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Paulson withdraws from Treasury secretary contention

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John Paulson, the billionaire financier, said Tuesday he was withdrawing his name from contention to be President-elect Donald Trump’s next Treasury secretary.

“Although various media outlets have mentioned me as a candidate for Secretary of the Treasury, my complex financial obligations would prevent me from holding an official position in President Trump’s administration at this time,” Paulson said in a statement.

The veteran investor and close Trump ally said he planned to “remain actively involved with the President’s economic team and helping in the implementation of President Trump’s outstanding policy proposals.”

The statement was earlier reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Paulson was among several major Wall Street figures that Trump has been weighing for Treasury, including billionaire investor Scott Bessent, who has been serving as a key economic adviser to Trump.

Paulson, a hedge fund manager who famously made billions of dollars betting on the housing market collapse before the 2008 financial crisis, was an early Wall Street supporter of Trump back in 2016.

In his statement Tuesday, Paulson said he was “ecstatic that President Trump will be back in office.” Trump “is off to a fast start with his appointments, and his policies will have an immensely positive impact on all Americans,” he said.

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Congress

Senate prepares to take final megabill votes

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The Senate is on track to start voting on final amendments and passage of the GOP megabill.

“I believe we do” have a deal, Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters.

There will be several amendments debated before the final vote, according to Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.). One, he said, would be from Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, challenging a provision negotiated to placate GOP holdout Sen. Lisa Murkowski dealing with the SNAP food-aid program in her home state of Alaska.

A final “wraparound” amendment reflecting other negotiated points is also expected to be offered that will tweak provisions dealing with Medicaid and clean energy tax credits.

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Congress

Trump wavers on July 4 megabill deadline

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President Donald Trump appeared to leave room to extend his July 4 deadline for Congress to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, as the Senate scrambles to push through the legislation amid Republican infighting.

“I’d love to do July 4th, but I think it’s very hard to do July 4th,” Trump told reporters on the South Lawn on Tuesday, before adding that the goal is “somewhere around there.”

The fate of the sweeping megabill remains up in the air, as Republican leaders struggle to secure enough votes to push the legislation through the Senate.

Trump has repeatedly sought to firm up GOP votes, blasting holdouts as “not good people” and not so subtly reminding Republicans not to go “too crazy,” because they “still have to get reelected.”

But even though the president and his allies have launched a pressure campaign to encourage movement from Republicans in the Senate, Trump began to waffle on the self-imposed July 4 ultimatum as it drew closer.

The president on Friday said the deadline was “not the end-all,” and that “it can go longer, but we’d like to get it done by that time if possible.”

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Congress

GOP clean-energy amendment won’t get a vote

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Sen. Joni Ernst said her closely watched amendment seeking to maintain wind and solar tax credits will not get a Senate vote before the anctipated passage of the GOP megabill.

“I don’t think they’re going to let us” offer the amendment, the Iowa Republican told reporters Tuesday morning as GOP leaders rushed to put finishing touches on the bill. “There’s a lot of stuff that went on overnight that kind of waylaid our plans.”

Ernst’s amendment would echo an earlier proposal to phase down the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean electricity production and investment tax credits for solar and wind generation projects by linking to when projects begin construction. It would also eliminate an excise tax proposed by Republicans that would penalize any wind and solar project placed into service after 2027 if it includes material assistance from China or other prohibited foreign entities.

Ernst was joined on the amendment by Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).

It’s possible that the amendment or part of it could be included in a final “wraparound” amendment GOP leaders are expected to offer ahead of a final vote. Murkowski, considered a swing vote on the overall bill, was in intensive talks early Tuesday morning with Majority Leader John Thune and other Senate leaders.

Josh Siegel, Kelsey Tamborrino and James Bikales contributed to this report.

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