Trump pressures GOP hard-liners to ‘unite’ behind bill that advances his agenda
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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump is weighing in on House Republicans’ mega-bill aimed at advancing his legislative agenda Friday morning — calling on his party to unite behind it despite objections from hard-liners.
As several hard-liners signaled that they would derail the tax and budget measure over concerns that it adds to a bloated national debt, Trump called on them to fall in line.
“We don’t need ‘GRANDSTANDERS’ in the Republican Party. STOP TALKING, AND GET IT DONE!” Trump posted on his social media channel Friday morning.
The president said that country will “suffer greatly” without the legislation and said Republicans “must unite.”
The president’s message comes as the House Republicans — particularly Speaker Mike Johnson — work to get the more than 1,000-page “Big Beautiful Bill Act” back on track as those holdouts complicate advancing the package out of the House Budget Committee as it convenes Friday morning.
Republican Rep. Josh Brecheen, who appeared skeptical on Thursday, said on social media that “we have a duty to know the true cost of this legislation before advancing it. If we are to operate in truth, we must have true numbers — even if that means taking some more time to obtain that truth.”
They are also working to strike a consensus on the SALT caps — the amount of state and local taxes that can be written off on federal tax returns — as moderates draw a red line opposing the proposed $30,000 cap on those deductions.
The vote is yet another test of Johnson’s speakership as he works to placate the hard-liners and unify the factions of his conference.
On Thursday, Johnson spoke with the holdouts and said budget negotiations are still ongoing.
“Keep this thing moving forward,” he said of the more than 1,000-page mega-bill.
Johnson said Friday that he is keeping President Donald Trump up to date with the latest developments with the massive package and that the president is excited about the House’s “forward progress.”
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(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Justice said it is reviewing the criminal case brought against a former FBI informant convicted of peddling lies about former President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden and is moving for a judge to release the man from prison immediately while his case is on appeal.
Alexander Smirnov was sentenced to six years in prison in January after pleading guilty to lying to his FBI handler about the Biden family’s ties to a Ukrainian energy company — in addition to a series of unrelated tax fraud charges.
Smirnov’s lies were later seized on by House Republicans to bolster their efforts to impeach Joe Biden over unproven claims that he corruptly used his position as vice president in the Obama administration to benefit himself financially once out of office.
“The United States intends to review the government’s theory of the case underlying Defendant’s criminal conviction,” Assistant U.S. Attorney David Friedman said in a filing Thursday, offering no further explanation.
The case against Smirnov, brought by former special counsel David Weiss, who was previously a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney, alleged he concocted “fabrications” about Joe Biden and his son accepting $5 million in bribes from the Ukrainian energy giant Burisma. The indictment accused Smirnov of repeatedly changing his story about the alleged bribery scheme after meeting with senior members of Russia’s intelligence services, in what Weiss described as a deliberate effort to influence the 2024 presidential election.
The Thursday filing points to health problems Smirnov has reportedly faced since his incarceration. His attorneys have said he has suffered from chronic eye disease for over a year and requested he be released to receive treatment from a doctor in California.
The judge overseeing his case, however, repeatedly rejected their efforts prior to his guilty plea, arguing he posed a risk of flight from the United States based on his extensive contacts with overseas foreign intelligence services.
A DOJ spokesperson declined to comment further on the government’s filing.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., called out President Donald Trump for not addressing Americans’ economic needs.
“Well, this week, we’ll be having a cost of living week of action, and we have to continue to talk to the American people about our plans,” Jeffries told ABC News’ “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl on Sunday. “We recognize that housing costs are too high, grocery costs are too high, utility costs are too high, child care costs are too high, insurance costs are too high. America is too expensive. Now, Donald Trump is the president. And in terms of his approval as it relates to the economy, it was his biggest strength on January 20th. Now, it’s his greatest weakness.”
Jeffries also refuted recent Gallup poll findings that found Americans’ trust in Democratic leadership to fix economic issues is much lower than that of GOP leaders.
“There are a variety of different polls that are out there, including most recently a Morning Consult poll, that showed that congressional Democrats were actually trusted more than congressional Republicans on the economy for the first time in four years,” Jeffries said. “We’re going to continue to press our case on the economy, continue to press our case on protecting and strengthening Social Security, which is what we are committed to do. Republicans are trying to detonate Social Security as we know it. And certainly, we’re going to protect the healthcare of the American people.”
Here are more highlights from Jeffries’ interview:
On the future of the Democratic Party
Karl: I saw Senator [Bernie] Sanders had said in an interview this week that he was skeptical of Kamala Harris, and he mentioned Joe Biden as well — and having a future in the national Democratic Party. He said, quote: “I think the future of the Democratic Party is not going to rest with the kind of leadership that we’ve had.”
Is he right? Do you think Democrats are looking for new leaders?
Jeffries: I think what we’ve got in front of us in terms of politically is that we have to win the races that are up next. That’s a governor’s race in New Jersey and a governor’s race in Virginia. Those two in November are going to be critically important, and we certainly have to win back control of the House of Representatives next year. Now, we’re pushing back in the Congress. We’re pushing back in the courts, and we’re pushing back in the communities, including wherever there are special elections on the campaign trail. And, in fact, Democrats are winning special elections month after month after month, including most recently a decisive one in Wisconsin earlier this month for the state Supreme Court.
On David Hogg’s challenging Democratic ‘safe seats’
Karl: David Hogg, who I know you know, a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, he’s going to be joining us on the roundtable, and he is pursuing this effort to unseat some Democrats in safe seats through primary challenges. He’s talked about a culture of seniority politics that is not working for the party. He said, quote: We need a better Democratic Party and need to get rid of the Democrats in safe seats who do not understand what is at stake now, who are asleep at the wheel not meeting the moment, and are a liability now into the future of our party. What’s your response to this idea of targeting your Dem — some of your Democratic incumbents?
Jeffries: Well, I look forward to standing behind every single Democratic incumbent, from the most progressive, to the most centrist, and all points in between. They’re working hard in their communities, rising to the occasion this past week. We had, of course, Medicaid Matters Day of Action, a save Social Security Day of Action, and we have to continue to do all of the things — rallies, town hall meetings in Democratic districts, town hall meetings in Republican districts, days of action, telephone town hall meetings, site visits, press conferences. We are in a more is more environment and more is going to continue to be required of all of us. Now, the House is the institution that is known to be — was built to be the closest to the American people. That’s why we have elections every two years. Primaries are a fact of life. But here’s the thing: I’m going to really focus on trying to defeat Republican incumbents so we can take back control of the House of Representatives and begin the process of ending this national nightmare that’s being visited upon us by far-right extremism.
President Donald Trump said Sunday the United States is not involved in Israel’s military strikes against Iran, but “it’s possible we could get involved.”
That comes after reports that Israel had urged the U.S. to join the conflict with Iran to eliminate its nuclear program.
In an interview with ABC News’ Rachel Scott, Trump declined to comment on whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a personal plea for the U.S. to get more involved.
“We’re not involved in it. It’s possible we could get involved. But we are not at this moment involved,” the president said.
Trump also shared that he had a lengthy call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday to discuss, in large part, the conflict in the Middle East.
The president told ABC News he would be “open” to Putin’s idea to serve as a mediator between Iran and Israel.
“I would be open to it. [Putin] is ready. He called me about it. We had a long talk about it. We talked about this more than his situation. This is something I believe is going to get resolved,” Trump stated.
The president’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, was set to travel to Oman on Sunday for another round of nuclear talks with Iranian officials. But following Israel’s strikes, Iran called off the meeting. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called the nuclear negotiations “unjustifiable” after the attacks, which he said were carried out with the support of the U.S.
The president, who stated he gave Iran a “60-day ultimatum” to “make a deal,” told ABC News he is not setting a new deadline.
“No, there’s no deadline. But they are talking. They’d like to make a deal. They’re talking. They continue to talk,” the president said, referring to Iran.
“Something like this had to happen because I think even from both sides, but something like this had to happen. They want to talk, and they will be talking,” the president added.
Iran’s foreign minister told a meeting of ambassadors in Tehran on Sunday that Israel’s ongoing attacks on the country could not have happened “without the agreement and support of the United States” and insisted Iranian officials do not ‘believe the U.S.’s claim’ that it had no involvement.
Despite the stalled talks over Iran’s nuclear program, the president expressed optimism that the strikes will bring Iran to the table quickly.
“May have forced a deal to go quicker, actually,” Trump said.
