July 22, 2026

Connor O'Brien of Politico: “The House narrowly passed its marquee $1.15 trillion defense policy bill largely along party lines Wednesday amid a bitter partisan divide over ... Donald Trump’s conduct of the war against Iran and his push for a massive Pentagon spending boost. Just six Democrats supported the annual National Defense Authorization Act, which House Republicans muscled through in a tight 216-212 vote. Those Democratic votes proved decisive, helping Republicans overcome seven defections from their own ranks to pass the bill. The vote is a win for Trump.... It’s also a win for Speaker Mike Johnson, who overcame GOP unrest by steering the bill to the right on the House floor.... The final bill includes a variety of conservative provisions aimed at solidifying GOP support — including renaming the Department of Defense to the Department of War, blocking coverage for gender-affirming care and making it easier for troops to carry their personal firearms on military bases. Republican leaders also attached their election overhaul backed by Trump, known as the SAVE America Act, at the behest of hard-line members who previously blocked the defense bill.”

Adela Suliman of NBC News: “A third American service member believed to have been killed by an Iranian attack on an air base in Jordan has been identified by the United States military as Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad of New York. The 28-year-old 'is believed to have been killed in action on July 17, 2026, during an enemy attack at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, Jordan,' the Pentagon said in a statement. 'The incident is under investigation.' After the attack, U.S. Central Command said that two service members were killed and another was missing. The following day, it said that troops found unidentified remains and that an examination process to verify them had begun.”

Katie Rogers of the New York Times: Donald “Trump on Wednesday witnessed the return of four young Army soldiers recently killed overseas, telling reporters beforehand that each had died supportive of the deadly war he was waging with Iran. 'All of them said very strongly, “We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon,’” Mr. Trump said as he traveled to Dover Air Force Base to attend the dignified transfer. 'They won’t have a nuclear weapon. So we’re going to honor them.' Later, Mr. Trump took one soldier’s grieving family to his political rally in Georgia. The president did not say how he knew the fallen soldiers’ views, but he decided to speak for them.... The families of the service members who were killed have not talked about their support for the war....

“The president is adamant that Americans support the Iran war. 'A poll just came out: Americans don’t want high gasoline prices, but they’re not against the war — that just came out loud and clear,' Mr. Trump said earlier on Wednesday before he traveled to the transfer. He did not specify the poll he was talking about. In reality, pollsters for months have been tracking growing frustration over the war, including within the Republican Party. According to a Washington Post-Ipsos poll released last week, only 29 percent of Americans support the conflict. That poll also showed that most Americans do not believe their economic outlook will improve.”

Winner of FIFA Peace Prize Plans 8th War. John Hudson & Rachel Chason of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration is weighing military action in the West African country of Mali to target an al-Qaeda-affiliated group known as JNIM, said current and former U.S. officials familiar with the deliberations. If approved, it would add an eighth nation to the list of countries where ... Donald Trump has ordered strikes since the start of his second term — a chapter of his presidency that he initially said would be dedicated to ending global strife and redirecting U.S. resources to Americans.” MB: It's true we're running right low on armaments, but the JNIM may not have the best fighting machines either, so maybe we can throw rocks.

Sean James of Mediaite: “... Donald Trump declared the USA has no need for the Strait of Hormuz — but he still wants to pummel Iran to prove it can never control the vital oil passage anyway. The president said during a Wednesday rally in Georgia the strait isn’t a big deal for America because the U.S. already controls a huge huge chunk of the oil market. Trump said it was thanks in large part to the operation that plucked Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro from his bed at the start of the year.”

The Venezuelan Job. Will Neal of the Daily Beast, republished by Yahoo! News: "Donald Trump is facing intense scrutiny over the billions his administration has raked in from Venezuela that now appear to have vanished into thin air. Analysis by the Financial Times suggests the White House has brought in $13 billion from Venezuelan oil sales so far after capturing despot Nicolas Maduro in January and installing vice president Delcy Rodriguez in his place.... An executive order said any oil funds would remain Venezuelan property, and be held in U.S. accounts in a 'custodial capacity.' But Trump has said the U.S. is 'making a lot of money' from Venezuelan oil, and the U.S. Department of Energy has said the funds 'will be disbursed for the benefit of the American people and the Venezuelan people.'... Trump's invasion of Venezuela has been about oil, power, and graft from the very beginning, with billions of dollars in Venezuelan oil revenue being controlled by the Trump administration without transparency or safeguards,' Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro, 51, told the FT. He joins a growing chorus of lawmakers publicly demanding to know where the Trump administration has spent or otherwise stashed the money."

Laura Barrón-López & David Rohde of MS NOW: “In his primetime address on July 16, [Donald] Trump said the U.S. 'must take urgent action' to protect voting infrastructure against foreign actors. But shortly after taking office last year, Trump gutted a key agency designed to protect America’s elections from exactly that. It’s called the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency — an office created during Trump’s first term. CISA is one of the main federal partners for states on election security, sharing intelligence on potential threats to voting infrastructure and providing quick regional support. After Trump returned to office..., Elon Musk’s DOGE fired more than 100 workers, including election security advisers. More than 600 others were placed on administrative leave, were reassigned or took buyouts. Now the Trump administration is telling states they will only receive resources if they hand over voter rolls to be screened through a new federal database that a judge recently deemed unlawful in its current form.... Experts and a federal judge are concerned [the database] has a high error rate that could disenfranchise voters.”

The Grift Family Trump. Maureen Farrell of the New York Times: “ Dating back to the first Trump administration, members of the Trump family have faced criticism for mixing business with politics. But what sets apart the latest moves by Donald Trump Jr. is how he and [and his business partner Omeed] Malik, through 1789 Capital, are cashing in on the policies of the current administration openly and without apology. Many of the companies that 1789 has invested in have large government contracts while others, like Polymarket, have benefited directly from new Trump policies or rollbacks of existing laws. The firm bought shares in some of the most coveted private companies before many went public, including SpaceX, Anduril, Cerebras and Reflection AI, often by leveraging their political and business connections to secure a stake or to help boost the companies’ sales. Just two years ago, 1789 managed a few hundred million dollars. It now oversees more than $3 billion. Its main investment fund generated returns of roughly 200 percent as of June 30, according to a person familiar with the firm’s performance.” The link appears to be a gift link.

Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "Local prosecutors were warned ... Donald Trump's immigration crackdown in Minnesota would prove fatal, according to a new report. An agent from the Homeland Security Investigations division told local prosecutors and other officials that Border Patrol agents should not be conducting immigration raids in a city, reported CNN chief Washington correspondent Jake Tapper. 'Someone’s going to get killed,' that DHS official said. That official and others from DHS told local officials that Border Patrol typically guarded the southern border and thought of themselves as a last line of defense, and they were used to getting away with a lot, so they feared things would get ugly, according to Tapper.... "The deaths of Renee Good on Wednesday, January 7, and Alex Pretti on Saturday, January 24, at the hands of federal immigration agents, followed soon after,' [Tapper wrote]." The CNN report is subscriber-firewalled.

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Goodbye, Soft Power. Marie: I'm guessing the map is based on this Pew Research report. Thanks to RAS for the link: ~~~

The New York Times' live updates of developments in the Iran War are here. From the pinned item at 5:45 am ET: “Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that the United States would continue to attack Iran as long as it tried to exercise control over the Strait of Hormuz, as the two sides traded another round of strikes across the Persian Gulf overnight. While Mr. Rubio continued to leave the door open for diplomacy, he told reporters in Manila that Iran at this point was 'not serious about talks,' arguing that Tehran had violated a preliminary agreement that says it should allow ships to transit the strait.... Signs of diplomatic efforts to end the war have been muted. Iran’s interior minister met on Tuesday with Pakistan’s prime minister and army chief in Islamabad, the capital. Pakistan has been brokering negotiations between the United States and Iran.”

David Sanger of the New York Times: Donald “Trump threatened on Tuesday to accelerate the war with Iran by returning the conflict to where it began, with a bunker-busting attack on one of the country’s nuclear facilities. But the target he has in mind, known among Western intelligence agencies as Pickaxe Mountain, is not complete. No nuclear experts believe it houses the kind of working equipment to enrich uranium, and convert that material to bomb fuel, like the three major nuclear sites Mr. Trump ordered bombed in June 2025.... At most, experts say, Pickaxe Mountain for now is a deep underground storage site. But for Mr. Trump, facing a turning point in the war, it may make little difference whether Pickaxe Mountain is empty or giving cover to the surviving remnants of Iran’s stockpile of nuclear centrifuges.... In his own statements on Tuesday and those of his military advisers, who spent much of the afternoon dodging questions from Senate Democrats, Mr. Trump seemed mostly fixated on sending a message to Iran that his willingness to escalate knows no limits.” Here's an Axios story by Barak Ravid.

AP, published in the Guardian: “Donald Trump said ... after meeting with the Lebanese president, Joseph Aoun ... on Tuesday he would allow American carriers to resume direct flights to Lebanon more than 40 years after the US suspended the route. Direct flights between the US and Lebanon were suspended in 1985 by Ronald Reagan’s administration following the hijacking of TWA flight 847.... During the meeting with Aoun, Trump pledged to help Lebanon 'a lot'. Aoun came to Washington to push for long-term calm after months of war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.” MB: Uh, would you fly into Lebanon with Bibi shooting at the country? ~~~

~~~ David Ignatius of the Washington Post: “... Tuesday’s visit by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun was a moment to celebrate. Aoun came away with a pledge of support from ... Donald Trump that could help rescue his country from a half-century of chaos.... On Lebanon, [Trump] has been rock-solid. He pushed Aoun to embrace a plan to disarm Hezbollah, despite fears in Beirut that it might trigger civil war. And he pressured Israel to begin a troop withdrawal that could allow Aoun and the Lebanese Armed Forces to reclaim the country’s sovereignty at last.... The hardest part [for Trump] will be standing up to Israel....” MB: Maybe it's not coincidental that Lebanon has a lot of beautiful beachfront property.   

Jacey Fortin, et al., of the New York Times: “The Pentagon on Tuesday released the name of a U.S. soldier killed during the disposal of an Iranian drone in northern Iraq. Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, of Fayetteville, N.C., died Saturday during a controlled detonation at Erbil Air Base. The incident is under investigation, the Pentagon said.... Sergeant Swinton was not involved in the actual detonation, but was killed by flying debris from the blast, said a U.S. official....” (Also linked yesterday.)

Noah Robertson, et al., of the Washington Post: “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth faced bipartisan scrutiny in the Senate on Tuesday as frustrated lawmakers pressed him to explain the Trump administration’s strategy for the war in Iran amid renewed hostilities and rising costs. The hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee was the first time Hegseth testified before Congress since the collapse of a truce between Washington and Tehran in recent days. The session also marked lawmakers’ first public oversight of the administration’s request for $67 billion in additional funding to cover the costs of the conflict. Hegseth, who testified alongside Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, defended the funding request as an “urgent, necessary” step to restock the Pentagon’s arsenal of precision weaponry diminished during the fighting and to avoid looming shortfalls in the military’s budget.” ~~~

     ~~~Joseph Gedeon & Lauren Gambino of the Guardian: “The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth told the Senate on Tuesday that the US-Israel war on Iran had cost $37.5bn so far, as he faced lawmakers furious over the conflict’s soaring price tag and the deaths last week of three American service members. During an appearance before the Senate appropriations committee, Hegseth, whose opening remarks were repeatedly interrupted by protesters, provided an updated account of the war’s cost – up from previous estimates – and defended the Trump administration’s roughly $88bn supplemental funding request, calling it 'urgent, necessary'.... Hegseth argued that the Pentagon was running low on cash to keep the fight going. Of the total request, as much as $67.1bn is earmarked specifically to cover the costs of the Iran war effort.”~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I saw a couple of clips from the hearing and could not help but notice Pete was sweating profusely. Gen. Caine, who was sitting alongside Pete, was not visibly sweating. This got me to wondering why Pete's makeup was running down his face. An idea popped into my head. So I asked Art Intel a pointed question, and he answered, "Yes, testosterone therapy can cause increased sweating. It is a very common side effect as your body adjusts to changing hormone levels, which alters your metabolism and temperature regulation." ~~~

~~~ Taking the Back Door into a War Authorization? Emin Yucel in TPM: “Almost five months into ... Donald Trump’s war on Iran, the Trump administration still has not asked for authorization from Congress to continue hostilities.... In 1999 'the Clinton Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel issued an opinion holding that the supplemental appropriation itself — passed without any authorizing language — satisfied the War Powers Resolution requirement. So is the department looking to that or intending to rely on that same reasoning that funding alone can substitute for explicit congressional authorization?' [Sen. Lisa] Murkowski [R] asked [Pete Hegseth during yesterday's hearing].... Hegseth largely dodged the Alaska senator’s question on Tuesday, saying he would have to 'defer to our legal department' on the issue.”

Noah Robertson, et al., of the Washington Post: “The Pentagon faces an urgent budget shortfall caused largely by the war in Iran, with some critical lines of funding set to run out within weeks even as ... Donald Trump escalates the conflict with Tehran, according to lawmakers and current and former U.S. officials. The funding crunch is already leading the Pentagon to limit training and maintenance that help maintain military readiness, according to four current and former officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to candidly describe the budget constraints.And the collapsed ceasefire with Iran could further strain the military’s budget: After four U.S. service members died during more than a week of intensified fighting, officials in Washington signaled they were preparing for a wider conflict.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: While there are a number of reasons -- lives lost, prestige tanked, etc. -- that the U.S. could not afford this war of choice, it turns out that we also literally could not afford it. Trump & Hogsbreath got us into a war they didn't have the money to fund.

It Was the Best of Deals; It Was the Worst of Deals. Matina Stevis-Gridneff of the New York Times: “On Monday ... Mr. Trump made use, for the first time in history, of a nearly century-old provision to impose fresh tariffs on [Canada,] the second-largest U.S. trading partner. But the move is more likely to elicit stoicism than panic from the Canadian side. The tariffs, which experts expect to face legal challenges, target more than 500 Canadian goods.... That’s about 2 percent of the entire trading relationship in goods between the two neighbors, which was worth some $720 billion last year. Those goods are virtually all covered by the upended United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, a free-trade pact known as the U.S.M.C.A. In 2020 it replaced and updated the North American Free Trade Agreement, which took effect in 1994. Mr. Trump, who negotiated the U.S.M.C.A. during his first term, at the time called it the 'largest, fairest, most balanced and modern trade agreement ever achieved,' but has criticized it in his second term as the worst agreement ever.... [Canada's prime minister, Mark Carney,] has turned to both Asia and Europe to strengthen Canada’s economic and strategic alliances, and has made it plain that diversification away from the United States is his core U.S. policy.” (Also linked yesterday.)~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If you are a U.S. citizen, it is patriotic to root for Canada, because when you do so, you are rooting for the Americans (including yourself) who will pay these regressive tariffs. As PM Carney said in his statement, linked yesterday, "This trade dispute has raised costs for families, particularly in the U.S." ~~~

~~~ AP, via the Guardian: “A planned joint US-Canada ceremony Friday celebrating the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, is no longer expected to take place after Donald Trump announced a 50% tariff on most Canadian goods.... 'In light of trade action threatened by the United States earlier this week, it would be inappropriate to proceed with a celebratory event between the two countries,' said ... a spokesperson for Canadian Infrastructure Minister Gregor Robertson, in an emailed statement. The move came after US and Canadian officials reached an agreement earlier this month to open the Gordie Howe International Bridge after delays tied to disagreements between the two countries.”

Kevin Breuninger of CNBC: “U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Tuesday signaled another round of ...Donald Trump’s tariffs is on the way. 'We expect to see some action soon,' Greer told CNBC’s 'Squawk Box' when asked if new tariffs are forthcoming, in light of an FT report that more duties could be announced as soon as this week. 'I can’t really specify a timeline right now. I have responsibility to brief Congress and other stakeholders before I really reveal that kind of thing,' Greer noted.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Phillip Bump, in a squeet, cites two Trump social media posts; in one, as RAS writes, Trump "blame[s] for its forest fires and then whine[s] about climate change being a hoax." Bump writes: "This combination, two days apart, will serve for future historians as an effective shorthand for the lunacy of the moment."

Ari Hawkins & Oliver Ward of Politico: “... Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a plan to impose a 100 percent tariff on generic drugs starting in August 2028 as part of a bid to push pharmaceutical production back to the United States. The tariff would then jump to 200 percent in 2029, if implemented, the president said in a social media post.” MB: He really cannot stop thinking up ways to make life more unaffordable for Americans. Fuel, food, Canadian products, prescription drugs.

Real journalists have been disgusted by White House reporters' failures to stand up to Trump: ~~~ 

~~~ Ted Johnson of Deadline: “Veteran and former journalists are renewing their calls on the White House Correspondents’ Association to speak out on the Trump administration’s attacks on reporters and press freedom when he attends its rescheduled dinner on Friday. A letter to the WHCA, organized by former ABC News correspondent Lisa Stark and executive producer Ian Cameron, reiterates earlier calls to condemn the president’s attacks on the news media. More than 500 veteran and former journalists signed on to a letter in advance of the April dinner. The April event, though, was ended abruptly after a gunman attempted to enter the Washington Hilton ballroom by breaching a security checkpoint, with a Secret Service agent struck by a bullet into his protective vest....

“'Since that evening, the administration’s attacks on journalists and press freedom have become even more egregious,' the new letter to the WHCA stated. 'The President’s Department of Justice has subpoenaed journalists and their phone records. President Trump has threatened to revoke licenses of broadcasters who refuse to acquiesce to his demands.' The letter called on the WHCA to 'forcefully stand up for freedom of the press in front of the President, publicly defend the journalists he attacks, and vow to resist his administration’s concerted effort to undermine the First Amendment.'”

Josh Gerstein of Politico: “A federal magistrate judge ruled Tuesday that ... Donald Trump must turn over detailed financial information in connection with his defamation lawsuit against the BBC. U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett concluded that Trump’s sweeping complaint put injury to his businesses at the forefront and made their vitality a fair subject for the BBC to demand information about. 'All of President Trump’s brand, properties and businesses are impugned or said to have been impugned. Reputational, economic damages, all of that is now at issue in this case,' Lett said at the conclusion of a three-hour hearing. Her decision opened the door for the BBC to explore the finances of more than 400 companies owned by a Trump family trust, but Trump can appeal the ruling to U.S. District Court Judge Roy Altman, a Trump appointee.... Trump’s lawyers had tried to head off the ruling by backing away from some of his initial damage claims, giving up on assertions that the 2024 BBC documentary had caused him economic injuries and diminished the value of his companies.” MB: Still, discovery is a bitch. Maybe Trump should not have sued the BBC.

“Have You No Sense of Decency, Sir?” Marco Wants to Revive McCarthyism. Ken Klippenstein: “A new State Department report on Cuba’s 'campaign of subversion against the United States' is a virtual government blacklist against left-wing Americans and groups. Linked to last week’s Rubio-led summit on 'political terrorism,' the report is unusually candid about the government’s targets.... It names people like Ben Cohen (of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream fame), Mayors Zohran Mamdani and Karen Bass, media figures like Amy Goodman and Hasan Piker, and organizations like the Democratic Socialists of America and the Amazon Labor Union. The implication is clear: Secretary of State Marco Rubio thinks there should be a modern-day blacklist of the political left in America. In fact, the report explicitly mentions the 'blacklists, McCarthy-era investigations and prosecutions' of the 1950s and their effectiveness at dismembering the Communist Party USA.” Thanks to RAS for the link. MB: I think we have enough information now to assert that the Viceroy of Venezuela is not just playing at being a right-wing extremist to placate his boss; he is a right-wing extremist. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Marie: This is truly insane. Joe McCarthy was a madman whose Red Scare brought dark days to the nation. Not for nothing, his chief counsel Roy Cohn was Donald Trump's favorite twisted lawyer. (Art Intel defines "McCarthyism as "the political practice of making baseless accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without sufficient evidence." Sound familiar?) On another note: sometimes maybe it's not the cruelty that is the point. Maybe it's the indifference: ~~~

~~~ The State Department Is Killing People -- Especially Children -- Then Lying About It. Apoorva Mandavilli of the New York Times: “The Trump administration’s cuts to the largest global H.I.V. program last year resulted in sharp drops in both prevention efforts and treatment for the people most at risk from the disease, according to the first large survey of organizations that had received the funds. The findings show a grimmer picture of the impact of the cuts than the State Department’s data, released in April, which seemed to suggest that the program had helped to treat about as many people last year as it had in 2024. To comply with the administration’s policies, the new survey, conducted by the H.I.V. charity amfAR, found, three-quarters of the organizations stopped providing services to those at highest risk from H.I.V. — sex workers, men who have sex with men, transgender people and people who inject drugs.... A second study, conducted by a multinational group of scientists..., found that the cuts had disproportionately affected children with H.I.V.” (Also linked yesterday.) See related story linked below wherein Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) threatens to blow up Trump's ambassadorial picks if the administration doesn't release authorized PEPFAR funds.

FOIA, the Fascism Exception. Eleanor Watson & James LaPorta of CBS News: "The Pentagon is asking Congress for broad new authority to withhold unclassified records from the public, a proposal that transparency advocates say could significantly reduce the public's ability to scrutinize the nation's largest federal agency and understand how billions of taxpayer dollars are spent. The legislative proposal seeks to create a new section of federal law allowing the defense secretary to exempt certain 'controlled unclassified information,' or CUI, from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act if the U.S. military determines the records concern national defense vulnerabilities and concludes that the harm from disclosure outweighs the public interest. Brett Max Kaufman [of the ACLU] ... told CBS News in an email that for decades, there has been 'a massive overclassification problem throughout the executive branch.... The last thing the government needs is a new power to withhold information under the FOIA,' Kaufman wrote." Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: IOW, every damned time a journalist or other interested party submitted a FOIA request for documents that could embarrass the administration, the Pentagon would deny the request. This is yet another step in Drunk Pete's aggressive program to shut down journalists and any other avenue for accountability, another bullet point on the very long list that mocks the Orwellian claim that "this is the most transparent administration ever."

A Murder in Texas, Ctd. Uriel Garcia, et al., of the Texas Tribune: “Two passengers in a van when an immigration agent fatally shot 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo earlier this month said that two unmarked vehicles struck them from behind and the side before they stopped, according to their written statements filed in a Houston federal court. 'At no moment were the agents in front of the vehicle,' Daniel Tirado Pantoja, a rear passenger in the van, said in his hand-written statement in Spanish. 'Lorenzo (Salgado Araujo) had come to a full stop while the agents fired.' Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego, who was also in the back seat, wrote in his statement that a patrol vehicle chased them, but Salgado Araujo believed he had lost the unmarked vehicles. 'Out of nowhere, they suddenly cornered us and we told Lorenzo (Salgado Araujo) to stop the van,' Rojas Pliego wrote. 'When Lorenzo stopped the van, the officer shot him anyway.'... The full statements in Spanish, along with English translations, became public on Monday when they were attached as exhibits as part of petitions filed by Houston attorney Raed Gonzalez seeking the men’s release from an immigration detention facility in nearby Conroe.”

Robert King of Politico: “The Trump administration is withholding more than $1 billion in Medicaid funding to California and Minnesota over what it deems suspect claims. Tuesday’s funding suspension is the latest action by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to target Medicaid funding in the two states. More than $2.5 billion has been deferred from them due to fraud concerns this year. The agency is deferring $867 million in Medicaid funding to California and $199 million to Minnesota for claims the states spent in the previous quarter. Oz said the money could be unlocked, but only if the states can prove it was used for legitimate services.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Heather Cox Richardson summarizes some recent news reports that show how the Trump administration is profoundly failing the public. MB: I have not linked to some of these stories, and they're worth knowing about. Richardson does not link her stories in the text (I've asked her to, to no avail), but she does provide URLs at the bottom of her post; you have to figure out which URL covers which story she discusses.

The Year Is Half Over AND ... Tina Reed of Axios: "The U.S. measles case count for this year has surged past last year's total and now stands at 2,295 — a level that hasn't been seen in 35 years, according to a Johns Hopkins University tracker that compiles state and local health data.... It's the latest sign that the virus is rebounding in areas with low vaccine coverage, threatening the United States' measles elimination status, which is due to be reviewed in November.... The majority of cases are in unvaccinated people. While overall measles vaccination rates are still relatively high, public health officials say they must remain above 95% to maintain herd immunity.... The rebound comes at a time when a number of key top government health positions — including CDC director and surgeon general — remain vacant, and after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. initially downplayed the virus' threat."  

David Sanger, et al., of the New York Times: “The Trump administration plans to announce Wednesday that it has reached a broad nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia that could lead to the country enriching its own fuel for nuclear reactors, U.S. officials said. The accord is intended to further bind the United States with the Saudi government as the war with Iran strains the relationship. The Trump administration, according to officials, estimates it will provide billions of dollars for the U.S. nuclear industry — starting with Westinghouse, which designs many of the reactors sold abroad.... Although the agreement likely would have support among many Republicans, some U.S. lawmakers from both parties along with Israeli officials have expressed opposition to such a plan, fearing that the kingdom could use a civilian nuclear project to eventually develop nuclear weapons.” The link appears to be a gift link.

Dustin Volz of the New York Times: “The Senate Intelligence Committee approved Jay Clayton on Tuesday as ... [Donald] Trump’s pick to oversee the U.S. intelligence community, clearing a key hurdle that may install Mr. Clayton in the job by the end of the week despite evaporating support from Democrats. The vote, 9 to 8, fell along party lines, as every Republican on the panel backed Mr. Clayton while every Democrat voted in opposition. Assuming he is confirmed by the full Senate as expected, Mr. Clayton will take command of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence from Bill Pulte, a housing official who has pursued campaigns of retribution against the president’s perceived enemies.... Democratic senators were disappointed with Mr. Clayton’s performance in his confirmation hearing last week, finding his evasive answers about whether President Joseph R. Biden Jr. had won the 2020 election unsatisfying.”

Karoun Demirjian of the New York Times: “A federal appeals court on Monday rejected former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s effort to stop the Justice Department from releasing tapes and transcripts of interviews he had with his ghostwriter for his 2017 memoir. In a 2-to-1 ruling, a three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said that Mr. Biden had 'not satisfied the stringent requirements for an injunction' to prevent the release of the tapes. But the court said the decision would not take effect until Aug. 3 to allow Mr. Biden time to appeal. Mr. Biden filed a lawsuit in May in an attempt to block the Justice Department from releasing the recordings to the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank. The interviews between himself and Mark Zwonitzer, who ghostwrote his book 'Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship and Purpose,' came into the Justice Department’s possession as part of a special counsel investigation into whether Mr. Biden had improperly retained classified materials from his earlier term as vice president. Mr. Biden’s lawyers argued that the recordings were always intended to stay private.” The Hill's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Jonah Bromwich & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: “A U.S. attorney in Washington State who was abruptly fired by the Trump administration filed a lawsuit on Tuesday contesting his termination, the first legal challenge of its kind to a Justice Department that has exerted fierce control over top prosecutors. Roger Rogoff, who was fired last week less than an hour after a panel of district court judges unanimously appointed him, argues in his lawsuit that the president does not have the power to terminate judicially appointed U.S. attorneys, despite having done so several times in his second term. The law allows judges to nominate their own U.S. attorneys, and the district court in Washington selected Mr. Rogoff last week after the position sat vacant for months. But he became the latest U.S. attorney to be swiftly dismissed by the Trump administration, whose officials have said they will not tolerate judicial appointments in the absence of close consultation with the Justice Department.” An MS NOW story is here.

Democrats to Challenge Law Firms' Deals with the Devil. Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: “Top Democratic lawmakers demanded new documents on Tuesday from a law firm that cut a deal with ... [Donald] Trump to head off a potentially crippling executive order, signaling that if they return to power after the midterm elections, they plan to investigate the nature of the agreements. Under the deal it reached with the White House, the firm, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, agreed to do $100 million in pro bono work on causes that Mr. Trump supports to avoid the threat of the executive order. It was later revealed that Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer had also connected the firm with the Commerce Department to do legal work for the administration. Eight other firms reached similar deals with the White House while four successfully fought them in court. 'We need to confront what a serious crisis this was, and is, in the legal profession of America,] Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee..., said in a brief telephone interview. 'We’ve never seen anything like it before.'”

Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: “House Republicans on Tuesday pushed through a stopgap spending bill to keep government funding flowing through early December.... But the fate of the measure was deeply uncertain, with Democrats opposed and the Senate G.O.P. leader casting doubt on the chances of quick action in his chamber, where legislation needs some degree of bipartisan backing to move. On a 220-to-205 vote, mostly along party lines, the House approved the kind of emergency temporary spending measure that normally is advanced mere days or hours before federal funding is set to lapse in order to avert a shutdown. But this time, House G.O.P. leaders offered the so-called continuing resolution months in advance of the Sept. 30 deadline, effectively daring Democrats to oppose it.” Politico's story is here. ~~~

~~~ Jordain Carney of Politico: “Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Tuesday that he will put a short-term stopgap bill to fund the government on the floor before the August recess – and warned that Republicans could pursue a party-line spending bill if they can’t reach a deal with Democrats.... Thune ... indicated he could use a House budget resolution to fund the government using the party-line reconciliation process...[, which requires only a simple majority of votes].”

Burgess Everett & Adrian Elimian of Semafor: "Texas GOP Sen. John Cornyn is threatening to vote down the ambassadorial nominations ... on Wednesday unless the Trump administration releases money aimed at fighting the spread of AIDS in Africa. Cornyn told Semafor that he would not support committee action on Kari Lake’s nomination to be ambassador to Jamaica or Doug Mastriano’s bid to become ambassador to Slovakia without confirmation that the administration will distribute money from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, commonly known as PEPFAR... 'The only way it seems like you can get the administration’s attention on some of these funding issues is by using the leverage to withhold votes on nominees,' Cornyn said in an interview. 'We are going to use the committee vote tomorrow as a way to … get the money distributed the way Congress appropriated it.'... Cornyn could singlehandedly stall both nominees in the committee....” A Politico story is here.

No-Show Dersh. Lauren Peller & Peter Charalambous of ABC News: "House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., called it 'unacceptable' Tuesday that attorney Alan Dershowitz failed to appear Monday for a scheduled transcribed interview as part of the committee's probe into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.... In a brief phone call with ABC News last Friday, Dershowitz said his lawyers 'instructed him that he is not permitted to testify at this time.'... Dershowitz previously said he was eager to appear before the House panel regarding his work representing Epstein, saying he 'has a lot of relevant information' about the disgraced financier."

Le Monde with AFP: "A French modelling scout with close ties to deceased US financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has been found dead at his home outside Paris, prosecutors said on Wednesday, July 22. Daniel Siad, 69, was under investigation in France as one of several French men accused of aiding Epstein to traffic and abuse women. Siad had not yet been questioned by investigators, but he had denied the allegations, saying he wanted to be heard and give his version of events."

Mychael Schnell & Ken Dilanian of MS NOW: "The Department of Justice is conducting a criminal investigation into Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., according to two sources..., adding to the mounting legal and ethical scrutiny facing the embattled congressman. The sources didn’t disclose the focus of the DOJ investigation. But a third source told MS NOW at least one person was contacted by the FBI last year about Mills’ finances, allegations of misconduct and individuals in his orbit. The DOJ investigation comes as Mills stares down an ongoing investigation from the House Ethics Committee, which is looking into allegations that include campaign finance violations, sexual misconduct, accepting improper gifts, financial disclosure violations and the misuse of congressional resources."

⭐Paul Krugman (video and transcript): "Good news. The second richest man in America might be prevented from taking over CNN. That's the good news. The bad news is, aside from the fact that he probably will manage to pull it off anyway, the bad news is that that would be only a small piece of the ongoing takeover of U.S. media by oligarchs. And in turn, the media takeover is just part of the extraordinary exercise of power by the extraordinarily wealthy small number of men who have been wreaking so much havoc with America as we know it.... We are talking instead about stuff that's largely out in the open, though not fully understood, which is the way that an incredibly wealthy small group of men, mostly men, is able to commandeer a lot of the political life of a country that is still nominally a democracy. And that's a fundamental story for our time, maybe the fundamental story."

Tens of Millions of Americans Watched Trump Embarrass Their Country Again. Dan Shanoff of the New York Times/Athletic: “The World Cup final — won by Spain 1-0 over Argentina — drew 38.9 million viewers on Fox, making it the most-watched English-language soccer telecast in U.S. history. At its peak, the final on Fox drew nearly 51.7 million viewers. Telemundo also delivered record ratings for the final, with 23.9 million viewers, making the game the most-watched Spanish-language soccer telecast in U.S. history by total audience, topping the previous record set by the Mexico-England game on July 5. Taken together, more than 60 million people across the U.S. consuming the World Cup final on Sunday put it in the same audience category as the NFL playoffs, the most popular programming on U.S. TV outside of the Super Bowl.”

Liam Bowman of the Washington Post: “Benjamin Del Real Jr. was visiting the White House with his father and sister on May 23 when a gunman opened fire on Secret Service agents across the street. Del Real and other bystanders dropped to the ground, but as the agents returned fire, a bullet struck Del Real in the abdomen, critically wounding him, an attorney for Del Real said Tuesday. The gunman, later identified as Nasire Best, was killed in the exchange. Now, Del Real, 25, is pursuing a lawsuit against the Secret Service, accusing its agents of negligent conduct for wounding him in their response to the shooting.... Secret Service agents 'are trained to identify and neutralize targets without hurting or injuring civilians.... Unfortunately, they fell well short of their training on May 23 of this year,' Joseph T. Murphy, a Chicago-based attorney representing Del Real, said at a news conference Tuesday.Del Real, an active-duty soldier stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, said Tuesday that he worries the long-term effects of his injuries will hamper his career in the Army.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: A settlement fund the Treasury holds is meant for cases like this, where federal agents harm an individual. The fund is not meant for cases where individuals attack the federal government, as Donald Trump -- who does everything ass-backwards -- wants to use it.

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Arizona Gubernatorial Race. Reis Thebault of the New York Times: “Representative Andy Biggs, a conservative ally of ... [Donald] Trump, won the Republican nomination for governor of Arizona on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press. His victory tees up a general election showdown with the Democratic incumbent, Gov. Katie Hobbs, in the battleground state. Mr. Biggs prevailed over three other challengers, including Representative David Schweikert, who argued that the party needed to nominate more moderate candidates to win back statewide offices.... Mr. Biggs, the former chair of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, began his campaign early last year, dismayed that Arizona was not 'the reddest state in the country.' He pledged to transform it into 'the Florida of the West.'” MB: Biggs is not “a conservative,” as Thebault asserts. He is “far-right,” as Thebault notes further down the page. (See, for instance, Biggs' Wikipage. ~~~

Arizona Secretary of State Race. David Chen of the New York Times: “State Representative Alexander Kolodin, an Ivy League-educated lawyer who has echoed ... [Donald] Trump’s unfounded claims of fraud in the 2020 election, on Tuesday won the Republican primary to become Arizona’s top elections official, The Associated Press said. Mr. Kolodin will face Adrian Fontes, the Democratic incumbent, in the November election for secretary of state. Mr. Kolodin defeated Gina Swoboda, a former chairwoman of the Arizona Republican Party. Their bitterly fought primary offered a stark contrast over how elections have been conducted in Arizona....

“Mr. Kolodin was backed by Turning Point USA and other hard-right organizations. Mr. Trump had endorsed Ms. Swoboda when she initially announced a congressional bid, but he did not explicitly endorse anyone after she switched to the secretary of state race. Mr. Kolodin represented Mr. Trump’s allies who challenged election results in 2020 and in 2022, when Kari Lake, an ally of the president, lost her bid for the governorship. He was later censured by the state bar for bringing cases in bad faith.”

Arizona House Primary. Samuel Benson of Politico: “A scandal-plagued House candidate powered by ... Donald Trump’s endorsement won a messy primary Tuesday. Mark Lamb, the former Pinal County sheriff, overcame a late push from self-funding candidate Daniel Keenan in Arizona’s 5th District. Lamb will enter November as the heavy frontrunner in the deep-red Phoenix-area district to replace Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), who is running for governor.” MB: How scandal-plagued? you ask. This scandal-plagued: ~~~

New Jersey. Tracey Tully of the New York Times: “Roughly 400 noncitizens voted in New Jersey after about 6,600 residents were improperly registered to vote between June 2023 and June 2024 because of a software error at the Department of Motor Vehicles, Gov. Mikie Sherrill [D] announced on Tuesday. All of the people affected had disclosed that they were not citizens when registering for either a driver’s license or ID, but were nonetheless placed on the voter rolls in error.... All 6,600 people will be removed from the voter rolls.... State officials became aware of the error last week and began an immediate investigation into what had happened.” A Politico report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

New York. Liam Stack of the New York Times: “Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday night challenged the federal government to execute an international arrest warrant against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, calling him a 'war criminal' and 'the architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people' in a striking video statement. The mayor said the city Law Department explored whether the New York Police Department could arrest the Israeli prime minister during his expected visit to the city in September but that the city did not have 'independent legal authority' to do so. The mayor’s announcement came days after he told Lulu Garcia-Navarro last week on 'The Interview,' a New York Times show, that he had been in 'active conversation' with the city’s lawyers about executing a warrant issued for Mr. Netanyahu in 2024 by the International Criminal Court.” Update: the link has been changed to one that appears to be a gift link. ~~~

     ~~~ The video statement is embedded within the NYT story. The video statement also is on YouTube here.

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Marc Santora of the New York Times: “President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine removed his top general on Tuesday night amid swelling public protests and growing concerns that the national unity that had helped the country survive nearly five years of war was in danger of fracturing. The dismissal of the general, Oleksandr Syrskyi, was a major reversal for Mr. Zelensky, who just days earlier sided with him and fired Ukraine’s defense minister, Mykhailo Fedorov. Mr. Zelensky said he was replacing General Syrskyi with Maj. Gen. Mykhailo Drapatyi, the commander of the Joint Forces. The choice was likely to please the protesters, after Mr. Drapatyi had publicly sided with Mr. Fedorov in his clash with General Syrskyi over warfighting strategy. Thousands of people had joined mass demonstrations to pressure Mr. Zelensky to change course and reaffirm Mr. Fedorov’s vision of warfare as increasingly dominated by drones and robots. As he championed a military overhaul that leaned into high-tech innovation, Mr. Fedorov, 35, emerged as a symbol of hope to many Ukrainians, particularly young people.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Obviously, "letting the people decide" is not always the best idea -- and perhaps it's not the best idea here; I don't know. But it is a Ukrainian tradition -- a boost for pure democracy -- that would serve the U.S. well right now. Imagine if the anti-ICE protests had curtailed DHS excesses! Imagine if the massive "No Kings" protests had curbed Trump's tyranny! It is true that many of our past presidents and legislators have heeded the polls -- another way of responding to the public's will. But Trump hears no one except the crazy little man bouncing around in his empty head, and GOP Congressional toadies dance in a conga line behind the crazy man.