Day 1597: "A very bad situation."

1/ Trump’s tax and spending bill would add $2.4 trillion to the federal deficit and push 10.9 million more Americans off health insurance by 2034, according to a new estimate by the Congressional Budget Office. The bill extends Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, eliminates taxes on tips, and imposes deep cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. The CBO projects $3.7 trillion in lost revenue and $1.3 trillion in spending cut – a $2.4 trillion increase in the deficit. The agency also said 7.8 million people would lose Medicaid coverage, including 5.2 million under new work requirements, and another 1.4 million would lose coverage due to immigration restrictions. Speaker Mike Johnson, nevertheless, dismissed the findings, saying, “We’re not buying the CBO estimates,” while Sen. Ron Johnson called the package “grotesque” and said: “I refuse to accept $2 trillion-plus deficits as far as the eye can see as the new normal.” Trump, meanwhile, continues to demand passage by July 4, while Elon Musk urged his followers to call their lawmakers and encourage them to “KILL the BILL.”(Associated Press / ABC News / New York Times / Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg / Politico / NBC News / CNBC)

2/ Marjorie Taylor Greene admitted that she didn’t read the Trump-backed spending bill before voting for it, saying she just discovered it includes a 10-year ban on state regulation of artificial intelligence. “Full transparency, I did not know about this section,” Greene said, adding, “I would have voted NO if I had known this was in there.” She now says she won’t support the bill when it returns from the Senate unless the AI language is removed. Rep. Mike Flood made a similar admission, saying he was unaware the bill limited judges’ ability to hold federal officials in contempt. The “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed the House by a single vote after a late-night scramble and pressure from Trump. Lawmakers were given hours to review the final 1,038-page text before the vote. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, meanwhile, downplayed Elon Musk’s criticism that the package is a “disgusting abomination” that would “massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit.” Johnson said Musk is “flat wrong, and I’ve told him as much,” while Thune added: “This is a 51-vote exercise […] and the alternative isn’t a good one.” (HuffPost / Daily Beast / Politico / New York Times / The Guardian / The Hill / Washington Post / USA Today)

3/ Trump raised tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 50% — more than doubling the rate imposed in March. He said the increase was needed because earlier tariffs “have not yet enabled” U.S. producers to reach sustainable capacity. Manufacturers, however, warned that it will raise prices on cars, appliances, and canned goods, and lead to job losses in industries that rely on imported metals. Tariffs on the UK, meanwhile, were left at 25% under a pending trade deal, though Trump said that could change by July 9. Canada called the tariffs a “direct threat to Canadian jobs,” while Mexico said they were “unsustainable” and would seek an exemption. (CNN / New York Times / Washington Post / Bloomberg / Axios / CNBC)

4/ Trump called Chinese leader Xi Jinping “VERY TOUGH, AND EXTREMELY HARD TO MAKE A DEAL WITH!!!” U.S.-China trade talks stalled less than a month into a 90-day pause on tariffs after China refused to lift export restrictions on rare earth minerals, which U.S. officials saw as a breach of the May 12 agreement. Trump responded by claiming China “TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US” and said he made a “FAST DEAL” to “save them from what I thought was going to be a very bad situation.” Beijing, however, denied violating the deal and called U.S. actions “groundless,” citing new restrictions on tech exports, student visas, and warnings against Huawei chips. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, meanwhile, said the talks were “a bit stalled” and likely required a call between Trump and Xi, though none has been confirmed. (CNBC / CNN / The Hill / Washington Post)

5/ Trump demanded the Federal Reserve cut interest rates after a private jobs report showed hiring slowed sharply in May, a drop economists linked to growing business uncertainty from his trade policies. ADP reported 37,000 new private-sector jobs – the weakest since March 2023 and far below expectations. “ADP NUMBER OUT!!! ‘Too Late’ Powell must now LOWER THE RATE. He is unbelievable!!! Europe has lowered NINE TIMES!” Trump posted immediately after the report’s release. Last week, Trump told Fed Chair Jerome Powell during a White House meeting that he was “making a mistake by not lowering interest rates.” Powell, however, told Trump that Fed policy “must be guided by objective economic data, not politics.” (CNBC / Axios / CNN / USA Today)

6/ Putin told Trump he’ll “have to respond” to Ukraine’s drone strike on Russian air bases housing strategic bombers, casting doubt on a ceasefire and undermining Trump’s repeated claims that he’d end the war “within 24 hours” of taking office. After a 75-minute call, Trump admitted it was “not a conversation that will lead to immediate Peace.” The Kremlin, meanwhile, accused Ukraine of stalling diplomacy through “terrorist acts,” including attacks on rail lines and bridges. Ukrainian officials dismissed the accusation and called Russia’s ceasefire offer an “ultimatum.” They pointed to continued Russian strikes on civilian areas and front-line advances during the talks as evidence that Moscow “has no genuine intention of ceasing hostilities.” (Associated Press / Politico / ABC News / Bloomberg / Axios / New York Times / Wall Street Journal / Washington Post / CNBC)

The midterm elections are in 517 days.

✏️ Notables.

• The Trump administration revoked federal guidance requiring hospitals to provide emergency abortions when needed to stabilize a patient’s condition. The guidance, issued in 2022 after the fall of Roe v. Wade, directed hospitals receiving Medicare funds to follow the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, which mandates stabilizing care in medical emergencies – even in states that ban the procedure. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the guidance “does not reflect the policy of this Administration” and promised to “rectify any perceived legal confusion.” (Associated Press / The Guardian / Bloomberg / New York Times / Washington Post / Axios)

• The Education Department said Columbia University may lose accreditation after determining it violated federal anti-discrimination law by failing to stop harassment of Jewish students. The department accused Columbia of “deliberate indifference” following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and formally notified its accreditor, which must now decide whether to penalize the school. “This is not only immoral, but also unlawful,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said. (Bloomberg / Axios / CNBC / Reuters)

• A federal judge blocked the Trump administration from deporting the wife and five children of the man charged with throwing Molotov cocktails at a pro-Israel rally in Boulder. Immigration officials detained the family and moved them to a Texas facility, despite a pending asylum case and no charges against them. The judge warned that deporting them “without process” could cause “irreparable harm.” Lawyers called the detentions “patently unlawful” and said that “punishing individuals for the crimes of their relatives violates the very foundations of a democratic justice system.” Mohamed Sabry Soliman told police he acted alone, planned the attack for over a year, and “never talked to his wife or family” about it. (New York Times / Washington Post / Politico / Wall Street Journal / NBC News)

• Federal prosecutors charged two Chinese nationals with smuggling a toxic plant pathogen into the U.S. that the FBI described as a potential “agroterrorism weapon.” Zunyong Liu entered Detroit Metro Airport in July 2024 with baggies of Fusarium graminearum hidden in tissues; he later admitted he brought it to conduct research at the University of Michigan, where Yunqing Jian worked. Investigators recovered messages between the pair discussing how to hide biological materials in shoes and books. (Reuters / NBC News / ABC News)

• The Justice Department dropped its civil lawsuit against former Trump adviser Peter Navarro over his use of a private email account and failure to return presidential records. The one-page filing offered no explanation and said both sides would “bear their own fees and costs.” The DOJ had accused Navarro of using a ProtonMail account to conduct official business and withholding records that should have gone to the National Archives. The Justice Department declined to explain the reversal. (Associated Press / CNN)