LISA MASCARO Congressional Correspondent, Author at The Rapid City Post

President Donald Trump holds a gavel after he signed his signature bill of tax breaks and spending cuts at the White House, Friday, July 4, 2025, in Washington, surrounded by members of Congress. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

With gavel in hand, Trump chisels away at the power of a compliant Congress

July 19, 2025

When House Speaker Mike Johnson gifted to President Donald Trump the gavel used to enact the Republicans’ tax breaks and spending bill, it was a memorable moment at the White House. The image from the bill signing on Independence Day underscored the symbolic transfer of political power from a compliant Congress to the White House during Trump’s second term. Since Trump’s return to office in January, the Republicans in control of Congress have shown an unusual willingness to give the president of their party what he wants. And that poses a risk to Congress, an equal branch of government but one the Founding Fathers placed first in the Constitution.

Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., winks during a House Committee on Armed Services Chair hearing on the Department of the Army's Fiscal Year 2026 posture, Wednesday, June 4, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Centrist Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska won’t seek reelection

June 27, 2025

U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, a centrist Republican who represents Nebraska’s second district, will not seek reelection to a fifth term. That’s according to a person familiar with his plans and granted anonymity to discuss them. Bacon is known as an independent-minded Air Force veteran who serves on the House Armed Services Committee. He represents the so-called “blue dot” that includes many progressive voters around Omaha. Bacon has been at the center of many debates in Congress. He has also been chairman of the conservative-centrist Republican Main Street Caucus in the House. First elected in 2016, he is expected to finish his term.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., center, joined at left by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the GOP whip, speaks to reporters after Republican senators met with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and worked on President Donald Trump's tax and immigration megabill so they can have on his desk by July 4, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Senate struggle over Medicaid cuts threatens progress on Trump’s big bill

June 25, 2025

One key issue stalling progress on President Donald Trump’s big bill in Congress is particularly daunting. Republicans are struggling to figure out how to cut billions from health care without harming Americans who rely on the programs or the hospitals that provide care. Already, estimates say 10.9 million more people would be without health coverage under the House-passed version of the bill. GOP senators have proposed steeper reductions, which some say go too far. Senators have been meeting behind closed doors as they rush to find a solution. One proposal would create a rural hospital fund to help those providers.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., and the Republican leadership depart a news conference after defending President Donald Trump's handling of protests in Los Angeles by sending thousands of National Guard troops and 700 active duty Marines to quell the immigration protests, at the RNC near the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Trump’s go-it-alone strategy on Iran risks dividing an already split Congress

June 22, 2025

President Donald Trump’s decision to launch a military strike on Iran’s nuclear sites without fully consulting the U.S. Congress is layering a partisan approach onto a risky action. The White House briefed Republican leaders beforehand while leaving Democrats with little information. One, Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said he learned of the strikes on social media, which he said, “is an uncomfortable thing.” It’s all a highly unusual situation that is complicating the difficult politics ahead for the president and his party. Trump faces a vote in Congress as soon as this week on a war powers resolution from Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine over the situation in Iran.

Activists with the Poor People's Campaign protest against spending reductions across Medicaid, food stamps and federal aid in President Donald Trump's spending and tax bill being worked on by Senate Republicans this week, outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Monday, June 2, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

GOP’s food stamp plan is found to violate Senate rules. It’s the latest setback for Trump’s big bill

June 21, 2025

The Senate parliamentarian has advised that a Republican proposal that would shift some food stamp costs from the federal government to the states would violate the chamber’s strict rules. It’s another procedural blow to President Donald Trump’s tax and spending cut bill. Republicans were counting on savings from cutting back food stamps to help offset the lost revenue from the trillions of dollars of tax breaks in the bill. The GOP leadership is scrambling days before voting on the legislation is expected to begin. Trump wants the package passed into law by the Fourth of July.

File - The Capitol is seen in Washington, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Senate parliamentarian deals blow to GOP plan to gut consumer bureau in tax bill

June 20, 2025

Republicans have suffered a setback over their plans to gut the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau in President Donald Trump’s big bill. It signals a tough road ahead as GOP leaders push it toward a floor vote next week before Trump’s Fourth of July deadline. The Senate parliamentarian is working to make sure it complies with strict procedures that bar policy measures from the budget process. Republicans learned Friday that the parliamentarian had decided that the Senate Banking Committee’s draft for eliminating funding for the CFPB would be in violation. The CFPB was put in place after the 2008 financial crisis to protect Americans from fraud, but has been opposed by many GOP lawmakers.

FILE - President Donald Trump talks with California Gov. Gavin Newsom after arriving on Air Force One at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

Trump’s mass deportations leave Democrats more ready to fight back

June 11, 2025

California Gov. Gavin Newsom looked straight into the camera and offered a stark moment for his Democratic Party. The governor positioned himself as not only a leader of the opposition to Republican President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda but champion of the immigrants now being rounded up in California and across the country. It’s a politically charged position for the party. And it leaves Democrats deciding how vociferously to align with that message in the face of blistering criticism from Republicans who are pouring billions of dollars into supporting Trump’s anti-immigration campaign. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Wednesday of Newsom, ’We’re proud he’s refusing to be intimidated by Donald Trump.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., joined at left by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the GOP whip, meets with reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Trump’s actions in Los Angeles spur debate over deportation funds in his ‘big, beautiful’ bill

June 10, 2025

President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” includes more than tax breaks and spending cuts — it also seeks to pour billions of dollars into his mass deportation agenda. Republican leaders capitalized Tuesday on the situation in Los Angeles, where groups of protesters are demonstrating against Trump’s immigration raids, to make the case for swift passage of the 1,000-plus-page bill. House Speaker Mike Johnson said the bill delivers “much-needed reinforcements,” including 10,000 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, $45 billion to expand migrant detention facilities and billions more to carry out deportations. Democrats warn Trump’s actions are inflaming tensions and wreaking havoc on the economy.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., arrives to speak with reporters about the spending and tax bill embraced by President Donald Trump and Republicans, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, June 6, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Trump’s big bill also seeks to undo the big bills of Biden and Obama

June 7, 2025

Chiseling away at President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. Rolling back the green energy tax breaks central to President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. At its core, the Republican “big, beautiful bill” is more than just an extension of tax breaks approved during President Donald Trump’s first term at the White House. The package is an attempt to undo, little by little, the signature domestic achievements of the past two Democratic presidents. House Speaker Mike Johnson says Republicans are going “to do what we said we were going to do.” But the bill’s spending cuts pointed at the Democratic-led programs are causing the most political turmoil.

House Speaker Mike Johnson of La., poses for a photo in the Congressional Prayer Room at the U.S. Capitol Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Lisa Mascaro)

At 3 a.m. in the Capitol, the Speaker of the House pauses to share his place for prayer

May 23, 2025

Speaker Mike Johnson was rushing through the halls of the Capitol during the overnight House vote on President Donald Trump’s big tax bill. He paused for a question about his leadership style. And then he answered it with his own question: Have you seen the prayer room? He proceeded down the hall, punched in a keycode and opened up the door. “Been here a lot this week, right there on my knees,” he said. “Just praying.” The conservative Christian said he believes God has given him a chance to save the country, which he said he is trying to do. Democrats invoked the gospel, too, during debate, saying the bill’s steep cuts to Medicaid and food stamps are unconscionable.

LISA MASCARO Congressional Correspondent.