Trump Threatens Elon Musk's Subsidies Over Tax Bill Dispute

Senate Passes Tax and Spending Bill

• 🏛️ The Senate narrowly passed President Donald Trump's tax and spending bill with a 51-50 vote, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote.
• 🗓️ The bill now returns to the House for approval, with President Trump aiming for a July 4th deadline for its passage.

Elon Musk and Trump Spar Over Bill

• 🗣️ Elon Musk has publicly criticized the bill, arguing it would increase the deficit and threatening to support Republicans who vote against it or even create a third party.
• ⚡ In response, President Trump suggested investigating subsidies for Musk's companies, including SpaceX and Tesla, implying Musk was upset about the bill's impact on EV mandates.
• 📉 This public dispute has negatively impacted Tesla's stock, which fell about 4-5% as investors reacted to the potential revocation of subsidies and the public sparring.

Federal Reserve and Interest Rates

• 📉 Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is facing renewed pressure to lower interest rates, despite his insistence on a non-political, data-driven approach.
• 📝 President Trump has personally urged Powell to cut rates significantly, even sending a handwritten note.
• ⚠️ Powell indicated that interest rates would have been lowered by now if not for the wild card of tariffs, which could hike inflation, a point of contention for critics who believe data already supports a cut.
• 📊 While Powell maintains a steady stance, some members of the Fed's board of governors have expressed support for lowering rates at the upcoming meeting, though a cut is unlikely unless job reports are worse than expected.