The Trump admin is using a loophole to wrestle spending authority away from Congress. And if we follow this end to its logical extreme, well, we’re a different kind of democracy than we thought.
White House + econ policy @washingtonpost.com. Bad golfer. jacob.bogage@washpost.com. Signal: jacobbogage.87.
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The Trump admin is using a loophole to wrestle spending authority away from Congress. And if we follow this end to its logical extreme, well, we’re a different kind of democracy than we thought.
Scoop - SUSAN MONAREZ, nation’s newly installed CDC director, is being ousted, people familiar tell @lenasun.bsky.social @laurenweberhp.bsky.social + me
This is not even a shot at the administration. I am genuinely curious about where these people are feeling so unsafe, because it is diametrically opposed to the experience of people in my life.
I legitimately want to know where Trump administration officials are going in Washington, D.C., where they feel so frightened all the time. This is a safe, clean city, by and large. I really want to know where they're visiting, because they're not the same places I'm going or my friends/family go.
Between the “One Big Beautiful Bill” + tariffs, we’ve got a fresh picture of the US’s financial health, via new data from leading nonpartisan budgeteers. It’s not a pretty picture. But if you stay for the whole video, you’ll get a cute photo of my dog.
Between the “One Big Beautiful Bill” + tariffs, we’ve got a fresh picture of the US’s financial health, via new data from leading nonpartisan budgeteers. And if you stay for the whole video, you’ll get a cute picture of my dog.
The thing that underlaid Trump’s first impeachment — impoundment — is back. And if anyone is going to do something about it, it’s gotta happen soon. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
This is the same issue at the root of Trump's first impeachment -- his administration blocking funding approved by Congress. “That’s completely unlawful,” one expert told us. “They don’t have the power to do that.”
So this is it -- "The great day" 80 years later. I hope you'll give it read. And this is my newsletter, which I seldom use, but a good way to keep in touch on important/interesting things if you don't spend a ton of time on social media. Thanks for following along. /🧵
I thought I was done writing a relatively brief and dry -- but new to me -- family history. Then my dad and I found another letter. Grandpa was on board staring down peacetime. And a new world.
Doing research, I found information on the lone time Grandpa saw combat. The Biddle was attacked in the Philippines in Jan. 1945 by enemy aircraft. Seven months later in the same waters, the officers threw the crew an on-shore social. “I had all of four cans of beer.” Whatever you say, Grandpa.
His letter has a detailed description of life on board the USS William P. Biddle in the final two months of the war, sailing from San Francisco across the Pacific for the final operations in the Philippines.
Grandpa died in March 2024 at age 97. He didn't talk much about his Naval service. His V-J Day letter was the most fulsome description of his military time that my family has. So I dove in. That's what happens when you hand a reporter and history major a primary source document.
🧵 Story time It's V-J Day, the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Going through my late grandfather's effects, we found the letter he wrote home 80 years ago today. He was the one who told his ship that the war was over. "Today," he wrote, "was the great day!"
I'm going to publish the entirety of an exchange I just had with the press office of the DOJ. I want you to see how they are talking about truth.
That's the plan!
We got inflation data today and we’re starting — just starting — to see tariffs seep into higher prices. And a lot of the goods that inflation is hitting the most, consumers can’t avoid.
I have friends and family visit me in Washington D.C. from cities all over the country. Their universal message: "Wow, this city is so clean!" Yes, D.C. is clean and safe. Shocker, I know.
🚨 WaPo EXCLUSIVE Hours before Trump removed Billy Long as IRS commissioner, his agency clashed with the White House over sharing immigrants’ tax data.
Z-O-U!
I am very familiar with Cafe Berlin! Great spot!
Also the amount of love Shakespeare's Pizza is getting warms my cold, cynical heart. If you haven't been to Shake's, get the Darwin. It seems weird on the menu, but trust me.
Big thank-you to my best friend for letting Macaroon the dog co-star in this video. And to my wife for the cinematography!
Trump's massive tariffs are here. Apple found a way to wiggle out of them. Apple is putting $100 billion into a Kentucky glass factory & moving some supply chains to the US. Trump yesterday announced a **100% tariff** on chips & semiconductors -- with carveouts for Apple + other major tech firms.
The next logical stop after "nuclear bees" is obviously "nuclear moon."
I’m sorry, does that say “radioactive wasps”? www.nytimes.com/2025/08/01/s...
Now that Trump has shown a willingness to sack government officials who report data that angers him, it’ll be a doozy to see how he handles wider trade deficits from the EU + Japan investment funds (if these truly materialize). The slippery slope only gets steeper from here
President Trump's #tariffs are (almost) here. Large hashtag #tax hikes on imports are coming August 7. 🇨🇦 For Canadian goods, they're already here. Here's what they mean for you and the U.S. economy for @washingtonpost.com.
Trump fired the official in charge of collecting basic statistics about the US economy. He's risking material harm to the economy by politicizing routine data reports, @michaelrstrain.bsky.social tells me. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
I know this is a joke, but GERD is real and getting treatment helps!
I cover the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” Trump and Republicans’ massive new #tax and #immigration law. And even I lose track of what’s in it and when certain cuts to #Medicaid and #SNAP kick in. So here’s a breakdown — complete with a list you can screenshot.
I'm with @washingtonpost.com, though WSJ is great, too! Thanks for reading.
Here’s a better sense of what’s on the chopping block at IRS: www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
Great question. Unclear.
🚨 NEW: The IRS is weighing dropping non-English language services That'd get rid of phone and in-person interpreters & translations of common tax forms and notices. It's to comply with Trump's executive order declaring English the "official language" -- a power the president may not actually have.
You should read the story.
We built a calculator about how Trump and Republicans' "One Big Beautiful Bill" will affect you. And then we updated it to reflect all the last-minute changes in the bill. Plug in your info. See what it will mean for you and your family. www.washingtonpost.com/business/int...
It’s incredible. It’s like he presses a button and says, “It’s go time.”
You guys, Journalism did it again.
Even more thrilling: @rbeggin.bsky.social is joining our WaPo econ family in Congress. If you don’t follow her, now is the time. She’s brilliant, scoopy — and a fellow @mujschool.bsky.social grad. Who’s got it better than us? Nooooobody!
Some *very* fun @washingtonpost.com news: I’m moving to our White House economics beat! That’s covering taxes, spending, trade and more. I loved my time in Congress and getting to cover the GOP push through the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” Now I get to cover how it will shape the nation.
If you don't follow @kadiagoba.bsky.social, now is the time. She's @washingtonpost.com's newest congressional correspondent, and one of the best-sourced reporters in Washington. And she's super cool. Give her a follow and say hi.
Joined our friends at @crooked.com to talk the winners and losers of the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” How’d I do? (If you really give me feedback, be polite 🫣)
Why does she have bison??
Paris-Saint Germain. Onions. Double order.
Best way to come down from a very intense month of work?
Can confirm this email is authentic — and about nothing in it is true. Social Security income is still taxed. This bill does nothing to change that. It’s willful disinformation on the part of SSA. It’s a lie.
Can you send me a copy of that email to jacob.bogage@washpost.com? Or you can DM me a photo here or on Signal at jacobbogage.87.
That’s right.
Not by an administration, but by Congress, sure.
That’d have required Jeffries to go for ~30 hours. The record for all of Congress is Cory Booker’s 25+ hours. Booker spent several days preparing his body for that feat. Jeffries didn’t have that kinds prep time. His speech broke records set by Pelosi and McCarthy. Pelosi did her’s in heels.
That's right. We have a piece publishing momentarily that will get into some of this in greater detail.
Phase in starts in 2028.
SNAP is administered by the states, so this will be up to each state about how it wants to handle it. The language linking SNAP and immigration status did not survive the Senate's "Byrd bath" to approve reconciliation text.
Slowly and then all at once.
Yeah, this bill is so big that it hits the PAYGO trip wire, which forces mandatory cuts to Medicare. I'd expect Congress to waive that, but it just points to how expensive this bill is.
I really did not expect y'all to have questions.
Accurate. Much of this is phased in. Which makes the savings they generate questionable. Bec numerous lawmakers told me they were voting for this hoping that these parts would get changed or repealed in a year or two. This is part of the massive, atomic debt-bomb this bill sets off.
That is a different piece of legislation called a "rescissions package." That passed the House. The Senate is expected to take it up later in the month.
Valadao has the largest Medicaid constituency in the country. Johnson and Emmer whipped this vote really hard so he wouldn't have to be a Yes and they could protect him politically. He voted Yes, anyway.
Right now.
Wouldn't be surprised by this, especially in the Northeast or Pacific Northwest, but not something I follow super closely.
Hands down first noticeable effects will be the immigration money. This is **so much money.** It will make ICE the US's largest jailer. It will militarize the border and immigration operations even more. You thought mass deportations were intense now? Hoo boy. Buckle up.
Here ya go. I read the bill so you don't have to:
If HFC was ever gonna draw a serious line in the sand on the national debt, this was the time to do it. Instead, they got some vague assurances about tariffs and potential executive orders and fake economic growth numbers. HFC got rolled. They know it. Trump knows it. Johnson knows it. We know it.
My political take from all this: We've seen the end of HFC as we know it. Joke on the Hill is that it's really the "Folding Caucus." It didn't really get win concessions. Those promises are hocus-pocus, wish-and-hope "promises." Trump & Johnson know HFC will ultimately cave on everything now.
Most of it takes effect now, upon Trump signing it into law. Nothing in the bill on SSDI. But the $6,000 "senior bonus" is going to have a huge hit on OASDI by lowering the threshold on the amount of FICA taxes collected. It puts OASDI in an even more fragile place budgetarily.
Midterms, not really, because you'll still have Trump in the White House with veto power. Next presidential, with unified Democratic control of Congress and the White House, yes. Things done by reconciliation can be undone by reconciliation.
No, not to my knowledge.
Oh wow, y'all actually had questions. Okay. Diving in.
Well, folks, they passed the "One Big Beautiful Bill." The vote was 218-214, with two Republicans siding with Democrats. I am going to catch up on some sleep after a 24+ hour workday, but happy to answer some questions here as I can. Whatcha got?
Awful. A joyful person to watch play the beautiful game.
Fun quirk if you're watching live. Hakeem Jeffries is taking a "Magic Minute." The speaker, majority & minority leader enjoy the privilege of holding the House floor for an unlimited time & their remarks count only 1 minute against debate time. Jeffries started at 4:53. Let's see how long he goes.
Very considerate of our congressional leaders to make this so convenient! 🇳🇿
Not commenting on your description, but that's John McGuire from Virginia's 5th district.
To be clear, I'm apologizing for the early hour. Because I have been awake for 21 hours now. And we're gonna be at least another hour before voting on final passage.
This process is literally called "debate."
The Republicans appear to have the votes, and we're now debating the bill. I am sorry to all the poor souls who are up at this hour and seeing this post live.
The House has been stuck all day and all night -- and I feel vindicated.
The Senate is sending Trump’s tax bill back to the House.
It’s tempting to think the Senate passing the One Big Beautiful Bill makes this thing a done deal. It may have been the easy part. House hardliners have already called this a “nonstarter.” www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
👀 Murkowski got her deal, per source familiar. Part of it will be delaying the Medicaid cuts for high-poverty states. That was the only way to get it past the Senate parliamentarian, I’m told.
You certainly can! I as a reporter cannot. Official names only for me!
We're here because this bill appears to have 3 hard Nos: - Rand Paul - Thom Tills - Susan Collins If it was just those three, Vice President JD Vance could cast a tie-breaking vote. But a fourth No is fatal. Follow our live coverage:
Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" came unglued overnight. GOP has run into problems with Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who wants her state exempted from Medicaid cuts. We're in a holding pattern while they try to work out a deal. Not a lot of progress being made. This bill is on the ropes.
We love @washingtonpost.com vertical video explainers of what’s in the “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
This one doesn't include tariffs. This older one does, but it reflects the House edition of the bill:
And, of course, a link to @natasharsarin.bsky.social and @budgetlab.bsky.social's research:
And if you really want to nerd out, my running tracker of EVERYTHING in the bill:
What's in the bill? A blow-by-blow of the major components, explained.
What does it mean for YOU? We made a tax calculator. Plug in your own info (we don't save it) and see if you're better or worse off.
We've got new distributional data on the Senate's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" from @natasharsarin.bsky.social and team at @budgetlab.bsky.social. The results are **stark.** Top 0.1% _GAINS_ $97,000, or 1% of household resources. Bottom 20% _LOSES_ $600, or 3% of household resources.
The Senate is churning through amendments to Trump and Republicans' "One Big Beautiful Bill Act." Here's my running tracker of _EVERYTHING_ in the bill.
The Inflation Reduction Act famously did not add an army of IRS agents. That’s a hoax.
The math is still living and breathing, but here's my running tracker of _EVERYTHING_ in the Senate bill. This is an extension of my notes, so pardon typos!
👀 Here's my running tracker of _EVERYTHING_ in the "One Big Beautiful Bill." The scores come from CBO and Joint Tax Committee. **The upshot** This would increase the national debt by at least $3.3 trillion over 10 years. This is an extension of my notes. Please forgive typos, if you see them.
‼️ New news on the "One Big Beautiful Bill." It will add $3.3 trillion to the national debt over 10 years, according to CBO. This doesn't include debt service payments, which will add at least another half trillion. For context, the House bill *with* interest payments was $3.3 trillion.
CBO put out some numbers on this bill right around midnight and we expect more tomorrow, so some numbers on this chart might change. Hang with me. The math on this bill is a living, breathing thing.
You mean the whales? 🐋 Yeah, it'll survive Byrd.
Dynamic scoring includes macroeconomic effects, including the effect of annual deficits and debt service payments. And yes, potential growth from tax cuts and deregulation.