Senate votes to move ahead with Trump’s request for $9 billion in spending cuts
Senate Republicans on Tuesday advanced President Donald Trump’s request to cancel some $9 billion in previously approved spending, overcoming concerns from some lawmakers about what the rescissions could mean for impoverished people around the globe and for public radio and television stations in their home states, Associated Press reported.
The Senate vote was 50-50, with Vice President JD Vance breaking the tie.
A final vote in the Senate could occur as early as Wednesday. The bill would then return to the House for another vote before it would go to Trump’s desk for his signature before a Friday deadline.
Republicans winnowed down the president’s request by taking out his proposed $400 million cut to a program known as PEPFAR. That change increased the prospects for the bill’s passage. The politically popular program is credited with saving millions of lives since its creation under then-President George W. Bush to combat HIV/AIDS, according to Associated Press.
France, UK and Germany would restore UN sanctions on Iran next month without progress on a deal
The United Kingdom, France and Germany have agreed to restore tough U.N. sanctions on Iran by the end of August if there has been no concrete progress on a nuclear deal, two European diplomats said Tuesday, Associated Press reported.
The three countries’ ambassadors to the United Nations met Tuesday at Germany’s U.N. Mission to discuss a possible Iranian deal and reimposing the sanctions. The matter also came up in a phone call Monday between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the foreign ministers of the three countries, according to two U.S. officials.
The State Department said after the call that the four had spoken about “ensuring Iran does not develop or obtain a nuclear weapon.”
The officials and diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations, according to Associated Press.
Trump administration fires 17 immigration court judges across ten states, union says
Seventeen immigration court judges have been fired in recent days, according to the union that represents them, as the Trump administration pushes forward with its mass deportations of immigrants in the country, Associated Press reported.
The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, which represents immigration court judges as well as other professionals, said in a news release that 15 judges were fired “without cause” on Friday and another two on Monday. The union said they were working in courts in 10 different states across the country — California, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Texas, Utah and Virginia.
“It’s outrageous and against the public interest that at the same time Congress has authorized 800 immigration judges, we are firing large numbers of immigration judges without cause,” said the union’s President Matt Biggs. “This is nonsensical. The answer is to stop firing and start hiring.”
US military to remove 2,000 National Guard troops from Los Angeles
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the removal of half of the 4,000 National Guard troops who had been sent to Los Angeles to protect federal property and personnel during a spate of protests last month, the Pentagon said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said the decision was due to the success of the mission.
"Thanks to our troops who stepped up to answer the call, the lawlessness in Los Angeles is subsiding," Parnell said in a statement.
"As such, the Secretary has ordered the release of 2,000 California National Guardsmen from the federal protection mission," he added, according to Reuters.
