The Latest: House prepares to advance cuts on public broadcasting and foreign aid

The House is expected to approve President Donald �հ��ܳ��’s request to claw back about $9 billion in already appropriated funding for public broadcasting and foreign aid Thursday evening.

The White House had described the rescissions package as a test case and said that if Congress went along, more would come. The House’s approval would mark the first time in decades that a president has successfully submitted a rescissions request to Congress.

Opponents voiced concerns not only about the programs targeted, but about Congress ceding its spending powers to the executive branch as investments approved on a bipartisan basis are being subsequently cancelled on a party-line basis. No Democrats supported the measure when it passed the Senate in the early morning hours Thursday, 51-48, and two Republicans also voted no.

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White House doing own probe of Biden autopen

The White House said Thursday that it has launched its own investigation into former to sign presidential documents.

The counsel’s office has requested information from the ��ɫֱ�� Archives, Leavitt said Thursday.

“We deserve to get to the bottom of it,” the press secretary said.

Press secretary botches name of NYC mayoral candidate

While answering a question about Trump weighing in on New York City’s mayoral race, Leavitt got the name of Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani wrong, calling him “Zemdhani.”

It is unclear whether the flub was intentional. Leavitt did not acknowledge the mistake before moving on.

Trump spoke with Netanyahu about Israelis striking church in Gaza

Trump called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express his frustration with Israel’s military striking the Holy Family Church in Gaza, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

Leavitt said Trump did “not” have a “positive reaction” to the strike and that Netanyahu “agreed” to put out a statement as part of the conversation.

She said that Netanyahu relayed to Trump that it had been a mistake to hit the church.

Trump does not support special prosecutor for Epstein case

Asked about the possible appointment of a special prosecutor for a full probe into the federal sex trafficking case of late financier Jeffrey Epstein, Leavitt confirmed that Trump does not support such a move.

“The president would not recommend a special prosecutor in the Epstein case, she said.

White House planning signing ceremony for crypto legislation

The White House is putting together a signing ceremony for crypto legislation on Friday afternoon.

The House is working its way through the so-called Genius Act, which would regulate a form of cryptocurrency known as stablecoins. The Senate has already passed the legislation, meaning it would go to Trump for his signature once the House passes it.

“This piece of legislation is going to make America the crypto capital of the world,” Leavitt said.

Trump got a health checkup over swollen legs and bruised hand

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt read a doctor’s letter on Thursday that was intended to dispel health concerns about the swelling in �հ��ܳ��’s ankles and a makeup covered hand.

Leavit said that Trump noticed “mild swelling” in his lower legs and was evaluated by the White House medical unit. She said the tests showed “no evidence of deep vein thrombosis or arterial disease,” but that Trump has blood pooling in his veins that she said are common in individuals over than 70.

She said that the bruising on �հ��ܳ��’s hand covered up by makeup is “consistent” with irritation from his “frequent handshaking and the use of aspirin.”

Leavitt said “the president remains in excellent health.”

Trump to travel to Scotland

The White House confirmed Thursday that the president will travel to Scotland later this month.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump will be in Turnberry and Aberdeen from July 25 to July 29. During that visit, Trump will meet with British prime minister Keir Starmer to follow up on the U.S.-U.K. trade deal that the two nations struck earlier this year.

Trump owns two golf courses in Scotland — one in Turnberry and the other in Aberdeen.

Leavitt also said Trump and first lady Melania Trump will head back to the United Kingdom for a state visit Sept. 17 to Sept. 19. That trip had already been confirmed by Buckingham Palace earlier this month. The visit marks the second state visit for Trump and is unprecedented. No U.S. president has been invited for a second state visit.

Columbia University and White House are negotiating

University officials met with administration officials to discuss ways to restore federal funding that has been withheld from the school. That’s according to a person familiar with the meeting who requested anonymity to disclose a private conversation.

Columbia is one of the universities that has been targeted by Trump.

More sanctions against Tren de Aragua leaders

New measures announced by the Treasury and State departments on Thursday designate the gang’s chief, Hector Rusthenford Guerrero, and five other top leaders as members of a transnational criminal organization, blocking their property and assets.

A reward of $5 million for information leading to Guerrero’s arrest or conviction was offered more than a year ago. Tren de Aragua has already been designated a “foreign terrorist organization” by the State Department for its involvement in the illicit drug trade, extortion, money laundering, human smuggling and trafficking, and the sexual exploitation of women and children.

Some alleged gang members who had been imprisoned in the U.S. have been deported to a high-security prison in El Salvador.

Former Fox News host advanced as top federal prosecutor in DC

The Senate Judiciary Committee has advanced former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor for the nation’s capital.

The committee’s Republican members voted unanimously Thursday to send Pirro’s nomination to the Senate floor after Democrats walked out to protest to become a federal appeals court judge.

Pirro has served as acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia since May. Trump withdrew his first pick, Ed Martin Jr., after a said he could not support him, given Martin’s outspoken support for rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol.

Before she replaced Martin, Pirro cohosted the Fox News show “The Five” on weekday evenings. She was elected as a judge in New York’s Westchester County Court in 1990 before serving three terms as the county’s elected district attorney.

A previous Border Patrol hiring spree offers lessons as ICE expands

As Immigration and Customs Enforcement prepares to add 10,000 employees in five years to enable �հ��ܳ��’s the Border Patrol’s torrid expansion in the early 2000s serves as a cautionary tale. Hiring and training standards were loosened, arrests for employee misconduct rose and attrition spiked.

“If they don’t uphold pretty rigorous standards and background checks, you can end up hiring the wrong people, and then you pay a huge price in how the public perceives them,” said Gil Kerlikowske, who ran Customs and Border Protection from 2014 to 2017.

ICE is set to get $76.5 billion, nearly 10 times its annual budget, under “The unprecedented funding for ICE will enable my hard-working officers and agents to continue making America safe again by identifying, arresting and removing criminal aliens from our communities,” acting ICE director Todd Lyons said.

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More than a million US children could be displaced. HUD secretary says helping them is wasteful

Amid a worsening and homelessness crisis, administration is determined to reshape HUD’s expansive role providing stable housing for low-income people, which has been at the heart of its mission for generations.

At a June congressional budget hearing, HUD Secretary Scott Turner that imposing a two-year limit on rental assistance will fix waste and fraud in public housing and Section 8 voucher programs.

“It’s broken and deviated from its original purpose, which is to temporarily help Americans in need,” Turner said. “HUD assistance is not supposed to be permanent.”

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�հ��ܳ��’s proposed HUD time limit could evict 1.4 million of nation’s poorest renters

More than — most of them working families with children — who depend on the nation’s public housing and Section 8 voucher programs could lose under the Trump administration’s proposal to impose a two-year time limit on rental assistance.

obtained exclusively by The Associated Press the limit could affect as many as helped by the .

The NYU report published Thursday predicts “enormous disruption and large administrative costs,” for public housing authorities that “would have to evict all of these households and identify new households to replace them.”

Democrats walk out as Republicans advance judicial nomination of Emil Bove

The uproar started when Republican Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley moved to vote on the nomination of Bove, , to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Democratic Sen. Cory Booker expressed frustration that not all voices had been heard yet, prompting the rest of the Democrats on the committee to walk out before Republicans advanced his nomination to the floor.

Bove, who along with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche served as a criminal defense lawyer for Trump, has been behind some of the most scrutinized Justice Department actions since Trump returned to office, including the dismissal of .

A former Justice Department lawyer of suggesting the department might have to defy court orders. Bove denied that claim.

Blanche wrote in a piece published by Fox News Wednesday that Bove’s “legal acumen is extraordinary, and his moral clarity is above reproach.”

‘Hamilton’ 10th anniversary is a fundraiser for immigration services

plans to use the Broadway performance of to raise about $3 million for the Immigrants: We Get the Job Done Coalition, a group of 14 nonprofits including the ��ɫֱ�� Immigration Law Center.

Miranda told The Associated Press that he remains surprised by the joyous audience reaction to the “Immigrants: We get the job done” line that’s shared in the show by Hamilton and French military officer Marquis de Lafayette. “It’s one of the things that just heartens me and gives me hope. In these dark times, it still gets a big cheer,” Miranda said.

“It’s the same reason why that No Kings protest vastly outnumbered the military parade happening on the same day: There are still a lot of people who believe in basic decency and treating people who come here — often from really tough situations — with humanity.”

OMB chief applauds rescissions package, says another will come ‘soon’

Russ Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, says the imminent passage of a new package of spending cuts shows “enthusiasm” for getting the nation’s fiscal situation under control.

“We’re happy to go to great lengths to get this thing done,” Vought said during a Thursday breakfast with reporters hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.

In response to questions about the relatively small size of the cuts — $9 billion — Vought said it’s because “I knew it would be hard” to pass in Congress, and that more are coming.

Another rescissions package is “likely to come soon,” Vought said. “But we’re not there yet.”

House tees up vote to claw back foreign aid, public broadcasting funds

The House is expected to take up �հ��ܳ��’s request to claw back about $9 billion for foreign aid and public broadcasting on Thursday evening.

“We can’t be spending taxpayer funds overseas, engaging in all sorts of nefarious activities. That’s what this rescissions package is about, to stop that,” Speaker Mike Johnson said. “We need to get back to fiscal sanity and this is an important step.”

The Senate approved the package in the early morning hours Thursday. If the House does the same, the bill would go to �հ��ܳ��’s desk for his signature. Supporters of the foreign aid spending say it’s miniscule for the amount of good it does in saving lives and enhancing the standing of the United States around the world.

Fired State Department employees say Americans aren’t being told the truth

They spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, fearing reprisals as they remain on the payroll until September.

“The American people aren’t getting all of the facts about what the department has done,” said one officer working in intelligence. This person said their team’s work had been transferred to office that lacks capacity to handle the sensitive material.

Others were tasked with maintaining U.S. energy dominance, “a centerpiece of our foreign policy,” Rubio said at his confirmation hearing. “The fact that they got rid of all the energy experts who would promote oil and gas sales overseas clearly undermines everything that they’re saying,” the official said.

The list also includes intelligence analysts who specialize in Russia and Ukraine, and experts with deep institutional and cultural knowledge of China, leaving the U.S. exposed to a country Rubio labeled “the most significant long-term risk to the United States.”

�հ��ܳ��’s State Department says it needs to be nimble

The dismissals are a major concern for staffers being tasked with additional duties to make up for losses in key areas like intelligence and research, consular affairs, diplomatic security, energy, and international and educational organizations. Deeply skeptical Democratic lawmakers predict a devastating impact on U.S. diplomacy.

But Michael Rigas, the State Department official who sent employees the layoff notices, tried Wednesday to allay such concerns, denying that the cuts were made in a haphazard and irresponsible manner to the detriment of national security.

Rigas told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday that the department had grown to more than 76,000 employees worldwide and a massive reorganization was needed to keep it relevant and nimble to respond to foreign crises and policy challenges.

The department “became large and began to lose its way,” becoming “ineffectual bureaucratically,” spokesperson Tammy Bruce told reporters Wednesday.

Where the State Department cuts are hitting

According to a list that current and former foreign service officers compiled and sent to Congress, the layoffs include:

1. more than 100 people whose work in the Bureau of Consular Affairs is self-funded from passport and visa fees. They investigated passport fraud and people who oversaw contracts to provide American citizen services including processing passport applications,

2. experts responsible for dealing with visa fraud and money laundering in Russia and Eastern Europe, transnational criminal organizations and migrant worker visa fraud in Mexico and Central America.

3. A small team in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs that supported the last week and were fired as Marco Rubio was flying back to Washington.

“There’s no one left to do what we were doing,” said a laid-off employee with more than 30 years of experience.

State Department layoffs complicate key Trump priorities

U.S. experts who coordinated intelligence activities, promoted U.S. energy interests abroad and shaped America’s strategy for are among the more than eliminated hundreds of years of institutional knowledge and experience.

The move has America’s diplomatic workforce wondering who — if anyone — will do critical work to keep the U.S. safe and competitive on the world stage.

Many of the offices “abolished” Friday under Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s worked on �հ��ܳ��’s priorities such as combating visa fraud and countering China. Other cuts could delay the processing of of passport applications. Trump officials said the mass dismissals are overdue and necessary to make the department leaner and more efficient.

Wall Street steady again after Trump downplays threat to Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s job

Markets, as well as the dollar, took a quick dive Wednesday on reports that Trump was talking about terminating Powell, but calm was restored after Trump . Futures for the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq were essentially flat in early trading Thursday.

Trump has harshly criticized Powell and his Fed colleagues for the decision to stand pat on interest rates at a time when the economy is broadly healthy and unemployment is low. Now Trump said the central bank chief over cost overruns on a at the Fed’s headquarters.

Wall Street loves lower rates because they goose prices higher for stocks and other investments, but Powell has on waiting to see how �հ��ܳ��’s tariffs affect the economy and inflation.

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Trump administration says civil rights groups are doing the discriminating

The administration has said many policies implemented by both Democratic and Republican administrations are discriminatory and unconstitutional, arguing that acknowledgments of race and federal and corporate policies that seek to address disparities between different demographics are themselves discriminatory. Trump has signed executive orders banning “illegal discrimination” and promoting “merit based opportunity.”

In response to the Urban League’s report, White House spokesman Harrison Fields said civil rights groups that oppose the administration “aren’t advancing anything but hate and division, while the president is focused on uniting our country.”

Urban League declares a ‘state of emergency’ for civil rights

One of the nation’s oldest civil rights organizations is calling for a “new resistance” to the administration’s agenda.

The ��ɫֱ�� Urban League’s annual State of Black America report accuses the federal government of being “increasingly determined to sacrifice its founding principles,” according to a copy obtained by The Associated Press.

“For a long time, people saw white supremacist politics and white nationalism as on the fringe of American politics. It has now become the mainstream of the American right, whose central foundation is within the Republican Party,” said Marc Morial, president of the Urban League.

The report directly critiques , condemns , and top law firms for reversing accuses social media companies of censoring Black voices while enabling “extremists” to spread “radicalizing” views.

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Nationwide protests planned against �հ��ܳ��’s immigration crackdown and health care cuts

Protests against the Trump administration’s mass deportations and cuts to the nation’s health and safety nets for poor people are planned Thursday around the country.

The “Good Trouble Lives On” national day of action honors the late congressman and . Organizers are calling for the demonstrations to be peaceful, as Lewis would have wanted.

“We are navigating one of the most terrifying moments in our nation’s history,” Public Citizen co-president Lisa Gilbert said during an online news conference. “We are all grappling with a rise of authoritarianism and lawlessness within our administration ... the rights, freedoms and expectations of our very democracy are being challenged.”

Republican senators caution Trump against firing Fed chair Jerome Powell

is gaining some key backing on Capitol Hill from GOP senators who fear the repercussions if Trump follows through with the politically independent central banker.

As Trump seemingly waffled back and forth this week on trying to dismiss the Fed chair, some Republicans in Congress began to speak up and warn that such a move would be a mistake. Trump would potentially obliterate the Fed’s independence from political influence and of the U.S. economy if he fires Powell.

“If anybody thinks it would be a good idea for the Fed to become another agency in the government subject to the president, they’re making a huge mistake,” GOP North Carolina Sen. said in a floor speech.

The measure of support from GOP members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs showed how traditional Republicans are carefully navigating a presidency in which Trump often flirts with ideas — like steep tariffs or firing the Fed chair — that threaten to undermine confidence in the U.S. economy.