was the first openly transgender swimmer to win a Division I title in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
As part of this week’s agreement, the University of Pennsylvania agreed to strip Thomas of her school athletic records and acknowledge that her participation in swim meets “disadvantaged” other participants. The school was also required to send personalised letters apologising to Thomas’s competitors.
“This win is in large part because @POTUS [the president of the United States] did not give up on this fight to protect women in women’s sports,” Bondi said on Wednesday.
She also warned that the Justice Department would continue to “investigate any violations” of Trump’s policy against transgender people in women’s sports.
“@TheJusticeDept will always protect women and girls across this country,” she said.
