On today’s show: Republicans narrowly passed a budget framework in the House, USA Today reports. The Washington Post’s Jacob Bogage explains what happens next. Greg Ip with the Wall Street Journal unpacks what Trump’s attempting to do about inflation, and how voters are perceiving the issue in the early days of his presidency. Families with trans children are asking where they go from here, following the Trump administration’s actions targeting trans people. The New Yorker’s Emily Witt has the story. Plus, mass resignations at Musk’s DOGE, a judge sets a deadline for the Trump administration to make certain foreign-aid payments, and the White House takes over the presidential press pool. Today’s episode was hosted by Shumita Basu.
Full Episode
Good morning. It's Wednesday, February 26th. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today. On today's show, how inflation became Trump's problem, where trans kids are left after an executive order banning gender-affirming care, and the White House takes control of the press pool. But first, to Washington, where House Republicans narrowly passed a budget framework bill last night.
After initially pulling the measure and seeming to not have the votes, Speaker Mike Johnson minutes later brought it back to the floor as members of Congress rushed, in some cases running, back to vote. It passed in a 217 to 215 vote. The budget resolution in the House is one step of a complicated process that would enable Congress to pass much of Trump's legislative goals.
But as they move ahead, Republicans will need to find consensus as much as possible, given their slim three-vote majority in the House. And some GOP lawmakers want completely different things.
It's kind of impossible to find a middle ground.
Jacob Bogage is the congressional economic correspondent for The Washington Post.
You've got folks who want these really, really steep budget cuts. They want to go after different kinds of social safety net programs. Then you have moderates who are saying, over my dead body, you can't do that. Then you have super hardline conservatives saying, I want more. And because the margins are so slim in the House, every member can demand very specific policies.
The tension between these goals can be seen clearly in the math. Collectively, this package could add more than $11 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years, and it would aim to reduce spending by about $2 trillion. But all the budget resolution does is tell committees to make spending cuts.
It's up to the committees themselves to find those cuts, and it's in the specifics where things get tricky. To cut spending by the amount some Republicans want, it's very likely Medicaid, which provides health insurance primarily to low-income Americans, would be a target.
Earlier this week, several Republican lawmakers signed a letter raising concerns about possible cuts to Medicaid to make the budget work. Recently, President Trump told Fox News that wouldn't happen.
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