passage

California voters delivered a major victory for Democrats nationwide Tuesday — and possibly for Gov. Gavin Newsom’s political ambitions — by passing a redistricting plan that could help the party seize as many as five congressional seats in the 2026 midterm elections.

The ballot measure was seen as a searing denunciation of President Trump and his administration’s policies, which have included divisive immigration raids, steep tariffs, cuts to healthcare and a military occupation of Los Angeles.

Proposition 50 was launched at warp speed in August in an attempt to counter President Trump’s successful attempt to pressure Republican-led states, most notably Texas, to gerrymander their own states to keep Democrats from gaining control of the U.S. House of Representatives after the 2026 midterm elections. If Democrats gain power they could imperil his agenda and launch investigations into his administration.

“After poking the bear, this bear roared,” Newsom said Tuesday night shortly after the polls closed and the Associated Press determined Proposition 50 had passed.

Newsom said he was proud of California for standing up to Trump and called on other states with Democrat-controlled legislatures to pass their own redistricting plans.

“I hope it’s dawning on people, the sobriety of this moment,” he said.

The president, meanwhile, in a post Tuesday morning on his social media site called the vote “A GIANT SCAM” and “RIGGED” and said it is “under very serious legal and criminal review. STAY TUNED!” The White House did not explain what he meant by “serious legal and criminal review.” After the polls closed, Trump again posted, writing enigmatically: “…AND SO IT BEGINS.”

Newsom early Tuesday dismissed Trump’s threats as “the ramblings of an old man that knows he’s about to LOSE.”

Proposition 50 will change how California determines the boundaries of congressional districts. The measure asked voters to approve new congressional district lines designed to favor Democrats for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections, overriding the map drawn by the state’s nonpartisan, independent redistricting commission.

The measure, placed by the ballot by the Democratic-led state Legislature and pushed by Newsom, reconfigured the state’s congressional districts in favor of Democrats, shifting five more House districts into competitive or easily winnable territory for Democrats. California has 43 Democrats and nine Republicans in the House; now the number of GOP members could be cut in half.

While Newsom and Democratic partisans framed the passage of Proposition 50 — which they had dubbed the Election Rigging Response Act — as a major blow against Trump’s iron grip on the federal government, it is far from guaranteed to flip the balance of power in the U.S. House, where Republicans hold a slim majority.

For one, spurred on by Trump, Republican-led states are busy pursuing their own redistricting plans. Several Republican-controlled states including North Carolina, Ohio and Missouri are moving ahead.

What’s more, California voters in the fall of 2026 would then have to be convinced to choose Democratic challengers over incumbent Republicans in those newly crafted districts — and many current GOP members of Congress have said they don’t plan to go quietly.

“Here’s something Newsom and his cronies don’t know: It won’t work,” said Congressman Darrell Issa, a San Diego-area Republican whose seat was targeted by the newly redrawn maps. “The worst gerrymander in history has a fatal flaw. Voters get to pick their representatives. Not the other way around. I’m not going anywhere.”

Congressman Doug LaMalfa whose Northern California district was carved up and diluted with left-leaning coastal voters, said he was “standing in the fight. They’re not going to kidnap my district here without a battle.”

What is sure, however, is that Proposition 50 is a big win for Newsom, who has propelled his fight with Trump onto the national political stage as one of the loudest voices standing against the new administration.

Campaigning for Proposition 50, Newsom mocked Trump on the social media site X with sarcastic, Trumpesque all-caps media posts. The governor won viral fame, guest spots on late-night shows and millions of dollars from Democratic donors around the country delighted to see someone jousting with the president. In recent days, Newsom has begun talking openly about a possible run for president in 2028, after telling CBS last month that he would be lying if he tried to pretend he wasn’t considering it.

The new congressional districts also are expected to set off a mad scramble among ambitious Democratic politicians.

Already, Audrey Denney, a strategist and education director, has announced she will once again mount a campaign against LaMalfa, who represents an area that has been split into two districts saturated with Democratic voters. Former state Sen. Richard Pan, meanwhile, has indicated he intends to target Congressman Kevin Kiley, who saw his hometown of Rocklin yanked out of his district and replaced with parts of more-Democratic Sacramento.

One of the biggest effects of the measure may be the way it has enraged many of the state’s rural voters, and left even those who are registered Democrats feeling as though state leaders don’t care about their needs.

“They think our voices are so small that we don’t count, and because we’re red,” fumed Monica Rossman, the chairwoman of the Glenn County Board of Supervisors in rural Northern California. “This is just one more way of them squeezing us rural people.”

Rossman described Newsom in obscene terms this week and added that “people from urban areas, they don’t realize that us people from One-Taco-Bell-Towns don’t know what it’s like to drive by a dealership and see nothing but battery-operated vehicles. By traffic, we mean Ted’s cows are out again and we have to wait for them to get out of the way. We’re going to have people making decisions about areas they know nothing about.”

But as they headed to polling places across the state, many voters said the Trump administration’s actions in California — from funding cuts to the prolonged immigration raids —convinced them that radical measures were necessary.

Adee Renteria, who came to vote at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in East Los Angeles decked out from head to toe in celebratory Dodgers gear, said she was voting yes on Proposition 50 because “I want a fricking voice.”

“I want our people to be able to walk the streets without getting kidnapped,” she said, adding that she believed the measure would allow Democrats a chance at fighting back against policies that she said had sown terror in her community.

In Buena Park, Guarav Jain, 33, said he had braved long lines to cast his ballot “to prove that we can fight back on the crazy things Trump says.”

“This is the first chance to make our voice heard since the [presidential] election last November,” he added.

The path to Proposition 50, which ranks as the fourth most expensive ballot measure in California history, began in June. That was when Trump’s political team began pushing Texas Republicans to redraw the lines for that state’s 38 congressional districts to gain five Republican seats and give his party a better shot at holding the House after the midterm elections.

When Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed on to the idea, Newsom jumped in to announce that California, which has 52 representatives, would counter by redrawing its own districts to try to pick up as many as five seats for Democrats.

“We’re giving the American people a fair chance,” Newsom said in August, adding that California was “responding to what occurred in Texas.”

The move outraged California Republicans and also angered some people, such as former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who are no fans of Trump. Some opponents argued that it was an affront to an independent congressional redistricting commission that California voters created in 2010 with the passage of Proposition 20 — an effort to provide fair representation to all Californians.

“They are trying to fight for democracy by getting rid of the democratic principles of California.… It is insane to let that happen,” Schwarzenegger said at an event at USC in September. “Doesn’t make any sense to me — that because we have to fight Trump, to become Trump.”

But Schwarzenegger didn’t do much to actively campaign against the measure and the No side was far outgunned financially. Proponents raised more than $100 million, according to campaign finance reports, while the No side raised about $43.7 million.

A star-studded cast of Democratic leaders also flooded the airwaves to support the measure, including Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. President Obama spoke on the issue in ads that aired during the World Series. “Democracy is on the ballot Nov. 4,” the former president said.

The new congressional district maps are only temporary. They will be in place for elections next year and in 2028 and 2030. After that, California’s independent redistricting commission will resume its duties in drawing the maps.

What may be longer lasting, some rural representatives said, is a sense among many in California’s heartland that their voices don’t count.

LaMalfa, the congressman who saw his deep red district divided into two blue urban areas, said many of his constituents — who work in farming, timber and ranching — believe many state policies are “stacked against them and they have nowhere to go.”

“What they do have is a voice that understands their plight and is willing to speak for them. I am one of the people who does that,” he said. “You don’t have that anymore if you have taken all those folks and just drawn them into urban voters districts.”

Times staff writers Sonja Sharp, Katie King and Katerina Portela contributed to this report.

Marilyn Hubalde recalls the fear of local residents in Batanes, Philippines, when they first heard military helicopters during joint exercises with U. S. troops in April 2023. Hubalde’s helper even hid in the woods, thinking war had begun. The military drills, part of increased U. S.-Philippines cooperation, involve airlifting anti-ship missile launchers to the islands, marking a significant shift for the once-peaceful province.

Situated near Taiwan, Batanes is now seen as a frontline region in the competition between the U. S. and China for influence in Asia. The province is close to the Bashi Channel, an important shipping route between the Philippines and Taiwan, which connects the South China Sea to the Western Pacific. The recent exercises highlighted how both countries plan to use ground-based missiles to prevent Chinese naval access in potential conflicts.

Experts emphasize that denying Chinese control of the Bashi Channel is crucial, as it could decide the outcome of any conflict. Retired military officials state that controlling the northern Philippines is essential for any Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which China claims as its territory. President Xi Jinping has stated that China may use force to assert control over Taiwan, a position Taiwan’s government rejects, insisting that its future is for its people to determine.

China’s foreign ministry has warned the Philippines against involving external forces and escalating tensions in the South China Sea, calling Taiwan an internal issue that should not involve outside interference. The Pentagon and Taiwan’s defense ministry did not provide comments on these developments.

Using the ‘First Island Chain’

American military deployments in Batanes are part of a broader Pentagon strategy focused on using the Philippines’ geographic position to deter or counter Chinese military actions towards Taiwan and other areas in the South China Sea. The Philippines, consisting of over 7,600 islands and vital maritime chokepoints, is essential to the “First Island Chain,” which comprises territories controlled by U. S. allies, forming a barrier against China’s expanding navy. Rear Admiral Roy Trinidad of the Philippine Navy stated that the archipelago serves as a crucial gateway between the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean.

The U. S. aims to ensure this gateway remains secure, despite uncertainties about American security commitments under President Donald Trump. Efforts have intensified since President Joe Biden took office to strengthen defense collaboration with the Philippines. Recent reports indicate an evolving and permanent U. S. military presence in the country, characterized by joint exercises and ongoing training, reversing an earlier period after the U. S. left its military base at Subic Bay in 1992.

In a meeting between Philippine Armed Forces chief General Romeo Brawner and U. S. Indo-Pacific Command head Admiral Samuel Paparo, the two sides agreed to more than 500 joint engagements for 2026, covering various military activities. U. S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth highlighted a focus on enhancing capabilities to counter Chinese aggression in the First Island Chain, noting that training activities with the Philippines are increasing in scale and duration.

The cooperation under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is vital for containing Chinese forces, especially in a potential conflict scenario. Marcos has stated that should war arise over Taiwan, the Philippines would be inevitably involved, while also emphasizing the desire to avoid conflict. The Philippine defense ministry expressed confidence in the commitments made by the Trump administration.

China’s recent military movements demonstrate the importance of the Bashi Channel for its Pacific strategies. The region has seen enhanced Chinese naval activity, including exercises near Japan, which highlight its ambitions. In response to Chinese “gray-zone” warfare aimed at the Philippines, which involves intimidation tactics against Philippine vessels, the military has reported unauthorized incursions by Chinese ships into Philippine waters. The defense ministry asserts that these actions challenge international law and reflect China’s desire to reshape the global order. China’s foreign ministry did not provide responses regarding these tactics.

War Jitters in Batanes

Communities near key military passages in the archipelago feel vulnerable due to preparations for conflict. In Batanes, residents, like Hubalde, rushed to buy essential supplies like rice, oil, sugar, and milk when military exercises began. The islands heavily depend on regular shipments from the mainland for food, fuel, and medical supplies.

Provincial Governor Ronald “Jun” Aguto Jr. said that the community has adapted to the military presence, which initially caused alarm and panic buying. Aguto is now focused on updating the provincial contingency plan to prepare for a potential influx of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Taiwan during a conflict. There are around 200,000 Filipinos living in Taiwan. He mentioned that Batanes could be used as a launch pad for bringing these workers home, but the islands can support only 20,000 people, requiring a plan to transfer them to the mainland for better sustainability.

The military is developing a rescue plan, according to Commodore Edward Ike De Sagon, the retiring Philippine Navy commander for Northern Luzon. He emphasized that the military is preparing for various scenarios, including handling large numbers of returning workers and possible refugees from Taiwan. The Philippine military has noted Batanes’ strategic location as a potential logistical hub for evacuations and humanitarian responses.

Concerns about being caught in conflict have intensified, especially if China were to attack Taiwan, with fears that Batanes could be targeted. Past military exercises have indicated preparations for potential fighting in the region. Retired politician Florencio Abad urged Manila authorities to reassure the local population regarding plans for managing the impact of conflict, expressing fears about survival in such a scenario. He highlighted the lack of clear communication from the government about evacuating workers from Taiwan or plans for potential refugees. The Philippine defense ministry stated that it is working on contingency and repatriation plans but did not provide details.

Missiles ‘Designed to Close a Strait’

Locals are concerned about potential conflict as the U. S. and the Philippines conduct annual military drills named Balikatan, which includes the deployment of U. S. Marines and new missile systems. The U. S. brought the NMESIS ground-based anti-ship missile launcher to Batanes, capable of launching the Naval Strike Missile with a range over 300 kilometers. This missile can target hostile warships in the Bashi Channel, providing “sea denial capability,” which is crucial for controlling access to this strait.

In late May, more drills occurred with the NMESIS system moved secretly into position for simulated strikes while U. S. and Philippine marines practiced key area operations. Not long after the NMESIS was deployed, China’s aircraft carrier Shandong entered the Western Pacific through the Bashi Channel for military exercises, spotlighting the strategic importance of this maritime route. China also deployed its other carrier, the Liaoning, similarly entering from the Miyako Strait, as both aimed to enhance their naval capabilities. Japan’s military anticipates that in a conflict, it would prevent Chinese access through certain straits, making the Bashi Channel vital for China.

The Philippine military described China’s naval activities as part of aggressive and illegal regional tactics. Meanwhile, the U. S. Army deployed Typhon launchers in Luzon, armed with powerful anti-ship missiles, which can hit targets deep into China, even as Manila expressed a willingness for further deployments despite Chinese objections.

China condemned the U. S. and Philippines’ military exercises and deployment of offensive weapons as destabilizing. The Philippine military clarified that these missile systems are for training and deterrence, not aimed specifically at any country, and operational security prevents them from confirming the locations of such systems. The military maintained that the presence of these missiles during exercises was temporary and not intended to close any maritime routes like the Bashi Channel.

If China doesn’t like it, ‘we’re doing it right’

Senior Philippine defense officials believe that China’s negative reaction indicates it sees the new anti-ship missiles as a significant threat. Retired Admiral Ong noted that disapproval from China means the Philippines is on the right track. The Philippine military recently acquired BrahMos supersonic anti-ship missiles from India, intended to give ground forces the ability to strike Chinese vessels and land targets while staying hidden. This approach helps avoid the vulnerability of fixed military bases to Chinese attacks.

Joint military exercises with the U. S., Japan, and Australia are being conducted to prepare for potential blockades in key maritime routes in the Philippines, such as the Mindoro Strait and the Balabac Strait. The Marcos administration has also allowed the U. S. access to four new military sites in northern Luzon, expanding military cooperation.

U. S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed America’s defense commitments to the Philippines shortly after President Trump took office and exempted funds for Philippine security force modernization from an overseas aid freeze. Despite increased military activity, Batanes Governor Aguto believes China is unlikely to attack, as it would escalate into a larger conflict.

However, local residents, like store owner Marilyn Hubalde, are preparing for possible disruptions to their supply chains. They are considering the need to grow their own food should conflict arise, emphasizing the importance of self-sufficiency in uncertain times.

With information from Reuters

Tell someone about “The Cortège,” and it may inspire as much apprehension as it does curiosity.

A theatrical procession running this month at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, “The Cortège” promises to explore grief, loss, mourning and our collective disconnection from one another. It’s a dramatic interpretation of a funeral, albeit one with jubilant street-inspired dance and a Sasquatch-like creature. And robots and drones.

I arrived at “The Cortège” just weeks removed from attending a very real, deeply personal funeral for my mother. Did I want to revisit that space as part of my weekend’s entertainment, and would the show inspire a new round of tears? The answer to both turned out to be yes.

“The Cortège” is alternately playful and serious as it explores the cycle of life.

(Emil Ravelo / For The Times)

For “The Cortège” approaches a difficult subject matter with an imaginative question: What if we explore grief not with isolation or solemness, but with wonder? It’s a prompt that’s ripe for an era of divisive politics, financial stress and often isolating technology.

Beginning at twilight and extending into the evening, “The Cortège” starts with an overture, a six-piece band performing in the center of the field. We’re seated either on the grass on portable pads with backs or in folding chairs on an elevated platform.

Soon, a mist erupts on a far end of the field; a lone figure emerges who crawls and then walks to the center. He’ll move in place for much of the show, remaining silent as a fantastical life transpires around him — dancers, ornately costumed characters and larger-than-life puppets will surreally reflect the journey of life.

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Inspired as much by Walt Disney’s approach to fairy tales as, say, Carl Jung’s theories of collective consciousness, “The Cortège” is a revival of an ancient art — the procession — that aims to be a modern rite of passage. A ritual, “The Cortège” is a communal experience, one that seeks to erase borders between audience and performer while imagining a more optimistic world.

Think of it as theater as a healing exercise, or simply an abstracted evening with elaborate, vibrant costumes and choreographed drones creating new constellations in the sky. It’s also a bit of a dance party, with original music composed by Tokimonsta, El Búho and Boreta.

““The Cortège” builds to a final that invites audience participation — and maybe a little dancing.

(Emil Ravelo / For The Times)

“The Cortège” comes from Jeff Hull, a Bay Area artist best known for devising participatory and mysterious experiences that have used real-world settings as a game board — some may recall the beloved underground experiment “The Jejune Institute.” This, however, is a more personal show. It’s informed as much by the struggles and challenges of adulthood as it is the awe and playfulness that Hull experienced when he was younger, specifically his time working as a teen at Oakland’s Children’s Fairyland, a theme park-like playground for young kids.

“Every day I would follow the yellow brick road and have a magic key and slide down a rabbit hole, and I would wonder why the rest of the world wasn’t like that,” Hull says. “I’ve been trying to make it like that ever since. Why can’t we play? Why does it all have to be barriers? That’s the motivation from a childlike place, but now I also have motivation from a wise elder space.”

In turn, “The Cortège” is part festive renewal and part philosophical recollection. At the start, music is mournful but not quite sorrowful, a lightly contemplative jazz-inspired feel anchored by a steel hang drum. The music shifts through reggae stylings and Eastern rhythms. Performers are robed and instruments are carried on ramshackle wheelbarrows, setting up the transitory mood of the night.

What follows will touch on religious and mystical iconography — we’ll meet three lantern-carrying masked figures, for instance, with exaggerated, regal adornments as they herald a birth. Expect a mixture of old and new technologies. Drones will form to mark a passage of eras, a marching band will conjure New Orleans revelry, and towering, furry creatures may invite youthful spiritedness while militant, robotic canines will represent clashing images of human ingenuity and violence.

Think of “The Cortège” as a ceremonial rite of passage — a show that wants audiences to find healing via community.

(Emil Ravelo / For The Times)

For much of the show, we are asked to wear glowing headphones. Their luminescence highlights the crowd while also creating a more intimate, reflective atmosphere. It’s not quite a sound bath and it’s not quite a play, but as more figures enter the field — some haunting and dreamlike with their bodies shaped like arrowheads, and others sillier bursts of feathered color — “The Cortège” takes on a ceremonial, meditative feel.

While some may indeed come for the outsized costumes and extended dance sequences, Hull says the show is the entertainment equivalent of “shadow work,” that is the therapeutic uncovering of suppressed, forgotten or hidden memories.

“Shadow work is something we need to do as individuals, but it’s also something we need to do as a culture,” Hull says. “Let’s look at ourselves. Let’s look at what we don’t want to admit about ourselves. How can we bring that to life? When you do it as an individual, we’re actually partly doing something for the collective. That’s a big aspect of ‘The Cortège.’ Let’s do shadow work as a cultural moment. It’s not all just meant to be entertainment.”

Audiences are asked to wear headphones during “The Cortège,” creating an intimate relationship with the music.

(Emil Ravelo / For The Times)

Ultimately, however, “The Cortège” is an invitation, a hand extended to the audience asking us to consider and reimagine our own journey through life. Emerging from both the traumatic end of a relationship and the death of my mother, I appreciated the way in which “The Cortège” sought to put our existence in perspective, to reinterpret, essentially, the individual as the communal for a celebratory reminder that we’ve all struggled as much as we’ve dreamed.

Hull says “The Cortège” was born from a time of strife.

“What you mentioned, losing a loved one and going through a separation, my version of that is I had Guillain-Barre Syndrome and was walking with a cane. My wife was diagnosed with cancer and then she lost her father. And this was all during a time when the sun didn’t come out. It was dark out, all day, because of the California wildfires. It was a shift between taking everything personally and realizing that all the things I mentioned were things we all have to go through.”

The show is purposefully abstracted, says Hull, to allow audience members to attach their own narratives. It’s a work of pageantry, inspired in part by Hull’s fascination with medieval morality plays, specifically the story of “Everyman,” an examination of self and of our relationship to a higher power.

“The tale of ‘Everyman’ was one in which a universal protagonist met with all of the challenges of life and a reckoning with himself and with God,” Hull says. “That’s literally what we’re doing here. It is a revival of ancient European pageantry.”

Drones will form constellations in the sky during “The Cortège.”

(Emil Ravelo / For The Times)

Hull’s name is well-known among those who follow what is the still-emerging niche of so-called immersive entertainment, media that, broadly speaking, asks participants to take on an interactive role. Those who went deep into “The Jejune Institute,” which ran in the late 2000s in San Francisco and inspired a documentary as well as the AMC series “Dispatches from Elsewhere,” could discover a narrative that examined the fragility — or the allure — of human belief systems. It was often, for instance, compared to a cult.

“The Cortège” is clearly a departure. And Hull today is skeptical of the word “immersive.” Though “The Cortege” invites audiences onto the field in its final act and then asks participants to join in a reception (the afterlife), Hull finds much of what is classified today as immersive to be lacking, emphasizing spectacle and imagery over human emotion.

“The Cortège,” says Hull, is “not a metafiction.” Or don’t think of it as a show about a rite of passage. It’s intended to be a rite of passage itself. “That’s kind of the thesis of this piece,” Hull, 56, says, before expanding on his evolved take on the immersive field.

“There’s this world of immersive entertainment, but what are we immersing ourselves in?” he says. “Is this just sensory stimulation? Is this gesturing at the numinous? Is this referencing the mystical? There’s no meta-narrative here.”

Hull’s hope is “The Cortège” will erase the line between the performative and the restorative. “We all want to have a pretend metafictional relationship to transformative experiences rather than genuine transformative experiences,” he says.

Not quite a play and not quite a dance show, “The Cortège” incorporates elements of both during its procession.

(Emil Ravelo / For The Times)

We can get there, Hull believes, by engaging with an art form that has largely been discarded by the Western world.

“We are reconnecting a lost lineage to that which is ancient and to that which is eternal,” Hull says. “A procession is people walking together; that is simply what a procession is. Where are they walking from? They’re walking from their past. Where are they walking to? They’re walking toward the future. That’s what we’re doing.”

I won’t spoil the moment that made me tear up other than to say it was not due to the jolting of any memories. For “The Cortège” is also exultant — a procession, yes, but a walk into an imagined world.

WASHINGTON — In a final push to prevent passage of President Trump’s signature legislation into law, Elon Musk, once his largest benefactor and later his top White House aide, threw the kitchen sink at his former boss.

The world’s richest man threatened to fund primary challenges against supporters of the bill “if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.” He threatened to fund the creation of a third party based on fiscal responsibility. And he accused the president of using the bill as a vehicle to defund the ability of courts to enforce contempt orders, making it all but impossible to hold him and his allies accountable for violating the law.

There is still a slim chance that Musk succeeds. But a Senate vote approving the bill on Tuesday brought Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” to the doorstep of passage. The only thing standing in its way now is a handful of Republican lawmakers in the House.

Trump reacted to Musk’s campaign on Tuesday with a pointed threat. The Department of Government Efficiency, a federal program Musk ran at the start of the administration that aimed to reduce federal spending, could be directed to gut Musk’s properties of federal contracts, the president warned.

“We might have to put DOGE on Elon,” Trump said. Musk owns SpaceX, an aerospace company with deep ties to NASA, as well as Tesla and the X social media platform. “You know what DOGE is? The monster that might have to go back and eat Elon — wouldn’t that be terrible? He gets a lot of subsidies.”

“If DOGE looks at Musk, we’re going to save a fortune,” Trump later added. “I don’t think he should be playing that game with me.”

The “Big Beautiful Bill” included several provisions that could have rankled Musk, including a phaseout of green energy tax credits passed during the Biden administration that have benefited companies like Tesla.

But Musk said his priority in the bill was not its impact on the electric vehicle market. Instead, his concern is its overall price tag — a ballooning of the federal debt over the next decades that he said fundamentally undermines his work in the administration.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the Senate version of the bill will add $4 trillion to the debt by 2034, and even more if Congress votes later on to remove a series of expiration dates built into the legislation.

Musk left the Trump administration at the end of his tenure as a special government employee in late May, honored in the Oval Office by Trump with a press conference and a custom embroidered key. But the men fell out dramatically days later, trading insults in an acrimonious public feud that included Musk taking credit for Trump’s election victory.

Even within the last few days, Trump has offered mixed messages on the state of his relationship with Musk, wishing him only the best in an interview with Maria Bartiromo of Fox Business.

By Tuesday morning, he was telling reporters that he would “take a look” at deporting Musk, a U.S. citizen.

“Without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, “and head back to South Africa.”

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s megabill encompassing his domestic agenda on Monday inched closer to becoming law as Republican senators sifted through familiar procedural hurdles toward a final vote on legislation that would dramatically transform the tax code and Medicaid.

Throughout a day of marathon voting, senators offered amendments to the bill that could ultimately decide whether it secures passage through Congress. If the Senate approves the legislation — as it is expected to do by a slim, simple majority and with bipartisan opposition — then the House will have to vote for a second time on the final text before it goes to the president’s desk for his signature.

Anticipating Senate passage, the House Rules Committee has already scheduled a hearing on reconciling the two bills for Tuesday. The White House previously set July 4 as a goal to get the package, called the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” passed by both chambers.

But several Republicans are still criticizing the bill, including Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who announced he will not seek reelection in 2026 over the weekend before ripping into the legislation as a “betrayal” to voters.

Although the legislation has hundreds of provisions, its most sweeping would make tax breaks passed in 2017 during Trump’s first term permanent — an expensive proposition — before they are set to expire at the end of this year, while attempting to offset some of those costs with historic cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, social welfare programs that for decades had been seen as a political third rail.

Polling shows that Americans broadly support extending the 2017 tax cuts. Other expensive programs in the bill — including additional funding for border security and defense — also enjoy public support. But polls indicate that the public disapproves of the bill overall by a double-digit margin due to its cuts to core government programs.

“What do I tell 663,000 people in two years or three years, when President Trump breaks his promise by pushing them off of Medicaid because the funding’s not there anymore?” Tillis said in a speech from the Senate floor. “The people in the White House advising the president are not telling him that the effect of this bill is to break a promise.”

Both Paul and Tillis voted against advancing the bill to a floor vote and have indicated they will vote “no” on its final passage.

“Republicans are about to make a mistake on healthcare, and betraying a promise,” Tillis continued. “It is inescapable that this bill in its current form will betray the very promise that Donald J. Trump made in the Oval Office, or in the Cabinet room, when I was there with Finance [Committee members] where he said, ‘We can go after waste, fraud and abuse on any programs.’”

Tillis and a handful of his colleagues, including Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, have expressed concern with elements of the bill that restrict state taxes on healthcare providers, known as the “provider tax,” an essential tool for many states in their efforts to supplement Medicaid funding.

The Senate parliamentarian has already determined that the provision, among others, fails to follow the rules of the chamber and must be removed or modified. Another passage crucial to the bill, which introduces a structure for work requirements for Medicaid, was halted by the parliamentarian.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) speaks to reporters outside the chamber on June 30, 2025.

(Manuel Balce Ceneta / Associated Press)

Republicans efforts to prohibit the use of Medicaid funds on gender transition care, to cancel regulations that require a minimum staffing ratio at nursing homes and to limit Medicaid access to immigrants were also cut by the parliamentarian, who continued to review amendments to the bill as they were introduced Monday.

The parliamentarian’s moves eat into the stated cost savings of a bill that is already slated to add trillions of dollars to the debt over the next decade — a problem for fiscal hawks in both chambers whose votes will be crucial for passage.

They also gutted key provisions that were top priorities for Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the focus of an intense lobbying campaign by Senate Republican leadership after expressing skepticism over several provisions of the legislation. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who is up for reelection next cycle, has also expressed concern over its cuts to Medicaid.

“This is an ongoing process — the president continues to be very much engaged with the leadership in both the Senate and the House,” Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, told reporters in a briefing Monday. “He understands that legislators want to protect jobs in the communities and their districts.”

Democrats in the Senate have been united in their opposition to the bill, with Mark Kelly, of Arizona, warning Republicans of electoral repercussions.

“If they lose their health insurance,” he told MSNBC in an interview, “sure, they’re going to remember.”

But the potential political windfall for Democrats isn’t stopping the party from attempting to improve the legislation, he said, noting a number of amendments proposed by Democratic senators Monday that would roll back cuts to Medicaid and SNAP.

If the bill does ultimately clear the Senate, Republicans will have only a handful of votes in the House to spare in a final vote. And several are already suggesting they will vote against it, including Rep. David Valadao of California, whose constituents rely heavily on Medicaid.

“I’m not a ‘yes’ necessarily,” said Rep. Don Bacon, a Republican from Nebraska who has announced his retirement. Bacon added that he believes the Senate version has gone too far in gutting healthcare programs. “I think we’ll have a hard time passing.”

An intraparty fight has also broken out among Republicans over the fate of green energy tax credits, which several GOP senators — including Murkowski, as well as Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst of Iowa — sought to preserve for several more years. A group of House Republicans had successfully lobbied in their version of the bill to speed up the termination of those credits.

Elon Musk, a co-founder of Tesla, and Trump’s close advisor and benefactor before the two men fell out this month, renewed his attacks on the legislation Monday, calling it “utterly insane and destructive” for its price tag.

“It is obvious with the insane spending of this bill, which increases the debt ceiling by a record FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS that we live in a one-party country — the PORKY PIG PARTY!!” Musk wrote.

“Time for a new political party,” he added, “that actually cares about the people.”