Hello readers and welcome back to On Politics. Zach Schermele here, USA TODAY's congressional correspondent. It's Thursday, and I'm still speechless over the couple who scaled the Empire State Building yesterday (so is the area's congressman, Jerry Nadler, whose office told me he had no comment on the matter).
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Now on to less death-defying news...
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There's a lot going wrong for Speaker Mike Johnson right now. Action on the House floor is effectively frozen , and he can't quite figure out how to get it moving again. Meanwhile, time is precious: only eight planned working days remain before the August recess. After that, the big focus will be on keeping the government funded. And then it's practically the midterms.
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He does have one thing seemingly going right, though: his relationship with President Trump. That stands in contrast to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who's been publicly at odds with the White House a lot lately. Johnson's advice for Thune?
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The relationship dynamics between the GOP's three most powerful leaders, seen here in February 2025, are complex, and made more so by the fact that President Trump has never really fully appreciated the machinations of Congress.
Kayla Bartkowski, Getty Images
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A caveat to the apparent Thune-Trump rift: Trump has repeatedly praised Thune. Johnson told us they "respect one another immensely." A Thune aide said they text and call frequently. And perhaps most crucially: Thune, unlike Johnson, isn't dealing with a floor-paralyzing revolt from his own members.
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The Education Department's big week |
It was a huge week for the Education Department. Yesterday, many of the biggest changes to federal financial aid policy mandated by Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill Act" took effect.
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As often happens, the student loan overhaul wasn't complete without a last-minute court intervention. Last week, a federal judge temporarily paused the department's regulations reclassifying certain degree programs, therefore lowering borrowing caps. Graduate nursing, the most talked-about one, appears safe for now. Theology degrees, meanwhile, are subject to new limits.
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Nicholas Kent, the agency's top higher ed official, told me in a statement the department would comply with the order, though "we disagree with the court’s analysis regarding the department’s definition of professional degree programs for purposes of determining eligibility for higher loan limits."
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The Roberts court? Or Trump's? |
Our Supreme Court correspondent, Maureen Groppe, has a step-back look today at the high court's just-finished business.
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By many measures, she writes, it was the Trump term. Over nine months of decisions that the 6-3 conservative court handed down through June, the justices mostly kept expanding presidential authority. Read more of her analysis here.
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Zachary Schermele is the congressional correspondent for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson told USA TODAY he puts a lot of time working his relationship with President Donald Trump 'because that's what's required.'
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Warm holiday weather, scattered severe storms and wildfire haze could briefly disrupt crowds, fireworks and flyovers at Trump’s Mount Rushmore 250 event.
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Belum ada tanggapan untuk "Johnson's advice for Thune"
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