PRESIDENT TRUMP on Tuesday talked in blunt and harsh terms to the GOP holdouts refusing to back his agenda bill, but the dissenters remained unmoved after another tense day of negotiations on Capitol Hill.

 

Trump made the rare trip from one end of Pennsylvania Avenue to the other, where he demanded House Republicans drop their quibbles with his “big, beautiful bill” and fall in line.

 

“There are some people who want a couple of things that I don’t like or that they’re not going to get,” Trump said on his way to meet with the GOP conference. 

 

Trump bluntly warned members not to “f‑‑‑ with Medicaid,” as fiscal hawks seek further spending cuts to address the deficit.

 

And he told moderate Republicans from blue states to give up their fight to increase the state and local tax (SALT) deduction, which Trump campaigned on raising.

 

The president singled out individual Republicans, such as Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), who is among those saying he won’t vote for a bill that doesn’t further lift the SALT cap. Lawler has said his constituents will run him out of office if he votes for anything less.

 

“I know your district better than you do,” Trump told him. “If you lose because of SALT, you were going to lose anyway.”

 

Later, Trump ripped Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), a fiscal hawk who has consistently voted against GOP spending bills because they don’t do enough to address the deficit.

 

“I don't think Thomas Massie understands government,” Trump said. “I think he's a grand-stander, frankly…I think he should be voted out of office.”

 

“I think anybody that didn’t support it as a Republican, I would consider to be a fool,” he added.

 

But the sum total of Trump’s efforts did not appear to put Republicans in a better position to pass the reconciliation bill, as the clock ticks toward Speaker Johnson’s (R-La.) Memorial Day deadline.

 

“The president I don’t think convinced enough people that the bill is adequate the way it is,” said Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), the chair of the conservative House Freedom Caucus.

 

“I can’t support it the way it is right now,” he added. “We’re still a long ways away.”

 

And the SALT Caucus Republicans, who emerged from a late-night meeting with Johnson on Monday with no deal, dug in further.

 

“While I respect the president, I’m not budging on it,” Lawler said.

 

Here are five things to know about the SALT tax break holding up the bill.

 

Still, some Republican lawmakers expressed optimism they’d get there in the end, as has happened with multiple razor-tight votes during Trump’s second term.

 

“We’re getting close,” said Rep. Josh Brecheen (R-Okla.).

 

After the meeting with Trump, Johnson attended the Senate GOP’s weekly policy luncheon. Even if the reconciliation bill passes the House, it faces a tough road through the Senate.

 

“Look, we’ve got a number of loose ends to tie up, but they’re coming together well,” Johnson said.

 

The House Rules Committee will begin its markup on the bill at 1 a.m. Wednesday morning.

💡Perspectives:

• The Hill: A short history of the long slide into federal fiscal insanity.

• Racket: The oracle of Omaha calls it a career.

• The Wall Street Journal: Washington deserved a downgrade.

• The Guardian: Trump can’t stop his own economic mess.

• The Hill: Yes-men and experience embolden Trump 2.0.

Read more: 

• Trump approval rating holds steady as concerns over economy ease.

• GOP battles threaten to torpedo Trump package.

• Here’s what’s in the GOP’s 1,116-page ‘big, beautiful bill’.

• The Movement: Johnson dodges crosshairs of RINO-hunting online right.

• Trump tax cuts would add $3.8 trillion to debt: CBO.

• The Trump administration is moving to limit the approval of new COVID-19 vaccines to adults over 65 and people who are high risk.

   

• President Trump announced Tuesday that his proposed Golden Dome missile defense shield system would cost $175 billion to build and would be “fully operational” in less than three years, defying earlier predictions for a higher price tag and longer timeline.

• The Trump administration agreed to pay nearly $5 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Ashli Babbitt’s family after she was shot and killed during the Jan. 6, 2021 riot on Capitol Hill.

• The Hill hosts an event Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. EDT to discuss how recent shifts in federal health policy are affecting older Americans. RSVP HERE.

©  AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

The hotly anticipated book “Original Sin” by journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson dropped Tuesday, along with new revelations about how former President Biden’s inner circle conspired to hide his mental and physical decline while he was in office.

 

The reviews are in:

 

• The New York Times: A damning portrait of an enfeebled Biden protected by his inner circle.

 

• The Washington Post: “Original Sin” indicts the cover-up a deeply declining Joe Biden.

 

• The Wall Street Journal: A conspiracy in plain view.

 

The latest news to drop is that Biden would go “months and months and months” without seeing his Cabinet secretaries. On the rare event of a Cabinet meeting, Biden’s aides would script the events and use multiple cameras to cover his flubs.

 

Late Monday, the Department of Justice released the full audio of Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur, in which the then-president can be heard giving halting responses and struggling to remember key details of his life and work.

 

Democrats have been hounded by the slow drip of revelations in the lead up to the book’s release.

 

The pressure has relented since Biden announced over the weekend that he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones.

 

At least one Democrat, former Rep. Dean Phillips (Minn.), who ran a lonely primary campaign against Biden, questioned the timing of the announcement, underscoring the loss of trust in Biden World.

 

“I don’t think it’s coincidental that this was announced this week,” he told The New York Times.

 

Republicans have raised the prospect that the Bidens knew of the diagnosis earlier, potentially even when he was in office.

 

“I’m surprised the public wasn’t notified a long time ago,” President Trump said. “It takes a long time to get to that situation.”

 

Prostate cancer takes a long time to gestate and spread. However, it’s not standard for men in their 80s to receive blood tests that measure prostate-specific antigens, or PSAs, which reveal the existence of prostate cancer.

 

According to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, PSA screenings are discouraged for men 70 or older because they can produce false positives or create undue concerns about low-risk diseases.

 

Still, presidential health care is comprehensive and closely monitored. Trump, who is 78, and former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush were tested for PSAs and all released their results. Biden did not.

MEANWHILE…

A new analysis from Democratic data analytics firm The Catalist looks at how Trump defeated former Vice President Kamala Harris, which will provoke further soul-searching from Democrats.

 

The bottom line: Young voters and racial minorities, two groups that Democrats once counted as the lynchpin of their coalition, shifted to the right. Or as The Cook Political Report writes, “the Obama coalition turned into the Trump coalition.”

ELSEWHERE…

Elon Musk said Tuesday at the Qatar Economic Forum that he intends to remain CEO of Tesla for at least the next five years, but he’ll be drawing back on his political spending, which has badly damaged the Tesla brand.

 

“I think in terms of political spending I’m going to do a lot less in the future,” Musk said.

 

“I think I’ve done enough,” he added. “If I see a reason for political spending in the future I’ll do it. I don’t currently see a reason.”

💡Perspectives:

• Time: Inside the Dem reboot.

• USA Today: Was Biden ever in good enough health?

• Washington Monthly: Joe Biden has nothing to do with the 2028 election.

• The Liberal Patriot: Understanding America.

Read more: 

• Trump team tries to thread needle on Biden criticism after cancer news.

• CNN’s Tapper defends his reporting for Biden book amid backlash.

• Democrats can’t escape questions about Biden despite cancer diagnosis.

• Progressive knives come out for Dem behind Trump impeachment push.

• Former Atlanta mayor launches bid for Georgia governor.

©  AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis

Democrats are furious after interim U.S Attorney Alina Habba announced federal assault charges against Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) over a scuffle that broke out while McIver and colleagues were visiting an immigration detention facility in New Jersey.

 

Reps. McIver, Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), Rob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D) were making an oversight trip to the facility earlier this month when the scrum broke out between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and protesters.

 

Video footage released so far paints a complicated picture. It shows McIver swiping and pushing with her forearms against officials attempting to restrain her, but it’s a chaotic scene with a swirl of bodies jostling in the scrum.

 

“That conduct cannot be overlooked by the chief federal law enforcement official in the State of New Jersey, and it is my Constitutional obligation to ensure that our federal law enforcement is protected when executing their duties,” Habba wrote.

 

McIver insists she did nothing wrong and says she rejected a plea deal because the Justice Department was pushing her to “admit to doing something I did not do.”

 

“I came there to do my job and conduct an oversight visit, and they wanted me to say something differently,” she said on CNN.

 

Habba dropped charges against Baraka, who had been charged with misdemeanor trespassing.

 

Democrats are furious after warning the administration it would be crossing a red line by arresting a Democratic representative.

 

In a joint statement, House Democratic leadership rejected the “assault” characterization and suggested the rare charge against a sitting member of Congress is part of an effort to stifle their oversight powers.

 

“The criminal charge against Congresswoman LaMonica McIver is extreme, morally bankrupt and lacks any basis in law or fact,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) and other top Democrats wrote.

 

“House Democrats will not be intimidated by the Trump administration,” the statement said. “Not today. Not ever.”

 

Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), the ranking member on the House Budget Committee, said:

 

“This is not normal. It is not the sort of thing that happens in a healthy democracy. It is truly chilling.”

 

Trump hit back while talking to reporters on Capitol Hill.

 

“Oh, give me a break. Did you see her? She was out of control,” Trump said.

 

“The days of woke are over. That woman — I have no idea who she is. That woman was out of control,” Trump added. “She was shoving federal agents — she was out of control. The days of that crap are over in this country. We’re going to have law and order.”

 

Here’s what to know about the assault charges against McIver.

💡Perspectives:

• The Hill: Under Trump, the division formerly known as ‘civil rights’ is in peril.

• Fox News: A triumphant Middle East trip for Trump.

• The Bulwark: How Trump demeaned our country in the Middle East.

• The Atlantic: The talented Mr. Vance.

• The Wall Street Journal: Why democracy is in retreat.

Read more: 

• Trump approval rating holds steady as concerns over economy ease: Poll.

• Trump’s immigration agenda tests courts’ presumption of good faith.

• First Trump $1,000 ‘self-deport’ flight conducted by DHS.

• Trump administration terminating $60M in Harvard grants.

• Trump walks ‘geopolitical tightrope’ in AI race.

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