Golden Age of Gaia

Toward a World that Works for Everyone

/ Home / News / From Darkness Unto Light, 23 May 2025 Update
post

From Darkness Unto Light, 23 May 2025 Update

by

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

 

NEW: House Passes Trump’s “Big, Beautiful” Bill by ONE Vote Despite Two GOP Defections and One Falling Asleep During Vote

Cullen Linebarger, Gateway Pundit, May. 22, 2025

(https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/05/new-house-passes-trumps-big-beautiful-bill-one/)

The House of Representatives passed the most critical bill of Trump’s legislative agenda earlier this morning.

The vote was 215-214. Two Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Warren Davidson of Ohio, voted no, along with all the Democrats.

One Republican, Rep. Andrew Garbarino of New York, fell ASLEEP and missed the vote. He would have voted yes on the bill.

“He fell asleep in the back, no kidding,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters following the vote.

“I’m going to just strangle him,” Johnson jokingly added. “But he’s my dear friend.”

One other GOPer, David Schweikert of Arizona, arrived late to the House Chamber, and the vote closed before his vote could be counted. He would have voted yes on the bill as well.

The vote came after a marathon House Rules Committee hearing that began just after 1 a.m. ET Wednesday and ended 21 hours later, when the panel sent the bill to the floor.

The bill, exceeding 1,000 pages, extends the 2017 tax cuts, eliminates taxes on tips and overtime, and introduces new deductions. It also proposes significant spending on defense and immigration enforcement, including funding for a continental missile defense system.

It will also provide significant spending on defense and immigration enforcement, including funding for a continental missile defense system.

The bill came together courtesy of a series of last-minute changes to win over holdouts. Conservatives were angry that Medicaid work requirements would take years to start. At the same time, moderate Republicans from New York and California threw a hissy fit over what they viewed as a lackluster state and local tax relief.

Both sides scored major wins.

Conservatives were able to change the start date of the Medicaid work requirements in the bill to the end of 2026 rather than 2029. So-called ‘clean energy’ tax credits will also expire earlier.

Moderates secured a much bigger State and Local Tax Deduction (SALT). As CNBC reports, the SALT cap will rise to $40,000 and phase out over $500,000. The provision would go into effect this year.

Moreover, the SALT cap and income phaseout will increase annually by 1% from 2026 through 2033.

Senate Votes to Overturn California’s Electric Vehicle Mandate in Major Blow to Climate Change Activists

Mike LaChance, Gateway Pundit, May. 22, 2025

(https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/05/senate-votes-overturn-californias-electric-vehicle-mandate-major/)

The Senate has voted to overturn the electric vehicle mandate in the state of California. This is going to cause some major anger and anxiety among the climate change activist community.

The EV mandate was one of the last things Joe Biden signed before leaving office. You may recall a last minute push by Biden’s team to advance as much climate change related legislation as they could during his final weeks in office.

The resolution to overturn the mandate passed along party lines with one Democrat senator voting for it as well.

The Washington Free Beacon reported:

Senate Votes To Overturn California’s EV Mandate in Resounding Defeat for Climate Activists

The Senate approved a resolution Thursday that would revoke California’s federal waiver allowing it and several other Democratic-led states to mandate electric vehicle sales, dealing a blow to activists’ efforts to push green energy and fight global warming.

The resolution, introduced by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R., W.Va.) in April, passed in a bipartisan 51-44 vote Thursday morning. Just one Democrat, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (Mich.), voted in favor of the resolution alongside every Republican who voted. Five lawmakers were absent from the vote.

“The impact of California’s waiver would have been felt across the country, harming multiple sectors of our economy and costing hundreds of thousands of jobs in the process,” said Capito, who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

The vote is a significant loss for both California, which passed its EV mandate in 2022, and for climate activists who loudly defended the law…

Thursday’s vote is also a win for President Donald Trump and other critics of policies forcing consumers to buy EVs. On the campaign trail, Trump said the “crazed concept of ‘all Electric Cars’” would devastate auto workers and decimate Michigan’s auto industry.

CBS News reports that California is planning to sue over this:

California filing suit over U.S. Senate vote revoking state’s EV mandate and strict emission standards

California is fighting back a day after the U.S. Senate voted to put the brakes on the state’s clean vehicle policies.

Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a statement Thursday saying the state will file a lawsuit after senators voted to revoke California’s emission waivers that set stricter standards than federal regulations. One of the rules, the so-called “EV mandate,” would phase out gasoline-powered cars and require new vehicle sales to be zero-emission by 2035.