The Bull-Moose Note.

The federal government spent $12.8 billion on affordable housing in 2023. The budget bill Trump approved on the fourth of July spends $45 billion on building immigration detention centers. That's $15 billion more than it would cost to end homelessness for more than 700,000 people in the country, which would cost around $30 billion.

More than 400 people are being detained at Alligator Alcatraz, the hastily built immigration concentration camp located deep within the Florida Everglades that has capacity to hold 3,000 people. Reporting indicates that many individuals were detained despite having residency documents showing their legal status to live and work in the country. Detainees say there is a lack of food and water at the facility and medications are being denied. One detainee wonders if the governmet is doing this to them as “a form of torture.”

The Senate just voted 51-50 to pass the GOP budget reconciliation bill. Republican Senators Susan Collins, Rand Paul and Thom Tillis joined Democrats in voting no. The tie-breaking vote was cast by VP JD Vance.

The bill will now be sent back to the House where it originally passed by just one vote on May 22. Since then, several House Republicans have criticized changes the Senate made to the bill, so its still not certain that it will pass by Trump’s self-imposed July 4 deadline.