Latest news with #AlaskaDemocraticParty
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The Latest: House leaders rush toward a final vote as Democrats hold the floor
House Republicans are ready to vote on President Donald Trump's $4.5 trillion tax breaks and spending cuts bill early Thursday after staying up all night with GOP leaders and the president himself working to persuade skeptical holdouts to drop their opposition by his Fourth of July deadline. Final debates began in the predawn hours after another chaotic day and night at the Capitol following a series of closed-door meetings. Putting the bill on Trump's desk would be a milestone for the president and his party as Republicans have the votes to overcome Democratic opposition to a long list of GOP priorities. Trump's 'one big beautiful bill,' an 800-plus page package, is a defining measure of his return to the White House. Read what's in the full bill for yourself. Here's the latest: Alaska Democrats dial up pressure on Murkowski Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego says Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski 'folded like a cheap suit' on Trump's big bill. The newly elected Arizona senator spoke during a virtual town hall Wednesday night organized by the Alaska Democratic Party as it worked to dial up pressure on Murkowski, who faces re-election next year in a race crucial to Democrats in their difficult path to a Senate majority. Gallego decried the Alaska carveouts Murkowski secured in exchange for her vote, calling the deal the 'Kodiak kicker,' while Alaska's other Republican senator, Dan Sullivan, 'didn't even attempt to fight.' The bill hurts working class families nationwide, Gallego said, and Sullivan and Murkowski 'screwed and rigged these working class people to benefit the Uber rich.' US employers add a surprising 147,000 jobs despite uncertainty The American labor market continues to show surprising resilience despite uncertainty over Trump's economic policies. The unemployment rate ticked down 4.1% from 4.2% in May, the Labor Department said Thursday. Hiring rose modestly from a revised 144,000 in May and beat economists expectations of fewer than 118,000 new jobs as Trump's trade wars, the federal hiring freeze and immigration crackdown weigh on the American job market. U.S. applications for jobless aid fell to 233,000 last week as layoffs remain low. A survey released Wednesday by the payroll processor ADP found that private companies cut 33,000 jobs last month, reflecting a hesitancy to hire and a reluctance to replace departing workers. The president's deportations, meanwhile, are driving immigrants out of the U.S. labor force. Those working and looking for work fell by 625,000 in May, the biggest drop in a year and a half. What's in the Big Beautiful Bill Act At some 887 pages, the legislation includes tax breaks, spending cuts, a rollback of solar energy tax credits, new money for national defense and deportations. The bill does not eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits, despite what Trump says. The bill rolls back past presidential agendas: In many ways, the package is a repudiation of the agendas of the last two Democratic presidents, a chiseling away at the Medicaid expansion from Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act, and a pullback of Joe Biden's climate change strategies in the Inflation Reduction Act. Congressional Budget Office review: The nonpartisan CBO said Sunday the bill would pile nearly $3.3 trillion onto the nation's debt load from 2025 to 2034, a nearly $1 trillion increase over the House-passed version of the bill. The analysis also found that 11.8 million Americans would become uninsured by 2034 if the bill passed. White House: The big bill is kind of like the solution to a bad hair day With Trump's spending and tax cut bill nearing passage, the White House is getting creative in pitching it to Americans who haven't been closely following the debate over the legislation. The White House late Wednesday dropped a tongue-in-cheek video on social media that includes before and after shots of women who transform flat hair to voluminous bouffants as a narrator ticks off aspects of the bill that she says will make Americans' lives better. 'Are you tired of government promises falling flat? Do you go through an outrageous amount of stress just trying to get by?' the narrator intones as a woman screams in frustration over her bad hair day. 'Then bump it up with 'one big, beautiful bill' and get that relief fast and easy.' By the end of the short video, the screaming woman and others are sporting new hairdos that are markedly more voluminous. Hakeem Jeffries has been talking for three hours and counting Republican leadership spent much of the night and early morning persuading a handful of holdouts to support the Senate-approved tax cuts and spending bill. But now, House Speaker Mike Johnson appears to have the votes, and Democrats are standing in the way. As the House wrapped up its debate over passing Trump's agenda, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries used a tool known as the 'magic minute' that allows leaders unlimited time to speak. He started his address just before 5 a.m. ET. And it's still going. 'I'm going to take my time,' he said, before launching into a speech criticizing Republicans' deference to Trump, reading through personal accounts of people concerned about losing their health care coverage, and recounting American history. Eventually, Jeffries will end his speech, and Republicans will move to final passage of the bill.
San Francisco Chronicle
03-07-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
The Latest: House leaders rush toward a final vote as Democrats hold the floor
House Republicans are ready to vote on President Donald Trump's $4.5 trillion tax breaks and spending cuts bill early Thursday after staying up all night with GOP leaders and the president himself working to persuade skeptical holdouts to drop their opposition by his Fourth of July deadline. Final debates began in the predawn hours after another chaotic day and night at the Capitol following a series of closed-door meetings. Putting the bill on Trump's desk would be a milestone for the president and his party as Republicans have the votes to overcome Democratic opposition to a long list of GOP priorities. Trump's 'one big beautiful bill,' an 800-plus page package, is a defining measure of his return to the White House. Read what's in the full bill for yourself. Alaska Democrats dial up pressure on Murkowski Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego says Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski 'folded like a cheap suit' on Trump's big bill. The newly elected Arizona senator spoke during a virtual town hall Wednesday night organized by the Alaska Democratic Party as it worked to dial up pressure on Murkowski, who faces re-election next year in a race crucial to Democrats in their difficult path to a Senate majority. Gallego decried the Alaska carveouts Murkowski secured in exchange for her vote, calling the deal the 'Kodiak kicker,' while Alaska's other Republican senator, Dan Sullivan, 'didn't even attempt to fight.' The bill hurts working class families nationwide, Gallego said, and Sullivan and Murkowski 'screwed and rigged these working class people to benefit the Uber rich.' US employers add a surprising 147,000 jobs despite uncertainty The American labor market continues to show surprising resilience despite uncertainty over Trump's economic policies. The unemployment rate ticked down 4.1% from 4.2% in May, the Labor Department said Thursday. Hiring rose modestly from a revised 144,000 in May and beat economists expectations of fewer than 118,000 new jobs as Trump's trade wars, the federal hiring freeze and immigration crackdown weigh on the American job market. U.S. applications for jobless aid fell to 233,000 last week as layoffs remain low. A survey released Wednesday by the payroll processor ADP found that private companies cut 33,000 jobs last month, reflecting a hesitancy to hire and a reluctance to replace departing workers. The president's deportations, meanwhile, are driving immigrants out of the U.S. labor force. Those working and looking for work fell by 625,000 in May, the biggest drop in a year and a half. What's in the Big Beautiful Bill Act At some 887 pages, the legislation includes tax breaks, spending cuts, a rollback of solar energy tax credits, new money for national defense and deportations. The bill does not eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits, despite what Trump says. The bill rolls back past presidential agendas: In many ways, the package is a repudiation of the agendas of the last two Democratic presidents, a chiseling away at the Medicaid expansion from Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act, and a pullback of Joe Biden's climate change strategies in the Inflation Reduction Act. Congressional Budget Office review: The nonpartisan CBO said Sunday the bill would pile nearly $3.3 trillion onto the nation's debt load from 2025 to 2034, a nearly $1 trillion increase over the House-passed version of the bill. The analysis also found that 11.8 million Americans would become uninsured by 2034 if the bill passed. White House: The big bill is kind of like the solution to a bad hair day With Trump's spending and tax cut bill nearing passage, the White House is getting creative in pitching it to Americans who haven't been closely following the debate over the legislation. The White House late Wednesday dropped a tongue-in-cheek video on social media that includes before and after shots of women who transform flat hair to voluminous bouffants as a narrator ticks off aspects of the bill that she says will make Americans' lives better. 'Are you tired of government promises falling flat? Do you go through an outrageous amount of stress just trying to get by?' the narrator intones as a woman screams in frustration over her bad hair day. 'Then bump it up with 'one big, beautiful bill' and get that relief fast and easy.' By the end of the short video, the screaming woman and others are sporting new hairdos that are markedly more voluminous. Hakeem Jeffries has been talking for three hours and counting Republican leadership spent much of the night and early morning persuading a handful of holdouts to support the Senate-approved tax cuts and spending bill. But now, House Speaker Mike Johnson appears to have the votes, and Democrats are standing in the way. As the House wrapped up its debate over passing Trump's agenda, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries used a tool known as the 'magic minute' that allows leaders unlimited time to speak. He started his address just before 5 a.m. ET. And it's still going. 'I'm going to take my time,' he said, before launching into a speech criticizing Republicans' deference to Trump, reading through personal accounts of people concerned about losing their health care coverage, and recounting American history.
The Hill
02-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Gallego to headline Alaska Democrats' emergency town hall, ramping up 2028 speculation
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) is headlining an emergency virtual town hall hosted by the Alaska Democratic Party on Wednesday, ramping up speculation over potential 2028 ambitions. The virtual town hall, which also includes a handful of local Alaska lawmakers, is expected to touch on the negative implications to health care access from Republicans' massive tax and spending bill, which is currently being taken up again in the House, and 'the attacks to the Alaskan educational system that state Republicans have pushed during the most recent legislative session,' according to a press release. Gallego's participation in the event was first shared with The Hill. 'Donald Trump, Lisa Murkowski, and Dan Sullivan sent a clear message to the American people today: Your kids, your job, and your elderly relatives don't matter. This is one of the worst bills in the history of Congress,' said Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin in a statement, ridiculing President Trump's megabill as a 'billionaire budget scam.' 'That's why the Alaska Dems are now convening an emergency town hall to let the people of Alaska know exactly how Murkowski and Sullivan sold them out,' Martin added. 'Billionaires don't need a break — working Alaska families do.' Gallego in his own statement rebuked both Alaska GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, saying they 'sold out Alaska–voting for billionaire tax cuts while gutting health care for kids' and warning that Alaskans would be negatively impacted by Republicans' major policy bill. 'People will die because of these cuts, thousands will lose coverage, and families will face impossible choices,' the Arizona Democrat continued. 'We can't let them get away with it, and that's why I'm fighting back — because Alaskans deserve better.' The town hall comes one day after Senate Republicans narrowly passed Trump's agenda-setting bill, which looks to extend the 2017 tax cuts in addition to other GOP priorities. One of Democrats' top concerns over the bill is the major cuts to Medicaid, with millions projected to lose their health insurance. It's not the first time Gallego has participated in a town hall outside of his state, In May, he was part of a town hall in Bucks County, Pa., which was hosted by the Pennsylvania GOP and county Republican Party. The first-term senator has also weighed in on several Senate races ahead of the 2026 midterms, backing Reps. Chris Pappas (D) in New Hampshire and Angie Craig (D) in Minnesota, fueling questions around Gallego's future political aspirations. He also acknowledged in an interview with NBC News earlier this year that he has thought about running for president, but noted he wasn't placing his focus there at the moment. The Arizona Democrat defeated Republican Kari Lake in November to replace former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) despite Democrats losing the state at the presidential level, one of several Senate Democrats who outperformed the top of the ticket last cycle.
