🎯 Axios PM: Record-breaking vote

Plus: Hot dog nation | Thursday, July 03, 2025

View in browser   PRESENTED BY VISA   Axios PM By Mike Allen · Jul 03, 2025 Good Thursday afternoon. Today's newsletter, edited by Sam Baker, is 584 words, a 2-min. read. Thanks to Sheryl Miller for copy editing. 📺 NEW: Lara Trump will interview President Trump, her father-in-law, for her weekly show on Fox News, "My View With Lara Trump," airing Saturday, July 12 (9 p.m. ET), the day before the first anniversary of the assassination attempt in Butler, Pa. In the interview, taping at the White House early next week, the president will reflect on that and other news of the day.     1 big thing: 218-214   House Speaker Mike Johnson gavels the passage of the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act today. Photo: Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images Only two Republicans — Reps. Thomas Massie (Ky.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.) — ended up voting against President Trump's "One Big, Beautiful Bill," which passed the House 218-214 today. Speaker Mike Johnson and the White House were able to quell a rebellion from the hard right without making any changes to the Senate-passed bill — a major tactical victory for Johnson and the first big legislative achievement of Trump's second term. ⏱️ By the numbers: Johnson left a procedural vote on the bill open for seven hours and 24 minutes — a new record for the longest House vote. Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries also set a House record for the longest speech — at 8 hours and 44 minutes. "The base wants to see certain things and we have to show them those things, otherwise they don't believe we're fighting hard enough," one House Democrat told Axios' Andrew Solender, referring to Jeffries' speech. Johnson holds up the vote total as he delivers remarks alongside fellow House Republicans during an enrollment ceremony for H.R. 1, the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images 🏥 What it does: The bill makes the 2017 Trump tax cuts permanent, reduces taxes on tips, and temporarily raises the cap on deducting state and local taxes. It makes significant changes to Medicaid, including imposing work requirements and reducing federal cost-sharing with states. ✍️ What's next: Trump is expected to sign the bill tomorrow at 5 p.m. ET, and Republicans will quickly launch a messaging blitz to build support for the bill, Axios' Kate Santaliz scoops. Several recent polls have shown anemic public support for the measure.     2. 🦾 AI devours venture capital dollars   Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios   AI startups received 64% of all venture capital dollars invested in the U.S. during the first half of this year, Axios' Dan Primack writes from new PitchBook data. Globally, AI ate up 53% of all venture investment. 💰 The big picture: Venture capitalists have always skated to where the puck is going, particularly when it comes to a technology with the potential to become ubiquitous. What's different, however, is the concentration in a small number of companies. In Q2, more than one-third of all U.S. venture dollars went to just five companies. 🧠 Dan's thought bubble: Diversification is dying. Long live dominance. Share this story ... Get Axios Pro Rata.     A MESSAGE FROM VISA Digital payment systems face growing fraud threats     Visa is protecting the payments ecosystem, analyzing over 500 data points on up to 83,000 transactions per second. The impact: Real-time insight helps detect fraud and keep digital payments secure. Learn how Visa is protecting America's payments.     3. Catch me up   Data: U.S. Department of Labor; Chart: Axios Visuals 💼 The U.S. economy added 147,000 jobs in June — stronger than expected — while the unemployment rate edged down to 4.1%. Go deeper. ⚖️ The Supreme Court agreed to hear two cases over states' ability to ban transgender athletes from participating in women's sports. Go deeper. 📞 President Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin for more than an hour today, discussed the war in Ukraine and what the Kremlin described as "the Iranian issue." Go deeper.     4. 🌭 1 fun thing   Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios   Americans will consume roughly 150 million hot dogs tomorrow, according to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council. We bought 896 million pounds of hot dogs in supermarkets and other retail settings last year, and baseball stadiums sell another 20 million dogs per year. Los Angeles leads the U.S. in annual hot dog consumption. The top 10 hot-dog-eating cities all have pro baseball teams.     A MESSAGE FROM VISA Visa-backed programs give students real-world money skills     Visa and its FinEd50 partners are expanding access to personal finance education in all 50 states. Why it's important: Free tools equip graduates with skills to budget, save, and build stronger financial futures. Learn how Visa is helping students.   📬 Thanks for reading! Please invite your friends to join PM. Are you a fan of this email format? Your essential communications — to staff, clients and other stakeholders — can have the same style. Axios HQ, a powerful platform, will help you do it.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Advertise with us. Axios, PO Box 101060, Arlington VA 22201   You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios. 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