What to know today
- TRUMP'S MEDICAL UPDATE: The White House said President Donald Trump was diagnosed with a “chronic venous insufficiency” after he was examined for mild swelling in his lower legs. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the condition is “benign” and common for people over age 70.
- EPSTEIN CASE: Leavitt said that Trump won't appoint a special prosecutor to review Jeffrey Epstein's case, despite many MAGA allies calling for him to take that step.
- SPENDING CUTS VOTE: The Senate passed a bill overnight that would make $9 billion in cuts to previously approved funding for public broadcasting and foreign aid. The House could vote on the legislation this evening, though Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has cautioned that the vote could slide to tomorrow.
- EMIL BOVE NOMINATION: Democrats staged a protest by walking out of a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting before a vote on Emil Bove’s nomination to be an appeals court judge. Bove has been accused of dropping corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams in a quid pro quo deal involving immigration matters and encouraging Justice Department employees to defy court orders that halted deportations. He has denied the allegations.
Fed chair responds to White House official's concerns about building renovation amid Trump criticism
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell responded to a letter from Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought after Vought raised concerns about the increasing cost of an ongoing renovation to the central bank's headquarters.
Vought has argued that the growing cost of the renovation, currently pegged at $2.5 billion, required additional approval from the National Capital Planning Commission, a federal planning agency. Trump, who has talked about potentially firing Powell, has suggested without evidence that the billion-dollar price tag for the project could be fraudulent.
In his letter today, Powell noted that the renovation had been subject to budget approval and had been overseen in part by an independent inspector general who has not identified any fraudulent spending. He added that the project is "large in scope" because it involves renovating two historic buildings and that the "small number of design changes" that had been made to the renovation since the government planning agency approved it did not warrant further review, according to National Capital Planning Commission guidance.
“Guidance from the NCPC states that agencies should submit revised project information for approved projects only if substantial changes are made in either the design or plan of the project after NCPC review. The Board does not regard any of these changes as warranting further review," Powell wrote.
No changes for Trump after diagnosis, White House official says
A White House official told NBC News that there will be no changes to Trump's schedule or lifestyle related to his recent diagnosis, disclosed today, of chronic venous insufficiency.
The official said Trump has had no discomfort — and said he won’t be taking steps like wearing compression socks or putting his feet up on an ottoman to relieve pressure or swelling.
The White House has not specified when Trump was evaluated and diagnosed, saying only that it was in "recent weeks."
Spending cut package stalls as House GOP lawmakers seek to show support for 'transparency' in Epstein case
House action on the Senate-passed rescissions package is stalled as Republican leaders try to figure out how to appease members of their own party who want to show that they support transparency regarding the Epstein case.
The House was scheduled to vote around 7 p.m. ET on the legislation to claw back $9 billion in already approved funding, but the measure first has to go through the Rules Committee. That panel just scheduled a 6 p.m. meeting on the measure that could go for several hours depending on how many amendments are submitted.
Democrats may offer amendments on any topic. Specifically, Democrats could offer amendments on forcing the release of Epstein information, as Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., tried to do Monday night in the committee. Republicans voted down that amendment, though Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., voted in favor of it with Democrats.
The Rules Committee could have met earlier in the day, but members want to show that they support transparency, House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters.
“The House Republicans are for transparency, and they’re looking for a way to say that,” said Johnson, R-La.
Johnson said Republicans on the Rules Committee have faced "criticism because they voted to stop the Democrats' politicization of this, and they’re trying to stick to their job and move the procedural rules to the floor so we can do our work and get the rescission done for the American people."
Throughout the earlier vote series on crypto bills, members of the Rules Committee met with Johnson and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La. Johnson said they were still working on everything with the committee members.
What is chronic venous insufficiency, Trump’s diagnosis?
Trump has been diagnosed with a condition that causes blood to pool in his legs after he was examined for “mild swelling in his lower legs,” Leavitt said today.
Leavitt said at a briefing that Trump was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a “benign” condition common in people over age 70. He is 79.
Follow-up tests found no evidence of a serious or life-threatening condition like deep vein thrombosis, she said, but they did lead to a diagnosis of chronic venous insufficiency.
Trump administration shuts down LGBTQ youth suicide hotline
The Trump administration this afternoon officially terminated the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s LGBTQ Youth Specialized Services program, which gave callers under age 25 the option to speak with LGBTQ-trained counselors.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced last month that the specialized service would be shuttered. The agency said it would “no longer silo LGB+ youth services” — notably removing the “T” representing the transgender community — and would instead “focus on serving all help seekers.”
“Everyone who contacts the 988 Lifeline will continue to receive access to skilled, caring, culturally competent crisis counselors who can help with suicidal, substance misuse, or mental health crises, or any other kind of emotional distress. Anyone who calls the Lifeline will continue to receive compassion and help,” the agency said at the time.
The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline launched in July 2022, two years after Trump signed the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act, making 988 the universal number for the national suicide prevention line. The bipartisan legislation noted that LGBTQ youths “are more than 4 times more likely to contemplate suicide than their peers and said SAMHSA “must be equipped to provide specialized resources” to high-risk populations, including LGBTQ youths.
House passes major cryptocurrency bill, sending it to Trump's desk
In an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote, the House approved a landmark cryptocurrency bill that would establish the first regulatory framework for issuers of stablecoins, called the GENIUS Act. The bill, which has already passed the Senate, now heads to Trump’s desk.
The vote was 308-122, with 206 Republicans and 102 Democrats supporting the legislation.
The House also approved two other crypto-related pieces of legislation, both of which still need to clear the Senate.
The CLARITY Act would establish “a regulatory framework for digital commodities.” That also got broad bipartisan support.
Meanwhile, the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act would prohibit the “Federal Reserve bank from offering products or services directly to an individual, maintaining an account on behalf of an individual, or issuing a central bank digital currency.”
Top Trump officials tour Alcatraz Island after Trump demands facility reopen as a prison
Top Trump officials toured Alcatraz Island off California today for a visit aimed at measuring the feasibility of reverting the national park to a prison, a demand Trump made on Truth Social back in May.
Fox News accompanied Attorney General Pam Bondi and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum as they toured the federal facility, which closed as a federal penitentiary in 1963, according to the Bureau of Prisons. It has operated as a national park since 1972.
"It’s a federal property. Its original use was a prison, and so part of this would be to test the feasibility about returning it back to its original use," said Burgum, who oversees national parks.
Trump had directed the federal officials to "to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders."
Bondi echoed the call during the tour, telling Fox News that those housed in the facility, should it reopen, would include "the worst of the worst."
"It could hold middle-class, violent prisoners. It could hold — it could hold illegal aliens. It could hold anything. This is a terrific facility [that] needs a lot of work, but no one has been known to escape from Alcatraz and survive," Bondi said.
During its time as a penitentiary, Alcatraz had a capacity of more than 300 people and was designed to house "the most dangerous criminals." However, difficulties sending supplies to the island, as well as high operating costs, led to its closing.
California officials have doubted the likelihood of the facility's reopening as a prison, with Gov. Gavin Newsom saying in a statement: "Pam Bondi will reopen Alcatraz the same day Trump lets her release the Epstein files. So... never.”
Sen. Tina Smith back for Senate votes after hospital stay last night
Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., is back on Capitol Hill for Senate votes today after she missed last night's rescissions package vote-a-rama.
"With a clean bill of health, I’m ready to get back to work fighting for Minnesotans," Smith said in a post on X this afternoon that made light of her love for doughnuts.
Smith's office said yesterday that she would stay overnight for examination at George Washington University Hospital in Washington “out of an abundance of caution” after having felt unwell.
Murkowski flips her vote on the new FBI headquarters location, allowing it to remain in Washington
Some drama in the Senate Appropriations Committee was reversed today when Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, switched her vote to not derail the Trump administration’s plan to put the new FBI headquarters in the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington instead of in Greenbelt, Maryland.
The issue came to a head last week when an amendment introduced by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., to the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations bill — which would force funding for the new FBI HQ to be used only for a Greenbelt location — passed with the help of Murkowski’s vote.
The vote resulted in Republicans’ defecting from the bill, putting its passage in jeopardy. As a result, the Appropriations Committee went into an extended recess to figure out a path that didn’t result in the death of the entire bill.
The Biden administration announced the decision to move the headquarters out of Washington to Maryland in 2023 after a yearslong selection process in which both Virginia and Maryland vied to house it.
But in July, the Trump administration reversed the decision and said the new headquarters would instead land at the Ronald Reagan complex in downtown Washington, which they described as a cost-effective location that can meet the needs of the agency’s workforce. The FBI’s current headquarters in the J. Edgar Hoover Building has deteriorated since it was opened in the 1970s, requiring either extensive renovations or a whole new campus to be constructed.
Last week, Murkowski said she had concerns about the Trump administration’s plans, so she joined Democrats to pass an amendment that would prohibit funding from being used to divert the new headquarters to Washington. But after she got a briefing from FBI Director Kash Patel this week, she decided to change her vote and instead allow the debate to happen when the bill is considered on the Senate floor later this year.
“I come to this decision based on the conversations that I’ve had with Kash Patel. I would encourage any members, either on this committee or off the committee, to have the same conversations, to have the same discussions,” Murkowski said at the Appropriations Committee meeting today.
Some Senate Republicans irked by OMB director's comments that government funding should be 'less bipartisan'
Some Senate Republicans are frustrated by Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought’s suggestion that the appropriations process should be less bipartisan.
Majority Leader John Thune, of South Dakota, said Vought's remark "runs contrary to what, you know, the math tells us around here."
At a Christian Science Monitor breakfast today, Vought said, according to a report in Politico, that “the appropriations process has to be less bipartisan.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said Vought's comment “disrespects” the appropriations process.
“I think he thinks that we are irrelevant," Murkowski said, adding that Vought's comments were "pretty dismissive of the appropriations process, pretty dismissive of our role."
Murkowski also discouraged the Trump administration from using rescissions packages again in the future, saying: “I do not think that that should be our path. It’s not legislating. It’s basically the White House saying, 'This is what we want you to do, take it or leave it. Trust us.'”
Senate Republicans this morning approved the Trump administration’s rescissions request, which effectively accepted that the Trump administration did not want to spend the money Congress approved in previous bipartisan spending bills.
Murkowski and Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins, of Maine, were the only two Republicans to vote against the rescissions package.
Collins echoed Murkowski's sentiment, telling NBC News that in the interest of funding the government, 60 votes are needed and "that means that it has to be a bipartisan process."
"Mr. Vought’s lack of respect and apparent lack of understanding of how Congress operates is baffling, because he’s served in government before,” she added.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared to reverse Vought at a briefing today.
“I think our Office of Management and Budget director was saying this process should be more bipartisan," she said.
White House says Trump doesn't want a special prosecutor in Epstein case
While his allies have been pushing Trump to name a special counsel in the Epstein probe, Leavitt said he's not interested.
"The president would not recommend a special prosecutor in the Epstein case. That’s how he feels,” she said.
Asked why the administration can't simply release more information from the files, Leavitt said that would be up to the Justice Department but that if it includes grand jury information, "a judge would have to approve it. That’s out of the president’s control."
She was also asked what about the Epstein case that Trump now considers a "hoax." "The president was referring to the fact that Democrats have now seized on this, as if they ever wanted transparency on this, which is an asinine suggestion," she said, adding they didn't "do a dang thing" when Biden was in office.
Trump has 'chronic venous insufficiency' in his legs, WH says
Trump has been diagnosed with "chronic venous insufficiency" after he was checked out for "mild swelling in his lower legs," Leavitt said at the briefing today.
Leavitt said the insufficiency is a "benign and common condition, particularly in individuals over the age of 70.”
“Importantly, there was no evidence of deep vein thrombosis or arterial disease,” she added.
She said Trump was "thoroughly evaluated by the White House medical unit" after he noted the swelling.
Leavitt also addressed the continued bruising on his hand, saying, as she had earlier this year, that it's the result of "frequent hand shaking" and the "use of aspirin, which is taken as part of a standard cardiovascular prevention regimen."
"The president remains in excellent health," she said.
Gallego introduces resolution calling for DOJ to release Epstein files
Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., introduced a resolution calling on the Justice Department to release its files related to the Epstein probe on the Senate floor this afternoon. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., objected to the resolution after Gallego spoke about Trump’s “total reversal” on releasing the files.
“Trump is straight-up gaslighting the American public. Does he think the American people are that dumb? Did he really think the American people would not forget what he had said for years on the campaign trail?” he asked.
Gallego tied Trump’s avoidance of the Epstein issue to a pattern of helping his “elite” friends at the expense of the American people.
“Trump has chickened out, and it’s because he is one of those elites, and he is taking care of his own. It’s all connected. Just look at his legislative agenda. Tax breaks for his rich buddies, subsidizing private jet purchases. Again and again, he rigs the system against everyday Americans,” he said.
Mullin called the resolution “political theater” and said Democrats care about the Epstein files only because it’s an opportunity “to go after a president that they truly despise.”
Democrats challenge whether Emil Bove’s judicial nomination advanced after they walked out of vote
Democrats walked out of a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting today to advance senior Justice Department official Emil Bove’s nomination for a federal judgeship, alleging Republicans improperly rushed the process.
A spokesperson for the top Democrat on the panel, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, said that as a result, it is an open question whether the nominations of Bove, who previously was Trump’s personal defense lawyer, and former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, whom he has picked to be U.S. attorney of the District of Columbia, are moving forward.
The spokesperson said that the Republican majority broke several rules with its actions and that Democrats would make their case to the Senate parliamentarian that the votes should be voided.
A spokesperson for the committee’s Republican chairman, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, said that there is no dispute and that Bove’s nomination to the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and Pirro’s nomination can move ahead to the full Senate.
Trump Justice Department seeks one day in prison for ex-officer in Breonna Taylor case
The Justice Department is seeking no prison time for a former officer who blindly shot into Breonna Taylor’s home during a botched 2020 raid that sparked a federal inquiry into policing in Louisville, Kentucky.
Brett Hankison, a former Louisville Metro Police Department detective whose shots did not strike Taylor, was convicted of deprivation of rights under color of law in November. Federal prosecutors said he fired 10 shots through a window and a sliding glass door that were covered with blinds and curtains. Multiple bullets traveled through the wall and into an apartment next door but did not hit anyone.
Pam Bondi and Doug Burgum expected to visit Alcatraz today
The Trump administration is moving forward with plans to try and reopen Alcatraz to prisoners.
Attorney General Pam Bondi, who oversees the Bureau of Prisons, and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, whose department controls the land, are expected to visit the current tourist site today, according to two administration officials familiar with the plans.
A senior Justice Department official said Bondi and Burgum are touring the prison and the surrounding island, discussing facilities with park police on the ground, and directing staff to collaborate on the necessary planning to rehabilitate and reopen the facility.
Reacting to local media reports, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., issued a written statement.
“With stiff competition, the planned announcement to reopen Alcatraz as a federal penitentiary is the Trump Administration’s stupidest initiative yet,” she wrote. “It should concern us all that clearly the only intellectual resources the Administration has drawn upon for this foolish notion are decades-old fictional Hollywood movies.”
In May, Trump announced in a post on Truth Social that he would direct his administration to reopen “a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders.”
“The reopening of ALCATRAZ will serve as a symbol of Law, Order, and JUSTICE. We will, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN,” the president wrote.
Legally, the Trump administration can’t simply do this — at least not right away. Reopening the facility would not be up to the Bureau of Prisons under current legislation that places the island under the control of the Department of the Interior and designates it as part of a national park. A member of Congress would need to propose a bill to change that.
“Should reason not prevail and Republicans bring this absurdity before the Congress, Democrats will use every parliamentary and budgetary tactic available to stop the lunacy," Pelosi said.
Durbin calls rescissions bill 'the meanest vote that I've seen'
Republican senators praised the rescissions package they passed early this morning, while Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., slammed the legislation as “the meanest vote that I’ve seen on the floor of the Senate.”
“The glee that some of my colleagues showed when it comes to cutting back on basic food and medicine for the poorest people in the world, I can’t understand it all,” Durbin said.
When asked if he is concerned that Congress will have to undo some of what the rescissions bill does, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said, “I think there’s probably going to be some adjustments similar to what is going to have to be done with the bill we passed a couple of weeks ago,” referring to the Republican domestic policy bill.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said in reaction to cutting public media, “I was all for cutting those. I wish that we could have cut more,” adding, “sadly, you can’t make a rescissions bill bigger on the floor.”
Johnson says vote on rescissions package still planned for today but could slide to tomorrow
The House is currently scheduled to vote tonight on the Senate-passed rescissions package to cancel $9 billion in previously approved funding, though that timing may slide, Johnson said.
"We’re just looking at all the moving parts and the calendar and the timetable and all that,” Speaker Johnson said as the chamber tries to pack all of the legislation planned for the whole week into one day after a group of Republicans blocked any action on crypto bills for two days. “We know we’ve got a short fuse on rescissions for tomorrow, so we’re figuring it out.”
Congress faces a deadline tomorrow to approve the rescissions package.
“It may be tomorrow, but we’re doing it,” Johnson said when asked if the House could get it done tonight as planned. “We’re moving as fast as we can.”
As of now, the House is scheduled to take up the rescissions package in the 7 p.m. hour. The House previously passed the package but now has to take it up again because it was amended in the Senate. The rules committee will need to meet today on the package and Democrats could slow down the process by offering amendments.
Democratic senators slam GOP colleagues over Bove vote
Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., spoke to reporters after they walked out of the Judiciary meeting.
Booker slammed Republicans for cutting off debate.
“This is the world’s most deliberative body, and we can’t even debate a controversial judge, a judge that has been accused by a whistleblower of lying to the United States Senate, to lying to this committee,” Booker said.
Booker said the country is “tilting towards authoritarianism with the complicity of Senate Republicans,” and that “the checks and balances that are clearly spelled out by the founders of our democracy are now being undermined.”
Blumenthal called the vote a “travesty” and said, “We can disagree about whether they should be on the court, but not about the rules that put them there.”
Top committee Republican asserts Bove's and Jeanine Pirro's nominations were favorably reported, which Democrats dispute
Because Democrats walked out of the Senate Judiciary Committee business meeting during votes to send Trump’s judicial nominees to the full Senate, all the nominees were reported out 12-0, with all 12 Republicans and none of the Democrats voting.
Grassley’s office believes both Emil Bove’s nomination to be a federal appeals court judge and Jeanine Pirro's nomination to be U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia were voted to the full Senate on a 12-0 vote, an assertion that Democrats are questioning.
Grassley, Durbin clash over whether Bove's nomination moves forward
A spokesperson for Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley says that Bove’s nomination had been reported out of committee to the full Senate, even though Democrats on the committee walked out in protest over the lack of debate and the refusal to hold a vote on whether to hold a hearing with a whistleblower before they voted.
But a spokesperson for Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dick Durbin is saying that whether Bove was reported out is an open question and may be up to the Senate parliamentarian because Democrats claim Republicans broke several committee rules in the process of forcing the vote.
Grassley explained his decision to force the vote at the end of the meeting:
"I ordered the vote this time, so if you’ll spread that word that this is not unprecedented, either the actions of the minority walking away, or what we did here as a majority, it’s happened before, and we have to move things along. And I thank everybody for participating."
Democrats walk out of Bove meeting before vote
Democrats walked out of the Senate Judiciary Committee meeting on Bove's nomination after Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., accused Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, of rushing the vote without allowing all of his colleagues to speak.
"This is out of order," Booker said. "This is absolutely insane. What is the rush?"
Booker joined his colleagues in leaving after blasting Grassley for pushing ahead with the vote, saying the move lacked "decorum."
Sen. Dick Durbin says Bove 'lacks the judgment and temperament to sit on the bench'
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said that Bove "should not be seriously considered by the Senate for a lifetime appointment to the federal bench."
He highlighted Erez Reuveni's whistleblower complaint, criticizing the GOP for not letting Reuveni testify ahead of the vote on Bove. Durbin also criticized Bove's actions in the department related to the dismissal of personnel involved in the investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
"Mr. Bove lacks the judgment and temperament to sit on the bench," Durbin said.
Durbin slams Trump administration over handling of Epstein files
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, used his remarks to slam the administration's treatment of the Jeffrey Epstein case, which has fractured the MAGA base.
Durbin called out Attorney General Pam Bondi in particular, noting that "the public is really suspicious of her findings."
The senator also invoked Trump's post to Truth Social yesterday, where he disavowed supporters calling for more transparency around the Epstein case.
"President Trump and Attorney General Bondi are directly responsible for all this confusion and mistrust, and they need to be fully transparent, and they should release all of the documents for the public to review as quickly as possible," he said.
Sen. Chuck Grassley calls criticism of Bove 'a political hit job'
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, opened the Senate Judiciary Committee meeting to consider Bove's nomination by criticizing the pushback on the nominee as "unfair rhetoric and treatment."
"What we're witnessing has all the hallmarks of a political hit job," Grassley said.
He said that he takes whistleblower complaints seriously, referring to allegations against Bove by former Justice Department lawyer Erez Reuveni.
What should Trump do about Epstein questions? MAGA has a few ideas
Trump is facing growing pressure, including from some of his closest allies, for more transparency on the Jeffrey Epstein case. But there are mixed opinions on what steps the administration should take next.
The president has urged his supporters to move on from the case, decrying the story as “boring” and lashing out at those who have called for more information. Despite this, many people — including allies but also Democrats and critics on the right — have demanded more clarity about the case. Epstein was found dead in a New York jail cell in 2019 while he was awaiting a trial on sex trafficking charges. Conspiracy theories have swirled since then, including baseless claims that he was killed to protect his powerful clients.
Trump Lashes out at ‘Stupid Republicans’ Over Epstein Files
Trump is lashing out at some of his own supporters over their demands for more information about the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “It’s all been a big hoax. It’s perpetrated by the Democrats and some stupid Republicans and foolish Republicans fall into the net,” Trump said. NBC’s Gabe Gutierrez reports for "TODAY."
Senate Judiciary Committee to vote on Emil Bove's nomination to 3rd Circuit
The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote this morning on the nomination of Emil Bove, a senior Justice Department official and former personal defense attorney for Trump, to be a judge on the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Bove has been accused of dropping corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams in return for his help on immigration matters, which both he and the mayor have denied. Bove said at the time that Adams' indictment came too close to the mayoral primary and hindered his ability to help with immigration enforcement and crime-fighting.
A former Justice Department lawyer also accused Bove of suggesting that subordinates defy court orders aimed at stopping deportations, which Bove also has denied.
Bove also has come under criticism for his involvement in the dismissals of Justice Department personnel who worked on the investigation of the Jan. 6 riot.
New U.S. assessment finds American strikes destroyed only one of three Iranian nuclear sites
One of the three nuclear enrichment sites in Iran struck by the United States last month was mostly destroyed, setting work there back significantly. But the two others were not as badly damaged and may have been degraded only to a point where nuclear enrichment could resume in the next several months if Iran wants it to, according to a recent U.S. assessment of the destruction caused by the military operation, five current and former U.S. officials familiar with the assessment told NBC News.
The assessment, part of the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to determine the status of Iran’s nuclear program since the facilities were struck, was briefed to some U.S. lawmakers, Defense Department officials and allied countries in recent days, four of those people said.
GOP-led Senate votes to cancel $9 billion in funding for foreign aid, NPR and PBS
The Republican-led Senate Republicans voted early this morning to pass a package of spending cuts requested by Trump, sending it to the House.
The rescissions package cancels previously approved funding totaling $9 billion for foreign aid and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds NPR and PBS. Republicans passed it through a rarely used process to evade the 60-vote threshold and modify a bipartisan spending deal on party lines.