In a strategic effort to stall a Republican push to pass Donald Trump’s signature “one, big, beautiful bill,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries took over the House floor in the early hours of Thursday morning, exercising a leadership privilege known as “magic minutes” to speak for an unlimited amount of time.
This rarely used procedural tool allows congressional leaders to hold the floor without time restrictions, giving Jeffries the ability to delay proceedings for as long as he chooses without being interrupted.
The House had just passed a procedural hurdle with a 219-213 vote, clearing the way for a final vote later in the day on the sweeping tax and spending legislation championed by Trump.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called off his first visit to Japan and South Korea to focus on Middle East issues

PM Netanyahu visited Kibbutz Nir Oz today, marking his first visit to the town since the Oct. 7 massacre.

The 9th Infantry Division’s Stage Company is conducting a third round of operations in the northern Gaza Strip.

The US is expected to see its lowest national average gas prices for the July 4th weekend since 2021.

A 19-year-old woman who gained notoriety for ripping down posters of kidnapped Israeli children in the wake of Hamas’ October 7 massacre was arrested early Wednesday after a violent attack on NYPD officers in Times Square, the New York Post reported. Dana Baraket, the daughter of Lebanese immigrants, approached two officers near Broadway and 47th Street around 1:20 a.m., police sources told The Post. Without warning, she sprayed them in the eyes and face with pepper spray, then tried to seize one of their firearms while yelling “kill me,” law enforcement officials said. Baraket was tackled and arrested on the spot before she could get hold of the weapon.

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu paid a visit to Mossad headquarters on Wednesday evening, meeting with Mossad Director David Barnea and the organization’s senior leadership team.
During the meeting, Netanyahu voiced his gratitude to the Mossad personnel for their critical and exceptional role in Operation Rising Lion, as well as for their longstanding work in intelligence and operational activities aimed at countering Iran’s ambitions.
Netanyahu said, “The Mossad operation with the pagers set in motion everything that happened afterward – the elimination of Nasrallah, the collapse of Assad and our subsequent joint action in removing the immediate existential threat.”

A declassified CIA memo released Wednesday challenges the work intelligence agencies did to conclude that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election because it wanted Republican Donald Trump to win. The memo was written on the orders of CIA Director John Ratcliffe, a Trump loyalist who spoke out against the Russia investigation as a member of Congress. It finds fault with a 2017 intelligence assessment that concluded the Russian government, at the direction of President Vladimir Putin, waged a covert influence campaign to help Trump win. It does not address that multiple investigations since then, including a report from the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee in 2020, reached the same conclusion about Russia’s influence and motives.