SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — It was tied 1-1 going into the third period. It turned into a blowout. And after a five-goal barrage, one like none other in Florida playoff history, the Panthers are one win from their third consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Final.
Niko Mikkola and Aleksander Barkov each scored twice, and Panthers — fueled by five goals in a span of nine minutes — rolled past the Carolina Hurricanes 6-2 on Saturday night to take a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.
Jesper Boqvist — playing for the injured Sam Reinhart — scored the go-ahead goal early in the third for Florida and Brad Marchand also scored for the Panthers, who got 23 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky.
“In the third period, I think we took over,” Barkov said.
That’s an understatement from the Panthers’ captain.
Logan Stankoven and Seth Jarvis scored for Carolina, which has now dropped 15 consecutive East finals games — getting swept by Pittsburgh in 2009, Boston in 2019, Florida in 2023 and are now on the brink of it happening again.
Game 4 is Monday in Sunrise.
“They’re a good team, for sure,” Carolina’s Sebastian Aho said. “But I feel like we’ve been giving them the momentum or a goal at the wrong time — and obviously they’ve made us pay”
Florida’s five third-period goals were a club record for any playoff period and ruined what had seemed like a good move by Carolina to switch goaltenders going into Game 3. The Hurricanes went with Pyotr Kochetkov in net, after Frederik Andersen gave up nine goals on just 36 shots in the first five periods of the series.
Kochetkov stopped 14 of 15 shots through two periods. The third, not so much. A tie game became a rout in a hurry.
“I don’t think the way the games have been played is really an indication of what the outcomes have been score-wise,” Marchand said. “They’ve been pretty tight. It just seems like we’ve got a couple of bounces and a couple lucky breaks here and there that have kind of given us a pretty good lead.”
Florida got a break to make it 1-0. Barkov threw a pass across the goal crease, the puck hitting the stick of Evan Rodrigues before finding Mikkola — who tried to feed it back across for Barkov.
It never got there. Mikkola’s pass deflected off Carolina defenseman Dmitry Orlov and past Kochetkov, opening the scoring and giving Florida an 11-2 cumulative score lead in the series to that point.
Brent Burns took a shot from near the blue line that Bobrovsky stopped. The rebound skipped off Bobrovsky’s leg and Stankoven redirected it home to make it 1-1 — the first tie of the series, other than 0-0 scores to begin games.
But the third, like the bulk of the series, was all Florida.
“We have to try to put our best foot forward,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I felt like we did tonight for two periods.”
Pre-heat a small skillet over medium heat; add 1/2 tablespoon olive oil and onions to the pan. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until onions are caramelized; Remove from skillet and set aside.
On a greased sheet pan, take the pizza dough and form it to the size of the sheet pan. Brush both sides of the dough with 1/2 Tablespoon of olive oil. Place pizza dough on grid over medium heat. Grill the dough for 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side being careful not to burn it. Remove the dough and place it back on the sheet pan. Top the flat bread with roasted red peppers & 1/4 cup of blue cheese. Bake in the oven at 375°F for 10 minutes; once the cheese is melted slightly remove from oven and set aside.
Season both sides of the steak with salt & pepper. Place steak on grid over medium, ash-covered coals or over medium heat on preheated gas grill. Grill according to the chart for medium rare (145°F) to medium (160°F) doneness, turning occasionally. Remove steak and let rest for 5 minutes. Slice into 1/2inch strips and set aside.
Take the flat bread and top with the caramelized onions, arugula, sliced steak, remaining blue cheese, and drizzle the balsamic syrup on top. Cut into 6 even sized squares and serve.
1 beef Chuck Shoulder Steak, Arm Steak or Cross Rib Steak, 1 inch thick (about 1 pound)
1 can (5-1/2 ounces) spicy 100% vegetable juice
8 cups mixed greens
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup cucumber, cut in half lengthwise, then into thin slices
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
Salt and pepper
Crunchy Tortilla Strips
Gazpacho Dressing:
1 can (5-1/2 ounces) spicy 100% vegetable juice
1/2 cup chopped tomato
1/4 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
Directions
Place beef Chuck Shoulder Steak and 1 can vegetable juice in food-safe plastic bag; turn steak to coat. Close bag securely and marinate in refrigerator 6 hours or as long as overnight.
Combine dressing ingredients; refrigerate. Combine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and 1 cup green bell pepper; refrigerate.
Remove steak from marinade; discard marinade. Pat steak dry with paper towel. Place steak on grid over medium, ash-covered coals. Grill shoulder steaks, covered, 12 to 17 minutes for medium rare (145°F) to medium (160°F) doneness (top round steak 15 to 19 minutes for medium rare(145°F) doneness; do not overcook), turning occasionally. Carve steak across the grain into thin slices. Season with salt and pepper, as desired.
Tortilla Strips:
Meanwhile prepare Crunchy Tortilla Strips. Add steak to salad mixture. Drizzle with dressing and top with tortilla strips.
Strips: Heat oven to 400°F. Cut 2 corn tortillas in half, then crosswise into 1/4-inch wide strips. Place strips in single layer on baking sheet. Bake 4 to 8 minutes or until crisp.
WASHINGTON (AP) — For students around the world, an acceptance letter to Harvard University has represented the pinnacle of achievement, offering a spot among the elite at a campus that produces Nobel Prize winners, captains of industry and global leaders.
That allure is now in jeopardy. In its intensifying fight with the White House, Harvard was dealt its heaviest blow yet on Thursday, when the government blocked the Ivy League school from enrolling foreign students. The move threatens to undermine Harvard’s stature, its revenue and its appeal among top scholars around the world.
Even more than the government’s $2.6 billion in research cuts, the administration’s action represents an existential threat for Harvard. The school summed it up in a lawsuit seeking to block the action: “Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard.”
Within hours of the decision, the consequences were becoming clear. Belgium’s Princess Elisabeth, who just finished her first year in a Harvard graduate program, is waiting to find out if she can return next year, the royal palace said. The Chinese government publicly questioned whether Harvard’s international standing will endure.
“The relevant actions by the U.S. side will only damage its own image and international credibility,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a briefing in Beijing.
A federal judge on Friday blocked the administration’s decision for now by issuing a restraining order that stops the government from pulling Harvard’s certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program. Belonging to the program allows Harvard to host international students with visas to study in the U.S. But the order is only temporary.
With a $53 billion endowment, Harvard has the means to weather federal funding losses that would cripple other institutions. But this new sanction strikes at the heart of its campus.
Already, the change is causing disarray, as thousands of students consider whether to transfer elsewhere or risk being in the country illegally. It could wipe out a quarter of the university’s total student body, while halving some of its graduate schools and threatening students who work as lab researchers and teaching assistants. Some sports teams would be left nearly empty.
Yet the future consequences pose the greatest threat. If the government’s action stands, Harvard would be banned from admitting new international students for at least two school years. Even if it regains its place as a global magnet, top students may shy away for fear of future government reprisals, the school said in its lawsuit.
In its court filing, Harvard listed some of its most notable alumni who enrolled as foreign students. The list includes Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister of Pakistan; Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the former president of Liberia; Empress Masako of Japan; and many leaders of major corporations.
The university enrolls almost 6,800 foreign students at its campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, near Boston.
Students in India and China — nations that send more students to the U.S. than any other — were awaiting what comes next. While foreigners set to graduate from Harvard next week can still do so, the remaining current students and those bound for the university in the fall were weighing other opportunities. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, for one, said Friday that it would welcome international students already at Harvard and those who have been admitted.
The action has dominated news in countries around the world, said Mike Henniger, president and CEO of Illume Student Advisory Services, a company that works with colleges in the U.S., Canada and Europe to recruit international students. He is currently traveling in Japan and awoke to the news Friday with dozens of emails from colleagues.
The reactions from the international community, he said, were incredulous: “’Unbelievable!’ ‘Oh My God!’ ‘Unreal!’”
For incoming freshmen who just got accepted to Harvard — and already committed — the timing could not be worse, but they are such strong students that any top university in the world would want to offer them a spot, he said.
“I think the bigger story is the students around the country that aren’t a Harvard student, the students that scraped by to get into a state university and are thinking: ‘Are we next?’” he said. “The Harvard kids are going to be OK. It’s more about the damage to the American education brand. The view of the U.S. being a less welcoming place for international students.”
___
Gecker reported from San Francisco.
___
The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Combine coriander and cumin; press evenly onto beef steaks.
Place steaks in center of grid over medium, ash-covered coals; arrange watermelon slices around steak. Grill steaks, covered, 10 to 14 minutes (over medium heat on preheated gas grill, 11 to 15 minutes) for medium rare (145°F) to medium (160°F) doneness, turning occasionally. Grill watermelon 2 to 4 minutes or until grill marks form, turning once.
Carve steaks into slices. Cut each watermelon slice into 6 wedges. Season beef and watermelon with salt and pepper, as desired. Combine arugula and dressing in large bowl; toss to coat. Divide arugula among four serving plates. Arrange beef and watermelon on salad; top evenly with tomatoes, onion and cheese.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Sam Bennett scored one of his two goals in Florida’s three-goal first period, Sergei Bobrovsky made 17 saves and the Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-0 on Thursday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference final.
Gustav Forsling and Matthew Tkachuk also scored in another tone-setting opening 20 minutes for the reigning Stanley Cup champions, while Carter Verhaeghe had three assists.
Bennett scored a second time by skating in to clean up an attempt at the right post in the final minute of the second period to make it 4-0, ending a long shift in Carolina’s end prolonged by Hurricanes defenseman Brent Burns being stuck on the ice after breaking his stick. Aleksander Barkov added a goal midway through the third as punctuation.
Bobrovsky had his third shutout of the playoffs this year and the sixth of his career, with Florida’s defense smothering a Hurricanes team that typically peppers the net with shots but found little daylight.
Florida had already ripped home-ice advantage away Tuesday night with a 5-2 win, the opener in a rematch of the 2023 conference final swept by the Panthers with four one-goal wins. Florida only tightened its grip on the series with this one, and now heads back south to host Game 3 on Saturday night.
On the other bench, the Hurricanes found themselves on the receiving end of a crushing loss by a jarringly lopsided margin. And it marked their 14th straight loss in a conference final, going back to sweeps in 2009, 2019 and the ’23 tilt with Florida.
The Hurricanes managed just three first-period shots and just seven through two periods, prompting a typically rowdy home crowd to vent its frustrations with two chants of “Shoot the puck! Shoot the puck!” Carolina had a brief boost when Sebastian Aho scored on a turnover in the first minute of the second period to cut the deficit to 3-1.
But Florida successfully challenged that the play was offsides. It turned out Burns’ stick-check on Tkachuk near the blue line forced the puck back into the zone and right to Aho in the slot for the finish.
By the third period, Carolina had pulled veteran Frederik Andersen from net and went with backup Pyotr Kochetkov for the final period.
It wasn’t all great news for Florida. Veteran forward Sam Reinhart was knocked from the game in the first period after taking a hit from Aho in the left leg, causing Reinhart’s knee to bend awkwardly.
By ERIC TUCKER, MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The man accused of fatally shooting two staff members of the Israeli Embassy in Washington outside a Jewish museum told police after his arrest, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza,” federal authorities said Thursday in announcing charges in the killings they called a targeted act of terrorism.
Elias Rodriguez, 31, shouted “Free Palestine” as he was led away after his arrest, according to charging documents that provided chilling new details of the Wednesday night shootings in the nation’s capital that killed an American woman and an Israeli man who had just left an event at the museum. They were set to become engaged.
Rodriguez faces charges of murder of foreign officials and other crimes and did not enter a plea during a perfunctory court appearance. Additional charges are likely, prosecutors said, as authorities continue to investigate the killings as both a hate crime against the Jewish community and terrorism.
“Violence against anyone based on their religion is an act of cowardice. It is not an act of a hero,” said Jeanine Pirro, the interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. “Antisemitism will not be tolerated, especially in the nation’s capital.”
The couple planned to become engaged
The two people killed were identified as Yaron Lischinsky, an Israeli citizen, and Sarah Milgrim, an American. They were a young couple about to be engaged, according to Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Those who knew them paid tribute to the pair Thursday as warm, vibrant and curious, dedicated to promoting peace and aspiring to bridge cultural and religious divides.
“Sarah and Yaron were stolen from us,” said Ted Deutch, the chief executive of the American Jewish Committee, which organized the event. “Moments before they were murdered, they were smiling, laughing and enjoying an event with colleagues and friends. We are in shock and heartbroken as we attempt to process this immense tragedy.”
An FBI affidavit made public Thursday presents the killing as calculated and planned, with authorities alleging that Rodriguez flew to the Washington region from Chicago on Tuesday with a handgun in his checked luggage. He purchased a ticket for the event about three hours before it started, the affidavit said.
The couple were leaving the Capital Jewish Museum when the suspect, who witnesses said had been behaving suspiciously by pacing outside, approached a group of four people and opened fire. Surveillance video showed Rodriguez advancing closer to the two victims as they fell to the ground, leaning over them and firing additional shots. He even appeared to reload before jogging off, the FBI said.
Affidavit says suspect declared that he ‘did it’
After the shooting, the suspect went inside the museum and stated that he “did it.” He was no longer armed by the time he was taken into custody, according to the affidavit.
“I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza, I am unarmed,” he spontaneously said. He also told detectives that he admired an active-duty Air Force member who set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in February 2024, describing the man as “courageous” and a “martyr,” court documents said.
Investigators said they were still working to corroborate the authenticity of writings purported to be authored by Rodriguez, an apparent reference to a document circulating online that expressed outrage over Israel’s conduct in the war. The FBI is also contacting associates, family members and co-workers.
Rodriguez appeared in federal court in Washington in a white jail suit and listened impassively as the charges and possible punishments, which include the death penalty, were read. At a home listed in public records for Rodriguez’s mother in suburban Chicago, a sign taped on the door Thursday afternoon asked for privacy.
The shooting followed the Jewish advocacy group’s annual Young Diplomats reception at the museum, which the couple had attended.
Yoni Kalin and Katie Kalisher were inside the museum when they heard gunshots, and a man came inside looking distressed. Kalin said people came to his aid and brought him water, thinking he needed help, without realizing he was the suspect. When police arrived, he pulled out a red kaffiyeh, the Palestinian headscarf, and repeatedly yelled, “Free Palestine,’” Kalin said.
“This event was about humanitarian aid,” Kalin said. “How can we actually help both the people in Gaza and the people in Israel? How can we bring together Muslims and Jews and Christians to work together to actually help innocent people? And then here he is just murdering two people in cold blood.”
Victims praised for their commitments and compassion
Milgrim, from Overland Park, Kansas, was “warm and compassionate, committed to peace building and passionate about sustainability and people-to-people relations,” Deutch said.
A former youth director at Congregation Beth Torah recalled her as a brilliant girl with a perpetual smile and a sense of purpose.
“She had a passion for Judaism and for Israel, and she wanted to do some good,” said Marcia Rittmaster, the former youth director. She recommended Milgrim for a Jewish leadership internship upon the young woman’s graduation from high school.
Lischinsky grew up partly in the German city of Nuremberg and moved to Israel at 16.
“He was a Christian, a true lover of Israel, served in the (Israel Defense Forces), and chose to dedicate his life to the State of Israel and the Zionist cause,” said Ron Prosor, who taught Lischinsky at Israel’s Reichman University. Lischinsky earned a master’s degree in government, diplomacy and strategy there. “He embodied the Judeo-Christian values and set an example for young people worldwide.”
A friend, David Boskey, recalled Lischinsky as someone unafraid to broach hard questions in order to interrogate his own convictions. He met Lischinsky in 2017 in Jerusalem at a Messianic Jewish congregation, where they would often end up talking together about life and faith, Boskey said.
“He was looking to see where he was going to go in life, asking questions about calling and about identity and about what he was going to study, where he was going to work,” Boskey said.
On Instagram, his bio included a yellow ribbon symbolizing the struggle to free the hostages taken by Hamas during its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel that ignited the war in the Gaza Strip.
___
An earlier version incorrectly said that the suspect in the shooting had been charged with shoplifting in Chicago.
____
Contributing to this report were Associated Press journalists Maya Sweedler, Zeke Miller, Michael Biesecker, Gary Fields, Michael Balsamo, Mike Pesoli, Nathan Ellgren, Dan Huff and Sarah Brumfield in Washington; as well as Jennifer Peltz in New York; Holly Ramer in Concord, New Hampshire; Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Missouri; Nick Ingram in Overland Park, Kansas; Hallie Golden in Seattle; Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel, Stefanie Dazio in Berlin; and Natalie Melzer in Nahriya, Israel.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina House advanced another Hurricane Helene funding package on Thursday to address pressing needs in the mountains eight months after the storm caused historic flooding and destruction.
The $465 million package, approved unanimously by the chamber just one day after its unveiling, is about half the $891 million that Democratic Gov. Josh Stein requested from the Republican-controlled General Assembly this week. Republicans lawmakers had been working on their package well before Stein’s pitch on Monday.
The package, which now goes to the Senate for consideration, includes grants for farmers to rebuild barns and greenhouses and for businesses that have experienced monetary storm-related losses. There are also funds to continue debris removal and to repair schools and private roads and bridges.
“The funding in this bill is practical and is going to real work to get done,” GOP Rep. Jennifer Balkcom of Henderson County, one of the counties harmed by the storm, said during floor debate.
To date, the General Assembly has appropriated or allocated more than $1.6 billion in recovery funds since September’s storm. That contrasts with the estimated $60 billion in overall Helene damages and recovery needs. More than 100 people died from the storm in North Carolina, state officials say.
Disaster relief already approved by Congress and other federal funding sources may ultimately provide more than $15 billion to North Carolina. But those funds have been slow to reach the state.
Stein, who is seeking more federal funds, said this week that western North Carolina needs more state assistance now, rather than wait on “uncertain federal assistance.”
House members from both parties praised the newest round of recovery funding.
“I think we’ll never get enough money from the federal (government) or the state to make us whole by any stretch, and we think we all know that,” Democratic Rep. Eric Ager of Buncombe County said. “But this is going to make a big difference.”
Ager and others emphasized the $60 million included to initiate a leading priority for the governor — a state program providing direct grants to businesses that suffered economic losses from the storm and its aftermath.
GOP lawmakers declined to provide such payments in the most recent aid package enacted in March even while offering similar grants to farmers for agricultural losses from Helene and other weather emergencies.
House Speaker Destin Hall said GOP colleagues had been worried a business grant program that lacked controls would lead to funds for many companies that don’t need help, like what happened with COVID-19 pandemic business grants from the federal government.
This initiative, however, requires applicants to show details of financial need, such as an economic loss of at least $25,000. The maximum grant allowed would be $75,000.
“If we have some standard that we can measure those things, our folks are much more comfortable with it,” Hall told reporters this week.
The package provides funds for other items that Stein sought, albeit at lower levels. There’s $12.5 million for parks, museum and library repairs; $33 million for public school repairs; and tens of millions of dollars to cover federal matching funds for local and state governments.
The Senate agreed to set aside $700 million in its two-year budget plan approved last month for future Helene recovery needs, but left out details on how to spend it. The House crafted the newest tranche of aid separate from its own budget bill, which it approved on Thursday.
Helene aid and the budget likely will become intertwined in the coming weeks because the two chambers are using different funding sources. The House wants to use money that the Senate budget earmarked for future construction of the state’s first stand-alone children’s hospital. The House has been cautious about offering more hospital funds right now.
U.S. District Judge Myong Joun in Boston granted a preliminary injunction stopping the Trump administration from carrying out two plans announced in March that sought to work toward Trump’s goal to shut down the department. It marks a setback to one of the Republican president’s campaign promises.
The ruling came in two consolidated lawsuits that said Trump’s plan amounted to an illegal closure of the Education Department.
One suit was filed by the Somerville and Easthampton school districts in Massachusetts along with the American Federation of Teachers and other education groups. The other suit was filed by a coalition of 21 Democratic attorneys general.
In his order, Joun said the plaintiffs painted a “stark picture of the irreparable harm that will result from financial uncertainty and delay, impeded access to vital knowledge on which students and educators rely, and loss of essential services for America’s most vulnerable student populations.”
Layoffs of that scale, he added, “will likely cripple the Department. The idea that Defendants’ actions are merely a ‘reorganization’ is plainly not true.”
Joun ordered the Education Department to reinstate federal workers who were terminated as part of the March 11 layoff announcement.
That announcement led to the firing of about 1,300 people. Some Education Department employees have left through buyout offers and the termination of probationary employees, which combined with the layoffs have reduced the staff to roughly half the 4,100 the department had when Trump took office.
“Today’s order means that the Trump administration’s disastrous mass firings of career civil servants are blocked while this wildly disruptive and unlawful agency action is litigated,” said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, which represents plaintiffs in the Somerville case.
The Education Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Trump administration has said the layoffs are aimed at efficiency, not a department shutdown. Trump has called for the closure of the agency but recognizes it must be carried out by Congress, the government said.
The administration said restructuring the agency “may impact certain services until the reorganization is finished” but it’s committed to fulfilling its statutory requirements.
___
The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
With last-minute concessions and stark warnings from Trump, the Republican holdouts largely dropped their opposition to salvage the “One Big Beautiful Bill” that’s central to the GOP agenda. The House launched debate before midnight and by dawn the vote was called, 215-214, with Democrats staunchly opposed. It next goes to the Senate, with long negotiations ahead.
“To put it simply, this bill gets Americans back to winning again,” said Johnson, R-La.
The outcome caps an intense time on Capitol Hill, with days of private negotiations and public committee hearings, many happening back-to-back, around-the-clock. Republicans insisted their sprawling 1,000-page-plus package was what voters sent them to Congress — and Trump to the White House — to accomplish. They believe it will be “rocket fuel,” as one put it during debate, for the uneasy U.S. economy.
House Republicans are getting closer to passing President Donald Trump’s tax breaks, spending cuts and beefed-up border security. (AP Video)
Trump himself demanded action, visiting House Republicans at Tuesday’s conference meeting and hosting GOP leaders and the holdouts for a lengthy session Wednesday at the White House. Before the vote, the administration warned in a pointed statement that failure “would be the ultimate betrayal.”
After the legislation’s passage, Trump posted on social media: “Thank you to every Republican who voted YES on this Historic Bill! Now, it’s time for our friends in the United States Senate to get to work.”
The Senate hopes to wrap up its version by the Fourth of July holiday.
Central to the package is the GOP’s commitment to extending some $4.5 trillion in tax breaks they engineered during Trump’s first term in 2017, while temporarily adding new ones he campaigned on during his 2024 campaign, including no taxes on tips, overtime pay, car loan interest and others.
To make up for some of the lost tax revenue, the Republicans focused on changes to Medicaid and the food stamps program, largely by imposing work requirements on many of those receiving benefits. There’s also a massive rollback of green energy tax breaks from the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act.
Additionally, the package tacks on $350 billion in new spending, with about $150 billion going to the Pentagon, including for the president’s new “ Golden Dome” defense shield, and the rest for Trump’s mass deportation and border security agenda.
All told, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates 8.6 million fewer people would have health care coverage and 3 million less people a month would have SNAP food stamps benefits with the proposed changes.
The CBO said the tax provisions would increase federal deficits by $3.8 trillion over the decade, while the changes to Medicaid, food stamps and other services would tally $1 trillion in reduced spending. The lowest-income households in the U.S. would see their resources drop, while the highest ones would see a boost, it said.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York read letters from Americans describing the way the program cuts would hurt them. “This is one big ugly bill,” he said.
As the minority, without the votes to stop Trump’s package, Democrats instead offered up impassioned speeches and procedural moves to stall its advance. As soon as the House floor reopened for debate, the Democrats forced a vote to adjourn. It failed.
In “the dark of night they want to pass this GOP tax scam,” said Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif.
Other Democrats called it a “big, bad bill” or a “big, broken promise.”
Pulling the package together before his Memorial Day deadline has been an enormous political lift for Johnson, with few votes to spare from his slim GOP majority whose rank-and-file Republicans have conflicting priorities of their own.
Conservatives, particularly from the House Freedom Caucus, held out for steeper spending cuts to defray costs piling onto the nation’s $36 trillion debt.
At the same time, more moderate and centrist GOP lawmakers were wary of the changes to Medicaid that could result in lost health care for their constituents. And some worried the phaseout of the renewable energy tax breaks will impede businesses using them to invest in green energy projects in many states.
One big problem had been the costly deal with GOP lawmakers from New York and other high-tax states to quadruple the $10,000 deduction for state and local taxes, called SALT, to $40,000 for incomes up to $500,000, which was included in the final product.
For every faction Johnson tried to satisfy, another would roar in opposition.
Late in the night, GOP leaders unveiled a 42-page amendment with a number of revisions.
The changes included speedier implementation of the Medicaid work requirements, which will begin in December 2026, rather than January 2029, and a faster roll back of the production tax credits for clean electricity projects, both sought by the conservatives.
Also tucked into the final version were some unexpected additions — including a $12 billion fund for the Department of Homeland Security to reimburse states that help federal officials with deportations and border security.
And in a nod to Trump’s influence, the Republicans renamed a proposed new children’s savings program after the president, changing it from MAGA accounts — money account for growth and advancement — to simply “Trump” accounts.
Rep. Erin Houchin, R-Ind., said Americans shouldn’t believe the dire predictions from Democrats about the impact of the bill. “We can unlock the ‘Golden Age’ of America,” she said, echoing the president’s own words.
By early morning hours, the chief holdouts appeared to be falling in line. Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., said they “got some improvements.”
But two Republicans voted against the package, including Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a deficit watcher who had been publicly criticized by Trump, remained unmoved. “This bill is a debt bomb ticking,” he warned.
And Rep. Andy Harris, the chairman of the Freedom Caucus who wanted more time, voted present. Some others did not vote.
Final analysis of the overall package’s costs and economic impacts are still being assessed.
Along with extending existing tax breaks, it would increase the standard income tax deduction, to $32,000 for joint filers, and boost the child tax credit to $2,500. There would be an enhanced deduction, of $4,000, for older adults of certain income levels, to help defray taxes on Social Security income.
To cut spending, those seeking Medicaid health care, who are able-bodied adults without dependents, would need to fulfill 80 hours a month on a job or in other community activities.
Similarly, to receive food stamps through SNAP, those up to age 64, rather than 54, who are able-bodied and without dependents, would need to meet the 80 hours a month work or community engagement requirements. Additionally, some parents of children older than 7 years old would need to fulfill the work requirements.
Republicans said they want to root out waste, fraud and abuse in the federal programs.
___
Associated Press writers Matt Brown and Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.
