Senate rules require new immigrants seeking asylum in the United States to remove plans to relocate the discovery of the space shuttle to Houston.
Winners and losers of “Big Beautiful Bills”
These are the potential winners and losers of the tax bills that President Donald Trump called the “big beautiful bill.”
Senate Republicans are trying to save some of President Donald Trump’s ambitious second term legislative agenda as Congressional bureaucracy continues to bite him from his so-called “big beautiful bill” heading for the vote in Washington this weekend.
Trump and the GOP leaders have placed a July 4 deadline, focusing primarily on extending tax cuts from his first term and expanding priorities for other MAGA movements as part of his bulldosing return.
“Now we have the opportunity to advance all these priorities and pass bills that set our country for a better day,” Sen. John Toun, R-South Dakota, said in a floor speech on June 27th.
The Republican-controlled room hit several speed bumps along the way, not for resistant Democrats who are totally opposed to much of Trump’s agenda, or for passive GOP members who are not happy with cost-cutting.
Instead, it is Sen. Elizabeth McDonough, a Chamber of Commerce judge, serving as the biggest obstacle to the proposal by providing that the provisions that many Republicans are seeking provide for bills that require a simple 51-vote majority or a 60-vote rug. Basic: To avoid filibusters, all provisions in the bill must have a direct impact on the federal budget.
The Congress’ first decision means Republicans have dragged their efforts to curb environmental regulations. Limit the powers of federal judges. All immigrant enforcement in one go. We will cut funds from the Consumer Protection Agency. She also opposed provisions that reduced Medicaid spending on undocumented health programs for immigrants.
“We have managed to remove some of this bill that hurts families and workers, but the process is not over, and Democrats continue to make their claims against all the provisions of this big, beautiful bill that violates Senate rules,” said Sen. D-Oregon, a ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee.
In response, Senate Republicans and the White House are cooking alternative proposals in key sections to meet budget savings targets and fulfill other commitments, while keeping unsettling caucus members in their flock.
“The bill will carry out the mission that the Americans gave Republicans last year… it’s around the corner,” Thune said.
However, as Senate GOPs are screaming to help get proposals to the president’s desk in the expected vote marathon this weekend, Congress recently determined that it is violating Senate rules, named after a later term. Robert Byrd, d-west Virginia.
What else is this coming out, and it’s back to a massive scale.
Asylum seeker fees and other immigration reforms
One item to launch a MAGA base pulled from the Megaville is a variety of new fees for immigrants seeking asylum in the US.
The senator opposed various provisions that Republicans are promoting, including attempts to charge immigrants a $1,000 fee when Republicans apply for asylum. A $100 fee for immigrants demanding continuance in immigration court. A $250 fee to apply for the Diversity Visa Lottery. A $400 fee to process diversity visa applications.
She also launched a language that requires $5,000 in bonds to sponsor unaccompanied children who did not appear in immigration courts and $5,000 in bonds to sponsor a bipartisan Laken Riley Act signed earlier this year to speed up the removal of non-citizens allegedly strengthened laws.
Broadband Spectrum Auction
Republicans have been working behind the scenes for months with supporters of the bill, planning to free up hundreds of wireless spectra and increase the revenue they need.
Under the Senate’s proposed bill, the federal government will light the environment to the Federal Communications Commission to auction the 600 megahertz spectrum until 2034.
Others point out that this is a big win for mobile carriers like AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, who want to continue their licensing system after FCC’s ability to turn off the spectrum expired in 2023.
However, Congress advised that the idea had to go through another legislative process that required filibuster proof votes.
NASA Space Vehicle Movement
One small provision you may not have heard of in the larger proposal is the plan to relocate the Space Shuttle Discovery (the most used orbiter in US history) from the Smithsonian Aerospace Museum outside of Washington, D.C., to a Texas nonprofit organization.
Flying 39 Earth orbit missions and traveling the 172,000-pound NASA shuttle that spent 365 days in space costs around $85 million. This is a major priority for Texas Republicans Sen. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, who introduced the bill in April calling for the move of Behemoths to a location near NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Space Shuttle Discovery is the only shuttle still owned by the federal government.
AI Moratorium is back
But not all of the bad news for Senate Republicans, as the room judge ruled on June 27 that a package could remain a provision prohibiting the state from regulating artificial intelligence for a decade.
The Senate version aims to remove $500 million for programs dedicated to increasing broadband access, specifying that money can be used to develop AI models and systems, a rapidly evolving technology.
McDonough initially expressed concern that by impacting $42 billion in broadband funding, surveillance with Democrats who claimed it would break the Bird Rules. However, she later said certain languages do not violate the rules as long as the law applies to the new $500 million expenditure provided in the settlement bill.
