Weekend Edition: Medicaid Provisions in One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Tariff Deadline Extended, and Young Progressives in Public Office

President Trump is upping the ante with Russia to end its war with Ukraine. He made two announcements today: First--100 percent tariffs on any country that trades with Russia, unless a cease-fire is reached within in 50 days. And second---a deal with NATO members to send weapons to Ukraine. This comes as a bipartisan Senate bill that puts sanctions on Moscow that its two lead sponsors say could be the sledgehammer the president needs to end the conflict. Also in the Senate, Republicans are focused on their bill to take back more than 9 billion dollars in federal funds--including for public broadcasting and foreign aid. This is the same bill House Republicans passed last month and the Senate has until Friday to approve it. But it's facing opposition from handful of Republicans and all Senate Democrats, who say any rescissions would hurt future bipartisan government funding talks. 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, a discussion about Medicaid provisions in the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," with Paragon Health Institute's Ryan Long and Center for Economic and Policy Research's Brandon Novick. Then, Politico trade reporter Daniel Desrochers discusses President Trump pushing off another tariff deadline… Finally, Run For Something co-founder & President Amanda Litman discusses her group's effort to help elect young progressives to public office. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump & First Lady Melania Trump travel to Kerrville, Texas to see firsthand the damage from the catastrophic floods that killed at least 120 in the state's Hill Country, with another 170 still missing, meeting with first responders and local officials and promising help to recover and rebuild; federal judge in Maryland indicates she will issue an order to protect Kilmar Abrego Garcia from being quickly deported again if the federal government tries to if Abrego Garcia is released from custody in Tennessee while he is await trial on human trafficking charge; Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets China's Foreign Minister for the first time on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Malaysia, discussing tariffs and Indo-Pacific security issues; Secretary Rubio also asked about President Trump's announcement that the U.S. will send Ukraine weapons through the NATO military alliance and NATO will pay for them; White House Budget Director Russell Vought promises to investigate Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's handling of renovations at the Federal Reserve building in DC, which Vought calls a 'palace' with enormous cost overruns. Longtime DC media pundit and presidential adviser David Gergen has died at age 83. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Federal judge blocks President Trump's executive order ending birthright citizenship nationwide by certifying a class action lawsuit; Senate takes up the first judicial nomination of the second Trump Administration, passing a procedural vote for Whitney Hermandorfer to be a federal appeals court judge for the 6th Circuit; Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson tells a meeting of the Indianapolis Bar Assn the state of U.S. democracy is what keeps her up at night; Senate Appropriations Committee gets started on the first three FY2026 federal spending bills, even though there is no agreement between Republicans and Democrats on how much total spending there should be. One of those bills is put in limbo after a Democratic amendment passes to block President Donald Trump's decision to move the FBI HQ to the Reagan Int'l Trade Building in DC instead of a site in Greenbelt, Maryland that had been chosen after a long competition, and then Republicans withdraw support from the underlying spending bill; Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he had a 'frank conversation' with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and expressed the U.S.'s frustration over not making progress to end the war in Ukraine; Secretary Rubio also asked about reports that someone has been impersonating him in texts and calls using artificial intelligence, contacting foreign ministers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Senate confirms Bryan Bedford to be FAA Administrator; President's nominee for NOAA Administrator, Neil Jacobs, promises at a Senate confirmation hearing to fully staff the National Weather Service, after the deadly floods in Texas; former White House physician Dr. Kevin O'Connor refuses to answer questions before the House Oversight Committee in the Republican investigation of President Joe Biden's mental fitness for office, invoking his Fifth Amendment Constitutional right and doctor-patient confidentiality; President Donald Trump holds a summit at the White House the leaders of five West African nations; President sends more letters to more countries informing them of their tariff rates; retired bicycle racer Greg LeMond receives the Congressional Gold Medal and talks about how Europeans viewed him as the first American winner of the Tour de France. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump held an hour and 45 minutes cabinet meeting during which he said the new August 1st date when tariff levels he is imposing on other countries are to take effect will not be extended, compared Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to "Saturday Night Live" character of "The Pathological Liar" after Sen. Schumer called for an investigation into whether National Weather Service budget cuts impacted forecasting and warnings of the deadly central Texas floods, confirmed that defense weapons will be sent to Ukraine to help defend against Russia's latest air attacks, said he will meet again with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to try to advance a ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza, and called a reporter's question about Jeffrey Epstein a "waste the time"  and a 'desecration' when there are other important issues to discuss; Senate has two weeks to pass a nearly $10 billion rescissions package canceling funding for global health and foreign aid programs, and public broadcasting or the bill dies. We will talk about it Axios Senate reporter Stephen Neukam (22); TSA is no longer requiring air travelers to remove their shoes for security screenings; Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announces a plan to counter Chinese company purchases of U.S. farmland; State Department is asked about a person using Artificial Intelligence to pose as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and contact foreign ministers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

White House pushes back on suggestions that Trump Administration budget cuts hampered the National Weather Service warnings to those in the path of the deadly floods in Texas, including children at a camp along the river; as the death tolls rises and frantic search and rescue efforts continue for the missing; Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) tells how his daughters were at a camp along the same river recently, calling the situation in Kerr County “every parent’s nightmare"; President Donald Trump releases letters to seven countries informing them of specific U.S. tariff rates on their goods starting August 1st;  Japan and South Korea are at 25 percent, promising another seven or so this week; federal court hearing in Maryland in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, as his lawyers seek to ensure due process in case the federal government seeks to deport their client again, this time not to El Salvador, but to a third country; Justice Dept says the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide, did not keep a client list and did not try to blackmail anyone, confirming what investigators found years ago, but contradicting what has been believed by some; Israeli Prime Minister M Benjamin Netanyahu is in Washington to meet with President Trump to discuss the wars against Hamas and Iran. 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, 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