Weekend Edition: America 250, Martin Smith's Documentary "Syria After Assad," and Trump Admin. Cuts to Arts and Culture Programs

In this weekend's episode, three segments from this past week's Washington Journal. First, Ambassador Monica Crowley, Chief of Protocol for the United States, discusses the mission of America250, the start of celebrations on Thursday, and her role as principal media representative. Then, Documentary writer, producer, and correspondent Martin Smith discusses his latest PBS Frontline film: "Syria After Assad." Finally, a discussion with Erin Harkey – CEO of the group Americans for the Arts- on efforts by the Trump Administration to cut federal funding for arts and culture programs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

House passes tax cut & spending cut Budget Reconciliation "One Big Beautiful Bill", 218-214, sending it to the President to be signed into law, after a dramatic all-night session to convince enough Republican holdouts to vote yes, and after a record-breaking 8 hour, 44 minute speech against the bill by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY); June jobs report: 147,000 jobs created, unemployment rate falls to 4.1%; Fourth of July fireworks on the National Mall security preview; DC Mayor & Police Chief talk about the fatal shooting of an Capitol Hill college student intern from Massachusetts; First Lady Melania Trump meets with young patients at National Children's Hospital; President Donald Trump speaks by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin after reports the U.S. is pausing some weapons shipments to Ukraine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

House is slowing working on the modified Budget Reconciliation bill, the tax cut & spending cut 'One Big Beautiful Bill', passed yesterday by the Senate with VP JD Vance's tie-breaking vote, slowly because Speaker Mike Johnson and President Donald Trump have been meeting with both conservative and moderate Republicans opposed to the bill for different reasons, either it does not cut enough spending or cuts too much, and Republicans can only afford to lose 3 of their Members since all Democrats plans to vote 'no'; FCC Chair Brendan Carr lays out what he calls a 'Build America' agenda in his first major policy speech as chair to “unleash high-speed infrastructure builds…. restore America’s leadership in wireless… boost the U.S. space economy…. and advance our national security'"; interview with Variety Senior TV Editor Brian Steinberg on Paramount settling a lawsuit with President Trump over the editing of a CBS News' "60 Minutes" interview with then Democratic Presidential nominee Kamala Harris (24); State Department and Pentagon comment on the U.S. reportedly pausing some weapons shipments to Ukraine, including air defense missiles Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Senate passes the budget reconciliation bill, also called the One Big Beautiful Bill, containing President Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans' domestic agenda of tax cuts, spending cuts and more money for border security and defense, by a 51-50 vote, with Vice President JD Vance breaking the tie. Sen Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) provided the necessary 'yes' vote for passage after negotiating last-minute changes on health care and food aid; Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell confirms that the Fed would have cut interest rates this year had it not been for President Trump's 'Liberation Day' high tariffs, whose impact on inflation is still uncertain; Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with the foreign ministers of Australian, India & Japan,  the so-called Quad, as tariffs and trade talks continue with those allies; President Trump visits a new immigrant detention center a remote area of the Florida Everglades dubbed Alligator Alcatraz and says it could be a model for similar facilities to increase deportations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Senate's vote-a-rama continues, as members offer and vote on amendments to the Republican's tax and spending cuts bill. But passage of the bill isn't a sure thing. Republicans Rand Paul of Kentucky and Thom Tillis of North Carolina have both said they're voting "no", while Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska haven’t said how they'll vote. Congressional Republicans and President Trump have said they want the bill passed and signed into law by July 4th. Last night on the floor, Sen. Tillis criticized both the bill's Medicaid cuts and the president for breaking a campaign promise to not interfere with Medicaid benefits. That prompted responses from the president on social media, including one announcing he'd said he would back a primary challenge against the senator. Not long after, Sen. Tillis announced he would not seek reelection next year. A federal appeals court heard arguments today on the president’s use of the Alien Enemies Act. Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union say the Trump administration is unlawfully using the law to take away due process for possible deportees. The administration maintains that a Venezuelan gang is carrying out an invasion of the US at the direction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this weekend's episode, three segments from this past week's Washington Journal. First, Congressman Adam Smith – top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee - discusses U.S. military action against Iran – and what comes next. Then - a discussion about the history and evolution of the War Powers Act Philip Wallach from the American Enterprise Institute. Plus, it was a stunning win for Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani in this week's Democratic primary for New York City Mayor. We speak with Spectrum News New York One (NY1) political director Bob Hardt about what happened. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Supreme Court rules that individual judges do not have the power to block a president's policies across the country, known as nationwide injunctions. The underlying case, whose merits have not been decided yet, involves President Donald Trump's Executive Order restricting birthright citizenship; Supreme Court also handed down other closely-watched decisions today, including in favor of Maryland parents who want to have their children opt-out of a curriculum with LGBTQ books and upholding a Texas law requiring age-verification for adult websites; Senate Republicans look to have their first vote on the tax cut & spending cut budget reconciliation bill on Saturday; House members get a classified briefing on the U.S. bombing of Iranian nuclear site; Foreign Ministers of Rwanda & the Democratic Republic of Congo meet in Washington to sign a peace agreement brokered by the White House; Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) talks about this year's Virginia governor election between Winsome Earle-Sears (R) and Abigail Spanberger (D). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Supreme Court decides that South Carolina can cut off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood because the group provides abortions, ruling that Medicaid patients are not allowed to sue over their right to choose their doctor; Senators get a classified briefing on the U.S. bombings of Iranian nuclear sites, while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth & Gen. Dan Caine, Joint Chiefs of Staff chair hold a news conference with more details about the attack and fresh criticism of news outlets for their coverage of a Pentagon intelligence on the extent of the damage; On the tax & spend One Big Beautiful Bill, some Republicans want the Senate Parliamentarian fired for ruling some key Medicaid provisions cannot stay in the bill because they violate Budget Reconciliation rules; President Trump holds an event at the White House to champion the bill and the first Senate test vote is expected soon; former Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) has died. She was known for supporting gun control, elected after a mass shooting that killed her husband and severely wounded her son. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump says the leaked U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency report suggesting Iran's nuclear program has been set back only a few months after the recent U.S. bombings is wrong, the nuclear sites have been destroyed – in his word 'obliterated' - and the reporters who published the DIA reports finding are 'bad people', 'sick' and are demeaning the hero pilots who carried out the U.S. attack; CDC Director nominee Susan Monarez says at a Senate confirmation vaccines are  "life-saving" and she has not seen evidence linking them to autism; Senate Commerce Committee approves Bryan Bedford, CEO of a regional airline, to be FAA Administrator; Claims of a Justice Dept whistleblower who says the Trump Administration planned to disregard court orders that would hinder immigrants deportations come up at several Senate hearings today, with the Attorney General Pam Bondi and former top Justice Dept official Emil Bove, nominated for a federal appeals court judgeship; Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell again points to the threat of inflation from President Trump's tariffs for not cutting interest rates; surprise win in the New York City Mayoral Democratic primary by Zohran Mamdani, a self-described Democratic Socialist. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump says a ceasefire between Israel & Iran is "in effect", after expressing frustration with both countries for apparently violating the agreement he mediated; President spoke before flying from Washington to The Hague, Netherlands for a NATO leaders' summit; House & Senate Democrats upset today that scheduled classified briefings by Trump Administration officials about the U.S. military attacks on Iran's nuclear sites have been postponed until later this week; House votes down an impeachment resolution against President Trump introduced by Rep. Al Green (D-TX) over the bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities. A majority of House Democrats voted against the impeachment resolution; As Senate Republicans are still putting together the final text of tax cut and spending cut One Big Beautiful Bill, with debate and votes that could run into the weekend, Senate Parliamentarian has been knocking out bill provisions that violate budget reconciliation procedures – known as the Byrd Rule. We will talk about what is no longer in and how Senators could restore them if they want with Forbes Senior Writer Kelly Phillips Erb (32); Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell tells a House committee that an interest rate cut in July is not likely; Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) wins a House Democratic Caucus secret-ballot vote to be the next ranking member of the Oversight & Reform Committee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices