Highlights from July 23, 2025
- EPSTEIN SUBPOENAS: The House Oversight Committee said it will subpoena the Justice Department to release the Jeffrey Epstein files. Earlier, the committee officially subpoenaed Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell for a deposition at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tallahassee, Florida, on Aug. 11.
- RUSSIA INVESTIGATIONS: National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard is promoting a 2020 report she recently declassified about the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment of Russia’s role in the 2016 election. She accused President Barack Obama and several prominent members of his administration of manipulating intelligence findings to delegitimize President Donald Trump's win.
- REWRITING HISTORY: Gabbard's claims contradict long-standing findings that Russia interfered in the 2016 election in an effort to help Trump. An Obama spokesman yesterday called Trump's remarks accusing Obama of committing treason "outrageous" and "bizarre."
Coverage of this live blog has ended. For the latest news, click here.
Trump to visit Federal Reserve headquarters tomorrow
Trump will visit the headquarters of the Federal Reserve tomorrow, according to a copy of his schedule released by the White House.
He will visit as two top aides, deputy chief of staff James Blair and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte, said they planned a tour of the building's renovation.
The renovation has become the source of controversy among Republicans and top officials in the Trump administration who have been relentlessly attacking Fed Chair Jerome Powell over the cost of the renovation, which they have called "ostentatious" and a "palace."
Many on Wall Street have seen that attacks as a potential way to fire Powell "for cause," which is the only way a president can legally remove a Fed official. Powell and the central bank have repeatedly said the cost is due in part to asbestos in the building, toxic soil below the site and an increase in raw materials.
Appeals court upholds nationwide block on Trump's birthright citizenship order
A federal appeals court today upheld a lower court injunction that blocked an effort by Trump to restrict birthright citizenship from going into effect.
The ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of appeals comes roughly a month after the Supreme Court curbed a district court injunction preventing Trump's policy from going into effect and asked lower courts to reconsider the scope of the injunction to ensure it was not too broad.
The appellate court, in a 48-page decision, determined it was not.
"The district court correctly concluded that the Executive Order’s proposed interpretation, denying citizenship to many persons born in the United States, is unconstitutional. We fully agree," the court wrote.
Trump signed an executive order in January that guaranteed birthright citizenship only to infants who have at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. The order amounted to an effort to redefine the 14th Amendment, which has widely been interpreted as conferring citizenship to any person born in the United States.
The appellate court today called Trump's order "invalid."
"We conclude that the Executive Order is invalid because it contradicts the plain language of the Fourteenth Amendment’s grant of citizenship to 'all persons born in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,'" it wrote.
A day after Trump signed the executive order on birthright citizenship, a group of Democratic attorneys general, resulting in the initial district court injunction.
The appellate court, noting that the Supreme Court did not rule on the merits of the case in its June decision, said the Democratic states would most likely succeed in proving Trump's order is unconstitutional, framing that consideration as the core of its decision to uphold the nationwide block on the order.
"Because State Plaintiffs have standing and are likely to succeed in demonstrating that the Executive Order is unconstitutional, we affirm the district court’s grant of a preliminary injunction and its determination that a universal preliminary injunction is necessary to give the States complete relief on their claims," the ruling read.
Columbia agrees to pay $200 million to restore funding cut by Trump administration
Columbia University will pay $200 million to the federal government to restore the majority of funding the Trump administration cut over allegations it violated anti-discrimination laws.
“This agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty,” acting university President Claire Shipman said in a statement.
The Trump administration said in March that it was canceling $400 million in grants to the school, accusing it of “inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.”
Columbia then agreed to a list of demands by the Trump administration, which some critics saw as a capitulation by the private university.
Mike Waltz's committee vote was abruptly postponed, and no one will say why
A vote in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to report former national security adviser Mike Waltz’s nomination to be U.N. ambassador to the full Senate was abruptly postponed this morning, and senators on both sides of the aisle will not say why.
“I’m not going to tell you,” Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said when he was asked why the vote was postponed.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., also a member of the committee, told NBC News: “There’s a discussion among committee members about getting some commitments on an important topic in order to generate more votes. And that’s about all I can say.”
Kaine said that the delay “is related to, broadly, foreign policy, national security” and that “it was very last minute that it was pulled, so it doesn’t have anything to do with him, his person.”
“It isn’t about Mike Waltz the person,” Kaine said. “That’s not what it’s about. I mean, sometimes something like that happens, and it makes you think, ‘Oh, is there something, like, new in the background?’ It’s nothing about Mike Waltz the person.”
The vote was on the agenda for this morning’s Foreign Relations Committee business meeting, but just as the committee was about to vote on him, Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho, announced the nomination wouldn’t be voted on today.
The Foreign Relations Committee allows any member to ask for a nominee or a bill to be held over until the next business meeting, and the minority somewhat regularly does that to give itself more time to go through materials related to a nominee or just as a protest against the nominee in particular.
Trump derides Zohran Mamdani, calling him a ‘communist’ at AI Summit
Ticking through executive actions intended to make America an artificial intelligence powerhouse in a speech in Washington today, Trump took a break to criticize a political figure who's increasingly becoming a common target of his ire: Zohran Mamdani.
Trump shared his criticisms of Mamdani, New York's Democratic mayoral nominee, as he touted an executive order barring the federal government from procuring AI technology that has been “infused with partisan bias or ideological agendas, such as critical race theory.”
“I encourage all American companies to join us in rejecting poisonous Marxism in our technology. It’ll be very interesting to see what’s happening in New York, because they’re actually thinking about electing a communist," Trump said, referring to Mamdani. "They like to call him a socialist. He’s not a socialist; he’s a communist."
While Trump didn't specifically target any of his policy proposals during his remarks, he suggested that Mamdani, 33, a New York assemblyman, would be unable to access federal resources if he doesn't reconsider them.
If he is elected, Mamdani "still has to get his money from the White House, and that's not going to happen until he shapes up," Trump said.
House Oversight will subpoena DOJ for Epstein files and subpoenas to others
The House Oversight Committee will issue a subpoena to the Justice Department to release the Epstein files after a subcommittee vote on the matter today, a committee spokesperson said.
The committee will also issue subpoenas to Bill and Hillary Clinton, James Comey, Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder, Merrick Garland, Robert Mueller, William Barr, Jeff Sessions, and Alberto Gonzales.
The Federal Law Enforcement Subcommittee tonight approved a motion by Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., to subpoena the Justice Department to release the Epstein files. The subcommittee also approved motion by Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., to direct the chairman to subpoena the people listed previously.
The subpoenas “will be issued in the future,” the spokesperson said.
Oversight subcommittee votes to subpoena DOJ for Epstein files
A group of Republicans joined Democrats today in a House Oversight subcommittee to vote to subpoena the Justice Department for the Jeffrey Epstein files.
The motion, from Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., passed the subcommittee in an 8-2 vote. The panel also agreed to an amendment from Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., to redact the names of victims and any personally identifying information. Lee’s motion to subpoena the Justice Department allows those files to be redacted since the amendment was adopted, although they would be just for committee purposes and not for public release.
Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., will issue the subpoenas, according to a committee spokesperson. This follows Comer issuing a subpoena for Epstein’s co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell today after a different subcommittee voted to force that yesterday.
Subcommittee Chairman Clay Higgins, R-La., and Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., were the only no votes. Mace, along with Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., and Rep. Brian Jack, R-Ga., voted with all Democrats to approve the motion.
In the meeting, Perry also introduced a motion to subpoena other people as part of the investigation into Maxwell. They included former President Bill Clinton; former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; former FBI Director James Comey; former Attorneys General Merrick Garland, Eric Holder, William Barr and Loretta Lynch; and other political figures.
Biggs introduced an amendment to include the following language: “all communications between President Biden or the Biden officials and the prosecuting agency related to the Epstein prosecutors also be released.” The amendment was agreed to.
Trump foe Thomas Massie wins over MAGA allies with his push for Epstein files
Once fighting a lonely battle against Trump, GOP Rep. Thomas Massie has found an issue that is winning him more Republican friends and political allies than he has had all year: his push to release the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Many of Trump’s MAGA allies on and off Capitol Hill are frustrated with Trump and top officials in his administration for dragging their feet in releasing the government’s remaining documents and records related to Epstein, the late financier and convicted sex offender.
But they’re rooting for Massie, R-Ky., who has leaned into the fight in recent weeks and made it his sole mission to get the files released. It is a rare issue on which Massie aligns more closely with many of Trump’s own supporters than Trump himself. That’s a big shift for Massie, who was swimming against the current in his opposition to Trump’s megabill by raising debt concerns that fell on deaf ears with other Republicans.
House Republicans introduce resolution to create new Jan. 6 subcommittee
House Republicans are moving to create a new select subcommittee to “continue Congress’ investigation” of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, chaired by Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga.
The House will have to vote on the resolution to establish the subcommittee, which would fall under the Judiciary Committee.
Loudermilk chaired a subcommittee with such jurisdiction under the House Administration Committee, as well.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said there’s “more work to be done,” saying Republicans “are proud” of the work in “exposing false narratives” from the previously established Jan. 6 Select Committee in the 117th Congress.
“House Republicans are proud of our work so far in exposing the false narratives peddled by the politically motivated January 6 Select Committee during the 117th Congress, but there is clearly more work to be done,” Johnson said in a statement. “The resolution introduced today will establish this Select Subcommittee so we can continue our efforts to uncover the full truth that is owed to the American people. House Republicans remain intent on delivering the answers that House Democrats skipped over.”
Former Gov. Roy Cooper plans to enter North Carolina Senate race
Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper plans to run for the Senate, according to two sources familiar with his plans, handing Democrats a top candidate in a state that will be central to the fight for the majority.
Axios, which broke the news of Cooper’s expected bid, reported that he is expected to officially enter the race next week, according to multiple sources.
Morgan Jackson, Cooper’s top political adviser, would not confirm Cooper’s plans but said Cooper would share more about them in the coming days. Cooper is also listed as a speaker at the North Carolina Democratic Party’s “Unity Dinner” on Saturday.
Democrats have long touted Cooper, 68, as a formidable candidate, given his record of winning statewide races in the perennial battleground state.
