Senate ‘vote-a-rama’ on GOP megabill goes all night; Trump to visit ‘Alligator Alcatraz’
AI regulation provision removed from GOP bill
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The Senate passed an amendment overnight to strike a provision from Republicans’ domestic policy bill that would have established a 10-year moratorium on state and local artificial intelligence regulations.
The vote was 99-1, with only Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., voting in support.
The amendment came after a deal between Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to reduce to ban to five years following complaints from some GOP governors.
Trump threatens to re-examine government support for Elon Musk’s companies as mogul trashes GOP megabil
Trump threatened to sic the Department of Government Efficiency on Elon Musk’s businesses, saying in a Truth Social post shortly after midnight that there was “big money to be saved.”
“Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa,” Trump said in the post. “No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE.”
“Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this?” the president added.
Senate breaks record for most votes in ‘vote-a-rama’ history
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With its 45th vote on an amendment to the GOP megabill, the Senate has now broken the record for the most number of votes in “vote-a-rama” history.
The record was set when lawmakers began voting on an amendment brought by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md. It remains unclear how many additional amendments will be offered.
The previous record was set in 2008, when lawmakers voted 44 times during a series of votes on a budget resolution. Senators can introduce an unlimited number of amendments to budget or reconciliation measures for votes, a process known on Capitol Hill as a “vote-a-rama.”
Republican-led states advance Trump’s agenda with new laws taking effect Tuesday
While Congress scrambles to pass Trump’s massive domestic policy bill, many red states are already implementing key aspects of his agenda through new laws this week.
For most states, today is the start of a new fiscal year, when numerous laws take effect. Some of the statutes in Trump-won states this year mirror executive orders and other directives he signed early in his second term.
Read here for a sampling of the new laws set to be enforced.
‘Alligator Alcatraz’ immigrant detention facility set to open, with Trump in attendance
Trump will be in the Florida Everglades today for the opening of a controversial immigrant detention center spearheaded by state Republican leaders, which has faced vocal pushback from Democrats, Native American leaders and activist groups over humanitarian and environmental concerns.
The facility, informally dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” by state Republicans, was the brainchild of state Attorney General James Uthmeier. It has received significant national attention, including during a “Fox and Friends” interview with Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday.
DeSantis described the push as Florida’s continued effort to align the state with Trump’s anti-immigrant crackdown. But Trump’s decision to attend in person, along with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, has shifted some of the focus to the administration, which had to approve Florida’s plan to run the facility.
Here’s what’s in the Senate’s version of the ‘big, beautiful bill’
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Trump’s sweeping domestic policy package that’s moving through the Senate would affect virtually every American, overhauling tax, health care and energy policy.
It renews the tax cuts Trump signed into law in his first term and pays for them in part with steep cuts to Medicaid, food aid programs and clean energy funding.
But the sprawling package — which is likely to face substantial changes before a final vote in the Senate — also touches on a range of other policy issues, from artificial intelligence and space exploration to immigration.
