By LISA MASCARO and KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — When it comes to Medicaid, Rep. Juan Ciscomani is telling fellow Republicans he won’t support steep cuts that could hit thousands of residents in his Arizona district — “my neighbors, people my kids go to school with” — who depend on it.

Republican Rep. Don Bacon, who represents the liberal-leaning “blue dot” of Omaha, Nebraska, is trying to protect several Biden-era green energy tax breaks. He’s warning colleagues that “you can’t pull the rug out from under” businesses that have already sunk millions of dollars into renewable developments in Nebraska and beyond.

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And for Republican Rep. Nick LaLota of New York, it’s simple: “No Salt. No Deal. For Real.” He wants to revive — and bump up — what’s known as the SALT deduction, which allows taxpayers to write off a portion of their state and local taxes. Capping the deduction at $10,000 hurt many of his Long Island constituents.

“Governing is a negotiation, right?” said Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York, another Republican who is also involved in the talks. “I think everybody is going to have to give a little.”

As GOP leaders draft President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” of some $4.5 trillion in tax breaks and $1.5 trillion in spending cuts by Memorial Day, dozens of Republicans from contested congressional districts have positioned themselves at the center of the negotiating table.

While it’s often the most conservative members of the House Freedom Caucus driving the legislative agenda — and they are demanding as much as $2 trillion in cuts — it’s the more centrist-leaning conservatives who could sink the bill. They have been hauled into meetings with Trump at the White House, some have journeyed to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, and many are huddling almost daily with House Speaker Mike Johnson.

And they are not satisfied, yet.

“To get everybody politically and policy-wise on the same page is going to require more conversations,” said LaLota, who is among five Republicans pledging to withhold their support unless changes to the SALT deduction are included.

Republicans wrestle with what to put in — and what to leave out

Diving into the gritty details of the massive package, the GOP leaders are running into the stubborn reality that not all the ideas from their menu of potential tax breaks and spending cuts are popular with voters back home.

Moreover, their work of compiling the big package is not happening in a vacuum. It comes amid growing economic unease rippling across the country as Trump has fired thousands of federal workers, including some of their own constituents, and as his trade war sparks concerns of empty store shelves and higher prices.

Brendan Buck, a former adviser to an earlier House speaker, Paul Ryan, warned in an op-ed Wednesday that all the party’s energy is being poured into one bill, with questionable returns.

“Many Republicans are hoping that the tax bill can blunt the economic damage caused by the Trump tariffs,” Buck wrote in The New York Times, “but that is highly unlikely.”

Democrats are ready for the fight, warning that Trump and his fellow Republicans are ripping away health care and driving the economy into the ditch — all to retain tax breaks approved during Trump’s first term that are expiring at year’s end.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, of N.Y., speaks during an event with House and Senate Democrats to mark 100 days of President Donald Trump’s term on the steps of the Senate on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

“What we see from Donald Trump and the Republicans is they are actually crashing the economy in real time,” said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York.

“Why,” the Democratic leader asked, “are Republicans jumping through hoops” to try to reduce Medicaid and food stamps used by millions of Americans?

“It’s all in service of enacting massive tax breaks for their millionaire donors like Elon Musk,” he said.

GOP leaders search for consensus

Johnson has projected a calm confidence, insisting that House Republicans are on track to deliver on Trump’s agenda.

The speaker’s office has become a waystation with a revolving door of Republicans privately laboring to piece together the massive package.

So far, GOP leaders have signaled they are walking away from some, but not all, of the steep Medicaid cuts. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has said the proposals could result in millions of people losing their coverage.

Instead, what appears to still be on the table are tougher work requirements for those receiving Medicaid and food stamp assistance and more frequent eligibility tests for beneficiaries.

That’s not enough for the conservatives, who also number in the dozens and are insisting on deeper reductions.

Centrists drawing red lines

Ciscomani, in his second term, signed onto a letter with Bacon and others warning House Republican leadership he cannot support a bill that includes “any reduction in Medicaid coverage for vulnerable populations.”

“Our point is that we understand the need for reform,” Ciscomani said. “But anything that goes beyond that and starts jeopardizing rural hospitals in my district and their existence overall, then we’re running into an area where it will be very difficult to move forward. I think it’s very important they know that.”

Bacon, Ciscomani and others joined on a separate letter raising concerns about eliminating clean-energy tax credits, including those passed under President Joe Biden, a Democrat.

“Go with a scalpel. Go pick out some things,” Bacon told The Associated Press. He and the others warned that companies are already investing millions of dollars from the Inflation Reduction Act’s incentives to green energy.

“You just can’t do a wholesale throw it out,” Bacon said.

Democrats track the vote with an eye on next year’s midterms

Democrats are also applying political pressure in Ciscomani’s district and beyond.

As Republicans decline to hold town halls on the advice of their leaders, Democrats are stepping in to warn constituents about what could happen to programs they rely on for health coverage and to put food on the table.

Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Cory Booker of New Jersey visited Ciscomani’s Tucson-based district last month to offer harsh condemnations.

Kelly asked how many in the room were represented by Ciscomani, and then he warned about how scores of residents in the district could lose their health care coverage.

“And for what? It is so Donald Trump could give a big, giant tax cut to the wealthiest Americans. It is not fair,” Kelly said.

Booker, fresh off his 25-hour speech on the Senate floor, was even more pointed, saying just three House Republicans have to change their mind to upend the GOP’s effort in the House, with its narrow majority.

“I believe one of them has to be in this district right here,” Booker said. “Either he changes his mind or this district changes congresspeople. It’s as simple as that.”

Associated Press writer Leah Askarinam contributed to this report.

By STEVE PEOPLES, AP National Politics Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Joe Biden says he’s responsible for Donald Trump’s victory last fall, but he attributed Kamala Harris’ loss, at least in part, to sexism and racism.

Biden, who left office in January, addressed the Democrats’ disastrous 2024 election, concerns about his age and Trump’s divisive leadership during a Thursday interview on ABC’s “The View.” The 82-year-old Democrat said he has intentionally avoided speaking out publicly until this week to give Trump more than 100 days in office without his interference, as is typically the tradition following a change in the White House.

Asked about the last election, Biden said he was surprised by the role that he gender and race played in the contest.

“They went the sexist route,” Biden said of criticism that “a woman couldn’t lead the country and a woman of mixed race.”

He added: “I was in charge and he won, so I take responsibility.”

Former Vice President Kamala Harris delivers the keynote speech at the Emerge 20th Anniversary Gala in San Francisco, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Biden has largely stepped away from national politics since leaving the White House.

He’s not expected to play a central role in Democratic affairs as the party turns to a new generation of leadership, although he acknowledged on Thursday that he has maintained regular contact with Harris and has offered his guidance on her political future.

“She’s got a difficult decision to make about what she’s going to do. I hope she stays engaged,” Biden said, declining to share his specific advice.

Biden rejected concerns about his cognitive decline prompted by a disastrous debate performance last June. He also declined to criticize the Democratic leaders who privately pressed him to abandon his campaign.

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“The only reason I got out of the race was because I didn’t want to have a divided Democratic Party,” he said, adding that the broader party didn’t buy into concerns about his age following the “terrible” debate performance, “but the Democratic leadership and some of the very significant contributors did.”

Thursday’s appearance also marked Biden’s first joint interview with former first lady Jill Biden since leaving Washington. She rejected those who believe she created a protective cocoon around her husband while in office to protect him from scrutiny about his age.

“It was very hurtful especially from some of our so-called friends,” she said of the criticism.

“I was with Joe day and night … and I did not create a cocoon around him,” she continued. “You saw him in the Oval Office. You saw him making speeches. He wasn’t hiding somewhere.”

Meanwhile, the former president did not hold back when the conversation turned to Trump’s job performance.

“He’s had the worst 100 days any president has ever had,” Biden said.

Lionel Messi will not be the first international soccer superstar to play in Minnesota, if and when the Argentine midfiNtsoelengoeelder takes the field for Inter Miami versus Minnesota United on Saturday in St. Paul.

Pele was that trailblazer when he and the New York Cosmos came to Bloomington in 1976.

The first-year Kicks were averaging 13,000 fans across their opening four matches at Metropolitan Stadium when Pele, a three-time World Cup winner, arrived for a ballyhooed North American Soccer League match.

The Kicks’ advertising slogan in their initial spring was: “In 1976, Minnesota joined the world” with its new soccer club, and that Wednesday night in the Minneapolis suburb, the Brazilian midfielder helped the Kicks’ set a NASL record for largest crowd.

The St. Paul Dispatch’s banner headline read: Pele pulls ’em in: 46,164.

“They turned out to see the maestro,” Kicks captain Alan Merrick recalled to the Pioneer Press in April. “… That game set the benchmark for the success of the Kicks on an ongoing basis. We had massive crowds. And that was one game, I think, that gave the Kicks credibility. It also brought people out to start to understand the game of soccer, because it was still ’76.”

The Kicks folded in 1981, and Minnesota didn’t have first-division soccer until the Loons joined MLS in 2017. Since Allianz Field opened in 2019, MNUFC has consistently sold out its soccer-specific stadium (19,600), and a standing-room-only crowd in excess of 20,000 is expected this weekend.

Unlike some other MLS teams, MNUFC declined to move its Messi-mania game to a bigger local venue — in their case, either U.S. Bank or Huntington Bank stadiums — to accommodate broader fan demand. The Loons said they wanted to honor its season-ticket holders.

The Loons also sought to keep the match on natural grass, which is all but a requirement for today’s top (and aging) players, such as the 37-year-old Messi and his band of former Barcelona teammates reunited in Miami — Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba.

But Pele and his fellow star, Italian forward Giorgio Chinaglia, played on a Met Stadium surface that had the Twins’ infield dirt exposed in front of one goal. The pitching mound was lopped off and covered with a Kicks logo.

Smooth talker

To hype up the event, a news conference was held the day before Pele played in Minnesota. He showed up in a blue silk leisure suit and catered to Minnesota’s press corps by talking about the weather.

As a heat wave reached 90 degrees on game day, Pele said: “We were led to believe we were coming to a cold land and yet when we arrive it is hotter here than in New York or even Brazil.”

Pele was among the first in what has became a decades-old tradition of pumping up perceived growth of the world’s game in the U.S. He guessed that within 10 to 15 years, the U.S. could rival what other countries had accomplished in the previous century. It’s still a waiting game.

“What’s happened in America in terms of general interest in the game has been fantastic since I’ve been here. Almost unbelievable,” said Pele, who had moved from Santos FC in Brazil to New York in 1974. “The reception wherever we’ve gone has been wonderful.”

Since Messi joined MLS in 2023, the Argentine rarely speaks to reporters in away stadiums after matches — despite being the catalyst in setting record crowds in so many places: 72,610 in Kansas City; 65,612 in New England; 62,358 in Chicago; and most recently 60,614 in Cleveland on April 19.

Those figures are more than double the average attendance at MLS matches (23,240) in 2024, according to league data.

‘Still a magnificent player’

At age 25, Merrick’s role as a Kicks’ center back was to try to slow down Pele, who at 36 still possessed dynamic skill and playmaking creativity from an attacking midfield spot.

“He was still a magnificent player,” said Merrick, now 74 and residing in Lakeville. “He was the real deal, without a doubt.”

Messi, meanwhile, can still be brilliant. He led Argentina to the World Cup in 2022 and last season, he scored 20 goals and added 11 assists while capturing the league’s MVP award and Miami won the Supporters Shield (best regular-season record).

Argentina’s Lionel Messi waves after receiving the Golden Ball award for best player of the tournament at the end of the World Cup final soccer match between Argentina and France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. Lionel Messi says he is coming to Inter Miami and joining Major League Soccer. After months of speculation, Messi announced his decision Wednesday, June 7, 2023,to join a Miami franchise that has been led by another global soccer icon in David Beckham since its inception but has yet to make any real splashes on the field.(AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)

Messi hasn’t been as strong this season, with only a handful of goals and assists while missing a few games.

Almost 40 years ago in Minnesota, Pele still displayed moments of quickness, deft passing and even tried to pull off an acrobatic overhead scissors kick. But it was Kicks star midfielder Patrick “Ace” Ntsoelengoe who gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead in the 68th minute.

Then in a controversial moment a few minutes later, Pele assisted on Chinaglia’s equalizing goal. Pele and Merrick each jumped to head a free kick in to the box; their bodies connected in the air, with Pele saying the ball grazed his head.

Both Kicks coach Fred Goodwin and Merrick insisted the goal shouldn’t have counted because they believed Pele fouled Merrick. YouTube footage of the game is grainy and inconclusive.

“It really was a foul,” a steadfast Merrick said in April. “I mean, I’ve seen it multiple times. Even though I’m biased, he definitely fouled me. … Those star players sometimes get some calls that go their way. That was certainly the case.”

In his 21-year pro career, Pele set a Guinness World Record with 1,279 career goals in 1,363 total games. But he didn’t score that day in Bloomington. A few of his shots went high over the crossbar and deep into Met Stadium’s packed stands.

It was Cosmos’ Tony Field who scored the game-winner in the 80th minute for a 2-1 result.

The non-foul call, however, wasn’t the match’s only drama. Pele was booed when he tried to kick the ball out of goalkeeper Geoff Barnett’s hands during one stoppage, and Pele was accused of taking a swing at a Kicks player during one of a few brouhahas.

“As long as he missed or it was glancing touch, there would be no repercussions of that,” Merrick insisted.

Years later, Merrick got to know Pele during his visit to the USA Cup youth soccer tournament in Blaine. Merrick has a cherished photo of the two of them from the 1976 match. On it, Pele — who passed away in 2022 — wrote “good luck” and signed it with a large, flowing letter P.

Brazil’s soccer legend Pelé greets the crowd ahead of a Spanish league soccer match, in the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Jan. 16, 2005. Pelé, the Brazilian king of soccer who won a record three World Cups and became one of the most commanding sports figures of the last century, died in Sao Paulo on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022. He was 82. (AP Photo/Jasper Juinen)

“He was so kind and gentle and he exuded a presence there,” Merrick said. “He was a beacon, as it were. He just had an aura about him that was always impressive. Dressed immaculately, fit guy, kind, courteous, polite to everybody, and unassuming.”

Yet immediately after that 1976 game, Kicks players and coaches were more disappointed with the loss than throwing Pele bouquets of compliments. Barnett voiced his displeasure while holding a beer post-match, and Ntsoelengoe added a sobering opinion of his superstar opponent.

“He didn’t seem as fast as when I saw him play before,” Ntsoelengoe was quoted in the Minneapolis Star. “But it was a thrill to be out there against him.”

For decades, the number of street vendors has far exceeded the number of permits that allow them to legally set up shop on New York City streets. A City Council bill wants to change that.

Street vendors and advocates attending the City Council’s hearing on permitting reforms Wednesday. (Alex Krales/NYC Council Media Unit)

For decades, the number of street vendors has far exceeded the number of permits that allow them to legally set up shop on New York City streets.

In 2021, the City Council passed Local Law 18, which aimed to increase the number of food vendor permits by 445 per year starting in 2022. However, only 382 new permits have been given to vendors so far, said Corinne Schiff, deputy commissioner for environmental health at the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), during a Council hearing Tuesday. 

The New York City Council heard testimony about a package of bills to reform the process, including one that would increase the number of permits by 1,500 each year for five consecutive years—and then lift the cap altogether. Another bill would decriminalize vending offenses (Int. 47), and a third would create a division of street vendors assistance within the Department of Small Business Services (Int. 0408).

Right off the bat, officials from Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP), Department of Sanitation (DSNY), DOHMH, and Department of Small Business Services (SBS), weighed in on the possibility of increasing the number of permits, which they saw as viable. But agency officials did not support lifting the cap on the number of licenses altogether—the second part of the bill that Bronx Councilmember Pierina Sanchez introduced.

“The New York City Health Department has no concerns about issuing more supervisory license applications annually than local law currently requires, and would like to work with the City Council on some of the details to ease implementation,” said Corinne Schiff, DOHMH deputy commissioner for the environmental health division.

However, she added, “the administration is opposed to lifting the cap entirely.”

One of the first steps a person must take to prepare or serve food for vending is to obtain a vending license with the DOHMH. The second step is to obtain a permit, the number of which has been capped for decades, leading many vendors to seek them on the black market, often paying exorbitant prices.

During the hearing, Schiff argued that eliminating the cap would increase the department’s workload on mandatory food safety training, inspections, issuance of licenses and permits, while requiring more funding.

Carlos Ortiz, DCWP’s deputy commissioner for external affairs, offered another argument as to why the cap should not be lifted: “Impact on quality of life.”

During Tuesday’s hearing, representatives from the city’s Business Improvement Districts or BIDs—which represent brick-and-mortar businesses, and often view street vendors as competition—testified against the bill, and doubled down on the need for more enforcement.

“The issue of how many licenses you wanna give is irrelevant to the Garment District,” said Barbara Blair, president of the Garment District Alliance, a BID in Midtown Manhattan. “What is relevant is regulating time, place, and manner that are enforceable, rules that are enforceable, and are in fact vigorously enforced.”

The city already regulates where and when street vendors can operate, like only on sidewalks that are at least 12 feet wide, and some permits only work seasonally, among other rules.

Enforcement responsibilities primarily fall to the DSNY, which took the lead on enforcement of the city’s vendors in 2023. But since 2022, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) has led in issuing the greatest number of tickets to vendors. In 2024 alone, these agencies issued over 13,000 tickets to city vendors, and seized tons of food.

Julie Menin, chair of the Council’s Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection, pressed DOHMH officials about why most of those who’ve obtained supervisory licenses since Local Law 18 was passed did not yet have supervisory permits.

“We don’t know the answer to that,” Schiff said. “The local law doesn’t have a deadline to apply for the permit, and so they may eventually turn into permits.”

Mahmoud Zayed, a street vendor since 2008, said he has rented a permit through the black market for years, “as I have never been able to obtain one in my own name.”

“I have been forced to pay thousands of dollars every two years to people who were able to get permits directly from the city while they only pay a small fee,” he added.

During the more than six-hour hearing, more than 80 people testified, including dozens of street vendors, but also brick-and-mortar owners, investors, content creators, and the general public. The vast majority of speakers supported the bill.

Proponents say street vending, a largely immigrant-powered sector, is often one of few options for people trying to earn a living in an increasingly expensive city. Protections are even more important now, as immigrants are being targeted for arrest and deportation under the Trump administration. 

After the hearing, Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez, deputy director of the Street Vendor Project, said it was encouraging to see the administration calling for expanding the total number of vending permits.

“The fight for reforming the street vending system in New York has always been urgent, but especially under this current federal administration, it’s essential,” Kaufman-Gutierrez said.

To reach the reporter behind this story, contact Daniel@citylimits.org. To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org

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