‘I’m shocked’: Senate wants more Medicaid cuts in Trump’s bill

WASHINGTON — The Senate released the Medicaid portion of President Donald Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill” this week, proposing steep cuts to the health care program amid pushback from moderate members.

“I’m shocked,” Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, told reporters on Tuesday. “It needs work.”

“It pares down the president’s tax priorities, it boosts up Green New Deal subsidies, and it defunds rural hospitals,” Hawley added. “It’s gonna be interesting to run on in 2026.”

The Senate cuts go beyond the changes to Medicaid in the House version of the bill, which was passed in late May. Foremost among the additional cuts are a lower cap on the provider tax formula, which allows states to receive more federal funding for Medicaid, and additional work requirements for recipients.

—Baltimore Sun

Two female Illinois politicians say their names were listed in alleged Minnesota shooter’s notes

CHICAGO — A downstate congresswoman and a north suburban state senator are the first Illinois elected officials to publicly acknowledge being named in notes kept by the 57-year-old alleged shooter charged with assassinating the Democratic leader of the Minnesota House and her husband.

U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski on Tuesday said she was listed in what federal authorities described as “voluminous writings” found in the vehicle and home of Vance Boelter. Boelter faces federal and state charges in Saturday’s shootings that killed state House Democratic leader Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and injured Democratic Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette.

While Illinois authorities have not publicly named any of the state officials who were named, Democratic state Sen. Laura Fine also acknowledged in a statement Tuesday that her name was among those that appeared on one of Boelter’s lists.

Budzinski, a two-term Springfield Democrat, wrote in a social media post, “On Sunday, I was informed by Capitol Police that my name was included in the Minnesota murder suspect’s note.”

—Chicago Tribune

How many US adults have connections to Catholicism? What new survey finds

Catholics make up one of the largest religious groups in the United States — more than any Protestant denomination — and many who don’t identify with the faith still said they have a personal or family connection to it, according to a new survey.

Nearly half of Americans, 47%, said they have a relationship to the Catholic faith, with 20% identifying as Catholic, 9% identifying as a “cultural Catholic” and 9% saying they are a former Catholic, according to a June 16 Pew Research Center study.

Another 9% of respondents said they were connected to Catholicism in different ways — either having a Catholic parent or partner or having attended Mass, the survey found. “Catholicism’s roots in the United States run deep,” researchers said.

The survey of 9,544 U.S. adults, including 1,787 Catholics, took place Feb. 3 to 9 — prior to the hospitalization of the late Pope Francis — and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.3 percentage points.

—The Charlotte Observer

Russia watches Israel-Iran crisis with few tools to intervene

Russia is watching Israel’s bombardment of Iran with mounting concern for the survival of a key ally, though the Kremlin recognizes it has few levers to influence the escalating conflict in the Middle East.

Iran hasn’t asked for Russian help and Moscow doesn’t plan to offer any defense assistance, according to a person close to the Kremlin. No one can stop Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from pursuing the bombing, and Russia won’t be able to act as a mediator to stop the conflict if the goal is regime change, the person said, asking not to be identified discussing sensitive issues.

“At the moment, mediation does not seem likely,” said Fyodor Lukyanov, head of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, a think tank that advises the Kremlin. “If it comes to some form of behind-the-scenes diplomacy, Russia is more likely to play a role between Iran and the United States — Israel’s interest in negotiations is not apparent.”

Russia has deepened its ties with Iran since Russian leader Vladimir Putin ordered the 2022 invasion of Ukraine and triggered Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II. Iran has provided Russia with hundreds of combat drones used to attack targets in Ukraine, and the U.S. and Europe last year accused it of supplying ballistic missiles to Moscow, though Tehran denied the allegation.

—Bloomberg News