Senate votes on amendments to Trump’s big bill ahead of July 4 deadline

Possible changes to President Donald Trump’s big bill of tax breaks and spending cuts are being considered in what’s called a vote-a-rama, though most of the amendments are expected to fail.

After a weekend of setbacks, the Senate is rushing Monday to move ahead with the bill despite a series of challenges.

The hours ahead will be pivotal for the Republicans, who have control of Congress and are racing against Trump’s self-imposed July 4 deadline. The 940-page “ One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” as it is now formally titled, has consumed Congress as its shared priority with the president, with no room politically to fail, even as not all Republicans are on board.

Here’s the latest:

Elon Musk pledges to back GOP House member who’s met Trump’s ire

The tech billionaire has said that he’s getting out of politics, but his X posts tell a different story.

On Monday, the tech billionaire and former DOGE chief lashed out multiple times at Republicans for backing Trump’s tax cuts bill, calling the GOP “the PORKY PIG PARTY!!” for including a provision that would raise the nation’s debt limit by $5 trillion and calling the bill “political suicide” for Republicans.

After a post pledging to work toward primarying members of Congress who backed the bill, Musk responded “I will” to a post in which former Michigan Rep. Justin Amash asked for Musk’s support of Thomas Massie.

Trump aides are already honed in on the Kentucky Republican for voting against the measure, launching a new super PAC devoted to defeating him.

Musk spent at least $250 million supporting Trump in the presidential campaign, as the main contributor to America PAC. In May, he said he would likely spend “a lot less” on politics in the future.

Trump instructs cabinet to review US policy toward Cuba

The president ordered his top cabinet officers to examine current sanctions on Cuba and come up with ways to tighten them within 30 days.

In a memorandum sent to the State, Treasury, Commerce, Interior, Agriculture departments and virtually every other federal agency on Monday, Trump said the reviews should focus on Cuba’s treatment of dissidents, its policies directed at dissidents and how it allows money from the U.S. to be sent into the country through remittances from Cuban Americans living in the U.S.

In one potential significant change, the order said the U.S. should look for ways to shut down all tourism to the island and also to restrict educational tours to groups that are organized and run only by American citizens.

The move is not a surprise given that Trump has previously said he plans to rescind the easing of sanctions and other penalties in Cuba that were instituted during President Barack Obama’s and Joe Biden’s terms in office.

GOP senators tread carefully about criticizing Musk

Even as Elon Musk attacked them on social media, Republican senators tried to remain diplomatic and avoid hitting back at the former top Trump adviser.

“At the end of the day, you know, we should be thankful for the work that he did,” GOP Sen. Jim Justice said. “But I’m sure Elon’s got a real ego, and sometimes egos can really clash.”

Musk on social media said Republicans who vote for the current form of Trump’s big bill “will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.” Among those up for reelection is Sen. Joni Ernst, who is also chair of the Senate DOGE caucus.

“I really appreciate what Elon has done with our DOGE work, and we’re going to keep working on that with various rescissions packages,” Ernst told reporters. “But at the end of the day what we also don’t want is a $4.3 trillion tax increase on American taxpayers.”

Tillis likely to wade into primary for his successor

North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, the two-term senator who announced his retirement Sunday after clashing with Trump over his tax breaks and spending cuts bill, said he would likely get involved in the GOP primary for his replacement.

“I’ve run successful two statewide races, and I got a pretty good idea of the profile you need to win,” Tillis told The Associated Press.

Ideally, Tillis said, Senate Republicans and the White House would land on a GOP candidate who could navigate both a primary and the general election in North Carolina. The swing state will likely be home to the most competitive Senate race in next year’s midterm elections.

One candidate Tillis does not want as the nominee: Mark Robinson, the former lieutenant governor who ran for the state’s top job last year.

“He would probably lose by a larger margin than he did the last time,” Tillis said, speculating that Trump would likely not endorse Robinson again.