• Hakeem Jeffries “filibusters” the OBBBA: The House of Representatives does not have a filibuster. Nevertheless, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has found a way around that this morning by using “magic minutes,” a procedure that gives House leadership unlimited time to speak after debate on a bill has ended. Kevin McCarthy used the same tactic to delay Joe Biden’s disastrous “Build Back Better” bill in 2021 by eight and a half hours. Republicans advanced Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act this morning in a 219-213 vote, getting it one step closer to passage. Republicans mocked Jeffries’s speech, which has been ongoing since just after 5 a.m. JD Vance relayed a text from a House Republican that said Jeffries’s antics had turned his solid “No” vote into a “Yes.”

• Vietnam trade deal: Yesterday, Donald Trump announced a major trade deal with Vietnam. The deal will open up the Vietnamese market to unfettered U.S. access, free of any tariffs, while a 20% tariff will remain in place for all goods Vietnam sends to the U.S., with a 40% tariff on any transshipment goods. That 40% tariff on transshipping is intended to counter China shipping its goods via Vietnam to avoid higher tariffs. Trump touted the deal as “a Great Deal of Cooperation between our two Countries.” He also offered praise to Vietnam’s General Secretary To Lam, saying it “was an absolute pleasure” working with him. This opens up Vietnam for the American auto industry.

• June jobs report exceeds expectations: Economists keep warning that Donald Trump’s policies are leading to an economic slowdown that fails to materialize month after month. Predictions for the June jobs report included unemployment ticking up from 4.2% to 4.3% and the addition of only 115,000 jobs. Once again, Democrats were disappointed by reality this morning when the numbers showed that unemployment had ticked down to 4.1% and 147,000 jobs had been added. Government employment accounted for most of the growth, adding 73,000 jobs even while DOGE-related projects cut 7,000 jobs in June. Manufacturing and business services experienced a decline of 14,000 jobs, while education, health, hospitality, and construction accounted for most of the remaining growth.

• Hegseth halts Ukrainian weapons shipment, cites depleted American stockpiles: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered a halt on a shipment of weapons to Ukraine in light of the U.S.‘s own depleted stockpiles. The shipment included Patriot interceptors, Howitzer munitions, Hellfire missiles, air-to-air missiles, and more. Multiple U.S. studies have found that in a possible hot war with China, certain critical American munitions could be depleted in as few as three days. The editorial boards of The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post argue that halting this weapon shipment leaves Ukraine in an even more precarious position and emboldens Vladimir Putin to continue the war. Which is another way of arguing, erroneously, that this shipment of weapons could’ve been the one that convinces Putin to end a war he has no intention of actually ending.

• Iran officially suspends nuclear watchdog: The International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN’s nuclear inspectors tasked with ascertaining nuclear capability around the globe, will no longer be welcome in Iran following a bill signed by President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday. Iranian leaders point out that this bill will enable their “civilian” nuclear sites to move at a faster pace since foreign inspections will no longer hold them up. Under the new arrangement, outside inspectors will require approval from Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. Iran states that it will not cooperate with the IAEA again until it can ensure the security of its demolished enrichment facilities. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar says this should trigger the return of all UN sanctions as outlined by the “snapback” mechanism in the 2015 nuclear deal.

• District judge blocks Trump’s border crackdown: The Supreme Court ruled in a landmark decision last Friday that universal injunctions from district judges had to go. As Justice Amy Coney Barrett explained, when a court finds the executive has exceeded the law, “the answer is not for the court to exceed its power, too.” Unfortunately, the Friday decision left a loophole for class-action lawsuits, and District Judge Randolph Moss took that as a sign to keep up the bad work. Moss has issued a ruling that Trump’s January 20 executive order increasing restrictions on asylum claims exceeded his legal authority and must be halted. The judge got around the SCOTUS decision by declaring that all potential future asylum seekers are part of some global class. Moss agreed to stay his decision for two weeks pending an appeal to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.

• FBI busts Chinese spy ring: Two Chinese individuals who were arrested by the FBI last Friday have been charged with operating a clandestine spy ring. Chen Yuance and Lai Liren were allegedly engaged in “various clandestine intelligence taskings in the United States” for China’s Ministry of State Security. The Chinese spy ring targeted members of the U.S. military and worked to recruit American military personnel to spy for China. Chen knew people in the Navy, Army, and Air Force whom he had identified as potential recruits for spying. “This case underscores the Chinese government’s sustained and aggressive effort to infiltrate our military and undermine our national security from within,” Attorney General Pam Bondi soberly noted. “The Justice Department will not stand by while hostile nations embed spies in our country — we will expose foreign operatives, hold their agents to account, and protect the American people from covert threats to our national security.”

• Libertarian Party makes a pitch to Musk: In Elon Musk’s revived feud with Donald Trump over the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the tech-genius billionaire promised that if Republicans passed the bill, he would form the “American Party” the next day. Steven Nekhaila, national chairman of the Libertarian Party, is calling on Musk to rethink his plans and instead join the Libertarians. “Making a new third party would be a mistake. The Libertarian Party is the most set-up party to be the dissident subversive party,” Nekhaila argued. Noting Musk’s massive financial reserves, Nekhaila said, “Once the capital is there, the doors get blown wide open” for the Libertarian Party’s political opportunities. He also argued that there’s no way for a new party to get on the ballot in all 50 states in time for the election. Musk has yet to respond to the offer.

• WI Supreme Court strikes down state’s 176-year-old abortion ban: In 1849, Wisconsin passed a law that banned feticide, which equates to a total ban on abortion. In 1973, Roe v. Wade effectively voided Wisconsin’s ban — until 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe with the Dobbs decision. Questions over the legality of abortions in the Badger State were quickly raised, with Sheboygan County’s Republican district attorney Joe Urmanski arguing that since the 1849 law had never been repealed, abortions should be illegal in the state. The case was taken to Wisconsin’s Supreme Court, where on Wednesday the majority-leftist court unsurprisingly upheld a lower-court decision that a 1985 state law, which permitted abortions until viability, essentially equated to a repeal of the 176-year-old abortion ban. Sadly, in Wisconsin, the state’s highest court has given the green light to the continued murder of pre-born babies.

Headlines

• Trump tells states he’s holding back $6.8 billion for schools (EducationWeek)

• DOGE reportedly set to cut 50 gun restrictions (TTAG)

• NYC driving school rigged driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants (NY Post)

• ICEBlock app getting hijacked by pro-ICE activists (Hot Air)

• Humor: Illegal immigrants removed from census, leaving California with population of 12 (Babylon Bee)

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