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THE HOUSE IS POISED to gavel out for the summer after a dispute between President Trump and House Republicans over documents pertaining to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein brought the chamber’s business to a standstill.
Republicans were coming off a huge victory in passing Trump’s agenda bill earlier this month, but the GOP scuffled into summer break gripped by divisions over the Epstein case after the Department of Justice (DOJ) determined the disgraced financier did not keep a “client list.”
The DOJ sought to close the book on the matter and the president has demanded Republicans move on.
But the controversy has taken on a life of its own, even after Trump instructed the DOJ to seek the release of the Epstein grand jury transcripts.
A federal judge in Florida on Wednesday declined the DOJ’s request to unseal the transcripts.
“The Court’s hands are tied — a point that the government concedes,”wrote U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg.
Now, the DOJ says it will meet with Epstein’s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell and a House committee has subpoenaed her testimony.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) sought to downplay the Maxwell angle on Wednesday, saying there are questions about whether she can “be counted on to tell the truth.”
Johnson is caught between Trump and the unruly House GOP caucus, which is demanding answers and full transparency.
Some of Johnson’s own allies on the House Rules Committee are making his life difficult.
The Hill’s Emily Brooks and Mychael Schnellreport:
“Members on the panel — often called the ‘Speaker’s Committee’ in reference to it being a tool of leadership — held up action on a host of planned legislation this week because they were terrified of Democrats forcing more tough votes on releasing the Epstein files.”
Democrats are trying to force a vote on a bipartisan resolution that would publish many new Epstein files, while Republicans on the Rules panel want Johnson to vote on an alternative, non-binding resolution to release the documents.
That will have to wait until at least September, when the House reconvenes.
Johnsons said Wednesday the House will take “appropriate action” when it returns to Washington if the grand jury transcripts haven’t been released.
Meanwhile, The Hill’s Mike Lillisreports that Democrats are playing hardball, sensing a political opportunity.
The Epstein case has long been a fascination on the right, but now many Democrats have taken up the cause, sensing a vulnerability as Trump insists there’s nothing to see.
“The pedophile protection party is shutting down Congress just to avoid voting on the release of the Epstein files,” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) wrote on X.
SENATE LOOKS AHEAD TO FISCAL CLIFF
Is the government headed for a shutdown when Congress reconvenes in September?
Senate Democrats on Tuesday agreed to advance the first of a dozen bills funding the government, even though many are furious at their GOP colleagues for passing a $9 billion rescissions package last week.
Thirty-eight Democrats voted for a motion to proceed on legislation funding the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the first appropriations bill for fiscal 2026 to advance on the Senate floor.
However, Democrats are warning that just because they voted to begin the floor debate on the VA bill doesn’t mean they’ll vote for final passage.
“We will see how the floor process evolves here on the floor,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said. “Given Republicans’ recent actions undermining bipartisan appropriations, nothing is guaranteed.”
Democrats say they can’t negotiate future funding bills if Republicans will turn around and claw back funding at the White House’s request.
The Daily Signal reports the White House is close to sending a second rescissions package to Congress.
“We’ve got a number of items we’re looking at also, obviously talking to the senators too,” White House deputy chief of staff James Blair said. “You’ll obviously see that very soon.”
Still, The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports that Democrats are divided over the possibility of a shutdown.
TRUMP TURNS TO AI
The Trump administration unveiled a framework for its artificial intelligence (AI) policy on Wednesday ahead of a speech Trump will give at a forum in Washington on “winning the AI race.”
The Hill’s Julia Shapero and Rachel Frazin write that the proposal puts “a heavy emphasis on boosting U.S. innovation, building out data center infrastructure and promoting American technology abroad.”
CULTURE WARS RAGE
•The State Department is investigating whether Harvard University should be allowed to enroll international students.
• Trump reignited the debate over the Washington Commanders team name, the latest example of the president using sports in his second term to expand his influence and impact on culture.
• The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee updated its policies to comply with Trump’s executive order banning transgender women from competing in women’s sports.
• State laws requiring the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms keep losing in court, but that won’t matter if they win at the Supreme Court.
David Richardson, acting leader of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, defended his agency’s response to deadly Texas floods amid pushback from lawmakers.
U.S. home sales slidin June to the slowest pace since last September as mortgage rates remained elevated and the national median sales price rose to an all-time high of $435,300.
Gen Z workers are the least likely to support fully remote work, according to Gallup.
Gabbard releases new documents targeting Obama administration
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbardreleased newly declassified documents Wednesday she said were evidence of Intelligence Community (IC) abuses designed to create a narrative that Russia favored President Trump in the 2016 election against Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Making a surprise appearance at the White House briefing room, Gabbard detailed a declassified version of a House Intelligence Committee report that she said provided “irrefutable evidence” on how former President Obama and his senior officials allegedly “directed the creation of an Intelligence Community assessment that they knew was false.”
“They knew it would promote this contrived narrative that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help President Trump win, selling it to the American people as though it was true. It wasn’t,” Gabbard said.
“They worked with their partners in the media to promote this lie, ultimately to undermine the legitimacy of President Trump and launching what would be a years-long coupe against him and his administration.”
The new documents allege that senior Obama administration officials included discredited information in their Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA). Gabbard said the officials “suppressed evidence” and “disobeyed traditional tradecraft IC standards,” including through the use of an unsubstantiated dossier created by British spy Christopher Steele.
The report is based on an investigation from former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.).
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, blasted Gabbard’s release.
“The desperate and irresponsible release of the partisan House intelligence report puts at risk some of the most sensitive sources and methods our Intelligence Community uses to spy on Russia and keep Americans safe,” Warner said. “And in doing so, Director Gabbard is sending a chilling message to our allies and assets around the world: the United States can no longer be trusted to protect the intelligence you share with us.”
“Nothing in this partisan, previously scuttled document changes that,” he added. “Releasing this so-called report is just another reckless act by a Director of National Intelligence so desperate to please Donald Trump that she is willing to risk classified sources, betray our allies, and politicize the very intelligence she has been entrusted to protect.”
Gabbard has turned her findings over to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for possible criminal referrals for senior Obama-era officials, including former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey.
Trump has lashed out at Obama, saying he’s guilty of treason and calling for charges.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that Trump wants everyone involved to be “thoroughly investigated and held accountable.”
A spokesperson for Obama called the claims “outrageous” and “bizarre,” pointing to a bipartisan report in 2020 from the Senate Intelligence Committee, which at the time was led by now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio, finding that Russia meddled in the election to try to boost Trump.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told the Christian Broadcasting Network that he’d be open to a new special counsel being appointed to investigate Gabbard’s claims.
“I do expect that whether there’s a special counsel appointed, which some are suggesting, and/or in conjunction with the House investigations, that we will get the answers and there will be accountability to the extent that we’re able to do that,” Johnson said.
Separate from Gabbard’s findings, Republicans are furious over the years-long media frenzy around allegations that members of the Trump campaign worked with Russia to steal the election from Clinton.
“Allies of the president, including his own son Donald Trump, Jr., were disgustingly smeared as Russian assets and some even had their lives destroyed because of this vicious lie,” Leavitt said. “The president’s first two years in office had this distraction hanging over it and endless time, resources and political capital were spent having to debunk these lies.”
The topic dominated Trump’s first term in office and made stars out of media personalities that leaned into the story. Special counsel Robert Mueller detailed numerous contacts between Trump’s campaign and Russian nationals, but did not find evidence of collusion.
“Reporters at legacy outlets…were ridiculously awarded Pulitzer Prizes for their perpetuation of this hoax,” Leavitt said.
“It’s well past time for those awards to be stripped from the journalists who received them,” she added. “It’s not journalism to propagate political disinformation in service of the Democrat Party and those in the Intelligence community who hand over out of context and fake intelligence to push a false political narrative.”
💡Perspectives:
•Free Press: Gabbard alleges a ‘treasonous conspiracy.’ Is she right?
• The Spectator: Russiagate was worse than we thought.
Roundup: Trump notches trade deals as deadline looms
President Trump announced new trade deals this week with Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines ahead of next week’s deadline for countries to come to new agreements with the U.S. or face higher tariffs.
The deal with Japan, which comes after Trump vented his frustration with the country, will see the U.S. impose a 15 percent tariffon Japanese goods.
Trump also said Japan would open its markets to U.S. automobiles, rice and other agricultural products, while investing $550 billion in projects in the U.S.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday that Aug. 1 is a “hard deadline” for countries to reach a new deal with the U.S. after Trump sent out individual letters to foreign leaders with new rates.
Bessent said he’ll travel to Sweden next week for a third round of trade talks with his Chinese counterparts.
Canada is downplaying the chances of striking a new trade deal with the U.S.
“The government of Canada will not accept a bad deal,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carneytold theCanadian Broadcasting Corporation.
“Our objective is not to reach a deal whatever it costs. We are pursuing a deal that will be in the best interest of Canadians,” he added.
MEANWHILE…
Trump’s envoy to the Middle East will meet with Israeli and Qatari officials in Rome on Thursday in the latest push for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Israel is facing heavy criticism for its bombing campaigns across the Middle East, with the White House saying earlier this week that Trump called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express frustration over a recent Israeli bombing of Syrian tanks.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), an ally to Trump and Israel, told Jewish Insider that Israel’s future military actions must be “conducted in a way to maintain support here at home.”
ELSEWHERE…
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is facing protests at home over a new law that critics say weakens Ukraine’s anti-corruption watchdogs.
“The legislation also has drawn rebukes from European Union officials and international rights groups, as well as putting increased pressure on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and endangering his public support at a critical phase of the war.”
💡Perspectives:
•The Hill: Young voters are shifting right, upending western elections.
• Telegraph: Trump rules America like a petty, vindictive crime boss.
