Top of the Fold

• UK prime minister resigns: Amid a brewing number of scandals involving both himself and members of his cabinet, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his resignation on Thursday. This marks quite the fall for Johnson, who just three years ago led his Conservative Party to its largest parliamentary majority in over three decades. Yet the writing was on the wall after Johnson barely survived a no-confidence vote from his own party just weeks ago. Much of the angst against Johnson began during the COVID pandemic when he, along with other members of his party, were caught partying while health restrictions were in place. Then a cascade of scandals involving members of his cabinet led to several resignations. As newly appointed British Treasury chief Nadhim Zahawi and a close Johnson ally put it in a letter to him: “This is not sustainable and it will only get worse: for you, for the Conservative Party and most importantly of all the country. You must do the right thing and go now.” Johnson, who helped guide the United Kingdom through the process of exiting the European Union, stated: “I know that there will be many people who are relieved and perhaps quite a few who will also be disappointed. And I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world. But them’s the breaks.”

• Biden administration sues Arizona over citizenship requirement to vote: In an attack against voting rights, Joe Biden’s Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against Arizona over its recently passed law requiring voters to provide proof of U.S. citizenship to vote in federal elections. The DOJ claims that the law, scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2023, violates both the 1993 National Voter Registration Act and the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, asserted that the law “turns the clock back on progress by imposing unlawful and unnecessary requirements that would block eligible voters from the registration rolls for certain federal elections.” Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) blasted the administration: “Biden couldn’t care less about the crime wave, record overdoses, or the spike in murders. But a citizenship requirement? Top priority for DOJ. You can’t make this up.” Meanwhile, in a move that both underscores Biden’s motive behind his de facto open-border policy and highlights why the DOJ is objecting to Arizona’s law, the Department of Homeland Security is eliminating an eligibility rule on its U.S. citizenship application that required some who had entered the country illegally to remain outside the U.S. for 10 years prior to application. The Biden administration is now effectively adopting a “don’t ask, don’t tell” provision. Former U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services head Emilio Gonzalez called it “sheer craziness.” Indeed.

• Elizabeth Warren targets pro-life pregnancy centers: The Democrat senator from Massachusetts is an abortion absolutist. She was one of the most emotionally incontinent lawmakers following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. However, unlike Democrat colleagues who aimed much of the vitriol at the Court and Republicans, Warren has taken it a step further and attacked those very organizations that the pro-abortion crowd loves to claim don’t exist — pro-life pregnancy centers. One of the dubious arguments pro-abortion advocates make is that if abortion is outlawed, no one will help women with unwanted pregnancies. However, pro-life pregnancy centers have long existed and have only grown over the decades. But according to Warren, these centers are suddenly a major problem that the federal government must target. “With Roe gone, it’s more important than ever to crack down on so-called ‘crisis pregnancy centers’ that mislead and deceive patients seeking abortion care," Warren lamented. "We need to crack down on the deceptive practices these centers use to prevent people from getting abortion care, and I’ve got a bill to do just that.” Warren’s bill is absolutely Orwellian in nature, as it falsely smears pro-life pregnancy centers as having engaged in “misinformation.” If passed, her legislation would penalize these pro-life organizations with a fine of up to $100,000 or “50 percent of the revenues earned by the ultimate parent entity” for violating the bill’s “prohibition on disinformation” related to abortion. It’s a blatant violation of the First Amendment, but it also underscores the fact that pro-abortion advocates cannot win their argument on the merits or truth surrounding abortion, which is the killing of an innocent preborn human being. Therefore, Warren is resorting to efforts to silence pro-life voices via the heavy hand of government. It is fundamentally un-American as well as deeply evil.

Headlines

• White House communications director Kate Bedingfield stepping down (PM)

• Frustrated Democrats express alarm over Biden’s powerlessness (The Hill)

• Oil from U.S. reserves sent overseas as gasoline prices stay high (Reuters)

• Raphael Warnock used campaign funds to fight personal lawsuit (Politico)

• AOC sees fines pile up for five-year-old unpaid tax warrant (Washington Examiner)

• Suspected California drug traffickers arrested with 150K fentanyl pills released by court commissioner (Fox News)

• “We’re being invaded”: Texas counties declare “invasion” during border crisis (NY Post)

• Richmond police say “hero citizen” tipped off officers, helped prevent mass shooting on July 4th (The Hill)

• Only 3% of Americans list guns among their highest concerns (Bearing Arms)

• New York Times warns of “The Rise of the Far-Right Latina” (Free Beacon)

• Celebrities are saying only women are women. Is the transgender movement fading? (Daily Signal)

• Policy: The surprising backstory of the downfall of Roe v. Wade (RCI)

• Satire: British parliament forms July 4 Commission to investigate colonial insurrection (Babylon Bee)

For more of today’s editors’ choice headlines, visit Headline Report.