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Trump ramps up pressure amid growing GOP tensions over his bill: From the Politics Desk
Trump ramps up pressure amid growing GOP tensions over his bill: From the Politics Desk

NBC News

time4 days ago

  • Politics
  • NBC News

Trump ramps up pressure amid growing GOP tensions over his bill: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team's latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail. In today's edition, our Capitol Hill team provides a status check on the 'big, beautiful bill' as Senate Republicans aim to hold a vote this week. We also have the latest from the Middle East amid a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran. And Steve Kornacki previews tonight's New York City mayoral primary. — Adam Wollner 🗣️ We want to hear from you! Have a question for the NBC News Politics Desk about the latest from the Trump administration, Republicans' 'big, beautiful bill,' or the New York City mayoral primary? Send your questions to politicsnewsletter@ and we may answer them in a future edition of the newsletter. Senate Republicans scramble to resolve tense divisions as Trump ramps up pressure to pass his big bill By Sahil Kapur, Julie Tsirkin, Frank Thorp V and Ryan Nobles The Senate bill's Medicaid cuts are too aggressive for politically vulnerable Republicans. Its clean energy funding cuts are too tame for conservative House Republicans, who are threatening to sink the legislation. And the $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions is a nonstarter for key blue-state House Republicans. The GOP-led Congress is barreling toward its own deadline for passage of the Big Beautiful Bill Act, and it's getting messy in the final stretch as President Donald Trump ramps up the pressure on lawmakers to put it on his desk by July 4. 'To my friends in the Senate, lock yourself in a room if you must, don't go home, and GET THE DEAL DONE THIS WEEK,' Trump wrote on Truth Social. 'Work with the House so they can pick it up, and pass it, IMMEDIATELY. NO ONE GOES ON VACATION UNTIL IT'S DONE.' Passing the party-line bill through the House and Senate, where Republicans have three votes to spare in each chamber, will be a daunting task that requires bridging acrimonious divides. The toughest part will be settling on a final product that can unify Senate GOP moderates, like Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, with the far-right House Freedom Caucus. Those two factions have tended to drive the hardest bargain. After a conference lunch meeting, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters that his chamber's goal is to get the bill 'across the finish line by the end of the week,' with the goal of crafting a package that can win 51 votes in the Senate. A midterm warning: Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who faces re-election in a battleground state next year, warned his party during a Tuesday meeting that they will suffer losses in the 2026 elections if they push ahead on proposed Medicaid cuts. He compared the situation to the heavy losses Democrats suffered in the 2014 midterms after a rocky Obamacare rollout, according to one source in the room. The meeting came one day after Tillis circulated a document with estimates of how much Medicaid money states would lose if the Senate bill passes, including $38.9 billion in losses for North Carolina, $16 billion for Tennessee and $6.1 billion for Missouri. By Gordon Lubold, Ken Dilanian, Julie Tsirkin, Dan De Luce and Rebecca Shabad An initial assessment by the Defense Intelligence Agency concludes that the U.S. airstrikes conducted over the weekend on Iran's nuclear enrichment sites were not as effective as President Donald Trump said and only set the country's nuclear program back by three to six months, according to three people with knowledge of the report. 'We were assuming that the damage was going to be much more significant than this assessment is finding,' said one of the three sources. 'This assessment is already finding that these core pieces are still intact. That's a bad sign for the overall program.' The assessment's conclusions were first reported by CNN. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the reporting on the intelligence assessment was inaccurate. 'This alleged assessment is flat-out wrong and was classified as 'top secret' but was still leaked to CNN by an anonymous, low-level loser in the intelligence community,' she said in a statement. 'The leaking of this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump, and discredit the brave fighter pilots who conducted a perfectly executed mission to obliterate Iran's nuclear program.' Trump lashes out at Israel and Iran: 'They don't know what the f--- they're doing,' by Megan Lebowitz Democrats struggle to come up with a unified response to Trump's Iran strikes, by Natasha Korecki, Sahil Kapur and Scott Wong , by Rebecca Shabad Breaking down the state of New York's mayoral race on primary day Analysis by Steve Kornacki The final public poll suggests the potential for an upset in Tuesday's New York Democratic mayoral primary — an outcome that would be dramatic but that also might end up resolving nothing. The Emerson College/WPIX/The Hill survey shows former Gov. Andrew Cuomo leading state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani 36% to 34% in the initial first-choice count, with Mamdani eventually overtaking Cuomo after multiple rounds of ranked choice tabulation and winning the final tally 52% to 48%. But a few caveats are in order. First, public polls in the campaign have been sparse. Only Emerson and Marist University have been regularly conducting them. And Marist's final poll found a different result, with Cuomo up by double digits at both the start and the end of ranked choice tabulation. One of those polls may be a lot more accurate than the other, although there is room for both to be right, since Marist's was taken a week earlier and the race could have shifted in that time. The composition of the electorate is uncertain, too. Both Emerson and Marist find that Cuomo has an advantage with voters who said they would cast ballots in person Tuesday, as opposed to taking part in early voting or voting by mail. But will those voters show up in the numbers pollsters expect? It's a cliché to talk about how crucial turnout is as a variable, but there it is. Moreover, ranked choice voting is still new to New York City; this is only the second mayoral contest since it was implemented. It's still uncommon elsewhere. So no polling outlet has a deep and well-established track record when it comes to measuring such races. That said, Emerson's final poll in the 2021 New York mayoral primary showed now-Mayor Eric Adams narrowly edging out Kathryn Garcia in the final ranked choice round, which almost perfectly matched the actual outcome. 🎙️ Here's the Scoop This week, NBC News launched ' Here's the Scoop,' a new evening podcast that brings you a fresh take on the day's top stories in 15 minutes or less. In today's episode, hosted by Morgan Chesky, chief international correspondent Keir Simmons discusses how the Middle East is responding to the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran. And national political correspondent Steve Kornacki explains why the rest of the country should be paying attention to New York City's mayoral race. Listen to the episode here → 🗞️ Today's other top stories 🔵 Youth movement: Democrats elected Rep. Robert Garcia of California, 47, over Rep. Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts, 70, as the new ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, replacing the late Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia. Read more → 🏝️On an island: Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., is finding few friends on Capitol Hill in his escalating feud with Trump. Read more → ⏸️ Put it on pause: Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., criticized Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s picks for a vaccine advisory committee and said the next meeting shouldn't be held until members with relevant expertise can be appointed. Read more → 🏦 Fed watch: Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell defended higher interest rates amid attacks from the Trump administration and the GOP during a House Financial Services Committee hearing. Read more → ⚖️ Legal showdown: The Trump administration accused a federal judge of 'unprecedented defiance' of a recent Supreme Court decision that paved the way for the government to quickly deport criminal immigrants to 'third countries.' Read more →

In Washington and across the country, lawmakers express safety fears: From the Politics Desk
In Washington and across the country, lawmakers express safety fears: From the Politics Desk

Yahoo

time18-06-2025

  • Politics
  • Yahoo

In Washington and across the country, lawmakers express safety fears: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team's latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail. In today's edition, we explore the security concerns elected officials are harboring in the wake of the Minnesota shootings. Plus, Steve Kornacki explains why New York City's Democratic mayoral primary may not be the end of the Andrew Cuomo-Zohran Mamdani battle. Sign up to receive this newsletter in your inbox every weekday here. — Adam Wollner After the targeted shootings of two Minnesota lawmakers, elected officials serving in Capitol buildings in Washington and around the country are growing increasingly worried about the level of protection they receive. In Congress: Law enforcement officials have been holding security briefings with members of Congress over the past several days, Scott Wong, Julie Tsirkin and Melanie Zanona report. Federal lawmakers have been told that they can spend money from their office budgets on home security systems and campaign cash on private security. Only a handful of congressional leaders get 24-hour protection from Capitol Police security details. Members can request extra protection, which is assigned based on whether Capitol Police determine there is an active threat. But so far, those assurances have done little to calm nervous lawmakers, who have been harboring such concerns amid a string of violent attacks on American politicians over the past 15 years — a period that has included assassination attempts on a presidential candidate and members of Congress and a riot at the U.S. Capitol. House Democratic leaders have asked Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to boost members' official budgets 'to support additional safety and security measures in every single office.' And over the weekend, House Republicans held a tense call that featured rank-and-file members' expressing concerns about their safety when they are in their districts. 'It's scary as sh--,' a senior House lawmaker said, describing how members of Congress feel after the Minnesota shootings. In the states: Even the limited protection available to the average member of Congress goes far beyond what is available to most state lawmakers, Adam Edelman reports. Outside of their state capital complexes, state legislators have little to no security protection. No state offers proactive security to members of its legislature, though law enforcement will typically step in if there are credible threats. And despite the renewed attention to the issue, lawmakers fear little will ultimately be done that can make a meaningful difference, given that in many states, such positions are effectively part-time jobs with small budgets. 'We are constantly out there, vulnerable. Whether I'm volunteering somewhere, knocking doors for someone, starting to run my own campaign, I'm out there, vulnerable,' said Arizona state Rep. Stephanie Simacek, a Democrat. Read more on the fallout from the Minnesota shootings: Trump says he won't call Gov. Tim Walz after Minnesota shootings, by Megan Lebowitz and Kelly O'Donnell GOP Sen. Mike Lee deletes social media posts about the Minnesota shooting after facing criticism, by Dareh Gregorian How Minnesota shooting conspiracy theories took over social media feeds, by David Ingram, Bruna Horvath and Adam Edelman Political violence thrusts 2028 candidates onto the national stage, by Natasha Korecki and Jonathan Allen New York City is overwhelmingly Democratic, so it seems logical that the winner of the party's mayoral primary next week will be a shoo-in for November. But it may not be that simple, as a confluence of factors could give rise to an unpredictable, multicandidate general election campaign. Start with the two leaders in the Democratic race, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani. Each carries significant political baggage. Cuomo, of course, resigned as governor in a sexual harassment scandal in 2021 and has faced sustained criticism of his Covid pandemic policies, especially relating to nursing homes. Even within his own party, Cuomo is a lightning rod, with a recent poll finding that over 40% of Democrats have unfavorable views of him. And Mamdani is a democratic socialist with a history of far-left pronouncements that are now being featured in attack ads from the Cuomo side. If either wins the Democratic primary, there figure to be plenty of unhappy customers within the party and — potentially — among general election voters who would be open to an alternative. And if one falls just short in the primary, either Cuomo and Mamdani could decide to turn around and take another shot in the general election. Each already has a ready-made vehicle to do so. Cuomo has created his own third party, which he is calling the Fight and Deliver Party. Officially, he did that to give himself a second spot on the November ballot if he is the Democratic nominee. Under New York's peculiar election laws, third parties can run major-party nominees as their own candidates. Cuomo's position is that he plans to be both the Democratic nominee and the Fight and Deliver nominee. But if Cuomo were to lose to Mamdani in the primary, there'd be nothing to stop him from simply running as the Fight and Deliver candidate. In fact, his father, Mario, made that very move back in 1977, when he lost the Democratic mayoral primary to Ed Koch but then ran as the Liberal Party candidate in the fall. Meanwhile, the Working Families Party, which is closely aligned with progressive Democrats, has already indicated that it won't back Cuomo even if he is the Democratic nominee. The WFP has also encouraged its backers to make Mamdani their top choice in the Democratic primary. That raises the possibility that Mamdani could run as the WFP's general election nominee even if he loses to Cuomo next week. For that matter, given its antipathy to Cuomo, the WFP might also seek out another high-profile candidate if Mamdani isn't interested. If Cuomo or Mamdani do opt to mount third-party bids in the fall, it could open the door to chaos, since other candidates already loom. The current mayor, Eric Adams, is bypassing the Democratic primary and already has created two vehicles for the general election, the 'EndAntiSemitism' and 'Safe&Affordable' parties. Adams, who faced federal corruption charges before President Donald Trump pardoned him, has his own political baggage but still retains some support, particularly from Black voters. That base, along with his incumbency, would make him a factor in a multicandidate general election. Republicans also have their own ballot line and are set to nominate Curtis Sliwa, who was their nominee against Adams in 2021. And a former federal prosecutor, Jim Walden, is running his own independent bid. He is positioning himself as a centrist and says he was motivated to run after Adams was indicted last year. Of course, it's possible that the Democratic primary result will be decisive enough that the loser stands down for the general election. That would all but ensure the winner a glide path to Gracie Mansion. It's also theoretically possible that another candidate besides Cuomo or Mamdani catches fire in the final week, claims the nomination and unites the party. Read more: New York City Comptroller Brad Lander arrested at an immigration court, by Ben Kamisar Bernie Sanders backs progressive Zohran Mamdani in NYC mayoral race, by Ben Kamisar ➡️ Israel-Iran latest: Trump is considering a range of options when it comes to Iran, including a possible U.S. strike on the country, multiple current and former administration officials said after he met with his national security team in the White House Situation Room. Follow live updates → 🤝 Strange bedfellows: A group of lawmakers spanning a broad ideological spectrum have signed on to a resolution seeking to limit Trump's power to get involved in the Israel-Iran conflict. Read more → ⬅️ Immigration backtrack: The Trump administration has reopened arrests of immigrant workers at hotels, restaurants and agricultural businesses. It's a reversal after Trump said last week they were necessary workers whose jobs were almost 'impossible' to replace. Read more → 🗣️ Going there: Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., called Trump a 'tyrant' in a Senate floor speech in which he recounted his forcible removal from a DHS news conference. Read more → 🪙 GENIUS Act: The Senate passed a landmark cryptocurrency regulation bill on a bipartisan vote of 68-30, sending it to the House. Read more → ⚖️ SCOTUS watch: Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson revealed she made more than $2 million from the publisher of her bestselling memoir as part of her financial disclosure report for 2024. Read more → ⚖️ SCOTUS watch, cont'd: Two educational toy companies today asked the Supreme Court to quickly hear their challenges to Trump's tariffs. Read more → 📦 Tariff update: Trump signed an agreement that formally lowered some tariffs on imports from the United Kingdom as the countries continue to work toward a formal trade deal. Read more → ⚫ Reporting to prison: Former Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., turned himself in at a federal prison in Pennsylvania to begin serving an 11-year sentence on bribery charges. Read more → 🗳️ If it's Tuesday: It's primary day in Virginia, but the general election matchup for the commonwealth's highest-profile race is already set. Read more → That's all From the Politics Desk for now. Today's newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner and Dylan Ebs. If you have feedback — likes or dislikes — email us at politicsnewsletter@ And if you're a fan, please share with everyone and anyone. They can sign up here. This article was originally published on

In Washington and across the country, lawmakers express safety fears: From the Politics Desk
In Washington and across the country, lawmakers express safety fears: From the Politics Desk

NBC News

time17-06-2025

  • Politics
  • NBC News

In Washington and across the country, lawmakers express safety fears: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team's latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail. In today's edition, we explore the security concerns elected officials are harboring in the wake of the Minnesota shootings. Plus, Steve Kornacki explains why New York City's Democratic mayoral primary may not be the end of the Andrew Cuomo-Zohran Mamdani battle. — Adam Wollner In Washington and across the country, lawmakers express safety fears After the targeted shootings of two Minnesota lawmakers, elected officials serving in Capitol buildings in Washington and around the country are growing increasingly worried about the level of protection they receive. In Congress: Law enforcement officials have been holding security briefings with members of Congress over the past several days, Scott Wong, Julie Tsirkin and Melanie Zanona report. Federal lawmakers have been told that they can spend money from their office budgets on home security systems and campaign cash on private security. Only a handful of congressional leaders get 24-hour protection from Capitol Police security details. Members can request extra protection, which is assigned based on whether Capitol Police determine there is an active threat. But so far, those assurances have done little to calm nervous lawmakers, who have been harboring such concerns amid a string of violent attacks on American politicians over the past 15 years — a period that has included assassination attempts on a presidential candidate and members of Congress and a riot at the U.S. Capitol. House Democratic leaders have asked Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to boost members' official budgets 'to support additional safety and security measures in every single office.' And over the weekend, House Republicans held a tense call that featured rank-and-file members' expressing concerns about their safety when they are in their districts. 'It's scary as sh--,' a senior House lawmaker said, describing how members of Congress feel after the Minnesota shootings. In the states: Even the limited protection available to the average member of Congress goes far beyond what is available to most state lawmakers, Adam Edelman reports. Outside of their state capital complexes, state legislators have little to no security protection. No state offers proactive security to members of its legislature, though law enforcement will typically step in if there are credible threats. And despite the renewed attention to the issue, lawmakers fear little will ultimately be done that can make a meaningful difference, given that in many states, such positions are effectively part-time jobs with small budgets. 'We are constantly out there, vulnerable. Whether I'm volunteering somewhere, knocking doors for someone, starting to run my own campaign, I'm out there, vulnerable,' said Arizona state Rep. Stephanie Simacek, a Democrat. , by Megan Lebowitz and Kelly O'Donnell GOP Sen. Mike Lee deletes social media posts about the Minnesota shooting after facing criticism, by Dareh Gregorian Political violence thrusts 2028 candidates onto the national stage, by Natasha Korecki and Jonathan Allen No matter the result of the Democratic primary, NYC's mayoral election could get chaotic Analysis by Steve Kornacki New York City is overwhelmingly Democratic, so it seems logical that the winner of the party's mayoral primary next week will be a shoo-in for November. But it may not be that simple, as a confluence of factors could give rise to an unpredictable, multicandidate general election campaign. Start with the two leaders in the Democratic race, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani. Each carries significant political baggage. Cuomo, of course, resigned as governor in a sexual harassment scandal in 2021 and has faced sustained criticism of his Covid pandemic policies, especially relating to nursing homes. Even within his own party, Cuomo is a lightning rod, with a recent poll finding that over 40% of Democrats have unfavorable views of him. And Mamdani is a democratic socialist with a history of far-left pronouncements that are now being featured in attack ads from the Cuomo side. If either wins the Democratic primary, there figure to be plenty of unhappy customers within the party and — potentially — among general election voters who would be open to an alternative. And if one falls just short in the primary, either Cuomo and Mamdani could decide to turn around and take another shot in the general election. Each already has a ready-made vehicle to do so. Cuomo has created his own third party, which he is calling the Fight and Deliver Party. Officially, he did that to give himself a second spot on the November ballot if he is the Democratic nominee. Under New York's peculiar election laws, third parties can run major-party nominees as their own candidates. Cuomo's position is that he plans to be both the Democratic nominee and the Fight and Deliver nominee. But if Cuomo were to lose to Mamdani in the primary, there'd be nothing to stop him from simply running as the Fight and Deliver candidate. In fact, his father, Mario, made that very move back in 1977, when he lost the Democratic mayoral primary to Ed Koch but then ran as the Liberal Party candidate in the fall. Meanwhile, the Working Families Party, which is closely aligned with progressive Democrats, has already indicated that it won't back Cuomo even if he is the Democratic nominee. The WFP has also encouraged its backers to make Mamdani their top choice in the Democratic primary. That raises the possibility that Mamdani could run as the WFP's general election nominee even if he loses to Cuomo next week. For that matter, given its antipathy to Cuomo, the WFP might also seek out another high-profile candidate if Mamdani isn't interested. If Cuomo or Mamdani do opt to mount third-party bids in the fall, it could open the door to chaos, since other candidates already loom. The current mayor, Eric Adams, is bypassing the Democratic primary and already has created two vehicles for the general election, the 'EndAntiSemitism' and 'Safe&Affordable' parties. Adams, who faced federal corruption charges before President Donald Trump pardoned him, has his own political baggage but still retains some support, particularly from Black voters. That base, along with his incumbency, would make him a factor in a multicandidate general election. Republicans also have their own ballot line and are set to nominate Curtis Sliwa, who was their nominee against Adams in 2021. And a former federal prosecutor, Jim Walden, is running his own independent bid. He is positioning himself as a centrist and says he was motivated to run after Adams was indicted last year. Of course, it's possible that the Democratic primary result will be decisive enough that the loser stands down for the general election. That would all but ensure the winner a glide path to Gracie Mansion. It's also theoretically possible that another candidate besides Cuomo or Mamdani catches fire in the final week, claims the nomination and unites the party.

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