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Day 1605: "Trump and his shock troops are out of control."
Thursday, June 12th, 2025 04:05 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
wtfjht_feed1/ House Republicans’ tax and spending bill would cut $1,600 a year from the poorest U.S. households while giving the richest a $12,000 boost, the Congressional Budget Office reported. The bottom 10% of households, with incomes around $23,000, would lose nearly 4% of their income, mostly due to cuts to Medicaid and food assistance. At the other end, households earning around $692,000 would gain 2.3% from permanent extensions of the 2017 tax law and new tax breaks on tips, overtime, and investment income. Middle-income households would see a gain of $500 to $1,000 – or less than 1%. “Republicans are stealing hard-earned money from working people to enrich billionaires,” Rep. Brendan Boyle said, who requested the CBO analysis. (Politico / Wall Street Journal / NPR / CBS News / Washington Post)
2/ The House narrowly approved Trump’s request to rescind $9.4 billion in funding for foreign aid and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which supports NPR and PBS. The measure – passed 214–212 with no Democrats in support and four Republicans opposed – freezes $8.3 billion in foreign aid and $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for 45 days pending Senate approval. “Cruelty is the point,” Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said, warning the cuts would cost lives overseas and force local PBS and NPR stations to close. Trump, meanwhile, called it “a NO BRAINER,” while Speaker Mike Johnson proclaimed: “your taxpayer dollars are no longer being wasted.” (Associated Press / Politico / New York Times / Washington Post / NBC News)
3/ Federal agents handcuffed and removed Sen. Alex Padilla on after he interrupted a press conference by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Video shows Padilla identifying himself – “I am Senator Alex Padilla. I have a question for the secretary” – before Secret Service officers shoved him from the room, forced him to the floor, and cuffed him in a hallway. Noem later said, “I don’t even know the senator,” while DHS claimed agents mistook him for an attacker. Democrats condemned the incident as an abuse of power, with Sen. Chuck Schumer saying “I just saw something that sickened my stomach – the manhandling of a United States senator.” California Gov. Gavin Newsom called it “outrageous, dictatorial, and shameful,” adding: “Trump and his shock troops are out of control.” The White House, meanwhile, called Padilla’s actions a “theater-kid stunt,” claiming “Padilla didn’t want answers; he wanted attention.” (Associated Press / Bloomberg / New York Times / Washington Post / Politico / NBC News / NPR / ABC News / CNN / The Hill)
4/ California Gov. Gavin Newsom accused Trump of lying about the National Guard deployment to Los Angeles and questioned his mental fitness, saying: “He’s not all there.” “He’s not the same person that I dealt with just four years ago,” Newsom said. “He’s incapable now of even a train of thought. He’s making things up.” Newsom said Trump falsely claimed they discussed the Guard during a June 8 call – and then invented a second call that never happened. “He lied, on my mother and dad’s grave,” Newsom said. “Maybe he actually believed he said those things. He’s not all there.” Newsom also mocked Trump for forgetting dates, stumbling on Air Force One, and mangling phrases like “primarily crime.” “Trump doesn’t even know what day it is,” Newsom said. Trump, meanwhile, responded on Truth Social: “Governor Gaven [sic] NewScum had totally lost control […] He should be saying THANK YOU for saving his ass.” (New York Times / Axios / Politico / USA Today / Washington Post)
5/ Trump admitted that his immigration policy is hurting farms and hotels by “taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace.” Trump’s comments follow federal immigration raids across California, Nebraska, and Vermont that targeted undocumented workers in agriculture and meatpacking, where up to 90% of the workforce is foreign-born. “This is not good,” Trump said. “We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!” The White House, however, hasn’t detailed what those changes are or when they would be implemented. The Trump administration, meanwhile, plans to expand workplace immigration raids and begin prosecuting U.S. employers who hire undocumented workers. “Worksite enforcement operations are going to massively expand,” White House border czar Tom Homan said, confirming the effort includes civil and criminal sanctions. Homan also dismissed concerns from businesses, saying: “If they can’t get a job most of them aren’t going to come.” (USA Today / Bloomberg / Axios / Semafor / The Hill)
- The Trump administration ordered over 530,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to leave the U.S. after canceling a Biden-era parole program. The Department of Homeland Security sent notices stating, “Your parole is now terminated,” and warned that anyone who stays “may be subject to enforcement actions, including but not limited to detention and removal.” (CNN)
poll/ 53% of voters oppose Trump’s tax and spending bill, while 27% approve and 20% have no opinion. 47% think funding for Medicaid should increase, 40% think it should stay the same, and 10% think funding for Medicaid should decrease. (Quinnipiac)
poll/ 39% of Americans approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president, while 60% disapprove. 37% feel the country is headed in the right direction, with Trump underwater on immigration (46% approve; 53% disapprove), the economy (38%; 60%), trade (38%; 60%), and climate change (38%; 60%). (AP-NORC)
The midterm elections are in 509 days.
✏️ Notables.
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Trump signed three resolutions to block California from phasing out new sales of gas-powered cars 2035 and its ability to set stricter tailpipe standards. The move also stripped 17 other states of the authority to follow California’s rules, effectively killing electric vehicle mandates for nearly 40% of the U.S. auto market. California and 10 other states filed suit within hours, arguing the Congressional Review Act doesn’t apply to EPA waivers, calling the move “an unprecedented and illegal use” of the law. (NBC News / Politico / Associated Press / New York Times / Bloomberg)
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The Senate confirmed a former congressman, who repeatedly sponsored legislation to eliminate the IRS, as IRS commissioner. When Billy Long – a former auctioneer with no tax experience, promoted pandemic-era tax credits that the IRS later shut down as fraudulent and encouraged use of another credit the agency says “does not exist” – was in Congress, he also sponsored legislation to replace the income, payroll, estate, and gift tax with a 30% sales tax. And, after Trump nominated him, Long received $135,000 in donations from tax firms and paid himself back for a personal campaign loan. (Associated Press / New York Times / Wall Street Journal)
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Israel is preparing to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities within days if ongoing U.S.-Iran talks fail. White House envoy Steve Witkoff warned Senate Republicans that Iran could respond with hundreds of missiles, causing “massive casualties and damage” and overwhelming Israel’s defenses. Trump, meanwhile, said a strike “might very well happen,” but warned Israel not to “blow” a potential deal. The U.S. began pulling diplomats and military families from Iraq and Gulf bases, but told Israel it won’t participate in any offensive action. Iran’s defense minister said U.S. bases are “within our reach” and promised to “boldly target them.” (Axios / Wall Street Journal / New York Times / Axios / NBC News)
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