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Today’s top stories
After a nearly day-long stalemate, House Republicans were able to get through the procedural vote on President Trump’s massive tax and spending package. GOP holdouts delayed the vote for several hours overnight, but ultimately, enough members agreed to move the bill forward. Now, the bill is being debated on the House floor. Once that’s done, the House can proceed to a final vote. If House Republicans obtain the votes needed, they could make good on their promise to deliver the bill to the president’s desk by tomorrow.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., leaves the House Chamber during a procedural vote on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in the U.S. Capitol on July 2. Johnson managed to cobble together the votes needed to pass the final rule for the bill, setting the House up for final passage ahead of a self-imposed July 4 deadline.
Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images
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Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images
- 🎧 Moderates in the House were opposed to the Senate’s changes to the bill, which include steeper cuts to Medicaid. At the same time, fiscal hawks said the cuts aren’t deep enough. Some of the holdouts wanted material changes to the bill, but Republican leaders argued it was too late in the process for those adjustments. NPR’s Claudia Grisales tells Up First that it is possible that promises on future legislation were made to help sway holdouts. Democrats will likely make this bill a centerpiece of their push to win back Congress in the next year.
Several fiscal forecasters predict that the big tax cut and spending bill will likely increase the federal debt by trillions of dollars over the next decade. They expect the bill to have minimal impact on boosting the economy. The plan would extend tax cuts from the first Trump administration and introduce additional tax breaks, reducing government revenues. Additionally, the measure increases government spending on defense and immigration enforcement.
- 🎧 The plan isn’t the direction the government should be going in, and “every fiscal warning sign is blinking red right now,” Maya MacGuineas, who heads the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, tells NPR’s Scott Horsley. Most of the individual tax cuts will benefit the wealthiest taxpayers, while families earning less than $55,000 a year will, on average, be worse off. Horsley says this is because any tax savings that these families receive will be overshadowed by cuts to programs such as Medicaid and food stamps.
Hip-hop mogul Sean Combs received a mixed verdict from the jury yesterday in his federal criminal trial in Manhattan. He was found not guilty of the more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking, but was found guilty on two lesser counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. If Combs had been found guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking, he could have faced life in prison.
- 🎧 NPR’s Anastasia Tsioulcas, who was in court for many days, says the whole trial has been a circus. The main courtroom and overflow rooms were packed with fans, tourists, families with small children and social media influencers. Yesterday, when the verdict was announced, Tsioulcas says she could hear gasps and cheers. Combs was also down on the ground, kneeling in gratitude. Combs will remain in custody until his sentencing hearing.
Today’s listen
Timothée Chalamet, Donald Glover and Benson Boone sporting just a mustache, no beard.
Vittorio Zunino Celotto, Dia Dipasupil and Michael Tran/Getty Images
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Vittorio Zunino Celotto, Dia Dipasupil and Michael Tran/Getty Images
The mustache seems to be making a comeback. To be clear, we’re not talking about a beard — just the ‘stache. Celebrities like Timothée Chalamet, Donald Glover and Benson Boone have all been spotted embracing this trend. Matthew Scalf, founder of the grooming brand Beard Sorcery, observed that the “mustache renaissance” began about a year ago. Historically, mustaches have been associated with the military, police and firefighters. The form of facial hair has not been widely accepted in corporate America in recent decades. Listen to or read more about the cultural shift.
Life advice
In a high-contrast, black-and-white comic drawing, one person kicks another lying on the ground outside a store’s doors, framed by two silhouettes in the foreground observing the scene. Subtle red shading radiates from the point of impact.
Connie Jin/NPR
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Connie Jin/NPR
If you sense someone needs help and you’d like to intervene, follow the “5Ds” of bystander intervention to safely de-escalate the situation. The “5Ds” consist of distract, delegate, document, delay and direct. Pick one or more that make sense for your comfort level and the situation you’re in. Life Kit has turned the “5Ds” into a comic strip with examples of how to do each option.
- ➡️ Causing a distraction can make a person being harassed less of a target. Asking for directions or pretending to know them can do this.
- ➡️ Delegate by asking for help from someone else around you or an authority figure.
- ➡️ Record a video on your phone, take photos, or write detailed notes. The documented information can be given to the person being harassed, allowing them to decide how to proceed.
For more guidance on how to help when someone is harassed or attacked, listen to this episode of NPR’s Life Kit. Subscribe to the Life Kit newsletter for expert advice on love, money, relationships and more.
3 things to know before you go
Benson Boone at the 2025 Governors Ball Music Festival held at Flushing Meadows Corona Park on June 06, 2025 in New York, New York. (Photo by Nina Westervelt/Billboard via Getty Images)
Nina Westervelt/Billboard via Getty Images/Billboard
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Nina Westervelt/Billboard via Getty Images/Billboard
- This week’s top debuts on the Billboard 200 include Benson Boone’s American Heart, Karol G’s Tropicoqueta, and Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack, all landing in the top 10. Morgan Wallen’s I’m the Problem holds steady at No. 1 on the album chart.
- Bryan Kohberger pleaded guilty yesterday to the stabbing murders of four University of Idaho students after reaching a sentencing agreement of life for each murder.
- The Dalai Lama, the leader of Tibetan Buddhism, ahead of his 90th birthday, stated that he would be reincarnated after his death and that no one can interfere with the succession process. However, the Chinese government claims authority over his succession.
This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.