It’s Thursday. Those storms in the DMV were *wild* last night. 📹This clip does it justice. 📹And this one. 📹 Annd this one. But hey, look at 📸the incredible sunset over the U.S. Capitol afterward!
In today’s issue:
- Judge blocks Trump’s birthright citizenship order
- First challenge to Trump’s order
- Texas floods expose weaknesses in alert systems
- Noem policy may have slowed FEMA response
- Plus, McDonald’s Snack Wrap is baaaaack 🥳
🚨️ NEWS THIS MORNING
Next round of the birthright citizenship fight, ding ding:
A federal judge in New Hampshire just said he would block the Trump administration from enforcing President Trump’s executive order limiting birthright citizenship. This is the first challenge since the Supreme Court scaled back judges’ ability to issue nationwide injunctions.
Explainer: The Supreme Court’s ruling left a path open for challengers to file class action lawsuits. Today, the judge allowed the case to proceed as a class action, which has the same practical effect as a nationwide injunction.
^ Keep in mind: This move is the next natural step for challenges to Trump’s order. “After a recent Supreme Court decision limiting nationwide injunctions, lawsuits structured as class actions are effectively the only ones that can halt the president’s policies across broad sections of the country.” (NYT)
Back story: The Trump administration is fighting to end automatic birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants.
Read more on the case, via The Hill’s Ella Lee
⛑️️ TEXAS FLOODING
How do we prevent this from happening again?:
President Trump is planning to visit Texas on Friday to survey the damage of the fatal Fourth of July flash flooding that has killed at least 120 people. At least 173 people are still missing, and rescue efforts have become recovery efforts.
This comes as early assessments raise questions about the alert systems — as well as the disaster response.
The two big questions:
1) Were people along the Guadalupe River alerted as the waters rose more than 26 feet in an hour during the night?
The catastrophic flooding has exposed weaknesses in the emergency alert system. There was no siren or alarm to warn locals of the danger. CBS News’s Jason Allen reports that Kerr County does have a web-based emergency alert system called CodeRED, but it was delayed while waiting for supervisor authorization.
John David Trolinger, a former Kerr County official who helped install the system but has since retired, told CBS: “I thought, ‘Man, someone could die because I’m there arguing with a dispatcher that doesn’t know who I am or remember my name,'” he said. “And there was no way I was going to interrupt their process because it’s, you know, it’s five o’clock, someone’s got to be in dispatch besides just the night, the overnight people.”
Why didn’t Kerr County have a siren?: Many Texas counties have a siren system to warn of flash floods, but Kerr County rejected the proposal due to the cost.
The Texas Tribune’s Emily Foxhall reports that officials had a 3-hour and 21-minute heads-up. “Local officials haven’t shed light on when they saw the warnings or whether they saw them in time to take action.”
2) How has the disaster response been?
CNN’s Gabe Cohen and Michael Williams report that the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) response was slowed by bureaucratic hurdles put in place by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. As a cost-cutting measure, Noem required her personal sign-off on any funds over $100,000 before they are released. That means FEMA wasn’t able to pre-position Urban Search and Rescue crews in anticipation of the event.
Keep in mind that officials warned last month that Noem’s policy could delay distribution of aid during natural disasters.
Noem has defended her response.
“What President Trump has empowered us to do is to let these states and local emergency management officials run and make decisions that best respond to their communities, and we be a support that comes in and comes alongside them when they need us,” she said.
➤ SIGHTS AND SOUNDS:
📹Footage of the search and recovery effort
🗺️ Map of Camp Mystic’s grounds by flood risk— and a New York Times analysis of the “extremely hazardous” floodway
➤ SADLY, THERE HAS BEEN MORE FLASH FLOODING:
At least three people, including two children, are dead after a flash flood hit a mountain town in New Mexico.
🪖️ IN CONGRESS
How do sanctions sound?:
Congressional leaders are considering punishing Russia with additional sanctions. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) have indicated their chambers will take up a bill to sanction Russia soon. Thune says he “hopes” to have it passed by August recess.
Timing: Russia launched a major missile and drone strike on Kyiv, Ukraine, overnight.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. and Russia are looking at a “new and different approach” to peace negotiations, per AP.
Who is keeping Republicans up at night:
Elon Musk. The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports that “Senate Republicans fear Elon Musk’s beef with President Trump could become a wild-card factor that could cost them seats in 2026 if Musk follows through on his threat to create a new political party to compete with the GOP.”
Specifically: They’re concerned that Musk’s party could peel off more Republicans than Democrats in key races. Musk has said his platform would likely be reducing the federal debt.
Read Bolton’s reporting: ‘GOP senators fear Musk-Trump beef spells trouble for midterm election’
➤ TIDBIT:
Musk released a new version of the chatbot Grok on Wednesday. Keep in mind that its last update gave some several antisemitic responses.
Related, via The Wall Street Journal: ‘Why xAI’s Grok Went Rogue’
➤ INTERESTING READ — WHAT WAS QUIETLY PASSED IN TRUMP’S BILL:
“Republicans quietly passed a first-of-its-kind national school choice program in President Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill,’ but celebration among advocates was tempered after the Senate added a provision giving blue states a way out,” reports The Hill’s Lexi Lonas Cochran.
Read: ‘The ‘big, beautiful’ fight over school choice ends with escape clause for blue states’
🏛️ ADMINISTRATION
Trump is picking a fight with Brazil:
“Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva warned on Wednesday that his government is prepared to retaliate after President Trump announced plans to impose 50 percent tariffs on goods imported from his country.”
The Brazilian leader posted scathing criticism on X: “Brazil is a sovereign nation with independent institutions and will not accept any form of tutelage,” the statement reads.
➤ TIDBIT — GOING VIRAL:
During a meeting with leaders of several African nations Wednesday, Trump praised Liberian President Joseph Boakai for speaking English, which is the primary language of Liberia. “Such good English, such beautiful,” Trump said. “Where did you learn to speak so beautifully?” 📹 Watch
The federal layoffs got the green light:
The Supreme Court greenlighted President Trump’s mass layoff effort, allowing the administration to follow through with laying off thousands of federal workers.
For context: “The apparent 8-1 emergency decision lifts the widest block on Trump’s plans for massive reductions in force (RIFs). But a patchwork of injunctions that have yet to reach the justices remain in place, creating a jumbled situation that keeps reductions at specific agencies on ice.”
Read more: What this means for federal employees
COMING UP
The House is out. The Senate is in. President Trump is in Washington. (All times EST)
2 p.m.: State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce briefs reporters. 💻 Livestream
2 p.m.: A NASA SpaceX crew news conference. 💻Livestream
Friday: Trump plans to visit Texas after the fatal flash flooding.
🐝 INTERNET BUZZ
🍍🥥 Celebrate: Today is National Piña Colada Day.
🍟 Big day for McDonald’s superfans: The Snack Wrap is finally back on McDonald’s menus starting today (!) It was discontinued in 2016, but thousands of fans demanded it be brought back. Nine years later, it has finally returned! “u did it. happy snack wrap day,” McDonald’s posted on X.
⚠️ Throw away your Ritz cracker sandwiches if you have a peanut allergy: The manufacturer of Ritz cracker sandwiches issued an urgent recall due to a potentially “life-threatening” labeling error. Some may say they have a cheese filling, when they actually are filled with peanut butter.
💤 Wake up, Hugh!: Actor Hugh Grant fell asleep behind Queen Camilla during Wimbledon.
🚀 Sean Duffy got another title to add to his LinkedIn: Trump has named Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to lead NASA in the interim.
👋 AND FINALLY…
To take a brief break from the madness, enjoy watching this dog’s spa day. “I present you: Remi the Rotisserie Chicken,” the caption reads.
