3 d. ago Trump’s tax bill would be a boon for richest Americans, says watchdog

Congressional Budget Office believes legislation will leave poorest worse off

Politics

4 d. ago Republican Senator Ron Johnson warns on opposition to Trump tax bill

US fiscal hawk says concern over president’s ‘big, beautiful’ legislation is deepening

Politics

5 d. ago Donald Trump faces Lettuce Liz Truss crisis over 'crazy' tax cuts, says ex IMF man

Donald Trump is heading for a "Lettuce" Liz Truss "moment" after spooking the markets with his "beautiful" tax cut bill, economists say.

Politics

5 d. ago Put Thames Water into temporary state control, say ‘junior’ creditors

£5bn rescue plan would set ‘deeply troubling precedent’, say bondholders who face losing all of their moneyNils Pratley: Thames Water’s creditors are being too greedyBusiness live – latest updatesThames Water should be placed into temporary government control to avoid setting a “deeply troubling precedent”, according to bondholders who face losing all of their money in the latest rescue bid.The struggling utility is under the control of a group of lenders who hold the bulk of its huge £20bn debt pile. Those “senior” creditors on Tuesday revealed details of a last-ditch rescue effort with £5bn in funding, alongside writing off about £6.7bn in debt. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Trump’s ‘big, beautiful’ bill is built on falsehoods about low

Republicans portray those in poverty as lazy people who make poor decisions. They’re using that trope to justify huge cuts to the social safety netAs they race to deliver Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful” tax bill, Republicans in Congress are using familiar tropes to justify massive cuts to the safety net that will leave millions of low-income children and families without healthcare or sufficient food. The programs, they argue, are rife with waste, fraud and abuse, and the people who use them just aren’t working hard enough. So work requirements are necessary to force the obviously lazy “able-bodied” people to get to work.Here’s the reality check: a majority of those receiving this aid who can work are already working. More than 70% of working-age people who receive nutrition benefits or Medicaid, the health insurance program for low-income children and adults that covers one in five Americans, are already working, according to the Government Accountability Office. Those who aren’t w...

Politics

6 d. ago Executives converge on Washington to halt Trump’s foreign investment tax

Global companies lobby lawmakers to reject extra levies on countries deemed to treat US unfairly

Politics

6 d. ago Newsom is warned of ‘criminal tax evasion’ if he withholds federal taxes

California governor made threat amid reports Trump is weighing huge federal funding cuts targeting stateThe US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, has warned California governor Gavin Newsom that he would be guilty of “criminal tax evasion” if he withholds his state’s tax payments to the federal government amid threats of a funding cut by Donald Trump.Newsom had threatened to cut tax payments to the federal government two days ago after reports that Trump was preparing huge federal funding cuts targeting Democrat-dominated California, including its state university system. Continue reading...

Events

8 d. ago Republicans dismiss threat to Trump’s tax bill from Elon Musk

Party closes ranks after billionaire’s attacks on legislation prompt dramatic fall out with president

Politics

9 d. ago How much money Elon Musk lost because of feud with Donald Trump

Musk's government contracts were on the line as he continued to take part in a savage war with words against Trump, with their partnership breaking down over a tax-cut and spending bill.

Politics

9 d. ago Musk’s tax bill attacks have rattled Republicans. But Trump still reigns supreme | Lloyd Green

In the end, we’re likely to see a legislative pastiche – a Frankenstein’s monster forged by political necessityThe feud between Elon Musk and Donald Trump is a godsend for Democrats, a headache for the president and a problem for Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker of the House. Between now and the Fourth of July, Trump expects congressional Republicans to deliver a badly needed win. After more than four months back in the Oval Office, he still lacks a major legislative achievement.Republicans control both the House and Senate, but the public sees goose eggs on the scoreboard. Almost daily, the courts upend the president’s executive orders. Slim legislative majorities and government by rage come with drawbacks.Lloyd Green is an attorney in New York and served in the US Department of Justice from 1990 to 1992 Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago Tesla stock plunges as Musk's feud with Trump over GOP tax bill spooks investors

Shares of Elon Musk’s electric vehicle maker are falling sharply Thursday as investors fear his dispute with Donald Trump could end up hurting the company

Economics

1 week ago Elon Musk claims ‘without me, Trump would have lost the election’ – US politics live

Former adviser accuses Trump of being ungrateful in tweet after US president said he was ‘very disappointed’ in Tesla CEOTrump says he is ‘very disappointed’ in Elon Musk after attacks on tax billPresident Vladimir Putin told US president Donald Trump that he was ready to use Russia’s close partnership with Iran to help with negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme, the Kremlin said on Thursday.Trump said after a phone call with Putin on Wednesday that time was running out for Iran to make a decision on its nuclear programme and that he believed Putin agreed that the Islamic Republic should not have nuclear weapons. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Elon Musk again criticizes Trump’s spending bill and says a new one should be drafted – live

Musk, who just left the Trump administration formally last week, calls for a new tax bill to be drafted and claims ‘America is in the fast line to debt slavery’Trump’s tax bill would add $2.4tn to US debt, says non-partisan analysisThe Trump administration has reversed its decision to revoke the legal status of a four-year-old girl, receiving continuing life-saving treatment in the US, and her family after a national outcry.Deysi Vargas, her husband and their daughter – whom lawyers identified by the pseudonym Sofia – had come to the US in 2023 to seek medical care for their daughter who has a rare condition that requires specialized treatment. But in April, the federal government ended their humanitarian parole, a temporary status granted to people on urgent humanitarian grounds, and ordered them to “self-deport”. Continue reading...

Economics

1 week ago Elon Musk brands Donald Trump's big tax break bill a 'disgusting abomination'

Donald Trump's administration is pushing a piece of legislation in the United States which will be central to its agenda and will mean tax breaks as well as spending cuts

Economics

1 week ago Elon Musk calls Trump’s ‘big, beautiful’ tax bill a ‘disgusting abomination’

The former head of Doge said the ‘outrageous’ tax bill will cause the deficit to grow to $2.5tnUS politics live – latest updatesElon Musk, the billionaire tech entrepreneur, has opened a new rift with Donald Trump by denouncing the US president’s tax and spending bill as a “disgusting abomination”.Musk’s online outburst could embolden fiscally conservative Republican senators – some of whom have already spoken out – to defy Trump as they continue crucial negotiations on Capitol Hill over the so-called “one big, beautiful bill”. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago The 'truth' behind Blake Lively's shock move to drop 'emotional distress' claim against Justin Baldoni... as she worries legal battle is turning into 'a show'

Blake Lively has revealed why she chose to drop her emotional distress claim against Justin Baldoni after his lawyers claimed that she refused to provide medical proof. 

Events

1 week ago Obama says Republicans are putting millions of Americans’ healthcare at risk

Rare intervention from former president urges people to call their senators to oppose Trump tax billBarack Obama has warned that Congress is putting millions of Americans at risk of losing healthcare coverage, in a rare intervention from the former president as the Republican party advances legislation that would gut major provisions of the Affordable Care Act.“Congressional Republicans are trying to weaken the Affordable Care Act and put millions of people at risk of losing their health care,” Obama posted on social media. “Call your Senators and tell them we can’t let that happen.” Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago The 'truth' behind Blake Lively's shock move to drop 'emotional distress' claim against Justin Baldoni...as she worries legal battle is turning into 'a show'

Blake Lively has revealed why she chose to drop her emotional distress claim against Justin Baldoni after his lawyers claimed that she refused to provide medical proof, in their latest legal battle. 

Events

1 week ago Trump’s tax bill helps the rich, hurts the poor and adds trillions to the deficit | Katrina vanden Heuvel

The ‘big, beautiful bill’ has reaffirmed that a pledged golden age is really just a windfall for the uber-wealthyThe blush is off the rose, or, rather, the orange. The erstwhile “First Buddy” and born-again fiscal hawk Elon Musk recently said he was “disappointed” by Donald Trump’s spendthrift budget currently under debate in the US Senate. Squeaking through the House of Representatives thanks to the capitulation of several Republican deficit hardliners, this “big, beautiful bill” certainly increases the federal debt bigly – by nearly $4tn over the next decade.Equally disappointed are those who have been busy burnishing Trump’s populist veneer. Steve Bannon had repeatedly promised higher taxes for millionaires, but he has confessed he’s “very upset”. That’s because the bill would cut taxes by over $600bn for the top 1% of wage-earners, also known as millionaires. It amounts to the largest upward transfer of wealth in American history. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Trump demands bigger tax cuts in budget bill as Musk dodges question about reported drug use – US politics live

Trump and Musk speak to reporters as Musk caps his turbulent tenure as the head of DogeMusk allegedly took large amounts of drugs while advising Trump – reportThe Republican nominee for governor of Virginia has recently tried to distance herself from her longstanding, hardline anti-abortion record, declining recently to state whether she would support any restrictions on abortion access if she is elected to lead the state this fall. But her record reveals a candidate staunchly opposed to the procedure.Winsome Earle-Sears, now the state’s lieutenant governor, supported a 15-week abortion ban and has previously said she wants to make abortion illegal in almost all cases. In audio obtained by the Guardian, Earle-Sears also suggested an equivalence between consenting to sex and consenting to pregnancy. Continue reading...

Politics