Senate Republicans appear to have President Donald Trump's big bill back on track after a flurry of last-minute revisions. But there's still a long way to go. Trump himself gave Congress some breathing room as senators race to meet his Fourth of July deadline, saying that date is "not the end all." With their majority control of Congress, Republicans are trying to push the package past unified Democratic opposition. To do so, they are working through a punch list of still-unsettled issues, including Medicaid health care cuts. Republicans are relying on steep reductions in programs to help pay for $3.8 trillion in tax breaks.
The Senate has produced the quickest top-level Cabinet confirmation process in the last 20 years under new Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota. At the outset, it wasn't clear that would be the case. President Donald Trump was making demands the new Senate leader be ready to put the chamber into recess so he could skip over the Senate confirmation process. Thune has been successful in showing the Republican president the confirmation process can work. But the decision to push forward on even the most unconventional Cabinet nominees has come at a cost. Arizona Democrat Mark Kelly says the damage Trump is doing to America's international reputation isn't something it easily recovers from.
