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No ruling on Amendment 3 tax initiative challenges as primary inches closer The fate of Amendment 3 — a far-reaching property tax cut proposal that could cost cities and counties as much as $12 billion annually in the coming years — will soon be decided by a circuit court judge in Leon County. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/07/29/no-ruling-on-amendment-3-challenges-as-primary-inches-closer/? Florida executes two men in one day UPDATE: The state of Florida executed 80-year-old Dominick Anthony Occhicone Tuesday evening, making him the oldest prisoner executed in Florida’s modern history. He was convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend’s parents in 1986. https://floridaphoenix.com/briefs/james-aren-duckett-is-executed-on-1987-conviction-for-killing-11-year-old-girl/? Judge won’t order state to implement expanded access to KidCare A state judge has refused to order Florida health care officials to implement a 2023 law that would allow as many as 68,000 uninsured children to access subsidized health insurance coverage through the Florida KidCare program. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/07/28/judge-wont-order-state-to-implement-expanded-access-to-kidcare/?

Humiliated Trump Goon Abandons Reflecting Pool Prosecution Jeanine Pirro admitted “flawed installation” was behind the pool’s problems. Donald Trump’s top federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C. has abandoned the prosecution of an Olympic medalist accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Jeanine Pirro, in a motion late Friday, moved to dismiss the charges against David Hearn, 67, a former Olympic canoeist who competed in the 1992, 1996, and 2000 Olympics. Heard pleaded not guilty to a single count of destruction of property. In a devastating blow to the 80-year-old president’s claims that damages to the newly renovated pool were caused by “radical” vandals, Pirro cited the “flawed installation by the contractor” tasked with renovating the pool, as well as the Department of Interior’s “failure to fully and accurately provide information” to Pirro’s prosecutors. The news comes a week after Pirro, 75, had been warned by Judge Todd Edelman that the Trump administration was “operating at its own peril” in the case. The Daily Beast has reached out to Pirro’s office for comment. In a statement, Hearn’s lawyers said Pirro never had a case. “The Trump administration’s case against Davey Hearn should have never been brought,” said Norm Eisen of Democracy Defenders Fund, Mary Dohrmann of the Washington Litigation Group, and Steve Levin of Steptoe LLP. “Its dismissal today does not erase the abuse of government power in arresting and charging a patriotic American who did nothing wrong. The government’s approach was ready, fire, aim. The administration owes Mr. Hearn an apology.” Hearn previously told NBC that, while on a June 19 bike ride, he stopped at the pool and touched a piece of coating that was already detached. Pirro’s office had argued that Hearn was seen “forcefully and violently pulling up and removing the bottom liner.” But during grand jury proceedings, one of the government’s witnesses “could not quantify any loss” due to Hearn, and said that repairs were already necessary “before the defendant interacted with the pool.” “Simply put, the government’s witness could not identify any additional cost caused by Mr. Hearn’s alleged conduct,” the filing from Hearn’s lawyers said. “Indeed, the witness did not even say or suggest that the alleged conduct had compromised the liner at all.” This is a breaking news story and will be updated. https://www.thedailybeast.com/humiliated-trump-goon-jeanine-pirro-abandons-reflecting-pool-prosecution/?

Trump Whisperer Places Blame for Iran Disaster on Vance The vice president is to blame for the continuing conflict, Marc Thiessen claims. President Donald Trump would be doing great in Iran if it weren’t for his own vice president getting in the way and stuffing things up, a MAGA commentator has declared. That’s the assessment of Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen, who reportedly has Trump’s ear on foreign policy. “The ceasefire and memorandum of understanding negotiated by Vice President JD Vance— which have driven Trump into a strategic cul-de-sac of negotiations, Iranian violations and U.S. retaliatory strikes, followed by more negotiations," Thiessen wrote in a column published late Thursday. Likening a permanent end to war to the running gag in the Peanuts cartoons where Lucy keeps taking the football away as Charlie Brown is about to kick it, Thiessen says Vance’s counsel on Iran sets Trump up to fail. “Indeed, by elevating a deal as the definition of victory, Vance has given Iran a veto over America’s ability to declare victory. All it has to do is refuse to agree — which it is doing," he continued. And he claims that Vance, who is broadly opposed to the U.S. getting bogged down in overseas conflicts, is actively undermining Trump’s position on Iran. “Vance continues to publicly contradict the president’s positions,” he wrote. “In a recent interview, he suggested that Trump might simply walk away, declaring, ‘If [the Iranians] don’t comply with the deal, the straits are still open, we’ve still done incredible damage to their nuclear program, and we can get on with our lives as a country.’ That is not Trump’s position. His position is: They’ll comply or they will get blown up.” Thiessen pointed to recent media appearances where Vance said things that seemed to directly contradict Trump’s position. Trump’s war in Iran caught the American public by surprise when he launched it in February, and has only become more and more unpopular as time has dragged on with no solution in sight. The president and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have been the subject of intense criticism over the war and how it is being handled. Congress never approved the offensive, the Pentagon has been caught fudging the numbers on injuries and fatalities, and there is little evidence that Iran is as badly crippled as Hegseth and Trump have claimed. Finding someone else to blame for the issue would presumably help to ameliorate the damage to the president’s own approval rating. Thiessen has found his man. “The vice president doesn’t get his own foreign policy,” he argued. “Perhaps it’s time for the president to take the advice of those who have delivered him success in Iran — not those like Vance who have failed him," he said. The White House and the vice president’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-whisperer-places-blame-for-iran-disaster-on-vance/? ps:You knew that was going to happen!!

Trump’s Soccer Suck-Up Humiliated as Cash Grab Collapses The proposed deal involving a firm led by Jared Kushner’s younger brother unraveled after fierce backlash and boycott threats from soccer’s regional governing bodies. FIFA has abandoned a widely criticized plan to sell a stake in the World Cup’s commercial operations after worldwide outrage over a proposal tied to President Donald Trump’s inner circle. Trump pal and FIFA president Gianni Infantino revealed earlier this week that the organization planned to sell a 21 percent stake to private investors in a newly created entity—FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE)—to manage the commercial operations of top events, including the World Cup. He claimed FFE was worth $20 billion. The FFE investor group was reportedly set to be headed by a firm run by New York venture capitalist Joshua Kushner, younger brother of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. But the scheme was so controversial among soccer organizations, officials, and fans that it has officially been killed, sources told The New York Post. “Kushner will figure out another way to get involved in this space. This is becoming a brand nightmare,” a source told the newspaper. After the Post report, Infantino confirmed to Sky News that the deal is no more. It “has created divisions of a nature that, regardless of the level of support, are no longer in the interest of the objective set out in the first place,” he said. “As a result, this proposal will not proceed.” Trump told reporters he was unaware of FIFA’s private investor plan. The deal began to cave when UEFA, the governing body of European soccer’s 55-member organization, voted unanimously on Thursday to boycott all games organized by FIFA, including the World Cup, if the scheme went ahead. “The World Cup is not for sale,” UEFA said in a statement after the vote. “The World Cup cannot be treated as an investment product. It is one of football’s greatest sporting legacies. It has been built over generations by players, national teams, and supporters across every continent. No part of it should ever be surrendered to private investors.” Infantino aimed to hammer out the arrangement by October, reportedly speeding up the process to dodge the mounting attacks, Sports Illustrated reported. He gave member associations only 53 days to approve the scheme. The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) also threatened to boycott the World Cup. CONCACAF has a long history of corruption and links to Trump. The organization operated out of Trump Tower in Manhattan when the Department of Justice indicted dozens of CONCACAF and FIFA officials in 2015 on conspiracy and corruption charges stemming from an extensive international bribery scheme tied to sports equipment contracts and World Cup venue choices. The men were nabbed after their conversations were captured on a wire worn by CONCACAF General Secretary Chuck Blazer, who was pressed into service by the FBI over a massive unpaid tax bill. Blazer was a friend of Trump’s, lived in Trump Tower, and frequently attended Trump’s beauty pageants. Trump’s sole TV ad for his scandal-plagued Trump University was filmed in Blazer’s apartment. The president later paid a $25 million settlement to students who filed lawsuits accusing the “university” of fraud. Ties between Trump and the current FIFA president remain close. Infantino was widely lambasted after he presented Trump with the organization’s first “peace prize” last year, months before the president ordered the abduction of Venezuela’s president and invaded Iran. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-soccer-suck-up-gianni-infantino-humiliated-as-cash-grab-collapses/? ps:Oh so pathetic!!!!!!!!!!

August 1, 2026 Good morning. Errands get us out of our homes and into the world, on missions providing both serendipity and satisfaction. María Jesús Contreras Making rounds By Melissa Kirsch Weekends are the province of the errand, the little voyages we take to pick up things and get things done. Contrast the errand with the chore: Chores are domestic obligations, performed at home. The errand is an excursion with a purpose. In Old English, an “aerend” was a message or mission; an angel was an aerendgast, or messenger-ghost, divinely sent to perform a sacred duty. Running errands is satisfying in a way so much else in our lives isn’t. We wander out into the world with a map to follow — stop here to drop off the dry cleaning, now, to replace the watch battery, to the supermarket, the pet food store — and when we complete the route, our work is done. The metrics for success are clear and achievable. Each episode of the social-media show “Errands” accompanies someone on their angel’s mission. My colleague Alex Vadukul recently tagged along with the show’s creator, Noah Blau, as he filmed an episode featuring the comedian Ivy Wolk, on a mission to buy an air-conditioner window unit and install it in her apartment. Wolk distilled why a show so apparently mundane has become popular. “Beauty is found in the minutiae, and the things that are banal are often the most interesting,” she said. “It’s those in-between moments of life where growth and realization happen.” The genius of “Errands” (I watched every episode in one feverish gulp) is how it provides a window into the personalities and preoccupations of its subjects. A stranger appears and announces today’s errand. Then we’re privy to their internal monologues as they carry out the mission, the serendipitous run-ins and pit stops they make along the way. The episodes are just a couple of minutes long and waste no time on introductions or establishing scenes. We’re passengers for typically private expeditions, instantly thrust into someone’s personal life. Even when his subjects don’t accomplish the errand, Blau told Alex, the concept still works. “The show is about: I set out to do something, and did I accomplish it? So as mundane as the errand might be, everyone understands that feeling.” When visiting friends, it’s a treat to see the highlights of their hometown, but I always find it more interesting to run errands with them, to see how they live when I’m not around. What do they listen to in the car, what’s their hardware store like, who do they run into in the produce aisle? Other people’s errands are revealing of their actual day-to-day lives, not the performed existence — our best restaurant! — that gets presented for company. You might, if you’re running your own errands today, enlist someone to join you. In a recent piece in The Times, experts told my colleague Dana G. Smith that running errands with a friend might help increase longevity. “The reality of midlife is that it can be hard to carve out time for yourself,” Dana writes, “let alone coordinate schedules with another busy friend.” Regardless of which stage of life you’re in, why not make your first stop picking up a friend you haven’t caught up with in a while? On the other hand, I have a friend who loves errands because they’re “excuses to not be with other people,” a rare break from family duties. She praises the “soft-touch socialization” you get while out and about: the salesperson you chat with before going on your way, the neighbor you catch up with when you run into them at the dump. I cherish the connective tissue of errands, when you’re between stops, driving or walking. Bursts of activity followed by respites of solitude, each stop its own tidy episode. Errands get us out of our own homes and out into the world. It’s tempting to hibernate on weekends, to stay in and recharge. But the errand allows us to, as Virginia Woolf wrote, “become part of that vast republican army of anonymous trampers, whose society is so agreeable after the solitude of one’s own room.” THE LATEST NEWS Trump Administration The Reflecting Pool earlier this week. Andrew Leyden for The New York Times Federal prosecutors said they would drop charges against a former Olympian accused of vandalizing the renovated Reflecting Pool in Washington. And they acknowledged that contractors hired by the Trump administration had “botched” the job. President Trump’s Board of Peace released a 15-point plan detailing the deal to disarm Hamas. But it remains unclear whether Hamas and Israel will carry out the agreement. Trump, without offering evidence, blamed Minnesota and its Democratic governor for the recent cyberattack on municipal water systems in the state. U.S. officials have said Iran was likely behind the attack. More Politics Republicans in Congress have quietly blocked an expansion of military health coverage for in vitro fertilization treatment. The State Department will issue thousands of additional commemorative passports featuring Trump’s portrait. Around the World Abdel Majid Bziouat/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Tens of thousands of migrants rushed into the small Spanish territory of Ceuta from Morocco. Spain’s pro-immigration prime minister mobilized the military to respond, and by night most of the migrants had left. Trump backtracked on his promise to let Ukraine make Patriot missiles, which he had announced earlier this month. FIFA scrapped its plan to allow private investment in the World Cup, after soccer federations around the world criticized the move. Mexico’s premier public university will require all students who passed its entrance exam to retake the test, after an investigation suggested that there was widespread cheating. Other Big Stories Law enforcement officials in Arizona released two ransom notes addressed to Savannah Guthrie in the days after her mother, Nancy, vanished. The first demanded millions of dollars; the second said that Nancy had died. The head of the U.S. Coast Guard promised “decisive action” to prevent, recognize and treat the brain injuries suffered by crews slamming through rough seas. (Read the Times investigation that prompted the change.) Plug-in solar power systems, smaller and cheaper than their rooftop counterparts, are becoming popular as more states legalize their use. Forecasters expect blistering heat across the western United States this weekend. Temperatures could rise to 105 in Salt Lake City, 115 in Las Vegas and 117 in Palm Springs. THE WEEK IN CULTURE Film and TV Tom Holland in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.” Sony Pictures via AP “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” is smaller and more intimate than its predecessors. (And it’s unfortunately not as fun, our critic writes. Read her review.) “Game of Thrones” is getting a stage adaptation at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Music Ariana Grande’s new album, “Petal,” finds her dissatisfied with fame, but offers few details on exactly why. Read the review. Boy George’s manager pulled him from a production of “Jesus Christ Superstar” after the singer’s pro-Israel reggae song about Oct. 7 drew criticism. What’s the song of the summer? Our critics examined eight of the top contenders. Listen to their conversation on “Popcast.” More Culture Archaeologists have discovered hundreds of monumental designs carved into the Amazon rainforest. At the Guggenheim Museum, a new survey of Pop Art asks: What exactly did the movement give us? Bam! Just like that, a new generation has fallen in love with vintage clips of Emeril Lagasse. Deeply reported journalism needs your support. The Times relies on subscribers to help fund our mission. Become a subscriber today. RECIPE OF THE WEEK Joseph De Leo for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini. By Melissa Clark Fruit Crumble Burbling with sweet, syrupy juices and topped with a nutty, chai spice-flavored streusel (that happens to be gluten-free), Genevieve Ko’s fruit crumble can be made with any fresh fruit you have in abundance: summer’s berries and stone fruit, or fall's apples and pears. Or feel free to use frozen berries all year long. It’s a lovely, crowd-pleasing dessert no matter when you bake it. REAL ESTATE We’ve made these links free for you. Juan Diego Devia and Hayley Milam Devia. Scott McIntyre for The New York Times The Hunt: After their rent ballooned, a young couple searched some of Miami’s walkable neighborhoods for a single-family house or townhome where they could start a family. What did they choose? Play our game. What you get for $1 million in Costa Rica: A Bali-inspired villa with expansive sea views, a four-bedroom overlooking the Pacific Ocean and a contemporary home in the rainforest canopy. Pick your favorite: These homes in Oregon City, Ore., St. Louis and Birmingham, Ala., are on the market for $575,000. Which would you choose? LIVING Bianca Beamer Scan here: More couples are incorporating QR codes into their weddings to make it easier for guests to R.S.V.P., find seat assignments and share photos and videos. The wet look: Hairstylists give tips on how to wear the style, which plays well across a range of lengths and textures. ADVICE FROM WIRECUTTER It’s time to give up on the nonstick pan You might want to consider quitting nonstick pans altogether. Traditional nonstick pans are slick and easy to clean, but are coated with PFAS — also known as forever chemicals — which have been linked to a host of environmental and health concerns. (We have some tips for how to limit your exposure to PFAS.) And ceramic nonstick pans, which have cropped up as a “clean” alternative to traditional nonstick, lose their slickness quickly and are relatively expensive. Both types of nonstick pans will need to be discarded eventually. We recommend durable cookware made from stainless steel, cast iron or carbon steel, which don’t rely on forever chemicals and should last for life. — Mace Dent Johnson NOW TIME TO PLAY Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was optimal. Take the news quiz to see how well you followed this week’s headlines. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Crossplay, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. — Melissa Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Host: Sam Sifton Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Evan Gorelick, Brent Lewis, Lara McCoy, Karl Russell Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Editorial Director, Newsletters: Jodi Rudoren

THIS DAY IN HISTORY August 1 1943 Operation Tidal Wave: U.S. forces attempt risky air raid on Axis oil refineries During WWII, U.S. forces attempt a risky air raid on Axis oil refineries in Romania. read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 1960s 1961 The first Six Flags opens in Texas Arts & Entertainment 1996 George R.R. Martin’s “Game of Thrones” debuts 1981 MTV launches Black History 1943 The Harlem Riot of 1943 begins Cold War 1975 Helsinki Final Act signed Crime 1966 An ex-Marine goes on a killing spree at the University of Texas European History 1936 Hitler oversees Berlin Olympics opening ceremony Exploration 1498 Columbus first sets eyes on South America, thinks it’s an island Holocaust 1944 Anne Frank writes her last diary entry Inventions & Science 1786 Caroline Herschel becomes first woman credited with discovering a comet 1861 World’s first weather forecast published Sports 1996 Michael Johnson earns third gold medal World War I 1914 First World War begins to escalate World War II 1944 Warsaw Uprising begins

Colorado River Cutbacks Arizona, California, and Nevada must cut Colorado River water use by roughly 20% over the next two years under a federal plan proposed yesterday, as the nation's two largest reservoirs near record lows. See a map of the Colorado River Basin here. Lake Mead and Lake Powell fell this month to their lowest combined level since 1957, at 27% and 23% capacity, respectively. The plan is the first phase of a 10-year framework that allows cuts of up to 40% and imposes no mandatory reductions on the upper-basin states—Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. The lower basin used 6.5 million of the river's 13.1 million acre-feet annually from 2020 to 2024, versus the upper basin's 3.8 million. Lake Mead is about 146 feet above "dead pool," where water can no longer flow through a dam by gravity. Lake Powell is about 152 feet above the threshold. Some 40 million people across the US and northwestern Mexico depend on the river. See real-time reservoir levels and track storage across hundreds of US reservoirs.

Iran strikes tankers under US escort in Hormuz strait as Trump gathers cabinet to discuss war Energy prices have soared again since fighting between US and Iran resumed two weeks ago as conflict spreads across Middle East https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/31/iran-strikes-tankers-us-escort-hormuz-strait-trump-gathers-cabinet?

ECB official warns climate crisis poses growing threat to ‘core financial stability’ A senior policymaker at the European Central Bank has said the climate emergency and the breakdown of nature poses a dramatically growing risk to the global economy. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/aug/01/ecb-climate-wildfires-global-economy-stability?

Infantino abandons plans to sell World Cup profits to private equity following massive pushback GENEVA (AP) — FIFA President Gianni Infantino is abandoning his divisive plan to sell World Cup profits to private equity after receiving pushback from all corners of the soccer world. https://apnews.com/article/world-cup-infantino-fifa-investors-8aba1b529f220c27d02d326e8fd9e377?

Justice Department moves to drop case against ex-Olympian charged with damaging Reflecting Pool WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department moved Friday to dismiss a criminal case charging a former Olympian with deliberately damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, saying evidence prosecutors had recently received refuted the idea that vandals were to blame. https://apnews.com/article/reflecting-pool-damage-olympian-hearn-trump-21d997b5b55e6adf01862d7c5292476d? ps:Of course they had to, it was the biggest crock of bull manure!!!!!

A discarded SpaceX rocket is on a high-speed collision course with the moon A drifting SpaceX rocket is on a collision course with the moon after launching a pair of lunar landers more than a year ago. Read More.

Ex-deputy who shot Sonya Massey is denied a request for medical release from prison A former Illinois sheriff’s deputy won't get an early medical release from his two-decade prison sentence for killing Sonya Massey inside her home after the Black woman called 911 about a possible prowler, state officials decided Friday. Read More. Jurors in Lindsay Clancy's trial visit the home where she killed her children Jurors walked through the Massachusetts home where Lindsay Clancy strangled her three children, a rare visit Friday that let them see firsthand the place where an outwardly ordinary family life unraveled into tragedy. Read More.

France's forest management may need to change to prevent more wildfires in Les Landes History keeps repeating itself in the smoldering forests of southwest France, now ash-covered and charred. Read More.

Regulators propose overhaul to law governing how banks lend to low-and-middle income communities The Trump Administration has announced an overhaul to the rules governing a critical piece of Civil Rights-era legislation, most notably a reduction in the number of banks that will need to fully comply with the law. Read More. Camp David, the president's rustic Maryland mountain retreat, through the years President Donald Trump left behind the gold-accented White House on Friday for a Cabinet meeting at rustic Camp David in Maryland's mountains. Read More.

Blinking on Blanche View in browser Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Donald Trump blared yesterday on social media, “is a STAR, and everyone knows it!” But the rest of the presidential missive told a very different story. Blanche’s nomination to run the Justice Department has stalled over objections from outgoing Republican Senators Thom Tillis and John Cornyn to a settlement between Trump and the IRS that would create a $1.8 billion slush fund for rewarding Trump’s political supporters, including those convicted of crimes on January 6, 2021. Tillis and Cornyn have demanded that Blanche deliver written guarantees that the fund would not proceed, and they remain unsatisfied with what they’ve received. Although a deal may still be struck, Trump wrote in his post that he had “no objection to temporarily withdrawing” Blanche’s nomination “and putting him back after Cornyn and Tillis are out of office.” The senators met with Blanche last night and could still waver, and Trump could still change his mind, but the president this morning posted a strong defense of the slush fund and attacked Cornyn. “John Cornyn never had a problem with the so called ‘Fund,’ which will not benefit me, but rather the great American Patriots who were hunted down like dogs and whose lives were unfairly and illegally destroyed by the Crooked Joe Biden Administration, until after I decided to Endorse and Support his Republican Primary opponent in Texas,” he wrote. “Todd Blanche, a good man, should be immediately approved as U.S. Attorney General.” This moment of peril for Blanche’s nomination reveals three things: First, dissident Republicans really can push Trump around if they want to; second, Trump (as usual) seemingly has no strategy or contingency plan to save the nomination; and third, Trump apparently cares more about preserving the slush fund than he does about Todd Blanche. If Trump really valued Blanche, then reaching an agreement with Cornyn and Tillis would be easy: He’d just have to give up on the fund. Not only is the planned payout politically toxic, but courts may prohibit it anyway. The fund emerges from a settlement in a case filed by Trump against the federal government over a leak of his personal tax returns. In exchange for dropping the case, the government agreed to grant Trump and his family immunity from IRS audits and to create a $1.8 billion pot of money for supposed victims of a “weaponized” federal government, such as people prosecuted for their role in the January 6 insurrection. The fund is an abomination for several reasons, as my colleague Jonathan Chait wrote when it was announced. The deal was struck between Trump as plaintiff and Trump as head of the executive branch—an arrangement a federal judge later said is improper. It gives the president an opportunity to direct taxpayer money to his allies and supporters—and specifically people who attempted to subvert the 2020 election and rioted at the U.S. Capitol. One federal judge, Leonie Brinkema, is currently blocking the fund’s creation, and another, Kathleen Williams, concluded that the settlement was improper self-dealing and harshly criticized Blanche’s role in negotiating the deal as acting attorney general. Blanche himself told senators that the money wouldn’t be paid out, but as my colleague Sarah Fitzpatrick reported in June, administration officials said privately that it wasn’t really dead. That helps explain why Brinkema has requested a sworn statement from Blanche about the demise of the fund, and why Cornyn (who lost a GOP primary in May) and Tillis (who decided to retire) have said they want written assurances from Blanche. By announcing that he would rather pull Blanche’s nomination, even temporarily, than allow Blanche or any other administration official to provide such assurances, Trump has implicitly confirmed that he has no intention of letting go of the fund. His statement also undercuts Blanche’s credibility with senators because it shows that Blanche was either not telling the truth or was making a promise he couldn’t keep when he said earlier that the fund wouldn’t proceed. The idea of renominating Blanche later on may well be a feint anyway, since Trump hates to ever admit defeat, but it’s peculiar. Trump’s unstated premise is that he will have a more favorable Senate in 2027, which is questionable. Cornyn and Tillis are currently preventing Blanche’s nomination from advancing out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and neither man will be on that panel come January. But most forecasts suggest that Democrats will gain ground in the Senate in the midterm elections, and possibly even win a narrow edge in the chamber. Either way, Blanche will still have a hard time getting the necessary votes for confirmation next year. That is especially true because Trump’s power over Republican senators appears to be on the wane. For years, senators have trash-talked Trump privately, but meekly followed him in public. Tillis and especially Cornyn made their hesitations about Blanche public weeks ago, and the White House seems to have wagered that they would simply give in as GOP members have in the past. (The administration may have underestimated Cornyn’s taste for revenge against a president who endorsed his opponent in the primary.) At the same time, Trump has been unable to persuade all Republican senators to back the SAVE America Act, a bill that would require people to present proof of citizenship to vote, and they have shrugged off his demands to eliminate the filibuster in order to pass it. After all, they know that they could be in the minority within six months. What made Blanche attractive to Trump as an attorney general was not his legal acumen but his eagerness as an enabler. Blanche, who previously served as Trump’s personal attorney, began in the administration as deputy attorney general. Attorney General Pam Bondi was willing to destroy many of the boundaries keeping politics out of the Justice Department, and she pursued many of Trump’s projects of political retribution, but she fell out of favor after some of them stalled and was soon asked to resign. When Blanche became acting attorney general in April, he set out to fulfill Trump’s desires with zeal. That was enough to win Blanche a nomination to hold the job permanently, but it also made his path to confirmation more perilous. Now Trump has little reason to fight for his nomination. Since Blanche is already deputy attorney general, the president can leave Blanche as acting attorney general indefinitely, even without confirmation. That would surely be a disappointment to Blanche, who worked so hard to win Trump’s favor, but it’s an easy calculation for Trump: Why would he give up a $1.8 billion pot of money when he already has a lackey in place? Related: Does Todd Blanche have a red line? The biggest takeaway from Todd Blanche’s confirmation hearing

🔎 Friday Focus: Lawler vs. Conley 🔬 We're zooming in on battleground races ahead of the midterms. This week, we're focused on NY-17, where GOP Rep. Mike Lawler is defending a suburban swing seat that both parties view as critical to winning the majority. Why it matters: New York's 17th District is one of a handful of House races likely to determine which party controls the chamber next year. ⚡️ Lawler is one of just eight House Republicans representing a district Kamala Harris carried in 2024, making his race a key test of whether the GOP can continue winning in blue-leaning suburbs. And this time, Lawler is facing a formidable challenge with Democrat Cait Conley, an Army veteran and former national security official. The district spans New York City's northern suburbs in Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess and Westchester counties. 💰 Conley narrowly outraised Lawler in the second quarter of this year, bringing in $1.7 million to Lawler's $1.4 million. Lawler was one of 25 GOP incumbents outraised by a Democratic challenger last quarter. But he still holds a commanding financial edge, ending June with $4.8 million in cash on hand compared with Conley's $1.3 million. 📺 Lawler is launching his first $5 million ad buy in August, according to his campaign. The race is expected to be among the most expensive House contests in the country. Zoom in: Lawler led Conley by 5 percentage points in a recent poll, and had an even bigger lead among independent voters: 54% to Conley's 39%. ⚖️ The University of Virginia's Center for Politics shifted the race yesterday from "Leans Republican" to "Toss-up," matching the Cook Political Report's rating. Between the lines: Lawler's challenge will be assembling the same coalition that carried him to victory twice: Republicans, independents and a slice of Democratic voters. Trump has already put his political weight behind Lawler, campaigning with him in the district in May and highlighting his role in expanding the SALT deduction — a key issue for suburban New York voters. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) will head to New York to campaign with the state's candidates, including Lawler, we previously reported. Half a dozen Cabinet secretaries have also campaigned in the district this year, with more expected to come. The bottom line: If Republicans can hold the seat, they're probably keeping the majority. If Democrats flip it, they're likely on the path to taking the gavel. — Kate Santaliz

🤕 Republicans' recess headache Senate Republicans can't wait to get out of town. 🐑 Why it matters: But at least one senator will have to be the sacrificial lamb, presiding over what is called a "pro forma session," while MAGA rages online. And therein lies a very 2026, very GOP problem. In the chair and on camera, the presiding lawmaker can quickly become the avatar of a Senate that's unwilling or unable to pass the president's agenda. Cue the online anger. 🥱 C-SPAN2 used to put even procedural nerds to sleep in the summer. Now it's MAGA rage bait. 🎧 What we're hearing: Because of the online blowback, some senators are increasingly anxious about being in the chair for what would usually be short, uneventful sessions, multiple GOP Senate sources told us this week. They have some reason for their anxiety. 🚨 "DISGUSTING! Missouri Senator JOSH HAWLEY Gavels in Pro-Forma Session to Block Trump from Making Recess Appointments," the Gateway Pundit posted in June. How it works: Senators presiding are not personally deciding on a pro forma session. They are just filling a scheduled slot, taking their turn at a job no one is clamoring to do. But good luck explaining that to MAGA influencers, who are turning the arcane, behind-the-scenes Senate procedure into a vehicle for their anger and frustration that Trump's agenda isn't sailing through the Senate. 🌎 Zoom out: Trump and his online allies have increasingly been pressuring the Senate to skip the five-week August break scheduled to begin at the end of next week unless the SAVE America Act is passed. They've blasted out the mechanics of the unanimous-consent agreements leaders routinely use to arrange the break. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) has led the charge, much to the chagrin of many of his colleagues. 💣 Lee has vowed to object to any unanimous consent agreement to recess next week, which could force senators to go on the record in a more formal vote on whether to leave town. Online accounts with large conservative followings are keeping tallies of senators who say they are willing to stay in session to work on SAVE — though it's unclear whether they all would formally object to the break. Zoom in: The August break is typically prime time for members to meet with constituents and campaign, especially in an election year. 🔥 This year, Trump and prominent conservative accounts are poised to torch Senate Republicans for taking a "vacation" without delivering key priorities on his agenda. Since 2007, majorities under both parties have scheduled pro forma sessions during long breaks to keep the chamber technically in session and prevent the president from making recess appointments. The strategy was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2014. 🤔 The intrigue: Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) has not presided over a pro forma session since skipping an assigned April turn in protest of the Homeland Security funding package, sources familiar with the matter tell us. Scott frequently advocates for longer workweeks. ⏰ Flashback: It's not the first time the August break has been politically weaponized. In 2018, then-Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) canceled most of the recess, citing Democratic obstruction of Trump nominees. It also conveniently kept vulnerable Democratic senators from campaigning in their states. At the time, 10 Democrats were fighting for reelection in states Trump had won, compared to just one Republican in a state Hillary Clinton had won. — Stef W. Kight

📚 1 for the road: "Odyssey" hot at libraries Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" is fueling a library run on Homer's epic, Axios' Mike D'Onofrio reports. One of the most in-demand editions: University of Pennsylvania professor Emily Wilson's translation, which Nolan credited with inspiring his film. 🤯 Zoom in: The Philadelphia Free Library has 100 holds for 13 print copies of Wilson's book. The ebook waitlist has 400+ holds. Go deeper.

Fresh plea for blood donors Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios The American Red Cross says more blood donors are still needed even after "tens of thousands" of people donated this week, Axios' Herb Scribner reports. The U.S. is facing a blood supply crisis that could last the entire summer, potentially delaying surgeries, trauma care and other treatments. 🏥 Red Cross spokesperson Daniel Parra tells Axios: "While we are grateful to all who have rolled up a sleeve this summer to save lives, we still need more donors to give in the coming weeks to not only rebuild the blood supply but also help sustain a stable blood supply through the summer." How to help.

Look ma, no hands — or pedals A Zoox robotaxi with no steering wheel drives down the Las Vegas Strip yesterday. Photo: Ty ONeil/AP Regulators are clearing the way for robotaxis without steering wheels or even brake pedals. 🚙 Zoox, an Amazon-owned robotaxi company, got federal approval yesterday to charge customers for rides in its unusual autonomous cars, which have four inward-facing seats and no steering wheel, AP reports. It still needs state and local approval to start charging riders. Zoox has offered free rides in Las Vegas and San Francisco since last year. Chloe Huu, from Ann Arbor, Mich., said after taking a Zoox ride yesterday in Vegas: "It's kind of scary at first, but when I just got used to it, it's really cool and chilling." 🛞 The big picture: Most car safety rules were written decades ago, with the assumption that there would always be a human behind the wheel. But Jonathan Morrison, the administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, argues that in a robotaxi, you don't need steering wheels, windshield wipers or side-view mirrors. Passengers load into a Zoox robotaxi in Las Vegas yesterday. Photo: Ty ONeil/AP 🤔 Yes, but: Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, an alliance of consumer and business groups, wants more evidence that vehicles can be safe without standard controls. Peter Kurdock, the group's general counsel, said: "Lots of promises, lots of glossy language, lots of 'We believe, we think we'll do this.' Yet there really was no data behind the promises." What's next: NHTSA recently proposed allowing robotaxis to operate without brake pedals, but that's still pending. Morrison said his agency wants to update the regulations for fully autonomous vehicles while still acting as the "cop on the beat to make sure that this is being done right." Go deeper.

Rare Judean Pillar Figurine Discovery from Jerusalem A remarkable discovery in Jerusalem sheds new light on one of the most enigmatic artifact types from Iron Age Judah: the Judean Pillar Figurine. These feminine figurines occur in two principal types: with heads that are modeled by hand or through the use of an open-faced mold. Over a thousand figurine pieces have been recovered from sites in eighth- through sixth-century BCE Judah—comprised of body fragments, both types of head, and less often, whole figurines—yet archaeologists have only found a handful of molds. https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-artifacts/artifacts-and-the-bible/judean-pillar-figurine-jerusalem/? Who Were the Sea Peoples? In Nolan’s new adaptation of the Odyssey, Homer’s epic poem about Odysseus’s struggle to return to his kingdom in Ithaca after the Trojan War, the “People of the Sea” hang over the plot like a dark cloud—a rumor of coming destroyers and harbingers of a dark age mentioned by multiple characters along the way. But who are these “People of the Sea”? Well, they’re not just a plot device or a way of adding dramatic tension. The “Sea Peoples” were a very real phenomenon of the Mediterranean world in the tumultuous days at end of the Late Bronze Age. https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-near-eastern-world/who-were-sea-peoples/?

Why Massachusetts Should Not Opt-In to the Federal School Voucher Program Massachusetts has established itself as a state with a top-tier public education system, whose mission has been to serve all students no matter their demographics. https://massbudget.org/2026/07/10/why-massachusetts-should-not-opt-in-to-the-federal-school-voucher-program/?

Unions are key to high-quality public education Our recent report asks a bold question: What would the United States look like if we tripled union membership? We find a range of economic and social benefits—such as higher wages, greater access to health insurance, and a stronger democracy. This post examines another social good generated by unions: strong investment in public education. https://www.epi.org/blog/unions-are-key-to-high-quality-public-education/? The case for tripling union membership Imagine union membership tripling in the United States. It may sound radical—if you’ve forgotten history. In fact, more than 1 in 3 private-sector workers belonged to a union in the 1950s. The results? Wages grew in tandem with the economy. The middle class thrived. Black-white wage gaps shrank. Broadly shared economic growth was a reality, not an aspiration. That’s because when workers have bargaining power, they win better wages, benefits, and working conditions. This report shines a light on what we stand to win if we rebuild union power. https://www.epi.org/publication/the-case-for-tripling-union-membership-how-rebuilding-union-power-would-strengthen-workers-the-economy-and-our-democracy/?