But the GOP’s narrow majority is far from unified around the proposal. And although Trump visited the U.S. Capitol for a conservative pep rally Tuesday, warring Republican factions on both sides dug in to oppose what is now officially called the One Big Beautiful Bill. The House GOP’s narrow majority means leaders can afford to lose only a handful of votes — and for now, they don’t have the support they need to pass the measure.

In brief, I take it they are mostly still fighting over Medicaid, with some hard-liners holding out for even bigger cuts, and raising the SALT cap, which some refuse to allow because it is more popular in blue states, although it would apply to all states. Trump’s visit to Capitol Hill yesterday didn’t accomplish anything, apparently.

I still question whether this beast can ever make it to the finish line. IMO eventually they’re going to have to pass a continuing resolution to keep the government funded, and even then they may have to break the bill up into pieces.

I understand Trump wants it all in one big bill so he can call it a reconciliation bill, which per Senate rules can’t be filibustered and can get through the Senate on an expedited schedule. However, reconciliation bills are supposed to be narrow in scope, and this bill contains half the planet’s kitchen sinks. There are Senate rules that would allow senators to strip out “extraneous” provisions. And it’s possible the Senate Parliamentarian will decide it doesn’t qualify for reconciliation. So even if this behemoth makes it to the Senate it might still be broken up into pieces.

But it’s really, really bad. This is in the New York Times (gift article) — U.S. Debt Is on Pace to Set a Record High, Going All the Way Back to 1790.  Basically, if this thing goes through, it’s estimated that by 2032 or so the national debt will be about 118 percent of the nation’s entire economy. And yet for all the deficit spending we’re not providing the basics of government benefits for citizens one would expect from a first-world democracy, or for maintenance — for national parks, for example. The deficit is going to tax cuts for the wealthy and increased military spending for stuff that’s probably not going to work.

And all the increased military spending won’t do a damn bit of good if the Department of Defense is headed by the likes of Pete Hegseth. And Kristi Noem? Homeland Security? Please. It isn’t just that she doesn’t understand Habeas Corpus. FEMA is being allowed to rot. Even red states like Arkansas and Missouri are waiting for help from FEMA after recent tornado disasters. Without FEMA, a bad hurricane season could wipe out several of the bright red states that border the Gulf OF MEXICO and the Atlantic. However, Noem found $200 million in DHS’s budget to produce television ads thanking Trump for securing the border.

This just in — the Department of Defense has just accepted the “gift” of a massive white elephant luxury jet plane from Qatar that Trump can use in place of Air Force One as soon as it’s modified — which could cost as much $1 billion, more than twice the plane’s reported value, and take years to complete, NBC News reported. But we can kiss off FEMA responding to tornado damage. And do we want to talk about the freaking parade? Note that there’s now a lot of reporting saying that Qatar didn’t really want to offer the plane as a gift, but proposed leasing it to Trump if he liked it.

Paul Krugman writes that we may be about to have a Liz Truss moment. Liz Truss was the recent British prime minister whose tenure was cut very short by her bad handling of the economy. Do read the piece; it explains all the ways the U.S. economy is getting the legs kicked out from under it by Trump’s stupid policies. Trump apparently still believes that tariffs and the Laffer Curve will flood the U.S. with money. But nobody who doesn’t depend on Trump for their careers agrees with him. And I take it Fox News viewers are still being told everything is just fine and Trump’s plans will work.

And Yes, I just put in a phone call to my rep, Mike Lawler, to tell him he’d better not vote for it.

In other news: The President of South Africa visited the Oval Office today and got the Zelensky treatment. Trump ambushed the guy with a propaganda video claiming white genocide in South Africa, This is bogus, of course.