Mullin says he is ‘very confident' Senate will pass Trump megabill
'How confident are you that the bill will pass, senator?' NBC News's Kristen Welker asked on 'Meet the Press.'
'We're very confident,' Mullin replied. 'Listen, Kristen, the hardest part was getting on the bill.'
'What we mean by getting on the bill is once we pass the House version, which is what we passed last night, then we put our amendments on it, and we go into debate,' he added.
On Saturday, Senate Republicans narrowly voted to advance a 1,000-page bill to enact Trump's agenda, despite opposition from two of their members.
Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) both voted against advancing the package. Paul has opposed a provision to increase the debt limit by $5 trillion, while Tillis said the bill would cost North Carolina $38.9 billion in federal Medicaid funding.
'I cannot support this bill in its current form. It would result in tens of billions of dollars in lost funding for North Carolina, including our hospitals and rural communities,' Tillis said in a prior statement.
'This will force the state to make painful decisions like eliminating Medicaid coverage for hundreds of thousands in the expansion population, and even reducing critical services for those in the traditional Medicaid population,' he added.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump tariffs live updates: Trump announces Vietnam deal as US-China trade tensions ease
The US has eased export restrictions on China for chip design software and ethane, a sign that trade tensions are calming between the two countries. Software firms like Synopsys (SNPS), Cadence (CDNS) and Siemans (SIEGY) said they will now sell their chip design tools to Chinese customers again. The US also removed limits on ethane exports to China that it had set just weeks ago. President Trump on Wednesday said he had reached a trade deal with Vietnam, one week ahead of a July 9 deadline for tariffs to snap back to higher levels for US partners. Trump said Vietnam's goods imported to the US would face a 20% tariff, lower than the 46% tariff he had levied as part of his "Liberation Day" plans but higher than the blanket 10% tariff currently in effect. He also said Vietnamese goods would face a higher 40% tariff "on any transshipping" — when goods shipped from Vietnam originate from another country, like China. Trump said that US goods exported to Vietnam would not face a tariff. "In other words, they will 'OPEN THEIR MARKET TO THE UNITED STATES,'" Trump wrote on Truth Social. The deal would be the second the US has struck with a trade partner since Trump paused those sky-high "Liberation Day" duties, in addition to a pact with the United Kingdom. The US has also agreed with China on a framework to move toward a larger trade deal. Trump's July 9 deadline has come back in focus in recent weeks as more countries struggle to get over the hump. Trump earlier this week said negotiations with Japan had soured, saying he would force Japan to accept higher tariffs of "30%, 35%, or whatever the number is that we determine." Notably, that proposal is higher than the 24% "Liberation Day" level. 'I'm not sure we're going to make a deal," Trump said. "I doubt it with Japan. They're very tough. You have to understand, they're very spoiled." With Japan as his jumping-off point, Trump renewed threats that he may stick to his self-imposed July 9 deadline for making trade deals and issue new tariff levels to trading partners, forgoing another pause to "Liberation Day" duties. "I'll be writing letters to a lot of countries," he said. Meanwhile, the European Union has signaled it was willing to accept a 10% universal tariff on many of its exports but is seeking exemptions for pharmaceuticals, alcohol, semiconductors, and commercial aircraft as part of a trade deal. On the North American front, Canada has scrapped its digital services tax that was set to affect large US technology companies. The White House said trade talks between the two countries had resumed after Trump threatened to cut off trade talks. Read more: What Trump's tariffs mean for the economy and your wallet Here are the latest updates as the policy reverberates around the world. The US has removed export restrictions on chip design software and ethane shipments to China, easing trade tensions between the two countries. China recently made concessions over its rare earth export controls. Software companies Synopsys (SNPS), Cadence (CDNS) and Siemens (SIEGY) said they will now restore access for their Chinese customers. These firms develop important electronic design automation tools used in chipmaking. The US also lifted licensing rules for ethane producers. Earlier restrictions were part of Trump's response to China blocking rare earth exports, which had disrupted supply chains for cars, aerospace and defence industries. Reuters reports: Read more here. President Trump had targeted Vietnam with some of the highest tariffs of any country on his April "Liberation Day." That's at least partly because he and top advisers have made Vietnam an example of a country that is allegedly "ripping off" the US. Vietnam has become the US's 10th-largest trade partner, according to US Census data. And it is the seventh-largest source of imports, sending goods worth over $130 billion. It contains factories for some of the biggest US-based apparel makers, including Nike (NKE) and Lululemon (LULU). Vietnam became a destination for companies looking to diversify manufacturing as US-China tensions escalated over the past decade. Vietnam's trade surplus with the US ballooned to over $123 billion last year. This year's US trade deficit with Vietnam stood over $50 billion through just April as companies raced to move more operations out of China. President Trump followed up his previous announcement of a trade deal with Vietnam with some additional details on social media. "It is my Great Honor to announce that I have just made a Trade Deal with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam after speaking with To Lam, the Highly Respected General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam," Trump posted on Truth Social. Trump wrote that the two sides agreed to a 20% tariff rate on all goods sent from Vietnam to the US and a 40% tariff rate on transshipment — essentially, when goods from China or other countries are routed through Vietnam. Tariffs on goods from the country were previously set to return to 46% on July 9. Vietnam also lowered tariffs on US goods to zero, Trump said, and is lowering trade barriers. The president suggested US automakers could introduce more SUVs to the Southeast Asian country. "In return, Vietnam will do something that they have never done before, give the United States of America TOTAL ACCESS to their Markets for Trade," Trump wrote. "In other words, they will 'OPEN THEIR MARKET TO THE UNITED STATES,' meaning that, we will be able to sell our product into Vietnam at ZERO Tariff." The US and Vietnam are said to be very close to a establishing a trade framework that will see goods given a scaled range of tariffs depending on the percentage of foreign content, according to people familiar with the talks. Reuters reports: Read more here. Tariffs have hit electric vehicle maker, Rivian (RIVN) who reported a sharp fall in second-quarter deliveries on Wednesday as demand for its EVs took a hit from competition and tariff-driven economic uncertainty. Reuters reports: Read more here. President Trump said that his administration has struck a preliminary trade agreement with Vietnam a week before the self-imposed deadline of July 9. "I just made a Trade Deal with Vietnam. Details to follow!" Trump posted on Truth Social. While we don't yet know the details of the deal, Vietnam had been seeking to secure tariffs in the range of 20% to 25%, below Trump's "Liberation Day" rate of 46% for goods from the country, according to a Bloomberg report. The US had been looking to stop the flow of goods from China that had been rerouted through Vietnam to circumvent tariffs. Vietnam had offered to remove all tariffs on US goods and step up trade enforcement, according to people familiar with the talks. When President Trump imposed his 25% tariffs on imported Japanese cars, the expectation had been higher sticker prices for US consumers and a drop in sales. It was expected that the added costs to exporters would be passed on to the consumer. However, the policy has been in place for months and the outcomes has proven far less intense. Bloomberg News reports: Japanese automakers' US sales have shown surprising resilience. Toyota (TM), for example, hit a global sales record in May, with North America sales up more than a tenth. Part of that is thanks to their local US production. Read more here. A key group of US employers would face direct costs of $82.3 billion from President Donald Trump's current tariff plans. These costs could lead companies to hike prices, layoff staff, lead to hiring freezes and lower profit margins, according to analysis by the JP Morgan Institute. AP reports: Read more here. Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has blasted American cars, saying they are a tough sell in Japan. Ishiba added that his government needs to discuss with the US how to boost car imports from America. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. As the US gets ready to celebrate its Independence Day on July 4, the day it was liberated and rebelled against British rule, there is still one area that it may still be dependent on and thats China. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. For many companies, the process from manufacture to sales has always started in China. When Plufl co-founders, Yuki Kinsohita and Noah Sliverman, began making dog beds for humans and pitched their prototype to Shark Tank in 2022, they envisioned making their plush, memory foam beds in China and selling them at retail in the US for $299. Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner both invested $200,000 for a 20% share in the business, which went on to make over $1 million in sales in 2023, via Amazon and on their company website. However, this dream changed overnight when President Trump slapped a 145% tariff on items imported from China in April. The business leaders sprang into action and started to look at retailers and whether they would be interested in selling a US-made version of the human dog beds. Reuters reports: Read more here. The risk that tariffs pose to the global economy have never been more real and now for Italy the macroeconomic pressures that President Trump's tariffs bring are very concerning, with the head of the main Italian lobby saying on Wednesday that Italy risks losing around $23.6 billion in exports and 118,000 jobs if the US imposes tariffs of 10%. Reuters reports: Read more here. If investors are expecting a seasonal lift for Asian equities this summer, they may have to think again. Tariff pressures and macroeconomic concerns have started to dampen sentiment. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. For several months, the back and forth between the US and Japan has been an ongoing concern as the two parties attempt to reach a trade deal and avoid skyrocketing tariffs. Now Trump has threatened Japan with tariffs of up to 35%. This is a worst-case scenario for Japan and has started to raise doubts over Tokyo's tactics in trade talks. "Japan should be forced to pay 30% or 35% or whatever number we determine, because we have a very big trade deficit with Japan," Trump said on Tuesday, calling the country "spoiled." Experts have warned about taking Trump's comments at face value and believe that a deal will get done. However, they have also said that now is perhaps the time for Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to take a less friendly stance when it comes to trade negotiations. 'There is some risk of a US tantrum that results in higher punitive actions by Washington this month,' said Kurt Tong, a former senior US diplomat in Asia who's now a managing partner at the Asia Group. 'If that happens, Japan may have no choice but to hit back with its own specific countermeasures.' Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. President Trump on Tuesday, amid days of renewed whiplash on the tariff front, suggested he wouldn't extend a July 9 deadline for higher tariffs to resume on trade partners. He also threatened a tariff level on goods from Japan that would be higher than those he levied on the country in April. From Bloomberg: Notably, that 30% or 35% would be a higher level than the 24% he had laid out as part of his "Liberation Day" duties. Bloomberg added that Trump "sounded more optimistic" about an agreement with India. Read more here. US manufacturing remained weak in June. New orders were low and input costs went up slightly. This shows Trump's tariffs on imports are still making it hard for businesses to plan. Reuters reports: Read more here. The European Union has hardened its stance in trade trade talks with US President Donald Trump and are insisting the US drops its tariffs on the EU immediately as part of any framework deal ahead of the July 9 deadline. Trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič has been told he must take a tougher line on his trip to Washington this week as Brussels attempts to remove or at least cut Trump's levies in the long term. The FT reports: Read more here. Bloomberg reports: Read more here. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that tariffs are causing the central bank to take its time before cutting interest rates. Powell is speaking today about the Fed's policy stance at an ECB forum in Sintra, Portugal. When asked if the Fed would have cut interest rates by more by now if it weren't for higher tariffs, Powell stated, "I think that's right." "In effect, we went on hold when we saw the size of the tariffs," Powell continued. "Essentially, all inflation forecasts for the United States went up materially as a consequence of the tariffs." Powell noted that the US economy remains healthy overall but that he expects to see the effects of tariffs if they filter through the economic data in the coming months. In recent days, Powell has faced increased pressure from President Trump to lower interest rates, including in the form of handwritten notes. "Ignore the tariffs for a second," Powell said of the economy. "Inflation is behaving pretty much exactly as we have expected and hoped that it would. We haven't seen effects much yet from tariffs, and we didn't expect to by now." Watch Powell speak live below: Perhaps the moral of this story really is — as Amex likes to say — "Don't leave home without it." Nowhere was this more true than for CEO Robert Keeley, who when faced with an $11,000 tariff bill decided to cash in 1.83 million American Express reward points to pay it. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. The US has removed export restrictions on chip design software and ethane shipments to China, easing trade tensions between the two countries. China recently made concessions over its rare earth export controls. Software companies Synopsys (SNPS), Cadence (CDNS) and Siemens (SIEGY) said they will now restore access for their Chinese customers. These firms develop important electronic design automation tools used in chipmaking. The US also lifted licensing rules for ethane producers. Earlier restrictions were part of Trump's response to China blocking rare earth exports, which had disrupted supply chains for cars, aerospace and defence industries. Reuters reports: Read more here. President Trump had targeted Vietnam with some of the highest tariffs of any country on his April "Liberation Day." That's at least partly because he and top advisers have made Vietnam an example of a country that is allegedly "ripping off" the US. Vietnam has become the US's 10th-largest trade partner, according to US Census data. And it is the seventh-largest source of imports, sending goods worth over $130 billion. It contains factories for some of the biggest US-based apparel makers, including Nike (NKE) and Lululemon (LULU). Vietnam became a destination for companies looking to diversify manufacturing as US-China tensions escalated over the past decade. Vietnam's trade surplus with the US ballooned to over $123 billion last year. This year's US trade deficit with Vietnam stood over $50 billion through just April as companies raced to move more operations out of China. President Trump followed up his previous announcement of a trade deal with Vietnam with some additional details on social media. "It is my Great Honor to announce that I have just made a Trade Deal with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam after speaking with To Lam, the Highly Respected General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam," Trump posted on Truth Social. Trump wrote that the two sides agreed to a 20% tariff rate on all goods sent from Vietnam to the US and a 40% tariff rate on transshipment — essentially, when goods from China or other countries are routed through Vietnam. Tariffs on goods from the country were previously set to return to 46% on July 9. Vietnam also lowered tariffs on US goods to zero, Trump said, and is lowering trade barriers. The president suggested US automakers could introduce more SUVs to the Southeast Asian country. "In return, Vietnam will do something that they have never done before, give the United States of America TOTAL ACCESS to their Markets for Trade," Trump wrote. "In other words, they will 'OPEN THEIR MARKET TO THE UNITED STATES,' meaning that, we will be able to sell our product into Vietnam at ZERO Tariff." The US and Vietnam are said to be very close to a establishing a trade framework that will see goods given a scaled range of tariffs depending on the percentage of foreign content, according to people familiar with the talks. Reuters reports: Read more here. Tariffs have hit electric vehicle maker, Rivian (RIVN) who reported a sharp fall in second-quarter deliveries on Wednesday as demand for its EVs took a hit from competition and tariff-driven economic uncertainty. Reuters reports: Read more here. President Trump said that his administration has struck a preliminary trade agreement with Vietnam a week before the self-imposed deadline of July 9. "I just made a Trade Deal with Vietnam. Details to follow!" Trump posted on Truth Social. While we don't yet know the details of the deal, Vietnam had been seeking to secure tariffs in the range of 20% to 25%, below Trump's "Liberation Day" rate of 46% for goods from the country, according to a Bloomberg report. The US had been looking to stop the flow of goods from China that had been rerouted through Vietnam to circumvent tariffs. Vietnam had offered to remove all tariffs on US goods and step up trade enforcement, according to people familiar with the talks. When President Trump imposed his 25% tariffs on imported Japanese cars, the expectation had been higher sticker prices for US consumers and a drop in sales. It was expected that the added costs to exporters would be passed on to the consumer. However, the policy has been in place for months and the outcomes has proven far less intense. Bloomberg News reports: Japanese automakers' US sales have shown surprising resilience. Toyota (TM), for example, hit a global sales record in May, with North America sales up more than a tenth. Part of that is thanks to their local US production. Read more here. A key group of US employers would face direct costs of $82.3 billion from President Donald Trump's current tariff plans. These costs could lead companies to hike prices, layoff staff, lead to hiring freezes and lower profit margins, according to analysis by the JP Morgan Institute. AP reports: Read more here. Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has blasted American cars, saying they are a tough sell in Japan. Ishiba added that his government needs to discuss with the US how to boost car imports from America. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. As the US gets ready to celebrate its Independence Day on July 4, the day it was liberated and rebelled against British rule, there is still one area that it may still be dependent on and thats China. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. For many companies, the process from manufacture to sales has always started in China. When Plufl co-founders, Yuki Kinsohita and Noah Sliverman, began making dog beds for humans and pitched their prototype to Shark Tank in 2022, they envisioned making their plush, memory foam beds in China and selling them at retail in the US for $299. Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner both invested $200,000 for a 20% share in the business, which went on to make over $1 million in sales in 2023, via Amazon and on their company website. However, this dream changed overnight when President Trump slapped a 145% tariff on items imported from China in April. The business leaders sprang into action and started to look at retailers and whether they would be interested in selling a US-made version of the human dog beds. Reuters reports: Read more here. The risk that tariffs pose to the global economy have never been more real and now for Italy the macroeconomic pressures that President Trump's tariffs bring are very concerning, with the head of the main Italian lobby saying on Wednesday that Italy risks losing around $23.6 billion in exports and 118,000 jobs if the US imposes tariffs of 10%. Reuters reports: Read more here. If investors are expecting a seasonal lift for Asian equities this summer, they may have to think again. Tariff pressures and macroeconomic concerns have started to dampen sentiment. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. For several months, the back and forth between the US and Japan has been an ongoing concern as the two parties attempt to reach a trade deal and avoid skyrocketing tariffs. Now Trump has threatened Japan with tariffs of up to 35%. This is a worst-case scenario for Japan and has started to raise doubts over Tokyo's tactics in trade talks. "Japan should be forced to pay 30% or 35% or whatever number we determine, because we have a very big trade deficit with Japan," Trump said on Tuesday, calling the country "spoiled." Experts have warned about taking Trump's comments at face value and believe that a deal will get done. However, they have also said that now is perhaps the time for Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to take a less friendly stance when it comes to trade negotiations. 'There is some risk of a US tantrum that results in higher punitive actions by Washington this month,' said Kurt Tong, a former senior US diplomat in Asia who's now a managing partner at the Asia Group. 'If that happens, Japan may have no choice but to hit back with its own specific countermeasures.' Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. President Trump on Tuesday, amid days of renewed whiplash on the tariff front, suggested he wouldn't extend a July 9 deadline for higher tariffs to resume on trade partners. He also threatened a tariff level on goods from Japan that would be higher than those he levied on the country in April. From Bloomberg: Notably, that 30% or 35% would be a higher level than the 24% he had laid out as part of his "Liberation Day" duties. Bloomberg added that Trump "sounded more optimistic" about an agreement with India. Read more here. US manufacturing remained weak in June. New orders were low and input costs went up slightly. This shows Trump's tariffs on imports are still making it hard for businesses to plan. Reuters reports: Read more here. The European Union has hardened its stance in trade trade talks with US President Donald Trump and are insisting the US drops its tariffs on the EU immediately as part of any framework deal ahead of the July 9 deadline. Trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič has been told he must take a tougher line on his trip to Washington this week as Brussels attempts to remove or at least cut Trump's levies in the long term. The FT reports: Read more here. Bloomberg reports: Read more here. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that tariffs are causing the central bank to take its time before cutting interest rates. Powell is speaking today about the Fed's policy stance at an ECB forum in Sintra, Portugal. When asked if the Fed would have cut interest rates by more by now if it weren't for higher tariffs, Powell stated, "I think that's right." "In effect, we went on hold when we saw the size of the tariffs," Powell continued. "Essentially, all inflation forecasts for the United States went up materially as a consequence of the tariffs." Powell noted that the US economy remains healthy overall but that he expects to see the effects of tariffs if they filter through the economic data in the coming months. In recent days, Powell has faced increased pressure from President Trump to lower interest rates, including in the form of handwritten notes. "Ignore the tariffs for a second," Powell said of the economy. "Inflation is behaving pretty much exactly as we have expected and hoped that it would. We haven't seen effects much yet from tariffs, and we didn't expect to by now." Watch Powell speak live below: Perhaps the moral of this story really is — as Amex likes to say — "Don't leave home without it." Nowhere was this more true than for CEO Robert Keeley, who when faced with an $11,000 tariff bill decided to cash in 1.83 million American Express reward points to pay it. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
With Geopolitical Tensions Running Hot, Buy This Dividend Stock
Global geopolitical tensions have eased somewhat after the fragile ceasefire between Iran and Israel. While global markets breathed a sigh of relief, some defense stocks understandably fell. That said, I believe global geopolitical tensions are now a structural story, with the U.S. continuing to closely watch Russia and China. Given the expectations, I find Lockheed Martin (LMT) stock a good buy. The stock is a play on rising global defense spending, trades at reasonable valuations, and its dividend yield has risen to almost 3% after the drawdown in the stock. Let's discuss in detail. With Geopolitical Tensions Running Hot, Buy This Dividend Stock Markets move fast. Keep up by reading our FREE midday Barchart Brief newsletter for exclusive charts, analysis, and headlines. Global defense spending is expected to rise significantly over the next decade, with NATO members (with the exception of Spain) committing to invest 5% of their respective GDPs in defense over the next 10 years. While nine NATO members did not meet the 2% target that the alliance set in 2014, there could be a sense of urgency now, given the rising threat from Russia. While the collective 5% target might still be missed, we can be reasonably sure that the alliance's defense spending will be significantly higher in the next 10 years than it was in the preceding. It is still early to say how much of the higher spend will be directed to U.S. companies, but it's nonetheless an opportunity for players like Lockheed Martin. U.S. allies in the Middle East are also ramping up defense spending. Elsewhere, India, which is among the major arms importers globally, might also bump up its defense spending following the recent clashes with rival Pakistan. The country's defense spending as a percentage of GDP has fallen below 2% and it might need to increase spending as it faces threats from both China and Pakistan. Historically, the country has bought the bulk of its defense equipment from Russia (and its predecessor the Soviet Union), but has been pivoting to Western suppliers. While the country does not buy a lot of defense equipment from the U.S. yet, President Donald Trump might push it to do so to address its trade surplus. Looking stateside, while Lockheed Martin missed out on the U.S. Air Force's Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, which was awarded to Boeing (BA), the company is a strong contender for the Golden Dome missile defense program. The company is positioning its portfolio for new-age warfare, and in February, it unveiled a system to counter unmanned aerial systems. Lockheed Martin's book-to-bill ratio was below 1 in Q1, which means it booked fewer orders than it billed during the quarter. However, the company had an order backlog worth $173 billion, which is more than two times its annual revenue. Lockheed Martin is expected to post mid-single-digit top-line growth in 2025 and 2026. Its earnings per share (EPS) is expected to fall around 4% this year, in part due to higher costs. Notably, 60% of LMT's contracts are fixed-price contracts, which means that the company cannot pass on higher costs to buyers. Its earnings are, however, expected to rise over 9% in 2026. Lockheed Martin stock trades at a forward price-earnings (P/E) of 16.8x, which looks reasonable. While there are headwinds, including from tariffs, and sentiment toward defense stocks has been subdued of late, I believe higher geopolitical tensions are here to stay, which will bolster the earnings of defense companies like Lockheed Martin. Wall Street analysts, however, have a mixed opinion on LMT, and it has 11 'Strong Buy' and 11 'Hold' ratings. One analyst rates the stock as a 'Strong Sell,' and its mean target price of $525.50 is 12.5% higher than its current price. Lockheed Martin has a dividend yield of 2.85% which is higher than other defense companies like RTX (RTX), General Dynamics (GD), and Northrop Grumman (NOC). At the same time, its current valuations are below these companies. LMT stock might fit into the portfolios of investors who want to play the rising global defense spending story with a high dividend stock. The stock's risk-return looks reasonably attractive, as while the valuations are not mouthwatering, they are good enough to make an entry into this defense stock. On the date of publication, Mohit Oberoi did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Sign in to access your portfolio
CNN
40 minutes ago
- CNN
Analysis: Many Americans want a third party. But where would it fit?
Americans are entrenched into their partisan corners, but the party lines keep moving in weird new ways. Republicans who grew up in the Grand Old Party might not recognize a party overtaken by the Make America Great Again movement. Democrats who cheered when President Bill Clinton declared the era of big government to be over might wonder how it is that a democratic socialist is their party's candidate for mayor of New York City. Others have followed Democratic expat and scion of Camelot Robert F. Kennedy Jr., with his Make America Healthy Again mantra, to vote for Trump. For a variety of structural reasons, two options is what most Americans get, even though poll after poll suggests few are happy with either party. Against that backdrop, it's interesting to consider Elon Musk's pledge to form an 'America Party,' an alternative to Republicans and Democrats, if President Donald Trump's megabill becomes law. 'Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE,' he wrote on his social media platform. Musk's primary concern is that the megabill adds to the national debt, he said – and not, as Trump alleges, that he's sore about the end of tax credits to encourage Americans to buy electric vehicles. The third-party pledge follows Musk's musings last month that the US needs a party 'that actually represents the 80% in the middle.' It's an interesting thought experiment to consider what the political middle might look like to a space and computer nerd and technocrat like Musk. He cares deeply about climate change and wants desperately for humans to be interplanetary and to live on Mars, but he opposes the megabill for all its government spending. He has strong thoughts about encouraging more American women to have babies, but thinks the addition of people to the country through illegal immigration is an existential threat to the US. The same thought experiment crossed my mind last month when Karine Jean-Pierre, who was White House press secretary under former President Joe Biden, announced in the run-up to the publication of her memoir that she's leaving the Democratic Party. 'We need to be clear-eyed and questioning, rather than blindly loyal and obedient as we may have been in the past,' she said in a statement to CNN. But it doesn't seem like Jean-Pierre's version of independence will be in the same galaxy as Musk's. One of the more interesting political campaigns of the coming months is likely to be the New York City mayor's race, in which the upstart Democrat (and democratic socialist) Zohran Mamdani will take on Eric Adams, the sitting mayor who is also a Democrat but is running as an independent. Also on the ballot as a 'Fight and Deliver' independent will be former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, another Democrat, although it's not clear if he'll seriously campaign between now and November. That's a lot of different versions of Democrats New Yorkers will be able to sort through. There are, of course, existing third parties in the US. The Green and Libertarian parties appear on most ballots for president, which means they have dedicated followings across the country, but they lack the power to get anyone elected to either the House or Senate. Former Rep. Ron Paul of Texas mounted presidential campaigns as both a Libertarian and a Republican, but he got the most traction as a libertarian-minded Republican. His son, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, is one of the few Republicans now willing to cross Trump and oppose the megabill. Paul, like Musk, is worried about the national debt. A senator closer to the middle, Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, did vote for the bill, but only after securing carveouts that will help her state – but could aggravate every other American. Murkowski is that rare moderate who can survive without party backing. She won a write-in reelection campaign – the triple lindy of politics – after losing the Republican primary in 2010. That was before her party veered even more toward Trump, but Murkowski recently told CNN's Audie Cornish there are more quiet centrist Americans than people realize. She's representing them, she said, even if Washington is a dangerous place to be a moderate. 'You're roadkill in the middle,' Murkowski told Cornish for her 'The Assignment' podcast. Another Republican who opposed the megabill is Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina. He said cuts to Medicaid would cost too many North Carolinians their health insurance. But prioritizing the people you represent rather than the national party is anathema in today's political environment. 'In Washington over the last few years, it's become increasingly evident that leaders who are willing to embrace bipartisanship, compromise, and demonstrate independent thinking are becoming an endangered species,' Tillis said in a statement Sunday. Fearing a primary and Trump's wrath, or maybe just tired of defending the shrinking middle ground in the Senate, Tillis also announced he would not seek reelection next year, which immediately made his North Carolina seat Democrats' top pickup priority. Democrats must hope that a moderate like former Gov. Roy Cooper will jump in the race and defy Democrats' national branding. Perhaps Cooper would play the same kind of role as former Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Manchin voted with Democrats most of the time, but his tendency to buck the party leadership made him a thorn in the side of progressives. Coincidentally, when Manchin left office, Democrats lost their majority in the Senate. On his way out the door, Manchin said it was time for a third-party alternative, but he opted not to run for president. Kennedy did run for president after leaving the Democratic Party and his ultimate support for Trump likely brought in some new support for the president, who is now letting Kennedy rethink US vaccine policy to the consternation of the scientific community. Kennedy is also trying to take on the food industry. Help from Kennedy's independents probably helped Trump win, but maybe not as much as the nearly $300 million Musk is known to have spent, mostly on Trump's behalf. Musk's political ventures may have now turned off Tesla's natural climate-concerned consumer base as well as the MAGA faithful. Regardless of the wealth he could spend, what middle would his America party fit into?
