"Big Bill" Passage and Political Arm-Twisting: Donald Trump is pushing hard for the passage of a significant bill by his self-imposed July 4th deadline. Despite strong opposition from the House Freedom Caucus (FC), it appears Trump will get his wish. The method of securing the FC votes is unclear but could involve "a few threats from Trump" or "goodies" offered by Johnson. Given the lack of time for a conference committee and reconciliation limits, any deal might involve "some sort of action Trump promised to take in the FCers' home states" or Trump not taking punitive actions against "recalcitrant members."

"No Tax on Tips Provision" and its Limitations: The Senate version "put a maximum of $25,000 on the amount of income that could be excluded."

The Department of Justice (DoJ) is reportedly expanding its denaturalization program beyond undocumented immigrants to include naturalized citizens, even for actions that are otherwise legal.

Decline of Moderatism: The idea that a "centre cannot hold" in American politics is reinforced by recent retirements and the increasing tribalism.

Several Senate seats are opening up, with potential for more, shaping the 2026 electoral map.

Trump's "Anti-Musk" Strategy: Donald Trump is launching a new Super PAC, "Full Support for Donald" (FSD PAC), to counter Elon Musk's potential influence and build his own network of billionaire donors. "Trump doesn't trust Musk."

A new Pew report, based on interviews with 9,000 voters, indicates that if all non-voters had participated in 2024, "Trump's 2024 margin would have been 3% instead of 1.5%." This suggests non-voters are "actually lazy secret Republicans." Supporting Studies: A 2020 Stanford study found that making voting easier did not benefit either party, with additional voters "roughly evenly split."