WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Presidents&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/barack-obama">Barack Obama</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/george-w-bush">George W. Bush</a>&nbsp;delivered rare open criticism of the Trump administration — and singer Bono held back tears as he recited a poem — in an emotional video farewell on Monday with staffers of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Obama called the Trump administration’s dismantling of USAID “a colossal mistake.”

Monday was the last day as an independent agency for the six-decade-old humanitarian and development organization, created by President John F. Kennedy as a peaceful way of promoting U.S. national security by boosting goodwill and prosperity abroad.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-musk-rubio-usaid-foreign-aid-bf442d62af67918a6fc5eee839074601">has ordered USAID absorbed</a>&nbsp;into the State Department on Tuesday.

The former presidents and Bono spoke with thousands in the USAID community in a videoconference, which was billed as a closed-press event to allow political leaders and others privacy for sometimes angry and often teary remarks. Parts of the video were shared with The Associated Press.

They expressed their appreciation for the thousands of USAID staffers who have lost their jobs and life’s work. Their agency was one of the first and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-musk-usaid-c0c7799be0b2fa7cad4c806565985fe2">most fiercely targeted</a>&nbsp;for government-cutting by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">President Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;and his billionaire ally Elon Musk, with staffers abruptly locked out of systems and offices and terminated by mass emailing.

Trump claimed the agency was run by “radical left lunatics” and rife with “tremendous fraud.” Musk called it “a criminal organization.”

Obama, speaking in a recorded statement, offered assurances to the aid and development workers, some listening from overseas.

“Your work has mattered and will matter for generations to come,” he told them.

Obama has largely kept a low public profile during Trump’s second term and refrained from criticizing the monumental changes that Trump has made to U.S. programs and priorities at home and abroad.

“Gutting USAID is a travesty, and it’s a tragedy. Because it’s some of the most important work happening anywhere in the world,” Obama said. He credited USAID with not only saving lives, but being a main factor in global economic growth that has turned some aid-receiving countries into U.S. markets and trade partners.

The former Democratic president predicted that ”sooner or later, leaders on both sides of the aisle will realize how much you are needed.”

Asked for comment, the State Department said it would be introducing the department’s foreign assistance successor to USAID, to be called America First, this week.

“The new process will ensure there is proper oversight and that every tax dollar spent will help advance our national interests,” the department said.

USAID oversaw programs around the world, providing water and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/somalia-hunger-malnutrition-funding-cuts-usaid-03dfebfdbe19f55a520dad2be390faf5">life-saving food to millions</a>&nbsp;uprooted by conflict in Sudan, Syria, Gaza and elsewhere, sponsoring the “Green Revolution” that revolutionized modern agriculture and curbed starvation and famine, preventing disease outbreaks, promoting democracy, and providing financing and development that allowed countries and people to climb out of poverty.

Bush, who also spoke in a recorded message, went straight to the cuts in a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/aids-hiv-pepfar-nkengasong-abortion-congress-43b09c9ad24530d24161a95b2fb80eaa">landmark AIDS and HIV program</a>&nbsp;started by his Republican administration and credited with saving 25 million lives around the world.

Bipartisan blowback from Congress to cutting the popular President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, helped save significant funding for the program. But cuts and rule changes have reduced the number getting the life-saving care.

“You’ve showed the great strength of America through your work — and that is your good heart,’’ Bush told USAID staffers. “Is it in our national interests that 25 million people who would have died now live? I think it is, and so do you,” he said.

Former Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, former Colombian President Juan Manual Santos and former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield also spoke to the staffers.

So did humanitarian workers, including one who spoke of the welcome appearance of USAID staffers with food when she was a frightened 8-year-old child in a camp for Liberian refugees. A World Food Program official vowed through sobs that the U.S. aid mission would be back someday.

Bono, a longtime humanitarian advocate in Africa and elsewhere, was announced as the “surprise guest,” in shades and a cap.

He jokingly hailed the USAID staffers as “secret agents of international development” in acknowledgment of the down-low nature of Monday’s unofficial gathering of the USAID community.

Bono held back tears at times as he recited a poem he had written to the agency and its gutting. He spoke of children dying of malnutrition, a reference to millions of people who Boston University researchers and other analysts say will die because of the U.S. cuts to funding for health and other programs abroad.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/8/1724234553511.png" alt="File photo- Former President Barack Obama -image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>File photo- Former President Barack Obama -image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Presidents&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/barack-obama">Barack Obama</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/george-w-bush">George W. Bush</a>&nbsp;delivered rare open criticism of the Trump administration — and singer Bono held back tears as he recited a poem — in an emotional video farewell on Monday with staffers of the U.S. Agency for International Development.Obama called the Trump administration’s dismantling of USAID “a colossal mistake.”Monday was the last day as an independent agency for the six-decade-old humanitarian and development organization, created by President John F. Kennedy as a peaceful way of promoting U.S. national security by boosting goodwill and prosperity abroad.Secretary of State Marco Rubio&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-musk-rubio-usaid-foreign-aid-bf442d62af67918a6fc5eee839074601">has ordered USAID absorbed</a>&nbsp;into the State Department on Tuesday.The former presidents and Bono spoke with thousands in the USAID community in a videoconference, which was billed as a closed-press event to allow political leaders and others privacy for sometimes angry and often teary remarks. Parts of the video were shared with The Associated Press.They expressed their appreciation for the thousands of USAID staffers who have lost their jobs and life’s work. Their agency was one of the first and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-musk-usaid-c0c7799be0b2fa7cad4c806565985fe2">most fiercely targeted</a>&nbsp;for government-cutting by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">President Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;and his billionaire ally Elon Musk, with staffers abruptly locked out of systems and offices and terminated by mass emailing.Trump claimed the agency was run by “radical left lunatics” and rife with “tremendous fraud.” Musk called it “a criminal organization.”Obama, speaking in a recorded statement, offered assurances to the aid and development workers, some listening from overseas.“Your work has mattered and will matter for generations to come,” he told them.Obama has largely kept a low public profile during Trump’s second term and refrained from criticizing the monumental changes that Trump has made to U.S. programs and priorities at home and abroad.“Gutting USAID is a travesty, and it’s a tragedy. Because it’s some of the most important work happening anywhere in the world,” Obama said. He credited USAID with not only saving lives, but being a main factor in global economic growth that has turned some aid-receiving countries into U.S. markets and trade partners.The former Democratic president predicted that ”sooner or later, leaders on both sides of the aisle will realize how much you are needed.”Asked for comment, the State Department said it would be introducing the department’s foreign assistance successor to USAID, to be called America First, this week.“The new process will ensure there is proper oversight and that every tax dollar spent will help advance our national interests,” the department said.USAID oversaw programs around the world, providing water and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/somalia-hunger-malnutrition-funding-cuts-usaid-03dfebfdbe19f55a520dad2be390faf5">life-saving food to millions</a>&nbsp;uprooted by conflict in Sudan, Syria, Gaza and elsewhere, sponsoring the “Green Revolution” that revolutionized modern agriculture and curbed starvation and famine, preventing disease outbreaks, promoting democracy, and providing financing and development that allowed countries and people to climb out of poverty.Bush, who also spoke in a recorded message, went straight to the cuts in a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/aids-hiv-pepfar-nkengasong-abortion-congress-43b09c9ad24530d24161a95b2fb80eaa">landmark AIDS and HIV program</a>&nbsp;started by his Republican administration and credited with saving 25 million lives around the world.Bipartisan blowback from Congress to cutting the popular President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, helped save significant funding for the program. But cuts and rule changes have reduced the number getting the life-saving care.“You’ve showed the great strength of America through your work — and that is your good heart,’’ Bush told USAID staffers. “Is it in our national interests that 25 million people who would have died now live? I think it is, and so do you,” he said.Former Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, former Colombian President Juan Manual Santos and former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield also spoke to the staffers.So did humanitarian workers, including one who spoke of the welcome appearance of USAID staffers with food when she was a frightened 8-year-old child in a camp for Liberian refugees. A World Food Program official vowed through sobs that the U.S. aid mission would be back someday.Bono, a longtime humanitarian advocate in Africa and elsewhere, was announced as the “surprise guest,” in shades and a cap.He jokingly hailed the USAID staffers as “secret agents of international development” in acknowledgment of the down-low nature of Monday’s unofficial gathering of the USAID community.Bono held back tears at times as he recited a poem he had written to the agency and its gutting. He spoke of children dying of malnutrition, a reference to millions of people who Boston University researchers and other analysts say will die because of the U.S. cuts to funding for health and other programs abroad.

Bush and Obama fault Trump’s gutting of USAID on agency’s last day

JOHNSON COUNTY —One person died in an accident just after 3:30a.m. Tuesday in Johnson County.

An electric bicycle driven by 25-year-old Desmond Robinson of Kansas City, Missouri, was westbound on west 95th Street in Overland Park, according to Officer John Lacy.&nbsp; The driver entered the intersection at Metcalf Avenue against the red light, according to Lacy. The electric bike struck a southbound vehicle at the intersection. Robinson was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Lacy.&nbsp;

The other driver was not injured and is cooperating with the investigation. The Overland Park Traffic Safety Unit continues to investigate the accident.

JOHNSON COUNTY —One person died in an accident just after 3:30a.m. Tuesday in Johnson County.An electric bicycle driven by 25-year-old Desmond Robinson of Kansas City, Missouri, was westbound on west 95th Street in Overland Park, according to Officer John Lacy.&nbsp; The driver entered the intersection at Metcalf Avenue against the red light, according to Lacy. The electric bike struck a southbound vehicle at the intersection. Robinson was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Lacy.&nbsp;The other driver was not injured and is cooperating with the investigation. The Overland Park Traffic Safety Unit continues to investigate the accident.

E-bike rider dies in 2-vehicle Kansas crash

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans hauled&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">President Donald Trump’s</a>&nbsp;big&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tax-cuts-bill-republicans-medicaid-snap-5106fb5d07a5675e01644aabde1f7df8">tax breaks and spending cuts bill</a>&nbsp;to passage Tuesday on the narrowest of votes, pushing past opposition from Democrats and their own GOP ranks after a turbulent overnight session.

Vice President JD Vance broke a 50-50 tie to push it over the top. The three Republicans opposing the bill were Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky.

The outcome capped an unusually tense weekend of work at the Capitol, the president’s signature legislative priority teetering on the edge of approval, or collapse.

The difficulty it took for Republicans, who have the majority hold in Congress, to wrestle the bill to this point is not expected to let up. The package now goes back to the House, where&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/speaker-johnson-trump-tax-bill-christian-prayer-f82ed140d9110d5cc7b4029b681ea9eb">Speaker Mike Johnson</a>&nbsp;had warned senators not to deviate too far from what his chamber had already approved. But the Senate did make changes, particularly to Medicaid, risking more problems as they race to finish by Trump’s Fourth of July deadline.

The outcome is a pivotal moment for president and his party, which have been consumed by the 940-page&nbsp;<a href="https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/the_one_big_beautiful_bill_act.pdf">“One Big Beautiful Bill Act,”</a>&nbsp;as it’s formally titled, and invested their political capital in delivering on the GOP's sweep of power in Washington.

Trump acknowledged it’s “very complicated stuff,” as he&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-everglades-immigrant-detention-facility-visit-5dc5568ec15534947c29c9149b773d1d">departed the White House for Florida</a>.

“I don’t want to go too crazy with cuts," he said. "I don’t like cuts.”

What started as a routine but laborious day of amendment voting, in a process called vote-a-rama, spiraled into a round-the-clock slog as Republican leaders were buying time to shore up support.

The droning roll calls in the chamber belied the frenzied action to steady the bill. Grim-faced scenes played out on and off the Senate floor, amid exhaustion.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-big-bill-thune-senate-leader-daf1aee85669ac9a242908e2a13f9346">Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota</a>&nbsp;was desperately reaching for last-minute agreements between those in his party worried the bill's reductions to Medicaid will leave millions without care, and his most conservative flank, which wants even steeper cuts to hold down deficits ballooning with the tax cuts.

The GOP leaders have no room to spare, with narrow majorities. Thune can lose no more than three Republican senators, and already two —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/thom-tillis-trumps-big-bill-election-north-carolina-51ba539bb59921324c663fe99ca32055">Tillis</a>, who warned that millions of people will lose access to Medicaid health care, and Paul, who opposes raising the debt limit by $5 trillion — had indicated opposition.

Attention quickly turned to two key senators, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Collins, who also raised concerns about health care cuts, as well as a loose coalition of four conservative GOP senators pushing for even steeper reductions.

Murkowski in particular became the subject of the GOP leadership’s attention, as they sat beside her for talks. She was huddled intensely for more than an hour in the back of the chamber with others, scribbling notes on papers.

Then all eyes were on Paul after he returned from a visit to Thune’s office with a stunning offer that could win his vote. He had suggested substantially lowering the bill's increase in the debt ceiling, according to two people familiar with the private meeting and granted anonymity to discuss it.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said “Republicans are in shambles because they know the bill is so unpopular."

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cbo-trump-tax-bill-republicans-senate-5f591bea21bd95eec45ba90c93c50687">An analysis</a>&nbsp;from&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cbo-big-beautiful-bill-trump-republican-deficit-debt-d432b67a965790e4a26de46ea8db1266">the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office</a>&nbsp;found 11.8 million more Americans would become uninsured by 2034 if the bill became law. The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cbo-trump-tax-bill-republicans-senate-5f591bea21bd95eec45ba90c93c50687">CBO said</a>&nbsp;the package would increase the deficit by nearly $3.3 trillion over the decade.

And on social media, billionaire Elon Musk was again lashing out at Republicans as “the PORKY PIG PARTY!!” for including the $5 trillion debt ceiling in the package, which is needed to allow continued borrowing to pay the bills.

Few Republicans appeared fully satisfied as the final package emerges, in either the House or Senate.

Collins had proposed bolstering the $25 billion proposed rural hospital fund to $50 billion, offset with a higher tax rate on those earning more than $25 million a year, but her amendment failed.

And Murkowski was trying to secure provisions to spare people in her state from some food stamp cuts, which appeared to be accepted, while she was also working to beef up federal reimbursements to hospitals in Alaska and others states, that did not comply with parliamentary rules.

“Radio silence,” Murkowski said when asked how she would vote.

The conservative senators demanding a vote on their steeper health care cuts, including Rick Scott of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, filed into Thune's office near-midnight.

All told, the Senate bill includes $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, according to the latest CBO analysis, making permanent&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/big-beautiful-bill-trump-tax-spending-cuts-78fabe42ae09e0c5ac692a92dca8af5b">Trump's 2017 rates</a>, which would expire at the end of the year if Congress fails to act, while adding the new ones he campaigned on, including&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/no-tax-on-tips-things-to-know-budget-bill-02b9d99dbe17cef93a81bc0cbb2cffcb">no taxes on tips</a>.

The Senate package would roll back billions of dollars in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/senate-clean-energy-tax-credits-trump-87f7ac850247f8a183d7c7933645b331">green energy tax credits</a>, which Democrats warn will wipe out wind and solar investments nationwide. It would impose $1.2 trillion in cuts, largely to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-big-bill-hospital-provider-tax-f6f4343bbc9c9a279bd7861c2e5c1b7b">Medicaid</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-food-stamps-tax-cuts-senate-spending-101d16d8ca61956fc37f0cce7551fa24">food stamps</a>, by imposing work requirements on able-bodied people, including some parents and older Americans, making sign-up eligibility more stringent and changing federal reimbursements to states.

Additionally, the bill would provide a $350 billion infusion for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-budget-congress-trump-bill-e37bb0a5c5ca883438db349239a6c251">border and national security</a>, including for deportations, some of it paid for with new fees charged to immigrants.

Unable to stop the march toward passage, the Democrats tried to drag out the process, including with a weekend reading of the full bill.

A few of the Democratic amendments won support from a few Republicans, though almost none were passing. More were considered in one of the longer such sessions in modern times.

One amendment overwhelmingly approved stripped a provision barring states from regulating artificial intelligence if they receive certain federal funding.

Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, raised particular concern about the accounting method being used by the Republicans, which says the tax breaks from Trump's first term are now “current policy” and the cost of extending them should not be counted toward deficits.

She said that kind of “magic math” won't fly with Americans trying to balance their own household books.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/6/1751134086185.png" alt="White House image" />
 <figcaption>White House image</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans hauled&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">President Donald Trump’s</a>&nbsp;big&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tax-cuts-bill-republicans-medicaid-snap-5106fb5d07a5675e01644aabde1f7df8">tax breaks and spending cuts bill</a>&nbsp;to passage Tuesday on the narrowest of votes, pushing past opposition from Democrats and their own GOP ranks after a turbulent overnight session.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">🚨BREAKING: President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill passes in the Senate 51-50 after VP JD Vance breaks the tie. <a href="https://t.co/GPNllTowQb">pic.twitter.com/GPNllTowQb</a>&mdash; Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) <a href="https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1940079910824841452?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Vice President JD Vance broke a 50-50 tie to push it over the top. The three Republicans opposing the bill were Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky.The outcome capped an unusually tense weekend of work at the Capitol, the president’s signature legislative priority teetering on the edge of approval, or collapse.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">President <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a>’s bill has passed the Senate and will deliver MAJOR wins to every single American. I look forward to seeing it get through the House and to the President’s desk by the 4th of July. 🇺🇸&mdash; Dr. Roger Marshall (@RogerMarshallMD) <a href="https://twitter.com/RogerMarshallMD/status/1940082519455551861?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The difficulty it took for Republicans, who have the majority hold in Congress, to wrestle the bill to this point is not expected to let up. The package now goes back to the House, where&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/speaker-johnson-trump-tax-bill-christian-prayer-f82ed140d9110d5cc7b4029b681ea9eb">Speaker Mike Johnson</a>&nbsp;had warned senators not to deviate too far from what his chamber had already approved. But the Senate did make changes, particularly to Medicaid, risking more problems as they race to finish by Trump’s Fourth of July deadline.The outcome is a pivotal moment for president and his party, which have been consumed by the 940-page&nbsp;<a href="https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/the_one_big_beautiful_bill_act.pdf">“One Big Beautiful Bill Act,”</a>&nbsp;as it’s formally titled, and invested their political capital in delivering on the GOP's sweep of power in Washington.Trump acknowledged it’s “very complicated stuff,” as he&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-everglades-immigrant-detention-facility-visit-5dc5568ec15534947c29c9149b773d1d">departed the White House for Florida</a>.“I don’t want to go too crazy with cuts," he said. "I don’t like cuts.”What started as a routine but laborious day of amendment voting, in a process called vote-a-rama, spiraled into a round-the-clock slog as Republican leaders were buying time to shore up support.The droning roll calls in the chamber belied the frenzied action to steady the bill. Grim-faced scenes played out on and off the Senate floor, amid exhaustion.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-big-bill-thune-senate-leader-daf1aee85669ac9a242908e2a13f9346">Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota</a>&nbsp;was desperately reaching for last-minute agreements between those in his party worried the bill's reductions to Medicaid will leave millions without care, and his most conservative flank, which wants even steeper cuts to hold down deficits ballooning with the tax cuts.The GOP leaders have no room to spare, with narrow majorities. Thune can lose no more than three Republican senators, and already two —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/thom-tillis-trumps-big-bill-election-north-carolina-51ba539bb59921324c663fe99ca32055">Tillis</a>, who warned that millions of people will lose access to Medicaid health care, and Paul, who opposes raising the debt limit by $5 trillion — had indicated opposition.Attention quickly turned to two key senators, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Collins, who also raised concerns about health care cuts, as well as a loose coalition of four conservative GOP senators pushing for even steeper reductions.Murkowski in particular became the subject of the GOP leadership’s attention, as they sat beside her for talks. She was huddled intensely for more than an hour in the back of the chamber with others, scribbling notes on papers.Then all eyes were on Paul after he returned from a visit to Thune’s office with a stunning offer that could win his vote. He had suggested substantially lowering the bill's increase in the debt ceiling, according to two people familiar with the private meeting and granted anonymity to discuss it.Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said “Republicans are in shambles because they know the bill is so unpopular."<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cbo-trump-tax-bill-republicans-senate-5f591bea21bd95eec45ba90c93c50687">An analysis</a>&nbsp;from&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cbo-big-beautiful-bill-trump-republican-deficit-debt-d432b67a965790e4a26de46ea8db1266">the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office</a>&nbsp;found 11.8 million more Americans would become uninsured by 2034 if the bill became law. The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cbo-trump-tax-bill-republicans-senate-5f591bea21bd95eec45ba90c93c50687">CBO said</a>&nbsp;the package would increase the deficit by nearly $3.3 trillion over the decade.And on social media, billionaire Elon Musk was again lashing out at Republicans as “the PORKY PIG PARTY!!” for including the $5 trillion debt ceiling in the package, which is needed to allow continued borrowing to pay the bills.<h2>Senators insist on changes</h2>Few Republicans appeared fully satisfied as the final package emerges, in either the House or Senate.Collins had proposed bolstering the $25 billion proposed rural hospital fund to $50 billion, offset with a higher tax rate on those earning more than $25 million a year, but her amendment failed.And Murkowski was trying to secure provisions to spare people in her state from some food stamp cuts, which appeared to be accepted, while she was also working to beef up federal reimbursements to hospitals in Alaska and others states, that did not comply with parliamentary rules.“Radio silence,” Murkowski said when asked how she would vote.The conservative senators demanding a vote on their steeper health care cuts, including Rick Scott of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, filed into Thune's office near-midnight.<h2>What's in the big bill</h2>All told, the Senate bill includes $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, according to the latest CBO analysis, making permanent&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/big-beautiful-bill-trump-tax-spending-cuts-78fabe42ae09e0c5ac692a92dca8af5b">Trump's 2017 rates</a>, which would expire at the end of the year if Congress fails to act, while adding the new ones he campaigned on, including&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/no-tax-on-tips-things-to-know-budget-bill-02b9d99dbe17cef93a81bc0cbb2cffcb">no taxes on tips</a>.The Senate package would roll back billions of dollars in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/senate-clean-energy-tax-credits-trump-87f7ac850247f8a183d7c7933645b331">green energy tax credits</a>, which Democrats warn will wipe out wind and solar investments nationwide. It would impose $1.2 trillion in cuts, largely to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-big-bill-hospital-provider-tax-f6f4343bbc9c9a279bd7861c2e5c1b7b">Medicaid</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-food-stamps-tax-cuts-senate-spending-101d16d8ca61956fc37f0cce7551fa24">food stamps</a>, by imposing work requirements on able-bodied people, including some parents and older Americans, making sign-up eligibility more stringent and changing federal reimbursements to states.Additionally, the bill would provide a $350 billion infusion for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-budget-congress-trump-bill-e37bb0a5c5ca883438db349239a6c251">border and national security</a>, including for deportations, some of it paid for with new fees charged to immigrants.<h2>Democrats fighting all day and night</h2>Unable to stop the march toward passage, the Democrats tried to drag out the process, including with a weekend reading of the full bill.A few of the Democratic amendments won support from a few Republicans, though almost none were passing. More were considered in one of the longer such sessions in modern times.One amendment overwhelmingly approved stripped a provision barring states from regulating artificial intelligence if they receive certain federal funding.Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, raised particular concern about the accounting method being used by the Republicans, which says the tax breaks from Trump's first term are now “current policy” and the cost of extending them should not be counted toward deficits.She said that kind of “magic math” won't fly with Americans trying to balance their own household books.

Senate passes the Big, Beautiful Bill as Vance breaks 50-50 tie

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, whose multimillion-dollar ministry and huge audience dwindled following his prostitution scandals, has died. He was 90.

Swaggart death was announced Tuesday on his public Facebook page. A cause wasn't immediately given, though Swaggart had been in ill health.

The Louisiana native was best known for being a captivating Pentecostal preacher with a massive following before being caught on camera with a prostitute in New Orleans in 1988, one of a string of successful TV preachers brought down in the 1980s and ’90s by sex scandals. He continued preaching for decades, but with a reduced audience.

Swaggart encapsulated his downfall in a tearful 1988 sermon, in which he wept and apologized but made no reference to his connection to a prostitute.

“I have sinned against you,” Swaggart told parishioners nationwide. “I beg you to forgive me.”

He announced his resignation from the Assemblies of God later that year, shortly after the church said it was defrocking him for rejecting punishment it had ordered for “moral failure.” The church had wanted him to undergo a two-year rehabilitation program, including not preaching for a full year.

Swaggart said at the time that he knew dismissal was inevitable but insisted he had no choice but to separate from the church to save his ministry and Bible college.

From poverty and oil fields to a household name

Swaggart grew up poor, the son of a preacher, in a music-rich family. He excelled at piano and gospel music, playing and singing with talented cousins who took different paths: rock-'n'-roller&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jerry-lee-lewis-dead-165d562af27b23da9d6d11fc480541e8">Jerry Lee Lewis</a>&nbsp;and country singer&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-music-texas-pasadena-ee50242fe97832287e9e83a8004326d4">Mickey Gilley</a>.

In his hometown of Ferriday, Louisiana, Swaggart said he first heard the call of God at age 8. The voice gave him goose bumps and made his hair tingle, he said.

“Everything seemed different after that day in front of the Arcade Theater,” he said in a 1985 interview with the Jacksonville Journal-Courier in Illinois. “I felt better inside. Almost like taking a bath.”

He preached and worked part time in oil fields until he was 23. He then moved entirely into his ministry: preaching, playing piano and singing gospel songs with the barrelhouse fervor of cousin Lewis at Assemblies of God revivals and camp meetings.

Swaggart started a radio show, a magazine, and then moved into television, with outspoken views.

He called Roman Catholicism “a false religion. It is not the Christian way,” and claimed that Jews suffered for thousands of years “because of their rejection of Christ.”

“If you don't like what I say, talk to my boss,” he once shouted as he strode in front of his congregation at his Family Worship Center in Baton Rouge, where his sermons moved listeners to speak in tongues and stand up as if possessed by the Holy Spirit.

Swaggart's messages stirred thousands of congregants and millions of TV viewers, making him a household name by the late 1980s. Contributors built Jimmy Swaggart Ministries into a business that made an estimated $142 million in 1986.

His Baton Rouge complex still includes a worship center and broadcasting and recording facilities.

Swaggart’s downfall came in the late 1980s as other prominent preachers faced similar scandals. Swaggart said publicly that his earnings were hurt in 1987 by the sex scandal surrounding&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/0862277bd6af0a060130a5d7dce38a21">rival televangelist Jim Bakker</a>&nbsp;and a former church secretary at Bakker's PTL ministry organization.

The following year, Swaggart was photographed at a hotel with Debra Murphree, an admitted prostitute who told reporters that the two did not have sex but that the preacher had paid her to pose nude.

She later repeated the claim — and posed nude — for Penthouse magazine.

The surveillance photos that crippled Swaggart's career apparently stemmed from his rivalry with preacher Marvin Gorman, whom Swaggart had accused of sexual misdeeds. Gorman hired the photographer who captured Swaggart and Murphree on film. Swaggart later paid Gorman $1.8 million to settle a lawsuit over the sexual allegations against Gorman.

More trouble came in 1991, when police in California detained Swaggart with another prostitute. The evangelist was charged with driving on the wrong side of the road and driving an unregistered Jaguar. His companion, Rosemary Garcia, said Swaggart became nervous when he saw the police car and weaved when he tried to stuff pornographic magazines under a car seat.

Swaggart was later mocked by the late TV comic Phil Hartman, who impersonated him on NBC's “Saturday Night Live.”

Out of the public eye but still in the pulpit

The evangelist largely stayed out of the news in later years but remained in the pulpit at Jimmy Swaggart Ministries, often joined by his son, Donnie, a fellow preacher. His radio station broadcast church services and gospel music to 21 states, and Swaggart's ministry boasted a worldwide audience on the internet.

The preacher caused another brief stir in 2004 with remarks about being “looked at” amorously by a gay man.

“And I'm going to be blunt and plain: If one ever looks at me like that, I'm going to kill him and tell God he died,” Swaggart said, to laughter from the congregation. He later apologized.

Swaggart made few public appearances outside his church, save for singing “Amazing Grace” at the 2005 funeral of Louisiana Secretary of State Fox McKeithen, a prominent name in state politics for decades.

In 2022, he shared memories at the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-louisiana-tennessee-music-5838b535133b0f4d1f5ae661da55a81e">memorial service</a>&nbsp;for Lewis, his cousin and rock ‘n’ roll pioneer. The pair had released “The Boys From Ferriday,” a gospel album, earlier that year.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/7/1751384370565.png" alt=" " />
 <figcaption> </figcaption>
 </figure>BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, whose multimillion-dollar ministry and huge audience dwindled following his prostitution scandals, has died. He was 90.Swaggart death was announced Tuesday on his public Facebook page. A cause wasn't immediately given, though Swaggart had been in ill health.The Louisiana native was best known for being a captivating Pentecostal preacher with a massive following before being caught on camera with a prostitute in New Orleans in 1988, one of a string of successful TV preachers brought down in the 1980s and ’90s by sex scandals. He continued preaching for decades, but with a reduced audience.Swaggart encapsulated his downfall in a tearful 1988 sermon, in which he wept and apologized but made no reference to his connection to a prostitute.“I have sinned against you,” Swaggart told parishioners nationwide. “I beg you to forgive me.”He announced his resignation from the Assemblies of God later that year, shortly after the church said it was defrocking him for rejecting punishment it had ordered for “moral failure.” The church had wanted him to undergo a two-year rehabilitation program, including not preaching for a full year.Swaggart said at the time that he knew dismissal was inevitable but insisted he had no choice but to separate from the church to save his ministry and Bible college.<h2>From poverty and oil fields to a household name</h2>Swaggart grew up poor, the son of a preacher, in a music-rich family. He excelled at piano and gospel music, playing and singing with talented cousins who took different paths: rock-'n'-roller&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jerry-lee-lewis-dead-165d562af27b23da9d6d11fc480541e8">Jerry Lee Lewis</a>&nbsp;and country singer&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-music-texas-pasadena-ee50242fe97832287e9e83a8004326d4">Mickey Gilley</a>.In his hometown of Ferriday, Louisiana, Swaggart said he first heard the call of God at age 8. The voice gave him goose bumps and made his hair tingle, he said.“Everything seemed different after that day in front of the Arcade Theater,” he said in a 1985 interview with the Jacksonville Journal-Courier in Illinois. “I felt better inside. Almost like taking a bath.”He preached and worked part time in oil fields until he was 23. He then moved entirely into his ministry: preaching, playing piano and singing gospel songs with the barrelhouse fervor of cousin Lewis at Assemblies of God revivals and camp meetings.Swaggart started a radio show, a magazine, and then moved into television, with outspoken views.He called Roman Catholicism “a false religion. It is not the Christian way,” and claimed that Jews suffered for thousands of years “because of their rejection of Christ.”“If you don't like what I say, talk to my boss,” he once shouted as he strode in front of his congregation at his Family Worship Center in Baton Rouge, where his sermons moved listeners to speak in tongues and stand up as if possessed by the Holy Spirit.Swaggart's messages stirred thousands of congregants and millions of TV viewers, making him a household name by the late 1980s. Contributors built Jimmy Swaggart Ministries into a business that made an estimated $142 million in 1986.His Baton Rouge complex still includes a worship center and broadcasting and recording facilities.<h2>The scandals that led to Swaggart's ruin</h2>Swaggart’s downfall came in the late 1980s as other prominent preachers faced similar scandals. Swaggart said publicly that his earnings were hurt in 1987 by the sex scandal surrounding&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/0862277bd6af0a060130a5d7dce38a21">rival televangelist Jim Bakker</a>&nbsp;and a former church secretary at Bakker's PTL ministry organization.The following year, Swaggart was photographed at a hotel with Debra Murphree, an admitted prostitute who told reporters that the two did not have sex but that the preacher had paid her to pose nude.She later repeated the claim — and posed nude — for Penthouse magazine.The surveillance photos that crippled Swaggart's career apparently stemmed from his rivalry with preacher Marvin Gorman, whom Swaggart had accused of sexual misdeeds. Gorman hired the photographer who captured Swaggart and Murphree on film. Swaggart later paid Gorman $1.8 million to settle a lawsuit over the sexual allegations against Gorman.More trouble came in 1991, when police in California detained Swaggart with another prostitute. The evangelist was charged with driving on the wrong side of the road and driving an unregistered Jaguar. His companion, Rosemary Garcia, said Swaggart became nervous when he saw the police car and weaved when he tried to stuff pornographic magazines under a car seat.Swaggart was later mocked by the late TV comic Phil Hartman, who impersonated him on NBC's “Saturday Night Live.”<h2>Out of the public eye but still in the pulpit</h2>The evangelist largely stayed out of the news in later years but remained in the pulpit at Jimmy Swaggart Ministries, often joined by his son, Donnie, a fellow preacher. His radio station broadcast church services and gospel music to 21 states, and Swaggart's ministry boasted a worldwide audience on the internet.The preacher caused another brief stir in 2004 with remarks about being “looked at” amorously by a gay man.“And I'm going to be blunt and plain: If one ever looks at me like that, I'm going to kill him and tell God he died,” Swaggart said, to laughter from the congregation. He later apologized.Swaggart made few public appearances outside his church, save for singing “Amazing Grace” at the 2005 funeral of Louisiana Secretary of State Fox McKeithen, a prominent name in state politics for decades.In 2022, he shared memories at the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-louisiana-tennessee-music-5838b535133b0f4d1f5ae661da55a81e">memorial service</a>&nbsp;for Lewis, his cousin and rock ‘n’ roll pioneer. The pair had released “The Boys From Ferriday,” a gospel album, earlier that year.

Controversial televangelist Jimmy Swaggart dies at 90

SEDGWICK COUNTY —A Kansas man accused of shooting a teen in a Walmart parking lot is due back in court Tuesday.

Ruben Contreras, 47 of Wichita, is charged with attempted 1st&nbsp;degree murder, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.&nbsp; He is scheduled to appear in Judge Seth Rundle's courtroom for a plea hearing in the case.

Just before 5p.m. May 11, 2024 officers were dispatched to a call involving a weapon at Walmart, 18631 W. Kellogg in Goddard, according to a statement from the Sedgwick County Sheriff's office.

First responders located an 18-year-old in a vehicle&nbsp;suffering from a gunshot wound, in the Walmart parking lot.&nbsp; EMS transported the teen to the hospital in serious condition.&nbsp;

A suspect identified as&nbsp;<a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/InmateSearch/Details.aspx?Id=748186">Contreras,</a>&nbsp;remained on the scene when law enforcement arrived and was taken into custody.

Contreras was transported to Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Investigation to be interviewed. He was later booked into Sedgwick County Detention Facility and later met the condition of a $300-thousand bond and is out of jail, according to online records.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/5/1715641692899.png" alt="Contreras photo Sedgwick County" />
 <figcaption>Contreras photo Sedgwick County</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY —A Kansas man accused of shooting a teen in a Walmart parking lot is due back in court Tuesday.Ruben Contreras, 47 of Wichita, is charged with attempted 1st&nbsp;degree murder, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.&nbsp; He is scheduled to appear in Judge Seth Rundle's courtroom for a plea hearing in the case.Just before 5p.m. May 11, 2024 officers were dispatched to a call involving a weapon at Walmart, 18631 W. Kellogg in Goddard, according to a statement from the Sedgwick County Sheriff's office.First responders located an 18-year-old in a vehicle&nbsp;suffering from a gunshot wound, in the Walmart parking lot.&nbsp; EMS transported the teen to the hospital in serious condition.&nbsp;A suspect identified as&nbsp;<a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/InmateSearch/Details.aspx?Id=748186">Contreras,</a>&nbsp;remained on the scene when law enforcement arrived and was taken into custody.Contreras was transported to Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Investigation to be interviewed. He was later booked into Sedgwick County Detention Facility and later met the condition of a $300-thousand bond and is out of jail, according to online records.

Man accused of shooting Kan. teen in parking lot is due back in court

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Crew members from a Disney cruise ship saved a girl who fell overboard and her father who jumped in after her.

The Disney Dream rescue team pulled the girl and her father into a small boat on Sunday as the cruise ship was returning to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from the Bahamas on the last day of the voyage, according to Disney and passengers who recorded the rescue on video.

Passengers were alerted that someone had fallen overboard by an announcement over the ship’s loudspeakers, said passenger Kevin Furuta in a social media post.

“Thankfully the (Disney Cruise Lines) rescue team was on it immediately and both were saved!” Furuta said in a post to the Facebook group, Disney Dream Cruise Ship Group.

No information has been released about how the girl fell overboard.

“We commend our crew members for their exceptional skills and prompt actions, which ensured the safe return of both guests to the ship within minutes,” Disney said in a statement. “We are committed to the safety and well-being of our guests, and this incident highlights the effectiveness of our safety protocols.”

The Coast Guard didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/7/1751373006811.jpg" alt="Image Pixaby" />
 <figcaption>Image Pixaby</figcaption>
 </figure>FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Crew members from a Disney cruise ship saved a girl who fell overboard and her father who jumped in after her.The Disney Dream rescue team pulled the girl and her father into a small boat on Sunday as the cruise ship was returning to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from the Bahamas on the last day of the voyage, according to Disney and passengers who recorded the rescue on video.Passengers were alerted that someone had fallen overboard by an announcement over the ship’s loudspeakers, said passenger Kevin Furuta in a social media post.“Thankfully the (Disney Cruise Lines) rescue team was on it immediately and both were saved!” Furuta said in a post to the Facebook group, Disney Dream Cruise Ship Group.No information has been released about how the girl fell overboard.“We commend our crew members for their exceptional skills and prompt actions, which ensured the safe return of both guests to the ship within minutes,” Disney said in a statement. “We are committed to the safety and well-being of our guests, and this incident highlights the effectiveness of our safety protocols.”The Coast Guard didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.

Disney cruise ship rescue team saves girl and father after overboard fall

SEDGWICK COUNTY— Law enforcement investigating a deadly weekend shooting in Wichita have made an arrest.&nbsp;

Just after 6p.m. on Monday police<a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/inmatesearch/Details.aspx?Id=228061"> booked 27-year-old Elijah Fanning</a> into the Sedgwick County Jail, according to online booking records. Fanning is being held on requested charges of 2nd degree murder, criminal discharge of a firearm, criminal possession of a weapon and for an outstanding warrant, according to a media release from police.

The investigation began at 2:26 p.m. on&nbsp; Saturday, when officers responded to a shooting in the 2700 block of W. 2nd Street in Wichita.

First responders found a 26 year old Wichita man on the ground with a gunshot wound. He was taken to a local hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. Detectives learned the shooting followed a disturbance between the victim and four other males. All four fled the area before officers arrived.

One person of interest remains outstanding. Investigators are actively working leads to locate the remaining suspect involved.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/6/1751242881236.png" alt="Police at the scene Sunday-photo courtesy KWCH" />
 <figcaption>Police at the scene Sunday-photo courtesy KWCH</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY— Law enforcement investigating a deadly weekend shooting in Wichita have made an arrest.&nbsp;Just after 6p.m. on Monday police<a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/inmatesearch/Details.aspx?Id=228061"> booked 27-year-old Elijah Fanning</a> into the Sedgwick County Jail, according to online booking records. Fanning is being held on requested charges of 2nd degree murder, criminal discharge of a firearm, criminal possession of a weapon and for an outstanding warrant, according to a media release from police.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/7/1751366599042.png" alt="Fanning-photo Sedgwick County" />
 <figcaption>Fanning-photo Sedgwick County</figcaption>
 </figure>The investigation began at 2:26 p.m. on&nbsp; Saturday, when officers responded to a shooting in the 2700 block of W. 2nd Street in Wichita.First responders found a 26 year old Wichita man on the ground with a gunshot wound. He was taken to a local hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. Detectives learned the shooting followed a disturbance between the victim and four other males. All four fled the area before officers arrived.One person of interest remains outstanding. Investigators are actively working leads to locate the remaining suspect involved.

Police: Kan. suspect arrested for weekend homicide

KANSAS CITY—Law enforcement are investigating a violent altercation that injured two teenagers at a skate park in Kansas City, Missouri.

Just after 1a.m. Sunday, police&nbsp;responded to report of a disturbance at 6401 NE Pleasant Valley Road in Kansas City, according to a statement from police.

First responders learned that a girl had been struck by a car, which fled the scene. They also learned that a teenager girl had arrived at a hospital with a gunshot wound. The 15-year-old shooting victim told hospital staff she was shot at Pleasant Valley Skate Park, according to police.

The injured girl reported a verbal altercation broke out and people began pushing and hitting the vehicle she was in. The driver of the vehicle, who was listed as a victim of aggravated assault, began to drive away as the altercation continued.

Someone fired a gun as they drove off. The gunshots struck the car and the girl who was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. The driver and other victim was a 16-year-old girl.&nbsp; Police have not reported a possible suspect or an arrest.

KANSAS CITY—Law enforcement are investigating a violent altercation that injured two teenagers at a skate park in Kansas City, Missouri.Just after 1a.m. Sunday, police&nbsp;responded to report of a disturbance at 6401 NE Pleasant Valley Road in Kansas City, according to a statement from police.First responders learned that a girl had been struck by a car, which fled the scene. They also learned that a teenager girl had arrived at a hospital with a gunshot wound. The 15-year-old shooting victim told hospital staff she was shot at Pleasant Valley Skate Park, according to police.The injured girl reported a verbal altercation broke out and people began pushing and hitting the vehicle she was in. The driver of the vehicle, who was listed as a victim of aggravated assault, began to drive away as the altercation continued.Someone fired a gun as they drove off. The gunshots struck the car and the girl who was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. The driver and other victim was a 16-year-old girl.&nbsp; Police have not reported a possible suspect or an arrest.

Girls hurt in disturbance, shooting at Kansas City skate park

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate came to a standstill Tuesday after slogging through a tense overnight session, with Republican leaders searching for ways to secure support for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">President Donald Trump's</a>&nbsp;big bill of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tax-cuts-bill-republicans-medicaid-snap-5106fb5d07a5675e01644aabde1f7df8">tax breaks and spending cuts</a>&nbsp;while fending off proposed amendments, mostly from Democrats trying to defeat the package.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-big-bill-thune-senate-leader-daf1aee85669ac9a242908e2a13f9346">Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota</a>&nbsp;spent the night reaching for last-minute agreements between those in his party worried the bill's reductions to Medicaid will leave millions without care and his most conservative flank, which wants even steeper cuts to hold down deficits ballooning with the tax cuts.

Vice President JD Vance was at the Capitol, on hand to break a tie vote if needed.

It's a pivotal moment for the Republicans, who have control of Congress and are racing to wrap up work with just days to go before Trump's holiday deadline Friday. The 940-page&nbsp;<a href="https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/the_one_big_beautiful_bill_act.pdf">“One Big Beautiful Bill Act,”</a>&nbsp;as it’s formally titled, has consumed Congress as its shared priority with the president.

At the same time&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/speaker-johnson-trump-tax-bill-christian-prayer-f82ed140d9110d5cc7b4029b681ea9eb">House Speaker Mike Johnson</a>&nbsp;of Louisiana has signaled more potential problems ahead, warning the Senate package could run into trouble when it is sent back to the House for a final round of voting, as skeptical lawmakers are being called back to Washington ahead of Trump’s Fourth of July deadline.

Trump acknowledged it's “very complicated stuff,” as he&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-everglades-immigrant-detention-facility-visit-5dc5568ec15534947c29c9149b773d1d">departed the White House for Florida</a>.

“We’re going to have to see the final version,” the president said. "I don’t want to go too crazy with cuts. I don’t like cuts.”

What started as a routine, but laborious day of amendment voting, in a process called vote-a-rama, spiraled into an almost round-the-clock marathon as Republican leaders were buying time to shore up support. It was among the longest sessions processing the most amendments in modern times.

The droning roll calls in the chamber belied the frenzied action to steady the bill. Grim-faced scenes played out on and off the Senate floor, and tempers flared.

The GOP leaders have no room to spare, with narrow majorities in both chambers. Thune can lose no more than three Republican senators, and already two —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/thom-tillis-trumps-big-bill-election-north-carolina-51ba539bb59921324c663fe99ca32055">Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina</a>, who warns people will lose access to Medicaid health care, and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who opposes raising the debt limit by $5 trillion — have indicated opposition.

Attention quickly turned to key senators, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, who have also worked to stem the health care cuts, but also a loose coalition of four conservative GOP senators pushing for even steeper reductions.

Asked if she’ll support the bill, Collins told the AP she continues to have a “lot of serious reservations about the bill.”

Murkowski in particular was the subject of the GOP leadership's attention, as Thune and others sat beside her in conversation. By daybreak, she was huddled intensely for more than an hour in the back of the chamber with others, scribbling notes on papers.

At another point, all eyes shifted to Paul after he returned from a visit to Thune’s office with a stunning offer that could win his vote. He had suggested substantially lowering the proposed increase in the amount of the debt ceiling, according to two people familiar with the private meeting and granted anonymity to discuss it.

And on social media, billionaire Elon Musk was again lashing out at Republicans as “the PORKY PIG PARTY!!” for including the $5 trillion debt limit provision, which is needed to allow continued borrowing to pay the bills.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cbo-trump-tax-bill-republicans-senate-5f591bea21bd95eec45ba90c93c50687">A new analysis</a>&nbsp;from&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cbo-big-beautiful-bill-trump-republican-deficit-debt-d432b67a965790e4a26de46ea8db1266">the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office</a>&nbsp;found 11.8 million more Americans would become uninsured by 2034 if the bill became law. The CBO said the package would increase the deficit by nearly $3.3 trillion over the decade.

Few Republicans appear fully satisfied as the final package emerges, in either the House or Senate.

And Murkowski was trying to secure provisions to spare people in her state from some food stamp cuts, which appeared to be accepted, while she was also working to beef up federal reimbursements to hospitals in Alaska and others states, that failed to comply with parliamentary rules.

At the same time, conservative Senate Republicans had insisted on a vote on their plan for health care cuts, including Rick Scott of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming.

A few of the amendments from Democrats were winning support from a few Republicans, though almost none passed.

One amendment was overwhelmingly approved, 99-1. It would strip a provision barring states from regulating artificial intelligence if they receive certain federal funding.

Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, raised particular concern at the start of debate late Sunday about the accounting method being used by the Republicans, which says the tax breaks from Trump's first term are now “current policy” and the cost of extending them should not be counted toward deficits.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-tax-cuts-trump-big-bill-bf3f94471b13db3e5d50f0cd1f8fe793">WASHINGTON (AP) —The Senate slogged</a>&nbsp;through a tense overnight session that has now dragged into Tuesday morning, with Republican leaders searching for ways to secure support for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">President Donald Trump’s</a>&nbsp;big bill of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tax-cuts-bill-republicans-medicaid-snap-5106fb5d07a5675e01644aabde1f7df8">tax breaks and spending cuts</a>&nbsp;while fending off proposed amendments, mostly from Democrats trying to defeat the package.

An endgame appeared to be taking shape.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-big-bill-thune-senate-leader-daf1aee85669ac9a242908e2a13f9346">Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota</a>&nbsp;spent the night reaching for last-minute agreements between those in his party worried the bill’s reductions to Medicaid will leave millions without care and his most conservative flank, which wants even steeper cuts to hold down deficits ballooning with the tax cuts.

It’s a pivotal moment for the Republicans, who have control of Congress and are racing to wrap up work with just days to go before Trump’s self-imposed July 4 deadline. The 940-page&nbsp;<a href="https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/the_one_big_beautiful_bill_act.pdf">“One Big Beautiful Bill Act,”</a>&nbsp;as it’s formally titled, has consumed Congress as its shared priority with the president.

Senate ‘vote-o-rama’ for Trump’s big bill already among longest-running in modern times

The all-night session has been grinding on for nearly 24 hours, having started at roughly 9:30 a.m. on Monday.

Senators have voted on more than three dozen amendments so far. More voting is likely.

The marathon voting session is part of the cumbersome process Republicans are using to try and pass the bill with a simple majority.

Republicans are letting the process drag on as they try to lock up last-minute agreements to push the bill to passage. For now, the Senate floor is at a standstill.

Senate strikes AI provision from GOP bill after uproar from the states

The proposal to deter states from regulating artificial intelligence for a decade was soundly defeated in the Senate on Tuesday, thwarting attempts to insert the measure into&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">President Trump’s</a>&nbsp;big bill of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/senate-medicaid-food-stamps-tax-cuts-trump-04ba626c7e35c6a0070436f69616ab35?user_email=4fd4c27baee4d42584b8424a80aaaef9499833441d8a179eef98bf79418cf799&amp;utm_medium=Morning_Wire&amp;utm_source=Sailthru_AP&amp;utm_campaign=Morning%20Wire%2006/30&amp;utm_term=Morning%20Wire%20Subscribers">tax breaks and spending cuts</a>.

The Senate voted 99-1 to strike the AI provision for the legislation after weeks of criticism from both Republican and Democratic governors and state officials.

Originally proposed as a 10-year ban on states doing anything to regulate AI, lawmakers later tied it to federal funding so that only states that backed off on AI regulations would be able to get subsidies for broadband internet or AI infrastructure.

Trump responds to Elon Musk’s criticism of tax cut and spending bill

Trump said the billionaire could lose a lot more than the electrical vehicle subsidies that would be eliminated if the measure becomes law.

“We might have to put DOGE on Elon,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a trip to Florida. “DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon.”

DOGE is the Department of Government Efficiency. Trump put Musk in charge of DOGE to cut government spending. Musk owns an electric vehicle company and a space company and has lucrative federal government contracts.

By LISA MASCARO, MARY CLARE JALONICK and MATT BROWN&nbsp;

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is slogging through a tense overnight session that has dragged into Tuesday, with Republican leaders buying time as they search for ways to secure support for President Donald Trump's big bill of tax breaks and spending cuts while fending off proposed amendments, mostly from Democrats trying to defeat the package.

An endgame was not immediately in sight. Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota is reaching for a last-minute agreement between those in his party worried the bill's reductions to Medicaid will leave millions without care and his most conservative flank, which wants even steeper cuts to hold down deficits ballooning with the tax cuts.

Thune declared at one point they were in the "homestretch" as he dashed through the halls at the Capitol, only to backtrack a short time later, suggesting any progress was "elusive."

At the same time House Speaker Mike Johnson has signaled more potential problems ahead, warning the Senate package could run into trouble when it is sent back to the House for a final round of voting, as skeptical lawmakers are being called back to Washington ahead of Trump's Fourth of July deadline.

"I have prevailed upon my Senate colleagues to please, please, please keep it as close to the House product as possible," said Johnson, the Louisiana Republican. House Republicans had already passed their version last month.

It's a pivotal moment for the Republicans, who have control of Congress and are racing to wrap up work with just days to go before Trump's holiday deadline Friday. The 940-page "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," as it's formally titled, has consumed Congress as its shared priority with the president.

In a midnight social media post urging them on, Trump called the bill "perhaps the greatest and most important of its kind." Vice President JD Vance summed up his own series of posts, simply imploring senators to "Pass the bill."

The GOP leaders have no room to spare, with narrow majorities in both chambers. Thune can lose no more than three Republican senators, and already two — Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who warns people will lose access to Medicaid health care, and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who opposes raising the debt limit — have indicated opposition.

Attention quickly turned to key senators, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, who have also raised concerns about health care cuts, but also a loose coalition of four conservative GOP senators pushing for even steeper reductions.

Murkowski in particular was the subject of the GOP leadership's attention, as Thune and others sat beside her in conversation. Then Paul drew eyes after he returned from a visit to Thune's office.

And on social media, billionaire Elon Musk was again lashing out at Republicans as "the PORKY PIG PARTY!!" for including a provision that would raise the nation's debt limit by $5 trillion, which is needed to allow continued borrowing to pay the bills.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said his side was working to show "how awful this is."

"Republicans are in shambles because they know the bill is so unpopular," Schumer said as he walked the halls.

A new analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found 11.8 million more Americans would become uninsured by 2034 if the bill became law. The CBO said the package would increase the deficit by nearly $3.3 trillion over the decade.

Tillis said it is a betrayal of the president's promises not to kick people off health care, especially if rural hospitals close.

Collins had proposed bolstering the $25 billion proposed rural hospital fund to $50 billion, but her amendment failed. And Murkowski was trying to secure provisions to spare people in her state from some health care and food stamp cuts while also working to beef up federal reimbursements to Alaska's hospitals. They have not said how they would vote for the final package.

"Radio silence," Murkowski said when asked.

At the same time, conservative Senate Republicans proposing steeper health care cuts, including Rick Scott of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, filed into Thune's office for a near-midnight meeting.

The Senate has spent some 18 hours churning through more than two dozen amendments in what is called a vote-a-rama, a typically laborious process that went on longer than usual as negotiations happen on and off the chamber floor. The White House legislative team also was at the Capitol.

A few of the amendments — to strike parts of the bill that would limit Medicaid funds to rural hospitals or shift the costs of food stamp benefits to the states — were winning support from a few Republicans, though almost none were passing.

One amendment was overwhelmingly approved. It would strip a provision barring states from regulating artificial intelligence if they receive certain federal funding. It was approved 99-1.

All told, the Senate bill includes $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, according to the latest CBO analysis, making permanent Trump's 2017 rates, which would expire at the end of the year if Congress fails to act, while adding the new ones he campaigned on, including no taxes on tips.

The Senate package would roll back billions of dollars in green energy tax credits, which Democrats warn will wipe out wind and solar investments nationwide. It would impose $1.2 trillion in cuts, largely to Medicaid and food stamps, by imposing work requirements on able-bodied people, including some parents and older Americans, making sign-up eligibility more stringent and changing federal reimbursements to states.

Additionally, the bill would provide a $350 billion infusion for border and national security, including for deportations, some of it paid for with new fees charged to immigrants.

Unable to stop the march toward passage, the Democrats as the minority party in Congress are using the tools at their disposal to delay and drag out the process.

Democrats forced a full reading of the text, which took 16 hours, and they have a stream of amendments.

Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, raised particular concern at the start of debate late Sunday about the accounting method being used by the Republicans, which says the tax breaks from Trump's first term are now "current policy" and the cost of extending them should not be counted toward deficits.

She said that kind of "magic math" won't fly with Americans trying to balance their own household books.

Associated Press writers Ali Swenson, Fatima Hussein, Michelle L. Price, Kevin Freking, Matt Brown, Seung Min Kim and Chris Megerian contributed to this report.

Moran, Marshall up all night: ‘Vote-o-rama’ on Big, Beautiful Bill continues

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Authorities say two firefighters were killed and another was critically injured after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coeur-dalene-idaho-shooting-firefighters-024d26274e0faacec1687f6dde789ced">they were shot</a>&nbsp;while responding to a wildfire near Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Here's what to know about&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coeur-dalene-idaho-shooting-57e4143642c5a0e98d134051a7147a89">Sunday's attack</a>, the investigation and next steps.

Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris said firefighters first responded to an early afternoon report of a brushfire at Canfield Mountain, a popular hiking and biking area near the outskirts of town. A man began shooting at them after firefighters asked him to move his vehicle.

Law enforcement officials responded, locking down neighborhoods nearby and trying to find the shooter in hilly terrain that had plenty of cover, with thick brush and trees and smoke from the fire nearby.

Over the next few hours, it wasn't clear if hikers or other recreationists were stuck on the mountain, or if any civilians had been injured in the shooting, Norris said. What was clear was the danger firefighters and responding law enforcement faced.

“We don’t know how many suspects are up there, and we don’t know how many casualties there are,” Norris told reporters at a Sunday afternoon news conference. “We are actively taking sniper fire as we speak.”

A spokesperson with Kootenai Health later confirmed that three patients were brought to the hospital. Two were dead by the time they arrived and a third was injured.

The names of the slain and injured firefighters were released by fire department officials on Monday afternoon.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/6/1751336556199.png" alt="Coeur d’Alene Fire Department Battalion Chief John Morrison" />
 <figcaption>Coeur d’Alene Fire Department Battalion Chief John Morrison</figcaption>
 </figure>BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Authorities say two firefighters were killed and another was critically injured after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coeur-dalene-idaho-shooting-firefighters-024d26274e0faacec1687f6dde789ced">they were shot</a>&nbsp;while responding to a wildfire near Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.Here's what to know about&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coeur-dalene-idaho-shooting-57e4143642c5a0e98d134051a7147a89">Sunday's attack</a>, the investigation and next steps.<h2>Ambush began with a brush fire</h2>Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris said firefighters first responded to an early afternoon report of a brushfire at Canfield Mountain, a popular hiking and biking area near the outskirts of town. A man began shooting at them after firefighters asked him to move his vehicle.Law enforcement officials responded, locking down neighborhoods nearby and trying to find the shooter in hilly terrain that had plenty of cover, with thick brush and trees and smoke from the fire nearby.<h2>First hours were chaotic</h2>Over the next few hours, it wasn't clear if hikers or other recreationists were stuck on the mountain, or if any civilians had been injured in the shooting, Norris said. What was clear was the danger firefighters and responding law enforcement faced.“We don’t know how many suspects are up there, and we don’t know how many casualties there are,” Norris told reporters at a Sunday afternoon news conference. “We are actively taking sniper fire as we speak.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/6/1751336628699.png" alt="Battalion Chief Frank Harwood-courtesy photo" />
 <figcaption>Battalion Chief Frank Harwood-courtesy photo</figcaption>
 </figure>A spokesperson with Kootenai Health later confirmed that three patients were brought to the hospital. Two were dead by the time they arrived and a third was injured.The names of the slain and injured firefighters were released by fire department officials on Monday afternoon.Battalion Chief Frank Harwood, 42, who had been with the Kootenai County fire department for 17 years, was killed, county Fire and Rescue Chief Christopher Way said during a news conference.Coeur d’Alene Fire Department Battalion Chief John Morrison, 52, was also killed. He had worked with the department for 28 years.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/6/1751336823249.png" alt="David Tysdale courtesy photo" />
 <figcaption>David Tysdale courtesy photo</figcaption>
 </figure>Coeur d’Alene Fire Department Engineer David Tysdal, 47, was in critical condition after undergoing two surgeries.<h2>Cellphone data helps law enforcement find the suspect</h2>Faced with more than 17,000 square feet (1,580 square meters) of containment area, part of it burning, authorities used cellphone data to narrow their search. They identified a cell signal around 3:15 p.m. and noticed it had not changed location for some time, Norris said.A tactical response team went to the location and found a deceased man with a weapon nearby. Officials believe the man was the shooter, the sheriff said. Investigators said he acted alone.<h2>The fire complicates the crime scene</h2>The fire was burning close to the suspect's body, so authorities had to “scoop the body up” before it was engulfed in flames, Norris said.Crews were stationed around the area overnight and the sheriff said the investigation continued Monday.Norris said a full search of the area would be done to make sure no other weapons were in the vicinity.The suspect has been identified as Wess Roley, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Monday. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation.<h2>Procession honors fallen firefighters</h2>A procession of fire and law enforcement vehicles accompanied the bodies of the fallen firefighters as they were taken from the hospital in Coeur d'Alene to the medical examiner's office in Spokane, Washington, a neighboring city just across the state line. Another procession was planned to bring the bodies back to Coeur d'Alene on Tuesday.Idaho Gov. Brad Little ordered U.S. and Idaho state flags to be lowered to half-staff Monday to honor the firefighters until the day after their memorial service, saying they’ve never seen a “heinous act of violence like this” directed at firefighters.“This is not Idaho,” Little said in a statement. “This indescribable loss is felt deeply by all those in the firefighting community and beyond.”______Associated Press journalist Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington and Lisa Baumann in Bellingham, Washington, contributed to this report.