Washington Today

President Donald Trump sues Wall Street Journal after its latest article about the President & the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as the controversy continues at the White House and in Congress over whether and how to release files related to that case; House joins the Senate in passing a $9 billion rescissions package in a late night vote, sending the bill to the president to be signed into law to cancel funds for foreign aid & public broadcasting; President Trump signs into law the first major bill regulating digital currency, on the subset of cryptocurrency called stablecoins; Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) flips her vote on an amendment on the relocation of the FBI headquarters, allowing for now the bureau to go to the Ronald Reagan building in DC instead of a site in Greenbelt, Maryland; Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz meets US Def Sec Israel Katz at the Pentagon; House pays tribute to the late former Congressman William Lacy "Bill" Clay, Sr., a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus, who has died at age 94. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Senate passes the $9 billion rescissions bill, canceling foreign aid and money for public broadcasting, in a very early morning vote, sending the revised bill back to the House, which has until Friday to act on it or the money will be spent; Senate Democratic effort to force the Trump Admin to release all files related to the case of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is blocked by Republicans; Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans vote to approve Emil Bove for a federal appeals court judgeship on their own, after committee Democrats walk out in protest saying they were not given enough time to debate what they say is a controversial nominee; White House responds to recent photos of President Donald Trump showing swelling in his legs, saying he has diagnosed with the blood circulation condition called "chronic venous insufficiency", and of bruising on his hands, saying it is irritation from frequent handshaking and the use of aspirin” for his heart, and overall, the president is in excellent health; House passes three cryptocurrency bills, including one banning a central bank digital currency, after three days of intense negotiations between the Speaker and conservative Republicans. We will talk about it with Politico reporter Jasper Goodman (41); Attorney General Pam Bondi & Interior Secretary Doug Burgum visit Alcatraz in San Francisco after President Trump ordered it be reopened as a federal prison. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump says it is "highly unlikely" he will fire the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell after many media outlets reported he signaled he would after meeting privately with some House Republicans; President Trump criticizes Republicans who are calling for release of filing on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, calling the questions surrounding the suicide and a client list a "hoax", labeling the Republican "weaklings" who are doing "Democrats work", and saying he does not want their support anymore; Senate moves into the home stretch on the $9 billion rescissions bill that cuts foreign aid and public broadcasting money with a vote-a-rama, a long series of votes on amendments; President Trump signs a bill to toughen prison sentencing for trafficking the drug fentanyl; NYC Mayor Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani meets with U.S. House Democrats in Washington; former Chief of Staff to former President Jill Biden, Anthony Bernal, pleads the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination at the U.S. House Oversight Committee's investigation of former President Joe Biden mental fitness while in office and his use of an autopen; Israel launches airstrikes at Syria's capital city Damascus; tonight is the annual Congressional Women's Softball Game for charity, pitting a bipartisan team of Members of Congress against a team of DC reporters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Senate Republicans make changes to the rescissions bill to gain necessary Republican support ahead of the first procedural vote, restoring $400 million for PEPAR, the global anti-AIDS program and protecting funding for some rural public broadcasters; Inflation report from the Labor Dept – up 0.3% in June, an annual rate of 2.7%, highest since February and maybe a sign President Trump's tariffs are leading to increases prices; House Republicans vote down a Democratic motion to make public FBI files on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, after the Trump Admin stated Epstein did not keep a client list and did commit suicide in prison, which some of the president's MAGA supporters are questioning, while President Trump tells reporters General Pam Bondi should release "whatever she thinks is credible" on Jeffrey Epstein; U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations nominee Mike Waltz testifies before Senate Foreign Relations Committee about reforming the UN and on the Signal Chat controversy when he was National Security Adviser; NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte meets with Senators on Capitol Hill about supporting Ukraine in the war with Russia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Trump is upping the ante with Russia to end its war with Ukraine. He made two announcements today: First--100 percent tariffs on any country that trades with Russia, unless a cease-fire is reached within in 50 days. And second---a deal with NATO members to send weapons to Ukraine. This comes as a bipartisan Senate bill that puts sanctions on Moscow that its two lead sponsors say could be the sledgehammer the president needs to end the conflict. Also in the Senate, Republicans are focused on their bill to take back more than 9 billion dollars in federal funds--including for public broadcasting and foreign aid. This is the same bill House Republicans passed last month and the Senate has until Friday to approve it. But it's facing opposition from handful of Republicans and all Senate Democrats, who say any rescissions would hurt future bipartisan government funding talks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this weekend's episode, three segments from this past week's Washington Journal. First, a discussion about Medicaid provisions in the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," with Paragon Health Institute's Ryan Long and Center for Economic and Policy Research's Brandon Novick. Then, Politico trade reporter Daniel Desrochers discusses President Trump pushing off another tariff deadline… Finally, Run For Something co-founder & President Amanda Litman discusses her group's effort to help elect young progressives to public office. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump & First Lady Melania Trump travel to Kerrville, Texas to see firsthand the damage from the catastrophic floods that killed at least 120 in the state's Hill Country, with another 170 still missing, meeting with first responders and local officials and promising help to recover and rebuild; federal judge in Maryland indicates she will issue an order to protect Kilmar Abrego Garcia from being quickly deported again if the federal government tries to if Abrego Garcia is released from custody in Tennessee while he is await trial on human trafficking charge; Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets China's Foreign Minister for the first time on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Malaysia, discussing tariffs and Indo-Pacific security issues; Secretary Rubio also asked about President Trump's announcement that the U.S. will send Ukraine weapons through the NATO military alliance and NATO will pay for them; White House Budget Director Russell Vought promises to investigate Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's handling of renovations at the Federal Reserve building in DC, which Vought calls a 'palace' with enormous cost overruns. Longtime DC media pundit and presidential adviser David Gergen has died at age 83. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Federal judge blocks President Trump's executive order ending birthright citizenship nationwide by certifying a class action lawsuit; Senate takes up the first judicial nomination of the second Trump Administration, passing a procedural vote for Whitney Hermandorfer to be a federal appeals court judge for the 6th Circuit; Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson tells a meeting of the Indianapolis Bar Assn the state of U.S. democracy is what keeps her up at night; Senate Appropriations Committee gets started on the first three FY2026 federal spending bills, even though there is no agreement between Republicans and Democrats on how much total spending there should be. One of those bills is put in limbo after a Democratic amendment passes to block President Donald Trump's decision to move the FBI HQ to the Reagan Int'l Trade Building in DC instead of a site in Greenbelt, Maryland that had been chosen after a long competition, and then Republicans withdraw support from the underlying spending bill; Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he had a 'frank conversation' with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and expressed the U.S.'s frustration over not making progress to end the war in Ukraine; Secretary Rubio also asked about reports that someone has been impersonating him in texts and calls using artificial intelligence, contacting foreign ministers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Senate confirms Bryan Bedford to be FAA Administrator; President's nominee for NOAA Administrator, Neil Jacobs, promises at a Senate confirmation hearing to fully staff the National Weather Service, after the deadly floods in Texas; former White House physician Dr. Kevin O'Connor refuses to answer questions before the House Oversight Committee in the Republican investigation of President Joe Biden's mental fitness for office, invoking his Fifth Amendment Constitutional right and doctor-patient confidentiality; President Donald Trump holds a summit at the White House the leaders of five West African nations; President sends more letters to more countries informing them of their tariff rates; retired bicycle racer Greg LeMond receives the Congressional Gold Medal and talks about how Europeans viewed him as the first American winner of the Tour de France. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump held an hour and 45 minutes cabinet meeting during which he said the new August 1st date when tariff levels he is imposing on other countries are to take effect will not be extended, compared Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to "Saturday Night Live" character of "The Pathological Liar" after Sen. Schumer called for an investigation into whether National Weather Service budget cuts impacted forecasting and warnings of the deadly central Texas floods, confirmed that defense weapons will be sent to Ukraine to help defend against Russia's latest air attacks, said he will meet again with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to try to advance a ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza, and called a reporter's question about Jeffrey Epstein a "waste the time" and a 'desecration' when there are other important issues to discuss; Senate has two weeks to pass a nearly $10 billion rescissions package canceling funding for global health and foreign aid programs, and public broadcasting or the bill dies. We will talk about it Axios Senate reporter Stephen Neukam (22); TSA is no longer requiring air travelers to remove their shoes for security screenings; Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announces a plan to counter Chinese company purchases of U.S. farmland; State Department is asked about a person using Artificial Intelligence to pose as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and contact foreign ministers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

White House pushes back on suggestions that Trump Administration budget cuts hampered the National Weather Service warnings to those in the path of the deadly floods in Texas, including children at a camp along the river; as the death tolls rises and frantic search and rescue efforts continue for the missing; Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) tells how his daughters were at a camp along the same river recently, calling the situation in Kerr County “every parent’s nightmare"; President Donald Trump releases letters to seven countries informing them of specific U.S. tariff rates on their goods starting August 1st; Japan and South Korea are at 25 percent, promising another seven or so this week; federal court hearing in Maryland in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, as his lawyers seek to ensure due process in case the federal government seeks to deport their client again, this time not to El Salvador, but to a third country; Justice Dept says the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide, did not keep a client list and did not try to blackmail anyone, confirming what investigators found years ago, but contradicting what has been believed by some; Israeli Prime Minister M Benjamin Netanyahu is in Washington to meet with President Trump to discuss the wars against Hamas and Iran. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this weekend's episode, three segments from this past week's Washington Journal. First, Ambassador Monica Crowley, Chief of Protocol for the United States, discusses the mission of America250, the start of celebrations on Thursday, and her role as principal media representative. Then, Documentary writer, producer, and correspondent Martin Smith discusses his latest PBS Frontline film: "Syria After Assad." Finally, a discussion with Erin Harkey – CEO of the group Americans for the Arts- on efforts by the Trump Administration to cut federal funding for arts and culture programs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

House passes tax cut & spending cut Budget Reconciliation "One Big Beautiful Bill", 218-214, sending it to the President to be signed into law, after a dramatic all-night session to convince enough Republican holdouts to vote yes, and after a record-breaking 8 hour, 44 minute speech against the bill by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY); June jobs report: 147,000 jobs created, unemployment rate falls to 4.1%; Fourth of July fireworks on the National Mall security preview; DC Mayor & Police Chief talk about the fatal shooting of an Capitol Hill college student intern from Massachusetts; First Lady Melania Trump meets with young patients at National Children's Hospital; President Donald Trump speaks by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin after reports the U.S. is pausing some weapons shipments to Ukraine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

House is slowing working on the modified Budget Reconciliation bill, the tax cut & spending cut 'One Big Beautiful Bill', passed yesterday by the Senate with VP JD Vance's tie-breaking vote, slowly because Speaker Mike Johnson and President Donald Trump have been meeting with both conservative and moderate Republicans opposed to the bill for different reasons, either it does not cut enough spending or cuts too much, and Republicans can only afford to lose 3 of their Members since all Democrats plans to vote 'no'; FCC Chair Brendan Carr lays out what he calls a 'Build America' agenda in his first major policy speech as chair to “unleash high-speed infrastructure builds…. restore America’s leadership in wireless… boost the U.S. space economy…. and advance our national security'"; interview with Variety Senior TV Editor Brian Steinberg on Paramount settling a lawsuit with President Trump over the editing of a CBS News' "60 Minutes" interview with then Democratic Presidential nominee Kamala Harris (24); State Department and Pentagon comment on the U.S. reportedly pausing some weapons shipments to Ukraine, including air defense missiles Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Senate passes the budget reconciliation bill, also called the One Big Beautiful Bill, containing President Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans' domestic agenda of tax cuts, spending cuts and more money for border security and defense, by a 51-50 vote, with Vice President JD Vance breaking the tie. Sen Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) provided the necessary 'yes' vote for passage after negotiating last-minute changes on health care and food aid; Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell confirms that the Fed would have cut interest rates this year had it not been for President Trump's 'Liberation Day' high tariffs, whose impact on inflation is still uncertain; Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with the foreign ministers of Australian, India & Japan, the so-called Quad, as tariffs and trade talks continue with those allies; President Trump visits a new immigrant detention center a remote area of the Florida Everglades dubbed Alligator Alcatraz and says it could be a model for similar facilities to increase deportations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Senate's vote-a-rama continues, as members offer and vote on amendments to the Republican's tax and spending cuts bill. But passage of the bill isn't a sure thing. Republicans Rand Paul of Kentucky and Thom Tillis of North Carolina have both said they're voting "no", while Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska haven’t said how they'll vote. Congressional Republicans and President Trump have said they want the bill passed and signed into law by July 4th. Last night on the floor, Sen. Tillis criticized both the bill's Medicaid cuts and the president for breaking a campaign promise to not interfere with Medicaid benefits. That prompted responses from the president on social media, including one announcing he'd said he would back a primary challenge against the senator. Not long after, Sen. Tillis announced he would not seek reelection next year. A federal appeals court heard arguments today on the president’s use of the Alien Enemies Act. Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union say the Trump administration is unlawfully using the law to take away due process for possible deportees. The administration maintains that a Venezuelan gang is carrying out an invasion of the US at the direction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this weekend's episode, three segments from this past week's Washington Journal. First, Congressman Adam Smith – top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee - discusses U.S. military action against Iran – and what comes next. Then - a discussion about the history and evolution of the War Powers Act Philip Wallach from the American Enterprise Institute. Plus, it was a stunning win for Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani in this week's Democratic primary for New York City Mayor. We speak with Spectrum News New York One (NY1) political director Bob Hardt about what happened. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Supreme Court rules that individual judges do not have the power to block a president's policies across the country, known as nationwide injunctions. The underlying case, whose merits have not been decided yet, involves President Donald Trump's Executive Order restricting birthright citizenship; Supreme Court also handed down other closely-watched decisions today, including in favor of Maryland parents who want to have their children opt-out of a curriculum with LGBTQ books and upholding a Texas law requiring age-verification for adult websites; Senate Republicans look to have their first vote on the tax cut & spending cut budget reconciliation bill on Saturday; House members get a classified briefing on the U.S. bombing of Iranian nuclear site; Foreign Ministers of Rwanda & the Democratic Republic of Congo meet in Washington to sign a peace agreement brokered by the White House; Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) talks about this year's Virginia governor election between Winsome Earle-Sears (R) and Abigail Spanberger (D). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Supreme Court decides that South Carolina can cut off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood because the group provides abortions, ruling that Medicaid patients are not allowed to sue over their right to choose their doctor; Senators get a classified briefing on the U.S. bombings of Iranian nuclear sites, while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth & Gen. Dan Caine, Joint Chiefs of Staff chair hold a news conference with more details about the attack and fresh criticism of news outlets for their coverage of a Pentagon intelligence on the extent of the damage; On the tax & spend One Big Beautiful Bill, some Republicans want the Senate Parliamentarian fired for ruling some key Medicaid provisions cannot stay in the bill because they violate Budget Reconciliation rules; President Trump holds an event at the White House to champion the bill and the first Senate test vote is expected soon; former Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) has died. She was known for supporting gun control, elected after a mass shooting that killed her husband and severely wounded her son. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump says the leaked U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency report suggesting Iran's nuclear program has been set back only a few months after the recent U.S. bombings is wrong, the nuclear sites have been destroyed – in his word 'obliterated' - and the reporters who published the DIA reports finding are 'bad people', 'sick' and are demeaning the hero pilots who carried out the U.S. attack; CDC Director nominee Susan Monarez says at a Senate confirmation vaccines are "life-saving" and she has not seen evidence linking them to autism; Senate Commerce Committee approves Bryan Bedford, CEO of a regional airline, to be FAA Administrator; Claims of a Justice Dept whistleblower who says the Trump Administration planned to disregard court orders that would hinder immigrants deportations come up at several Senate hearings today, with the Attorney General Pam Bondi and former top Justice Dept official Emil Bove, nominated for a federal appeals court judgeship; Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell again points to the threat of inflation from President Trump's tariffs for not cutting interest rates; surprise win in the New York City Mayoral Democratic primary by Zohran Mamdani, a self-described Democratic Socialist. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices