The Big Ugly Battle Over the Big Beautiful Bill

06/05/25 • 35 min

13 Listeners

President Trump has called the sweeping domestic policy bill that recently passed in the House the most important piece of legislation in his second term — a single bill that would unlock his entire domestic agenda.

But as that bill heads to the Senate, it’s raising questions among Republicans about whom Trumpism is really for. Today, the New York Times congressional correspondent Catie Edmondson joins “The Daily” to talk about the big messy battle over what Republicans have named the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Guest: Catie Edmondson, a congressional correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading:

President Trump is pressuring Republicans to back his policy bill, but the measure’s opponents have a powerful new ally: Elon Musk.

Mr. Trump’s policy bill would add $2.4 trillion to the national debt, the Congressional Budget Office said on Wednesday. That estimate was all but certain to inflame concerns over the fiscal consequences of the legislation.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Photo: Kenny Holston/The New York Times

Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Guest: Catie Edmondson, a congressional correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading:

President Trump is pressuring Republicans to back his policy bill, but the measure’s opponents have a powerful new ally: Elon Musk.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Photo: Kenny Holston/The New York Times

Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Previous Episode

Inside Operation Spider’s Web

Operation Spider’s Web was an audacious Ukrainian sneak attack that caused billions of dollars in damage to Russian warplanes — using drones that cost as little as $600.

Marc Santora, a reporter covering the war in Ukraine for The New York Times, explains why this strike on Sunday, which extended 3,000 miles into Russia, is already being seen as a signal event in the evolution of modern warfare.
Guest: Marc Santora, has been reporting from Ukraine since the beginning of the war with Russia.

Background reading

In its attacks on Russian airfields, Ukraine aimed for a strategic and symbolic blow.

Ukraine showed it can still flip the script on how wars are waged.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.
Photo: Capella Space/Handout, via Reuters

Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Next Episode

‘The Protocol’: The Story Behind Medical Care for Transgender Kids

This episode contains strong language.
Since 2021, nearly half the states in the U.S. have passed bans on medical treatments for transgender minors. The Trump administration is now targeting the care, and in the coming weeks, the Supreme Court is expected to weigh in.

Against that backdrop, “The Daily” is running the first episode of a six-part series from NYT Audio about the story of youth gender medicine — where it came from, whom it was meant to help, and what may come next in the legal and political fights over its future.

It starts in the Netherlands, with a clinical psychologist and a 16 year-old who was determined to go through life as the gender he had long felt he was.

Guests: Azeen Ghorayshi is a reporter for The New York Times covering the intersection of sex, gender and science. Austin Mitchell is a supervising audio producer for The New York Times.

You can find all six episodes of “The Protocol,” along with additional reading material, at nytimes.com/theprotocol.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.