Trump’s $9.4 billion spending cut to move forward

The House of Representatives just advanced Trump’s $9.4 billion federal spending cut package on Wednesday, bringing the controversial plan one step closer to law.

The package, built off proposals by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), would let the White House refuse to spend money that Congress had already approved.

According to CNBC, the bill targets agencies like the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which hands out grants to PBS and NPR.

Although Wednesday’s vote passed along party lines, the final vote set for Thursday may not go as smoothly. Some Republican lawmakers are already nervous about the cuts, especially since they’re aimed at programs that are still popular among voters.

Speaker Mike Johnson can only afford to lose a few votes if he wants to pass it without Democratic support, and he’s scrambling to lock in his own party. Earlier this week, Mike told CNN, “I’m working on getting the votes we need to get this through.”

Senate rule fights delay Big, Beautiful bill

The bill was originally part of the GOP’s self-described “big, beautiful bill”, which needed edits before it could survive the Senate reconciliation process.

That process allows the Senate to approve budget bills with a simple majority, bypassing the usual 60-vote rule. The Senate parliamentarian, who reviews bills to make sure they follow the chamber’s rules, flagged several pieces of the proposal as invalid under reconciliation rules. Those sections were cut before Wednesday’s vote.

While Republicans in the House made the needed changes, some are still uncomfortable with the content. The cuts to PBS, NPR, and USAID are drawing heat from both sides. Even with reconciliation in place, the bill faces a long road through the Senate, especially if more Republicans break ranks.

Meanwhile, DOGE isn’t just slashing funds—it’s been firing people. Federal offices across the U.S. have been gutted since Trump came back into office and handed DOGE broad authority to cut staff.

Some agencies lost entire teams. Basic functions like weather forecasting and drug approvals were nearly shut down. Now, Trump’s administration is trying to walk some of it back.

DOGE layoffs spark court orders and hiring chaos

After Elon Musk quit the White House last week, his bitter fallout with Trump exploded. Musk was once a top ally but now he’s throwing punches over the cost of Trump’s massive tax cuts and the federal cash his companies were getting.

On April 29, Bloomberg reported that “Elon Musk lost 25% of his fortune during his quest to gut the US government.” Musk responded online with just two words: “Worth it.”

Musk’s private companies like SpaceX, Neuralink, and xAI kept raising money, but Tesla got wrecked. Since Trump’s second inauguration, Tesla’s stock dropped by 33%, and public support dropped with it. Sales plummeted, with buyers turning away from the brand because of Musk’s ties to the administration.

Inside the government, DOGE’s mass firings are unraveling. Thousands of probationary federal workers—those with under two years of service—were fired on Valentine’s Day.

But in April, a federal judge ordered Trump to reinstate workers fired from 20 different agencies. Days later, in a separate case, the Supreme Court blocked another judge’s order to reinstate a different group. Now agencies are stuck between court rulings and executive chaos.

Many of the fired workers, especially those near retirement or those who moved to the private sector, don’t want to come back. Some who were offered their old jobs said no. Others ignored emails and calls.

The White House is now asking the remaining employees to take on multiple roles, work extra hours, or even volunteer to fill gaps. Interviews with 18 federal workers across eight agencies, and internal messages seen by The Washington Post, show that the mess is spreading.

Departments like the FDA, IRS, State Department, and Housing and Urban Development are trying to rebuild operations with makeshift hiring. A review of USAJobs, the federal employment site, shows the government is now reposting jobs that are nearly identical to ones it just eliminated.

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