House to vote on Trump agenda bill and May jobs report expectations: Morning Rundown

A handful of House Republican holdouts flipped on Donald Trump’s megabill after an hourslong standoff. How prosecutors’ argument in Sean Combs’ federal trial fell apart. And a Liverpool soccer star is killed in a car crash. 

Here’s what to know today.

House advances Trump agenda bill, setting up a final vote

Lawmakers in the House pulled an all-nighter on the massive domestic policy package for President Donald Trump’s agenda, as a handful of Republican holdouts stalled the procedural “rule” vote for several hours.

Five Republicans had initially joined Democrats in voting “no” on the procedural vote, including members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, as well as the center-right Republican Main Street Caucus and Republican Governance Group.

But after hours of negotiations, most of the Republican holdouts flipped their votes and the House advanced the bill by a vote of 219-213. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., was the only Republican who voted against the rule.

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Asked how he was able to win over the Republican holdouts, Johnson told reporters, “There was just a lot of patience and listening to everyone’s concerns and making sure that their, their concerns were addressed.”

The Senate-approved version of the “big, beautiful bill” would extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, boost funding for immigration enforcement and the military and make significant cuts to Medicaid, food stamps and clean energy funding. It would also raise the debt limit by $5 trillion.

Freedom Caucus leaders were unhappy about the Senate bill increasing the deficit and not going far enough on clean energy and Medicaid, and other GOP House members were unhappy with the more aggressive Medicaid cuts in the Senate bill, along with a series of clean energy funding rollbacks.

Trump joined Johnson’s all-day efforts yesterday to sway holdouts by holding meetings and making phone calls. Overnight, the president ramped up his pressure on holdouts in a social media post. “What are Republicans waiting for???” he wrote. “What are you trying to prove???”

Read the full story here.

More politics news:

• CIA officials failed in some cases to follow standard procedures in an intelligence analysis of Russian interference efforts in the 2016 election, according to a newly declassified internal review, but the review did not refute the officials’ findings.

• A Trump-pardoned Jan. 6 defendant was sentenced to life in prison for plotting to murder the FBI special agents who investigated him. 

• An app that encourages users to share ICE agent sightings in their area has seen a surge in popularity and backlash from the Trump administration.

• A 21-year-old congressional intern in Washington, D.C. was fatally shot when gunfire erupted earlier this week, though police said he was not the intended target of the shooters.

Sean Combs acquitted on most serious charges in a blow to prosecutors

Sean “Diddy” Combs was acquitted of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges in his federal trial but found guilty on two lesser counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. For the hip-hop mogul and his defense team, the jury’s verdict was seen as a win. But it was a blow to the Southern District of New York.

The seven-week trial saw federal prosecutors attempt to paint Combs as someone who used his power, wealth and influence to lead a “criminal enterprise” to sexually abuse and exploit women for over two decades. Jurors heard from almost three dozen prosecution witnesses, including graphic testimony from Combs’ ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura. 

Combs’ defense team, on the other hand, didn’t call a single witness, didn’t dispute their client’s history of domestic violence, and acknowledged that Combs arranged drug-dazed, marathon sexual encounters called “freak offs.” The team’s ownership of those allegations might have had a strong influence over the jury’s decision, legal experts and former federal prosecutors said. 

After the verdict was read, Combs fell to his knees in prayer. His family stood in the background, clapping and cheering. Outside the New York City courthouse, Combs’ supporters celebrated with baby oil, an apparent reference to the substance that witnesses said was provided for the “freak offs.”

U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian set a sentencing date of Oct. 3 and denied Combs’ team’s request that he be released from prison until then. Subramanian cited the attorneys’ own words — “we own the domestic violence” — in arguing that Combs is a danger to others.

Read more about how prosecutors’ case against Combs fell apart.

Liverpool soccer star Diogo Jota killed in car crash in Spain, police say

Diogo Jota, the celebrated Portuguese soccer star who recently won the English Premier League with Liverpool Football Club, has been killed in a car crash, authorities said Thursday.

The club said it was “devastated by the tragic passing of Diogo Jota,” and the Portuguese national team paid tribute to “an extraordinary person, respected by all teammates and opponents, someone with a contagious joy and a reference within his own community.”

Spain’s Guardia Civil confirmed in a statement that the 28-year-old star and his brother, André Silva, also a professional soccer player, died after a car crash in the Zamora region “due to a tire blowout while overtaking.”

The car then caught on fire and both vehicle occupants were killed by the accident, the statement added. Read the full story here.

Job growth expected to dip while unemployment rate rises

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is set to report job figures today for the month of June, with economists expecting that 110,000 new payrolls will have been added — down from the 139,000 jobs added in May, the fewest since February and the fourth monthly decline in the past six months. Economists also expect the BLS’s June report to show the unemployment rate at 4.3%, the highest since October 2021.

While Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has described overall economic conditions as solid, U.S. firms and various other data points paint a more worrisome portrait. For example, private payrolls processor ADP reported a net decline in jobs added amid a hesitancy for companies to replace departing workers, ADP’s chief economist said. Read the full story here.

Trump nabs one trade agreement as end of tariffs pause looms

The Trump administration has reached a trade agreement with The Trump administration has reached a trade agreement with Vietnam, with U.S.-based companies set to pay a 20% tariff on Vietnamese goods and 40% tariff on goods routed through Vietnam from other countries, and Vietnam agreeing not to charge any tariffs on U.S. goods. The deal comes just a week before the 90-day pause on the president’s sweeping tariffs is set to expire.

Nearly three months after the temporary pause on Trump’s tariffs first kicked in, few trade agreements have been made. Trump said this week that a deal with Japan was unlikely and that a deal with India was close, though his administration has been suggesting that for weeks. Meanwhile, talks with the European Union have dragged on.

While Trump and administration officials previously indicated that the July 9 deadline might be pushed back, Trump said Tuesday that he’s not planning a deadline extension and that he is informing the countries of their new tariff rates by writing them “a nice letter.” Now, U.S. businesses again face the threat of paying hefty levies on goods bought from overseas. Read the full story here.

Read All About It

• Bryan Kohberger is set to be sentenced later this month after he pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and burglary in the 2022 stabbings of four University of Idaho students.

• Israel confirmed that it agreed to a ceasefire proposal by Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff. Hamas said it was considering the proposal.

• A Purple Heart veteran who self-deported to South Korea after being targeted with detention and deportation said the new environment, as well as being separated from his family, has worsened his PTSD symptoms. 

• Nearly two dozen seeded tennis players were eliminated in Wimbledon’s first round, including recent French Open women’s champion Coco Gauff. There’s a simple explanation as to why.

• Researchers announced a new expedition to find Amelia Earhart’s plane, based on evidence suggesting the famed aviator may have crash-landed on a remote island in the South Pacific.

Staff Pick: Another twist in Elon Musk’s politics

Billionaire Elon Musk has alienated most people in politics this year: First, Democrats and progressives after he took a chainsaw to federal spending at the Department of Government Efficiency, and second, President Donald Trump and his allies after Musk made an explosive White House exit a month ago.

So maybe there’s a peculiar logic in Musk starting his own political party. After the Tesla CEO floated the idea on social media on Monday — though it’s not the first time he’s done this — tech intern Burna Horvath and I decided to dig deeper. We spoke with experts about the history of third parties in America and whether the world’s wealthiest person could succeed where others haven’t. — David Ingram, tech reporter

NBCU Academy: What it takes to direct ‘The Kelly Clarkson Show’

As the director of some of the biggest talk shows in TV history, Joe Terry has seen it all. The Emmy winner directed 13 seasons of giveaways, book clubs and couch-jumping guests on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” He also saw what happened behind the scenes of “Steve Harvey” and “The Maury Povich Show.” Now, as the director of “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” Terry makes sure to get to the heart of the host’s conversation with guests.

“I will let people tell their story, and I want them to do that,” said Terry, who began his career in Philadelphia in the 1970s. “I’m always looking for emotion.”

Go behind the scenes with Terry and Clarkson to see how the show comes together.

NBCU Academy is a free, award-winning education program for developing new skills and advancing careers in journalism, media and tech.

NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified

The REI Fourth of July Sale is here, with deals up to 50% off on Hoka, Saucony, Patagonia and more. Plus, the NBC Select team gathered a massive list of the 100 best products we’ve ever bought from Amazon.

Sign up to The Selection newsletter for hands-on product reviews, expert shopping tips and a look at the best deals and sales each week.

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