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Timeline: Catastrophic flooding in Texas claims the lives of 27

July 5, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(AUSTIN) — Heavy rain poured over parts of central Texas, dumping more than a month’s worth of rain for places like San Angelo, killing at least 27 people.

Dangerous amounts of rain caused dangerous flash flooding in parts of Texas, destroying homes and cars on Independence Day.

Here’s a timeline of the disaster:

Friday, July 4

Flash flooding is occurring and with a continued threat through the time period. This is mainly west of Austin and San Antonio.

A flash flood emergency was issued for Friday morning for South-central Kerr County, including Hunt – a “particularly dangerous situation” with up to 10 inches of rain having fallen and more rain still coming down at rates of up to 4 inches per hour.

Another flash flood emergency is north of San Angelo, Texas, with up to 10 inches of rain falling there already with another 3 to 4 inches of rain possible.

7 a.m.: Kerr County, Texas, begins to evacuate people near the Guadalupe River in Hunt amid major flooding caused by 6 to 7 inches of rainfall.

10 a.m.: The Kerr County Sheriff’s Office confirm there have been “multiple fatalities” from “catastrophic flooding.”

“The entire county is an extremely active scene. Residents are encouraged to shelter in place and not attempt travel. Those near creeks, streams, and the Guadalupe River should immediately move to higher ground,” the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office said.

1 p.m.: The “devastating and deadly flood” has far surpassed the flood of 1987, becoming the highest flood on record, Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said at a press conference Saturday.

Officials say there have been dozens of water rescues.

“This came at night when people were asleep in bed. Please pray for our community,” Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring, Jr. said during a press conference.

Camp Mystic, a girls only camp along the Guadalupe River, said it lost power, water and Wi-Fi. In a letter, the camp told parents that if they have not been personally contacted, then their daughter is accounted for.

“The highway has washed away so we are struggling to get more help,” Camp Mystic said in a statement.

3 p.m.: Heavy rain remains ongoing in parts of Texas, dumping more than a month’s worth of rain for places like San Angelo.

A Flash Flood Emergency remains in effect for south-central Kerr County, including Hunt — a “particularly dangerous situation” with up to 12 inches of rain already have fallen and more rain still coming down through this evening.

Another Flash Flood Emergency for the Guadalupe River from Center Point to Sisterdale, as well as to the north for the Llano River south of Mason remains in effect as the extreme runoff from the heavy rain makes its way down the rivers.

Several major camps in the area are likely impacted by the flooding.

Just before 5 pm: Patrick said they are working to evacuate camps with some of the kids, announcing that there are around 23 campers unaccounted for at Camp Mystic.

Once rain clears, they have 10 buses ready to go and get kids to reunite them with their parents, Patrick said.

Thirteen people are confirmed dead, according to Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha.

10 p.m.: At least 24 people have been confirmed dead, according to Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha.

Around 23 to 25 campers are still unaccounted for from Camp Mystic.

Saturday, July 5

3 a.m.: A flash flood emergency has been issued by the National Weather Service for Northwestern Travis County and far eastern Burnet county around Lake Travis in south-central Texas

Flash flooding is already occurring as 3 to 7 inches of rain have fallen and the expected rainfall rate is 6 inches in an hour. Additional rates of 2 to 5 inches are also possible.

7 a.m.: This earlier Flash Flood Emergency has been expanded to include much of Burnet County and western parts of Williamson and Travis County.

Megabill negotiations show Vance is a key player in the Trump administration

July 5, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Over the past six months, Vice President JD Vance has shown how much of a key player he has become in the Trump administration, serving as the president’s most prominent advocate and advancing his agenda.

The latest example came this week, when Vance helped push President Donald Trump’s massive tax and spending bill through Congress.

Vance held a series of meetings with conservative and moderate holdouts and Senate leadership last Saturday to help move the bill forward. A source with direct knowledge stated that Vance played a key role in talking with Senate holdouts throughout the bill before he ended up casting several tie-breaking votes as president of the Senate and move the spending bill along to the House.

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who had been critical of the bill’s cuts to Medicaid and SNAP — the food assistance program — met with Vance, where he thanked her for being a team player despite her concerns with the legislation, just before she voted for the bill.

During the sprint to push the bill through, Vance was criticized for his social post around concerns of the bill’s impact on Medicaid, writing that “the minutiae of the Medicaid policy—is immaterial compared to the ICE money and immigration enforcement provisions.”

During all this, Vance was making phone calls to Trump and the two were updating each other on their talks with senators ahead of the bill’s passage.

The vice president attended Wednesday’s meeting at the White House between Trump and several holdouts from the House as the president ramped up the pressure to vote for the bill.

North Carolina GOP Rep. Greg Murphy, who had told reporters on Wednesday night that he was still undecided because of some of the health care provisions, said Thursday that he ultimately decided to support the package after speaking on the phone to Vance and the president.

“I needed assurances,” he said.

A source close to Vance said that he continued to work the phones ahead of the floor vote on the rule, calling multiple House GOP holdouts to make the administration’s case for them to support the bill.

However, it’s not just on the domestic policy front that Vance is having an impact. He has also been critical in supporting Trump’s foreign policy.

While Trump was weighing the decision to strike Iran’s nuclear sites, Vance came to the president’s defense after supporters like Tucker Carlson and those in the MAGA base were outspoken against the U.S. getting involved in the conflict between Israel and Iran.

“He may decide he needs to take further action to end Iranian enrichment. That decision ultimately belongs to the president,” Vance wrote on X. “And of course, people are right to be worried about foreign entanglement after the last 25 years of idiotic foreign policy. But I believe the president has earned some trust on this issue. And having seen this up close and personal, I can assure you that he is only interested in using the American military to accomplish American people’s goals. Whatever he does, that is his focus.”

Vance’s comments were a departure from his prior statements that the U.S. should not get entangled in foreign conflicts.

A prime example is the vice president’s opposition to the U.S. providing more aid to Ukraine.

“I gotta be honest with you, I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another,” Vance said in February 2022, amid an explosion of bipartisan support for the country following the aftermath of Russia’s invasion.

Most recently, Vance expressed concerns about the president’s decision to strike the Houthis in Yemen in a Signal group chat with other top administration officials.

“I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now,” Vance wrote in the chat. “There’s a further risk that we see a moderate to severe spike in oil prices. I am willing to support the consensus of the team and keep these concerns to myself. But there is a strong argument for delaying this a month, doing the messaging work on why this matters, seeing where the economy is, etc.”

In the lead-up to the strikes, Trump was trying to engage the MAGA base with Vance to see what their reaction would be if he ordered the bombing.

Prior to the strikes, Trump told reporters on Air Force One while flying back from the G7 summit in Canada that it was possible he could send Vance and special envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with Iranian negotiators.

Vance’s active role in moving Trump’s agenda forward was always part of the plan.

In November, following the election, a source close to the vice president told ABC News that Vance had been tasked to ensure that all of the priorities of the Trump administration move forward and would work on any of the issues Trump needed him to further, signaling that the vice president would not be assigned one specific issue to work on, but would be involved in several policy issues.

It was also expected that Vance would be Trump’s “eyes and ears” in the Senate to ensure that his agenda moves forward, the source also said. It’s familiar territory for Vance, who was elected to the Senate in 2022.

All this comes as Vance is viewed by some as the MAGA heir apparent to Trump ahead of the 2028 election. At the same time, he is working to raise as much money as possible for Republicans ahead of the 2026 midterms as chair of the Republican National Committee — the first time a vice president has ever held the role.

Joel Goldstein, a vice-presidential scholar and former professor at Saint Louis University Law School, told ABC News that Vance is working in a different timeline compared to his predecessors, as he will serve only one term as vice president under Trump.

“Every vice presidency is different and one of the things that is unique about Vance’s is that every other vice president, you know, with the possible exception of Harris, entered office with the expectation that the president was going to run for reelection,” Goldstein said.

“I think he’s in a very unique position in that his first term as vice president is his last, and so his presidential ambitions, the time for reckoning comes up, you know, much quicker than is normally the case.”

Following his tie-breaking votes in the Senate, several Democrats who might be opponents in the 2028 presidential election attempted to make Vance the face of Trump’s spending bill.

In a post on X, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called out Vance for casting the tie-breaking vote to allow the bill to move forward.

“VP Vance has cast the deciding vote in the Senate to cut Medicaid, take away food assistance, blow up the deficit, and add tax breaks for the wealthiest,” Buttigieg wrote. “This bill is unpopular because it is wrong,” he continued.

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom told Americans on X to “bookmark” this moment, writing that “JD Vance is the ultimate reason why 17 million Americans will lose their healthcare.”

In an interview with NBC News, Trump pointed to Vance and Secretary of State and interim national security adviser Marco Rubio as possible successors, and said, when asked, that he believes his MAGA movement can survive without him.

Asked about the president’s comments, Vance said that if he does end up running for president, he’s “not entitled to it.”

Hamas says it ‘responded positively’ to temporary ceasefire deal proposal with Israel

July 4, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Hamas announced it has submitted a “positive response” to the mediators about the current ceasefire and hostage exchange release proposal on the table.

How the proposal will be implemented will require another round of negotiations, according to the group.

“The movement is fully prepared to immediately enter into a round of negotiations regarding the mechanism for implementing this framework,” Hamas said.

The deal comes more than 20 months into the conflict — and more than three months after a previous deal ended.

Israel had expected a response from Hamas on the ceasefire and hostage deal by Friday, an Israeli official told ABC News.

Earlier this week, a Hamas adviser said the group was still studying the proposal.

“Hamas is open to any proposal that will end the Israeli military campaign in Gaza, but Hamas wants guarantees that Israel will commit to moving to the second phase of the ceasefire agreement after the first phase, which is set to last for 60 days,” said Taher Al-Nounou, media adviser to the head of Hamas.

What’s in the deal?

The revised temporary ceasefire deal on the table now deals with the release of more hostages by Hamas, according to two Israeli sources familiar with the matter.

The deal calls for the release of 10 living hostages from Hamas captivity and the return of 15 bodies of hostages being held by the terrorist group.

It is believed there are about 20 living hostages still being held by Hamas.

According to the terms of the proposal, the release of the 10 living hostages and 15 bodies will be staggered over the 60-day period the temporary ceasefire is in effect.

Under the terms of the deal, Hamas will not hold ceremonies for the hostage releases, as they did during a previous six-week ceasefire.

Discussion of a permanent ceasefire will take place during the 60-day period.

Even after Hamas responds to the proposal, there are still several issues that remain to be addressed, one of the sources said — including the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released in exchange for hostages.

In many rounds of negotiations, Hamas has sought a guaranteed end to the war in Gaza — but that remained a chief sticking point in recent negotiations and something Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had not agreed to budge on.

President Donald Trump announced earlier this week that Israel had agreed to conditions for the 60-day ceasefire in Gaza.

Trump said representatives from Qatar and Egypt would deliver the final proposal to Hamas, which came after a “long and productive meeting” between Trump officials and Israeli officials in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday.

“I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better — IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

The latest deal comes after months of negotiations over a ceasefire led in part by U.S. Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff.

In May, the White House submitted an Israeli-approved proposal for a 60-day ceasefire to Hamas, but the deal stalled.

At the time, Trump urged both Israel and Hamas to make a deal ahead of and during his first foreign policy trip of his second term in office to the Middle East. Ultimately, a deal was not reached, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ramped up attacks on Gaza after Trump left the region

In January, a six-week temporary ceasefire went into effect, resulting in the release of dozens of captives held by Hamas and an exchange of Palestinian prisoners.

However, that ceasefire ended on March 18 when Israel resumed military operations against Hamas in Gaza, with Israel citing the failure to release the remaining hostages and saying the military was targeting Hamas terrorists who posed a threat to Israeli troops and citizens.

The Israeli government also imposed a blockade on humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip on March 2 that lasted for 11 weeks and ended on May 19.

The Israel-Hamas war has taken a grim human toll. Since the war began, nearly 56,000 people in Gaza have been killed and more than 131,000 have been wounded, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.

The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when 1,200 people were killed in a Hamas-led terrorist attack on southern Israel. Hundreds more were taken hostage. At least 20 living hostages are believed to still remain in Hamas captivity.

-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz and Nasser Atta contributed to this report.

Human remains found after explosion, fire at California warehouse filled with fireworks

July 4, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(ESPARTO, Calif) — Human remains have been found at the warehouse filled with fireworks that exploded in Northern California this week, officials said.

The number of fatalities was not released and no positive identifications have been made, Yolo County officials said. Seven people were considered missing on Wednesday.

“Recovery efforts are expected to continue throughout the weekend as investigators, coroner personnel, and fire crews work carefully and respectfully through the process,” county officials said on Friday. “The Coroner’s Office has been in contact with the families of those previously reported missing and will continue to provide them with timely updates as information becomes available.”

The blast occurred Tuesday night at a pyrotechnics facility in Esparto, about 40 miles from Sacramento, triggering a series of massive explosions, according to fire authorities.

Cal Fire and the Esparto Fire Protection District said crews were working to find the missing.

“We obviously do our best to train for every type of incident, but an incident like this is like a once-in-a-career type of incident,” Esparto Fire Chief Curtis Lawrence said at a news conference Wednesday.

The new conference was interrupted by an angry family member who said her boyfriend and brother-in-law were in the building.

“We’re all sick to our stomach, and we’re all waiting on the information [officials say] we should receive until Saturday, when I want to know today,” she said.

The origin and cause of the blast remains under investigation, county officials said Friday.

Cal Fire’s Office of the State Fire Marshal said it believes the facility belongs to a licensed pyrotechnics operator. Investigators are working to determine if the operation complied with California’s strict pyrotechnics regulations and federal explosive storage requirements.

“This type of incident is very rare,” Cal Fire officials said, noting that such facilities must follow stringent safety protocols.

“Our hearts and thoughts are with those we lost, their families, and everyone impacted in our community,” the management for Devastating Pyrotechnics, the company that owns the pyrotechnics business, said in a statement. “We are grateful for the swift response of law enforcement and emergency personnel. Our focus will remain on those directly impacted by this tragedy, and we will cooperate fully with the proper authorities in their investigation.”

The explosion led to the cancelation of multiple Fourth of July celebrations. The Cloverdale Lions Club announced Thursday that they were canceling their annual aerial fireworks display, as the Esparto facility was their designated supplier.

Trump to sign controversial spending bill during White House 4th of July celebrations

July 4, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump is slated to use the White House’s Fourth of July celebrations as the backdrop for his final victory lap over his massive spending bill.

The president will sign the legislation, which will bring massive cuts to government benefits such as Medicaid and increase funding for immigration enforcement, during the White House’s military family picnic on Friday evening.

It is unclear what guests will attend the signing event or if the picnic’s fireworks will take place during that time.

Trump pushed Congress to pass the bill by July 4th as some Republicans held out over several issues, including the bill’s effect on the debt ceiling.

“There could be no better birthday present for America than the phenomenal victory we achieved just hours ago when Congress passed the ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill’ to Make America Great Again,” Trump said in Iowa on Thursday, after the House passed the bill.

The White House celebrations for the Fourth of July will include several flyovers, including one featuring B-2 bombers. The president said Thursday that the flyover will occur at the same time he signs the bill; however, the White House has not confirmed the timing of that event.

Democrats criticized the president and the bill’s supporters over its cuts to services that help the poorest Americans. The bill institutes work requirements for Medicaid that some experts say will make millions of Americans uninsured, and makes cuts to the program that will result in closures of health centers in rural areas, according to health care employers.

On Thursday, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries broke the chamber’s record with an eight-hour, 44-minute speech decrying the bill.

“We wanted to make sure that the American people had an opportunity to fully and more completely understands, in the light of day, just how damaging this one big, ugly bill will be to the American people,” he said.

Trump criticized for using antisemitic slur in Iowa speech

July 4, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(DES MOINES, Iowa) — President Donald Trump celebrated the passage of his massive tax and policy bill during a “Salute to America” event in Des Moines, Iowa, a day ahead of the Fourth of July.

Jewish advocacy groups slammed President Donald Trump for using an anti-Semitic descriptor on Thursday during his Iowa speech celebrating the passage of his spending bill.

Trump used the term “Shylocks,” which evokes a centuries-old antisemitic trope about Jewish people and greed, to talk about the tax changes in the bill.

“No death tax, no estate tax, no going to the banks and bar exam from, in some cases a fine banker, and in some cases Shylocks and bad people, but they took away a lot of family. They destroyed a lot of families, but we did the opposite,” he told the crowd.

Shylock is a reference to the name of the Jewish moneylender and villain in playwright William Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” who demands a “pound of flesh” from protagonist Antonio.

The Anti-Defamation League on Friday morning criticized the president, reiterating that the term is “extremely offensive and dangerous.”

“President Trump’s use of the term is very troubling and irresponsible. It underscores how lies and conspiracies about Jews remain deeply entrenched in our country. Words from our leaders matter and we expect more from the President of the United States,” the organization said in a statement.

Amy Spitalnick, the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, also condemned Trump’s comments, saying in a statement it was one of “the most quintessential antisemitic stereotypes.”

“This is not an accident. It follows years in which Trump has normalized antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories — and it’s deeply dangerous,” she added.

“To me, Shylock is somebody that’s a money lender at high rates. I’ve never heard it that way. You view it differently than me. I’ve never heard that,” Trump claimed.

This is not the first time that an executive branch member came under fire for using the term.

In 2014, then-Vice President Joe Biden took heat for using the term during the 40th anniversary celebration of the Legal Services Corporation, referring to predatory bankers as “these Shylocks who took advantage of these women and men while overseas.”

“He’s correct, it was a poor choice of words, particularly as he said coming from ‘someone as friendly to the Jewish community and open and tolerant an individual as is Vice President Joe Biden.’ He’s right,” Biden said in a statement.

ABC News’ Benjamin Siegel contributed to this report.

Deadly storm slams New Jersey, hard-hit town cancels 4th of July celebration

July 4, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(PLAINFIELD, N.J.) — A huge line of severe weather passed through on Thursday night, killing at least three people in New Jersey and complicating travel for millions on the move for the Fourth of July weekend.

A deadly storm with winds topping 60 mph tore through central New Jersey, forcing one town to cancel its Fourth of July celebrations.

Thursday night’s severe thunderstorm killed at least three people: one in North Plainfield and two in Plainfield, about 30 miles west of New York, ABC New York station WABC reported.

“Our hearts are heavy,” Mayor Adrian O. Mapp said in a statement. “We mourn with the families and stand ready to support them in every way possible.”

Plainfield is under a state of emergency, with the mayor saying the “devastating storm” left “deep scars.”

Homes and cars have been damaged and some houses are structurally compromised from fallen trees, city officials said. Over 80 trees were knocked down, including many that are blocking roads or are entangled with power lines, officials said.

“There will be a time to celebrate again, to raise our flags and enjoy the joys of community,” the mayor said. “But right now, we must come together to clean up, to support one another, and to begin the work of rebuilding.”

Four killed, 14 hurt in Chicago mass shooting: ‘Absolute chaos’

July 4, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(CHICAGO) — Four people were killed and 14 others wounded in a “deplorable and cowardly” mass shooting in Chicago on Wednesday night, according to the police superintendent.

Around 11 p.m., people were exiting a venue in the River North neighborhood and standing on the sidewalk when a vehicle pulled up and someone in the car opened fire on the crowd, Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said at a news conference.

“They didn’t care who was struck, and in a matter of seconds, they were able to shoot 18 people,” Snelling said.

The venue was targeted, but it’s not clear who specifically was the target, police said.

The vehicle fled the scene immediately and no one has been taken into custody, police said. Two different calibers of shell casings were recovered, police said.

The victims killed were identified as Leon Andrew Henry, 25; Devonte Terrell Williamson, 23; Taylor Walker, 26; and Aviance King, 27, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Fourteen others were wounded, including several who were hospitalized in critical condition, according to police. The injured victims are all in their 20s and 30s, and 11 of the 14 people hurt are women, police said.

“When I arrived last night it was absolute chaos,” Pastor Donovan Price, who works to help victims of violence, told reporters. “From people screaming, to blood on the streets, to people laying on the streets, a massive police presence. Just horrific. More than I’ve ever seen.”

The hospitals were “almost as chaotic” as the crime scene as people searched for their loved ones, Price said. “It can happen anywhere,” he warned. “It’s devastating.”

A second mass shooting also erupted on Chicago’s far South Side on Wednesday night, leaving four people hospitalized, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said.

“We are frustrated, but we are also grieving,” Johnson said, adding, “We will not rest until there is full accountability.”

Despite the shootings, murders were down 32% year-to-date in the city as of June 29 and shooting incidents were down 39%, according to Chicago’s crime data.

Russia hits Kyiv with massive air attack, biggest of war so far

July 4, 2025 by WDNY Radio

LONDON — Russia overnight hit Ukraine with the biggest missile and drone attack of the war, launching a record number of drones at Kyiv.

Hundreds of Russian drones swarmed the capital all night as videos show huge fires and plumes of smoke on the skyline. Residents describe it as one of the most intense nights since the start of the full-scale invasion and people in Kyiv are waking up Friday morning to the city being blanketed by smoke from the fires still burning.

Russia launched over 500 drones, a huge number and the second time in less than a week it has launched the biggest air attack of the war. The attack comes after the Trump administration froze deliveries of critical air defense missiles to Ukraine.

The mayor of Kyiv said that at least 23 people were injured as many people spent the night sheltering in Kyiv’s metro system.

The aerial assault began shortly after President Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone which, in Ukraine, is being widely taken as a clear message to Ukrainians.

“Notably, the first air raid alerts in our cities and regions yesterday began to blare almost simultaneously with media reports discussing a phone call between President Trump and Putin,” Ukrainian President Zelenskyy wrote on Friday morning. “Yet again, Russia is showing it has no intention of ending the war and terror. Only around 9 a.m. today did the air raid alert end in Kyiv. It was a brutal, sleepless night.”

The 2 House Republicans who voted no on Trump’s sweeping domestic policy bill

July 3, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump’s major tax cut and spending bill passed the House on Thursday, but not without some Republican opposition.

Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania voted against the legislation alongside the entire House Democratic Caucus.

While Massie and Fitzpatrick were the only GOP members to vote no, several House GOP hardliners were angered by the changes made to the bill by the Senate and there was an overnight scramble by Speaker Mike Johnson to secure the necessary support to proceed. Some of the hardliners who ultimately voted yes say President Trump made promises to get their votes, including that he’d make the bill “better” in the future.

On Thursday, Massie said he did not vote for the bill because of its projected impact on the national debt. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill could add $3.4 trillion to the deficit over the next decade.

“Although there were some conservative wins in the budget reconciliation bill (OBBBA), I voted No on final passage because it will significantly increase U.S. budget deficits in the near term, negatively impacting all Americans through sustained inflation and high interest rates,” Massie wrote on X. Massie also opposed the House version of the megabill that passed back in May.

Trump’s been a vocal critic of Massie, lambasting him last month in a lengthy social media post as not being “MAGA.”

“Actually, MAGA doesn’t want him, doesn’t know him, and doesn’t respect him,” Trump wrote at the time.

The president accused Massie of being a “grandstander” who routinely votes no on key Republican-led legislation. Trump suggested Massie should be challenged in the upcoming Republican primary, even before this latest vote.

“The good news is that we will have a wonderful American Patriot running against him in the Republican Primary, and I’ll be out in Kentucky campaigning really hard,” Trump wrote.

Rep. Fitzpatrick did vote for the House bill in May, but said on Thursday that the Senate changes to the bill (which resulted in deeper cuts to Medicaid) as the reason for his change in position.

As I’ve stated throughout these negotiations, with each iteration of legislative text that was placed on the House Floor, I’ve maintained a close and watchful eye on the specific details of these provisions, and determined the specific district impact, positive or negative, on our PA-1 community,” Fitzpatrick said in a statement.

“I voted to strengthen Medicaid protections, to permanently extend middle class tax cuts, for enhanced small business tax relief, and for historic investments in our border security and our military,” he added/ “However, it was the Senate’s amendments to Medicaid, in addition to several other Senate provisions, that altered the analysis for our PA-1 community. The original House language was written in a way that protected our community; the Senate amendments fell short of our standard.”

“I believe in, and will always fight for, policies that are thoughtful, compassionate, and good for our community. It is this standard that will always guide my legislative decisions,” Fitzpatrick said.

The Pennsylvania congressman, who also faces reelection in 2026, represents a swing district that went blue in 2024 for Kamala Harris.

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