Trump’s budget bill hits House after Senate nail-biter: Unbiased Updates, July 2, 2025
President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” heads to the House on Wednesday, July 2, after a nail-biter vote in the Senate. Trump’s budget bill just narrowly passed.
Plus, Trump sued CBS and won. Paramount agreed to pay millions over a “60 Minutes” edit.
Also, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs faces life in prison as he awaits his final verdict. So far, the jury has reached a verdict on four of the five charges.
These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Wednesday, July 2, 2025.
House to consider Trump’s bill after it narrowly passes Senate
President Donald Trump’s big, beautiful budget bill returns to the House after barely passing the Senate with a 50-50 tie, which Vice President J.D. Vance broke. All Democrats and three Republicans — Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine — voted against the bill.
Overnight, the House Rules Committee voted 7 to 6 to move the bill to the House floor, with two Republicans — Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Rep. Chip Roy of Texas — siding with Democrats to try and block it.
The full House will debate Wednesday morning, but passage isn’t guaranteed. The Senate version would add a trillion dollars more to the deficit than the original bill passed by the House, and that could slow things down.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates the current bill would add $3.3 trillion to the deficit over the next decade. Trump said he wants the bill on his desk by Friday, July 4.
House Democrats, led by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, have promised a fight. Jeffries said, “All legislative tools are on the table,” including the rare “magic minute” rule, which allows leaders to speak for as long as they want after debate ends.
With a slim majority, Republicans can only afford to lose three votes.
“We knew the Senate would amend the House product. I encouraged them to amend it as lightly as possible. They went a little further than many of us would have preferred, but we have the product now. As the president said, it’s his bill, not a House bill, not a Senate bill. It’s the American people’s bill. And my objective and my responsibility is to get that bill over the line, so we will do everything possible to do that,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said.
Johnson said Tuesday, July 1, that travel delays from storms in the eastern U.S. — and over 1,200 canceled flights — could make it hard for some members to get back to Washington in time.
Trump says Israel has agreed to 60-day ceasefire with Hamas
A new ceasefire proposal has been put forward in Gaza, with Trump stating that Israel agrees. This deal would mark a significant shift in the conflict, especially since Israel ended the last truce with a series of lethal airstrikes in March.
In a Truth Social post, the president said Israel has accepted the “necessary conditions” for a 60-day ceasefire and warned Hamas to do the same, saying the situation will only get worse if they don’t. Trump said Egypt and Qatar, which have been working with the U.S. to broker a deal, will deliver the final terms to Hamas.
The announcement comes just ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the U.S. on Monday, July 7.
Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reported that Israeli strikes killed more than 30 Palestinians across Gaza on Wednesday, July 2. Hamas still holds about 50 Israeli hostages from its initial attack, and at least 27 are believed dead.
Paramount to pay Trump $16M in ’60 Minutes’ settlement
Paramount cut a $16 million check to Trump to settle the president’s lawsuit over an edited “60 Minutes” interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. The money, minus legal fees, will go to Trump’s future presidential library.
The deal does not include an apology, but as part of the settlement, “60 Minutes” will now release transcripts of future interviews with presidential candidates.
Paramount is in the middle of a proposed merger with Skydance Media that requires the Trump administration’s approval.
Inside CBS, the fallout has already started with high-level resignations and growing frustration from journalists who see this as caving to political pressure. Critics warn it sets a troubling precedent. The Trump team says it’s about accountability.
The White House has yet to respond.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs jury split on final count as life sentence looms
The jury in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ federal trial enters its third day of deliberations. They are still deadlocked on the most serious charge: racketeering conspiracy.
Jurors said they have reached a verdict on four of the five charges, including two counts of sex trafficking and two counts of transporting women across state lines for prostitution. However, they cannot agree on whether Combs operated a criminal enterprise.
The judge told the jurors to keep deliberating and that they would return to it Wednesday morning in Lower Manhattan.
Combs, who pleaded not guilty, appeared emotional in court Tuesday, July 1, with his head down and hands folded as the note was read. A conviction on the racketeering charge could mean life in prison. The verdicts on the other four counts won’t be revealed until jurors decide on that final charge.
University of Pennsylvania agrees to ban trans women from women’s sports
The University of Pennsylvania has agreed to ban transgender women from joining female teams, complying with a federal ruling that found the school violated Title IX when it allowed swimmer Lia Thomas to compete on the women’s team in 2021.
Thomas, a transgender woman who previously swam on the men’s team, won a national title, sparking a national debate and sharp backlash. Under the agreement, the university will remove her name from the record books and adopt new policies defining sex based on biology.
The move comes after a Trump administration order threatened to cut federal funding to schools that allow transgender women to compete in female sports.
Michael Jordan’s former Chicago-area estate now on Airbnb
Ever dreamed of living like NBA legend Michael Jordan? Now you really can. Jordan’s iconic Chicago-area mansion is now on Airbnb. And yes, it’s exactly as over-the-top as you’d imagine.
The 56,000-square-foot estate includes 7 bedrooms, 17 and a half bathrooms, a movie theater, private gym, cigar lounge, wine cellar, bars, billiards, saltwater aquariums, and of course, a full-size basketball court.
So, what’s the damage?
The host requires a minimum stay of seven nights. NBC News crunched the numbers: A stay over Labor Day weekend came just shy of $121,000. The place accommodates 12, so if your starting lineup and bench contribute, each person could spend around ten grand to live like a legend.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
