The Latest: The House returns in a rush to pass Trump's bill

Republican leaders in the House are sprinting toward a Wednesday vote on President Donald Trump’s tax and spending cuts package, determined to seize momentum from a hard-fought vote in the Senate while essentially daring members to defy their party’s leader and vote against it. It’s a risky gambit designed to meet Trump’s demand for a July 4 finish.

Here's the latest:

GOP Rep. Tim Burchett says Trump gave assurances to House members in meeting

Burchett said Trump was “very forthright” with him and Freedom Caucus members at a meeting at the White House on Wednesday.

The meeting lasted nearly two hours with the president, and others in the room, including Vice President JD Vance, answering questions, Burchett said.

He said assurances were made to the members, including involving Medicaid.

“He answered a lot of my questions,” Burchett said, adding that he’s since talked to the president on the phone. “I still am not sure. I’m leaning in favor of the course.”

FDA official overruled government scientists on the availability of 2 COVID-19 vaccines

The Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine chief, Dr. Vinay Prasad, intervened to restrict approval of two new COVID-19 shots from vaccine makers Novavax and Moderna, newly released documents show.

FDA staff reviewers recommended the shots be approved for anyone 12 and older. But the FDA memos show Prasad limited the use to seniors and certain higher-risk Americans.

The vaccine restriction is the latest in a series imposed by officials working under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

▶ Read more about the restricted vaccine approvals

One of 2 Republicans who previously voted against Trump’s bill now says he’ll support it

Rep. Warren Davidson, of Ohio, had voted against Trump’s tax and spending bill back in late May. He announced Wednesday he’s now voting “yes.”

That’s a big pivot as Republican leadership looks to get the bill over the finish line. They can afford few defections.

Davidson posted on the social platform X: “This bill isn’t perfect, but it’s the best we’ll get & includes major wins.”

He then listed examples such as new Medicaid work requirements and enhanced food stamp work requirements. He also said it secures the border.

“For these reasons, I’m voting yes on both the rule and the One Big Beautiful Bill,” he said.

Trump ramps up attacks against Zohran Mamdani

The president is escalating his attacks against New York City’s Democratic nominee for mayor, 33-year-old self-described democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani.

In recent days, Trump has threatened to arrest him, deport him and even take over if he wins the general election in November.

Mamdani’s stunning, surprise victory over former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has given Republicans a new target as they seek to paint the entire Democratic Party as extreme and out of touch with voters heading into elections this fall.

▶ Read more about Trump’s attacks against the GOP’s new foe

Trump is once again calling for the Fed chair to resign

He continued his rising critiques of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell with a post on social media Wednesday once again calling for him to resign.

Trump shared an article on Truth Social about calls for Powell to be investigated over testimony he gave before Congress last week, but Trump said: “’Too Late’ should resign immediately!!!”

Trump has been hammering Powell for not cutting the Fed’s key short-term interest rate.

Trump to meet at White House with American hostage freed from Gaza

Trump and first lady Melania Trump will meet at the White House on Thursday with Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage in Gaza, who was released in May.

“The President and First Lady have met with many released hostages from Gaza, and they greatly look forward to meeting Edan Alexander and his family in the Oval Office tomorrow,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

Alexander, now 21, is an American Israeli from New Jersey. The soldier was 19 when militants stormed his base in Israel and dragged him into the Gaza Strip.

▶ Read more about the meeting

Pentagon spokesperson on Ukraine aid halt: ‘We can’t give weapons to everybody.’

The Pentagon’s chief spokesperson says the pause of weapons shipments to Ukraine is part of a review of military assistance to ensure it aligns with U.S. defense priorities.

Sean Parnell declined to specify the types or amounts of weaponry that will be withheld under the halt.

He says the pause does not reflect any concerns about the military’s ability to defend U.S. interests.

“We’re always assessing, you know, our munitions and where we’re sending them,” he told reporters. “We can’t give weapons to everybody all around the world.”

The Pentagon says US strikes ‘completely obliterated’ Iran’s nuclear sites

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell says the strikes in June set back Tehran’s nuclear program by more than a year.

“We’re thinking probably closer to two years,” Parnell told reporters at his second briefing since Trump’s latest term began.

“We destroyed the components they would need to build a bomb,” Parnell said. “We believe Iran’s nuclear capability has been severely degraded.”

The ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ and its impact on clean energy tax credits

The bill now in the House takes an ax to clean energy incentives, including killing a 30% tax credit for rooftop residential solar by the end of the year that the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act extended into the next decade.

Trump has called the clean energy tax credits in the climate law part of a “green new scam” that improperly shifts taxpayer subsidies to help the “globalist climate agenda” and energy sources like wind and solar.

Businesses and analysts say the GOP-backed bill will likely reverse the sector’s growth and eliminate jobs.

Karl Stupka, president of Raleigh-based NC Solar Now, says if the bill becomes law, companies will rush to finish as many solar jobs as they can before the credit ends. He believes he will have to lay off half of his 100 employees.

Federal judge finds a Trump order suspending asylum access at the southern border unlawful

The judge’s order throws into doubt one of the key pillars of Trump’s plan to crack down on migration at the southern border.

U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss says his order will take effect July 16, giving the Trump administration two weeks to appeal.

In an order signed Jan. 20, Trump declared the situation at the southern border constitutes an invasion of America and that he was “suspending the physical entry” of migrants and their ability to seek asylum until he decides it’s over.

Moss wrote that neither the Constitution nor immigration law gives the president “an extra-statutory, extra-regulatory regime for repatriating or removing individuals from the United States, without an opportunity to apply for asylum” or other humanitarian protections.

Alina Habba is formally nominated for US attorney in New Jersey

The White House posted the nomination of the president’s former counselor and defense lawyer to its website on Tuesday.

Habba is already serving in that role on an interim basis.

A spokesperson for the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmed that the panel has received the nomination.

The state’s two Democratic senators, Cory Booker and Andy Kim, said in a joint statement that Habba has already “degraded the office and pursued frivolous and politically motivated prosecutions” as interim prosecutor.

“It’s clear that Alina Habba does not meet the standard to serve the people of New Jersey,” they said.

‘We were promised’

Rep. Eric Burlison, a Freedom caucus member, says the changes the Senate made to the bill are simply unacceptable.

Burlison says Republican leaders promised “when we passed it to allow it to go to the Senate, that they would live up to the framework and any kind of tax cuts would be reciprocated with spending cuts.”

“And it doesn’t meet that framework. We were promised. And so it’s really about making people live up to the promises,” Burlison says.

Freedom Caucus chair says House votes lacking to advance Trump bill

GOP Rep. Andy Harris has predicted that a key procedural vote will fail, putting Trump’s tax and spending cuts bill in jeopardy of missing the president’s 4th of July deadline.

“The rules vote as is will fail,” said Harris, before walking into House Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s office.

Harris says he has not spoken to the president today. He says if Trump wants a bill “as soon as possible, he has to get the Senate back in town as soon as possible.

“Otherwise this is going to drag on until the end of next week,” said Harris.

CIA report examines investigations into Russia and the 2016 presidential election

The declassified report released Wednesday challenges the work intelligence agencies did to conclude that Russia interfered in the election because it wanted Trump to win.

The memo 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 does not address that multiple investigations, including by the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee in 2020, that reached the same conclusion about Russia’s influence and motives.

The report cites several “anomalies” that the authors say could have impacted conclusions that Russian President Vladimir Putin “aspired” to help Trump win. They include a rushed timeline and a reliance on unconfirmed information, including opposition research about Trump’s ties to Russia that was compiled by a former British spy, Christopher Steele, whose work was financed by Democrats.

Democrats use parliamentary tactics to present a united front

With limited time for debate, scores of Democrats are weighing in on the House floor with their opposition to Trump’s tax and spending cut bill.

One by one, the lawmakers are lining up and making a simple request: Amend a resolution before the House to protect against any cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., who is presiding over the chamber, is forced to explain to each speaker that he cannot entertain the request because of an objection from Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., who is leading the debate for Republicans.

Under House rules, the requests being made by Democrats must be cleared by majority and minority leadership before the chair will recognize them.

Democratic members know their effort is doomed, but the tactic gives them a chance to show their unity before the cameras and get their request defending Medicaid and SNAP into the Congressional Record.

Republican lawmakers leave White House meeting

Rep. Stephanie Bice posted a video of her and Rep. Dusty Johnson leaving the White House after conversations with Trump.

“I think we’re going to get it done, although it’s going to take a little bit of time today,” Johnson said.

Bice added, “Hopefully we can get this wrapped up by the end of the day.”

Education grants in limbo were used for a ‘radical leftwing agenda,’ the Trump administration says

The administration this week withheld more than $6 billion for after-school and summer programs, English language instruction, adult literacy and more, saying it would review the grants to ensure they align with Trump’s priorities.

The Office of Management and Budget said in a statement Wednesday that “many of these grant programs have been grossly misused.”

It says New York schools have used money for English language instruction to promote organizations that advocate for immigrants in the country illegally, and that Washington state used the money to direct immigrants without legal status toward scholarships that were “intended for American students.”

The agency says grant funds have also been used for a seminar on “queer resistance in the arts.”

GOP Rep. Jason Smith says he texted Trump to ‘encourage’

Trump on Wednesday shared on social media a text he received from Smith, in which the Missouri Republican thanked Trump for his “vision, leadership and determination.”

Smith tells The Associated Press he has heard Trump shared his text, and that he communicates with the president “quite often.”

“My text message to him this morning was to encourage,” Smith said, adding that he’s “never worked with someone in the executive that is engaging as much as President Trump.”

Air defense missiles are among the weapons the US is withholding from Ukraine, AP sources say

The Trump administration will hold back delivering some air defense missiles, precision-guided artillery and other weapons to Ukraine as part of its announced pause to some arms shipments. This comes amid U.S. concerns that its own stockpiles have declined too much, officials said.

The details on the weapons in some of the paused deliveries were confirmed by a U.S. official and former national security official familiar with the matter. They both requested anonymity to discuss what is being held up as the Pentagon has yet to provide details.

The pause includes some shipments of Patriot missiles, precision-guided GMLRS, Hellfire missiles and howitzer rounds. One official said other weaponry being held up includes the AIM-7 Sparrow, Stinger missiles and AT-4 grenade launchers.

Defense Department official Elbridge Colby says Pentagon officials have aimed to provide Trump “with robust options to continue military aid to Ukraine, consistent with his goal of bringing this tragic war to an end.”