Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ clears key Senate hurdle after high drama Republicans got closer to advancing President Donald Trump’s massive spending package following a procedural vote. The Senate is now debating the megabill, as Democrats have already signaled that they will force the 940-page bill to be read out loud. Questions still remain about whether the package will ultimately pass the House ahead of the self-imposed July 4 deadline.

The International Association of Fire Fighters said that three of their IAFF members were ambushed while responding to the north Idaho wildfire. Two of them were killed with another in surgery.

The Senate’s clerks concluded a marathon reading session on Sunday, going through every word of the Republicans’ sweeping tax and spending legislation. With that hurdle cleared, the chamber is now on track to proceed toward a final vote, expected to take place Monday.
In a bid to stall progress, Democrats demanded that the entire 940-page bill be read aloud, a process that stretched nearly 16 hours and wrapped up shortly after 3 p.m. Eastern Time.
“I objected to stop Republicans moving forward on their Big, Ugly Bill until they read every single word of it to the American people,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) wrote on X last night.
Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) publicly recognized the effort of the staffers who carried out the task.

BREAKING: At least two dead after gunman ambushed firefighters in Idaho Firefighters were ambushed by a gunman while responding to a brush fire in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, Kootenai County Sheriff’s Lt. Jeff Howard said. Two people are dead. The incident unfolded at approximately 1:30 p.m. local time after a small but growing brush fire broke out on Canfield Mountain Sunday afternoon. When fire personnel responded to the blaze about half an hour later, they started getting shot at by an unknown person in the woods, Howard said. Law enforcement is investigating whether the fire could have been intentionally set in order to lure first responders to the scene, Howard added.

Sen. Thom Tillis after announcing he won’t seek reelection while opposing Trump’s spending bill: “The people in the White House, the amateurs advising the President, they’re not telling him that the effect of this bill is to break a promise.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom sued Fox News on Friday over alleged defamation, saying the network knowingly aired false information about a phone call he had with President Donald Trump around the time the National Guard was sent Los Angeles. The lawsuit alleges Fox News anchor Jesse Watters edited out key information from a clip of Trump talking about calling Newsom, then used the edited video to assert that Newsom had lied about the two talking. Newsom is asking for $787 million in punitive damages in the lawsuit filed in Delaware, where Fox is incorporated. That’s the same amount Fox agreed to pay in 2023 to settle a defamation lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has stirred controversy by sponsoring 1,000 Palestinian family members of terrorists to perform the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, even as the kingdom remains under the spotlight for its potential normalization of ties with Israel.
This development was reported through Palestinian Authority outlets and highlighted by Palestinian Media Watch, raising new concerns about the Saudis’ stance toward Palestinian violence.
While there has been ongoing talk of Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords, the latest move — a grant seen as honoring those tied to acts of terror — suggests that Saudi leadership has not turned its back on supporting individuals responsible for deadly attacks against Israelis.