Good Wednesday evening. In this edition: House approves reconciliation framework as it clears the deck ahead of recess; and Trump attends dignified transfer ceremony as war escalates.
Plus, government funding, tariffs, Mamdani and Arizona.
Reconciliation 3.0
The House narrowly approved a budget resolution, the first step toward crafting another reconciliation bill that can skirt the Senate filibuster as Republicans look to approve a $95 billion package without Democratic votes.
The resolution passed 216–214 after Republican leaders were able to tamp down frustration among fiscal hawks who objected to the measure's lack of spending offsets.
Reps. Warren Davidson (R-OH), Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Kevin Kiley (I-CA) joined all Democrats in opposition.
The resolution instructs House committees to draft the third reconciliation bill of this Congress, which would include funding for the Pentagon, intelligence programs, farm aid and election security.
It calls for $73 billion in defense and intelligence funding, $12 billion for agricultural aid, and $10 billion for a fund to incentivize states to adopt elements of President Trump's elections bill, the SAVE America Act.
The vote marked a win for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), who wanted to clear it before lawmakers head home for the August recess at the end of the week.
"This Budget Resolution is our best shot at enacting as much of the SAVE America Act into law as possible," he said in a joint statement with other House GOP leaders. "This is a bill that every Republican in Congress can and should get behind."
President Trump had urged House Republicans to unify around the budget resolution, calling it "an important first step" toward the reconciliation bill and urging them to "fight for THE SAVE AMERICA ACT!"
"We need Voter Photo ID (Identification!), Proof of Citizenship and, hopefully, No Corrupt Mail In Ballots (except for illness, disability, Military, or travel)," he wrote on Truth Social on Monday.
Democrats railed against the measure, criticizing Republicans for greenlighting more money for a war started without congressional authorization that has no end in sight.
"Donald Trump, of course, promised that he was elected not to start endless wars in the Middle East, but to stop them, and then turned around and has gotten us involved in a potentially endless war in Iran," Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said on the floor.
"I stand in strong opposition to this 'America Last' reckless Republican budget, this effort to waste tens of billions of dollars more on Operation Epic Failure in the Middle East."
The budget resolution now heads to the Senate, where its fate remains uncertain.
Republican senators are talking about increasing the funding in the final package for the military and agricultural assistance. Some are also expressing concerns that the measure does not call for the spending to be offset.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said Tuesday he could also use the House budget resolution as leverage in the upcoming shutdown fight, raising the possibility of using the measure to fund the government without Democratic votes.
"If they give us a budget resolution as a vehicle, we will hold that subject to obviously being able to move a continuing resolution to fund the government," he told reporters. "It's a possibility that, if necessary, we could pull that budget resolution passed by the House to fund government. I hope that's not necessary."
The House also passed its version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the annual defense policy bill that is considered must-pass legislation.
The vote was 216–212, with seven Republicans voting against and six Democrats voting in favor.
The chamber also passed GOP-crafted legislation that would ban members of Congress, their spouses and dependent children from buying new stocks from publicly traded companies while in office.
The measure was approved 232–198, with 13 Democrats joining all Republicans in favor.
President Trump attended a dignified transfer ceremony at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to honor the four American service members killed in the Iran war in recent days.
The service members were Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Hawaii; Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Texas; Sgt. Angel Rampersad, 28, of New York; and Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, of North Carolina.
Lt. Feehan and Pvt. Gonzales were killed in an Iranian strike on a U.S. base in Jordan last Friday.
Sgt. Rampersad was initially declared missing in action by U.S. Central Command, but the military updated her status Tuesday to "whereabouts unknown." She is believed to have been killed in the same attack in Jordan.
Sgt. Swinton was killed during a controlled detonation of an unexploded Iranian drone at Erbil Air Base in northern Iraq on Sunday.
Earlier Wednesday, President Trump threatened to strike Iranian bridges and power plants if the country targeted any more ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
"From this point forward, any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT, including those located next to, or in, the Capital City of Tehran," he wrote on Truth Social.
At a rally later in the day, the president again claimed that Iran is "not ready" to make a deal but will be "very soon" as the U.S. escalates its attacks on the country in what the president described as a "skirmish."
"I call it that because they're getting hit so hard, and they want to make a deal," he said at a rally in Georgia. "But I say they're not ready to make a deal. Because every time they make a deal, they want to change it and everything. They're not ready. They'll be ready very soon."
President Trump also dismissed polling showing a majority of Americans oppose the Iran war.
"Americans aren't against the war,"he told reporters on his way to Delaware. "A poll just came out. Americans don't want high gasoline prices, but they're not against the war. That just came out loud and clear in a poll. Nobody wants Iran to have a nuclear weapon."
According to the RealClearPolitics average of polls, 60% of Americans disapprove of U.S. military action against Iran, compared to 37% who approve.
Politico also recently released a poll showing the president's most loyal supporters are losing faith in the war. In May, half of the MAGA base thought the Iran war was worth its economic costs. Now, just over a third do.
The Housepassed a "clean" stopgap funding bill on Tuesday night, sending the measure to the Senate, where its fate remains uncertain. The bill, which was approved in a 220–205 largely party-line vote months ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline to avert a shutdown, would extend funding at current levels through Dec. 4. The unusually early move on a stopgap comes as Republicans and Democrats brace for another shutdown fight ahead of the midterms. "They've shown there's nothing they love more than a government shutdown, as tens of millions of Americans head to the polls in November," Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said. "But this clean CR is an opportunity for both sides." However, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) reacted rather coolly to the bill, saying he would "try" to put it to a vote before senators leave town for the August recess but that it was "possible" it could "get punted." Senate leaders have been discussing moving a different stopgap with "anomalies" to prevent disruptions to key services that would otherwise result from flat funding.
Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative, said the U.S. was still facing a "national emergency" on trade and that the Trump administration would continue using tariffs to advance its economic agenda. "The president's trade policy in 2025 was characterized by a national emergency: a $1.2 trillion trade deficit, which had exploded 40% in the prior four years," he told the Senate Finance Committee. "That national emergency still persists and so our policy remains the same." The administration plans to impose new global tariffs soon to replace those struck down by the Supreme Court late last year as legally invalid. "The specific authorities this administration is using have changed, but the trade strategy has not," Amb. Greer said. "We are committed to continuing to use tariffs and to negotiate deals to support the reindustrialization of our economy, protect American workers and increase their wages and shrink our trade deficit."
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) acknowledged his city does not have the authority to execute an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but called on the federal government to do so. "The city does not have the authority to execute this warrant, however, what is also clear is that the federal government does have the authority to execute this warrant," he said at a press conference. "I call on the federal government to join the International Criminal Court and to execute both this warrant." The ICC issued an arrest warrant for the Israeli leader in 2024, accusing him and others of crimes against humanity in connection with the war in Gaza. Mayor Mamdani had directed the city's legal department to explore avenues for arresting Mr. Netanyahu if he comes to the city for the U.N. General Assembly in September.
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus endorsed by President Trump, defeated Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ) in Arizona's Republican gubernatorial primary Tuesday night. He will face Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs as she seeks reelection in November. Jay Feely, the former NFL kicker, won the Republican primary for Rep. Schweikert's House seat, while former sheriff Mark Lamb secured the GOP nomination for Rep. Biggs' House seat. "MAGA CANDIDATES WON EVERYTHING LAST NIGHT IN ARIZONA, A COMPLETE SWEEP!!!" President Trump wrote on social media. "I WON ARIZONA 18 MONTHS AGO. THE DUMOCRATS ARE DUMBFOUNDED. AFTER DECADES, ARIZONA IS BECOMING A REPUBLICAN STATE."
For your radar…
The House and Senate vote on separate war powers resolutions Thursday. Watch the House LIVE on C-SPAN starting at 9am ET, and the Senate LIVE on C-SPAN2 beginning at 10am ET.
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