Trump Issues His Demands for Next Republican Megabill

Good evening. President Trump said Thursday that he had called off another day of planned strikes against Iran and that a peace deal was "in pretty final shape" and could be completed "over the next few days."

We'll be back in your inbox on Monday. Until then, here's what's happening.

Trump Issues His Demands for Next Republican Megabill

After signing Republicans' $70 billion budget reconciliation bill to fund immigration enforcement on Wednesday, President Trump last night laid out his demands for the party's next planned legislative package.

In a lengthy social media post, Trump called on Republicans to "IMMEDIATELY" pass another budget reconciliation bill, which he said should include a proposed $350 billion funding boost for the Pentagon as well as the SAVE America Act, the president's coveted election overhaul, which has stalled in the Senate.

"I am hereby calling on Republicans in Congress to IMMEDIATELY advance and pass the forthcoming $350 Billion Reconciliation Bill (Recon 3.0) - which, at the request of our Great Department of War - will include THE SAVE AMERICA ACT as well," Trump wrote. "No games, no delays, and no weak compromises! Do this ASAP."

Trump added that a third reconciliation bill - "Recon 3.0," following last year's One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the new immigration package - is the only path to approving the full $1.5 trillion in military spending that he has requested for fiscal year 2027. He also touted his proposed package of election reforms, which requires voter ID and proof of citizenship to register to vote as well as a ban on mail-in ballots. The bill also includes unrelated measures to prohibit transgender athletes in women's sports and restrict gender-affirming care for trans youth.

Congressional Republicans have long eyed a potential third reconciliation bill, but they are still mapping out which priorities would be included amid considerable skepticism in their ranks that they can come together to pass another megabill.

"If there's a good reason to do another reconciliation bill, if there's support for it, then my assumption is that it will be something that could get 218 [votes] in the House and 50 votes in the Senate," Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Wednesday. He said there has been talk about finding savings by curbing waste, fraud and abuse in social programs, but much would depend on the specific contents of any package.

A day earlier, GOP Sens. Susan Collins and Mitch McConnell cautioned Air Force Secretary Troy Meink against relying on reconciliation for needed funding, expressing doubts about the chances of passing another party-line bill. "I think it's safe to conclude there will not be another reconciliation bill, so it's really not an option," McConnell said.

What's next: Trump may be ramping up the pressure, but his demands appear unlikely to be met. His SAVE America Act doesn't meet the requirements to be included in a reconciliation bill and doesn't have the GOP support it would need to clear the Senate. And key Republicans have concerns about adding $350 billion in defense spending via a reconciliation bill rather than the usual appropriations process.

Republicans also have limited time to try to pull together a Recon 3.0 bill before the November elections and, as Politico's Mike DeBonis writes, finding consensus on their next priorities will be complicated: "Fiscal hawks in the party will demand offsets for the Pentagon funding that could necessitate cuts to safety-net programs that vulnerable incumbents are likely to resist making just months ahead of Election Day."

Trump Picks New Intelligence Chief as Key Spy Law Set to Lapse

Lawmakers left the capital today after failing to extend a controversial surveillance program, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which is due to expire on Friday night.

A House vote to temporarily renew the warrantless wiretapping program failed, 198-218, as 19 Republicans joined nearly all Democrats in opposing the measure. Democrats also blocked an extension in the Senate. They are protesting President Trump's selection of Bill Pulte, seen as a MAGA loyalist with no relevant national security experience, as acting director of national intelligence.

Speaker Mike Johnson slammed Democrats for their vote. "We did everything within our power to try to ensure that this statute does not expire, and the Democrats are using it as a political hostage now," he said. "They are willing to jeopardize the safety and the security of the American people to make a cheap political point."

Hours later, Trump said that he will nominate Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and a former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, to be the next director of national intelligence

That still leaves the near-term future of the spy program in question, especially since Trump still says that Pulte will step into the intelligence job on June 19 and stay there until Clayton is confirmed.

"The president could have put forward a qualified nominee from the beginning. Instead, he waited until the House of Representatives went out of town, choosing a path that raises the risk of an entirely avoidable lapse in a critical national security tool," Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement. "That said, let me be clear - while I am glad to see the president finally come to his senses, before the Senate can take up a FISA extension there needs to be a clear guarantee that Mr. Pulte will not serve as acting DNI. Either Director [Tulsi] Gabbard must remain in place or the administration must designate the Senate-confirmed Principal Deputy DNI as the acting head through any transition."

Number of the Day: 1.1%

Wholesale prices jumped 1.1% on a monthly basis in May, pushing the annual rate to 6.5%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced Thursday.

The latest numbers suggest that inflationary pressures are rising. The government's Producer Price Index was well above the expectations of economists polled by Dow Jones, who projected a monthly increase of 0.7%. The annual number was the highest since November 2022, amid the pandemic-era surge in inflation.

Much of the increase was driven by fuel prices. Core PPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, increased just 0.4%.

In response to the latest data, John Ryding, chief economic advisor at Brean Capital, said the hot inflation numbers will send a message to officials at the Federal Reserve. "The Fed is clearly missing its inflation target by a lot more than it is missing its employment objective," Ryding said, per Reuters. "The PPI report should further embolden those on the [Federal Open Market Committee] who think a rate hike might be needed later in the year."

Nearly Half of Working-Age Adults Struggle to Afford Healthcare: Report

The cost of healthcare continues to be a problem for millions of American families. According to a new study from the nonpartisan Urban Institute, 46% of adults between the ages of 18 and 64 had difficulties affording healthcare in 2025.

To determine the severity of the problem with healthcare affordability, the researchers looked at three possible issues in a survey of more than 10,000 adults: difficulties paying medical bills in the last year; avoiding a needed service due to cost in the last year; and carrying medical debt. The second category was the largest, with about 35% saying that they or someone in their household did not get healthcare they needed at some point in the last year due to cost. Nearly 30% said their family is currently carrying medical debt, while about 17% said they had trouble paying a medical bill in the last year.

Those without health insurance typically report the most problems affording care, but even those with insurance struggle with costs as premiums, deductibles and copayments claim a growing share of household incomes. About 39% of those who had insurance reported having at least one problem with affordability, compared to 53% of those with a public marketplace plan, 57% of those with Medicaid and 60% of those with no insurance.

Some demographic groups reported more difficulties than others. About 69% of those with a disability struggled to afford their healthcare last year, as did 60% of those with a serious health condition such as stroke, cancer, heart disease or diabetes. About 56% of Black and Hispanic respondents said they struggled with affordability, compared to 42% of whites and 28% of Asians.

A growing challenge: More people are expected to experience problems with healthcare affordability as the cost of both private and public medical care continues to rise.

Katherine Hempstead, a senior policy advisor at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which helped fund the study, said the high cost of care could have a negative effect on the health of millions of people.

"Affordability of health care is now everyone's concern, not just people who are uninsured," Hempstead said in a press release. "Higher out-of-pocket costs for insurance premiums and cost sharing make many people less secure and potentially less healthy as they avoid needed care."

Michael Karpman, one of the researchers on the project, noted that new government policies could make matters worse. "These findings highlight widespread difficulty in affording health care across the United States," he said in a statement. "Recent federal policy changes could exacerbate these difficulties by increasing the number of people who are uninsured. And if more employers shift the rising costs of health care to their employees, affordability challenges will increase."

Fiscal News Roundup

• Trump Calls Off New Military Strikes on Iran Hours After Threatening Escalation – Associated Press
• Trump Demands $350B Pentagon Infusion, Elections Overhaul in Next Party-Line Gop Bill – Politico
• Trump Rips McConnell, Murkowski From Oval Office – The Hill
• Appeals Court Says U.S. Government Can Keep Collecting 10% Tariffs for Now – Associated Press
• Judge Rejects Bid to Halt 'Anti-Weaponization' Fund, Warns DOJ Not to 'Play Possum' – The Hill
• Senate Panel Approves Department of War Name Change – Politico
• House Lawmakers Back 2027 Military Pay Raise – Federal News Network
• Hakeem Jeffries Says Democrats Will Prioritize Affordability. Not All of His Members Agree – Politico
• After Senate Loss, Cornyn Predicts 'Miserable' Final Two Years for Trump – New York Times
• House Rejects Bill to Extend Spy Power, All but Assuring a Lapse – New York Times
• Trump Picks New Intelligence Chief After Revolt Over Pulte – New York Times
• US-Canada Bridge Fight Rages: Opening Delayed, Invites Voided – Bloomberg
• They Want to Rebuild Rayburn. First, They Have to Build Enough Support – Roll Call
• Inside the 'Highly Complex' Preparations for Trump's UFC Fight: $60M for Staging, 494 Port-a-Potties and Other Logistics – CNN
• US Puts Up $750K to Evacuate an American Who Was Aboard Hantavirus Cruise Ship From Remote Island – Associated Press

Views and Analysis

• There's Nothing to Show for the Lengthy DHS Funding Battle – Washington Post Editorial Board
• What Exactly Has This Congress Achieved? – Bloomberg Editorial Board
• Republicans Are Triple-Dipping Funding for Mass Deportation – Ryan Cooper, American Prospect
• Trump Isn't Giving Up on His Slush Fund – Sarah Fitzpatrick, The Atlantic
• The Catastrophic Failure of 2008 Shows Where Kevin Warsh Should Start – John H. Cochrane and Amit Seru, Washington Post
• The Young Economic Populists Reshaping the Left – The Daily, New York Times (podcast)
• A Minimum Wage Natural Experiment Has Been Running for Over a Decade – Arin Dube, Substack
• Inside the Campaign to Discredit a Key Climate Science Report – Corbin Hiar, Lesley Clark and Chelsea Harvey, Politico