Top of the Fold

• Producer price gains accelerated in June: For the seventh straight month, the Producer Price Index continued its climb by rising to a whopping 11.3% in June. The high PPI comes on the heels of inflation hitting 9.1%, indicating that any economic relief for Americans is still a ways off. With these numbers, the Federal Reserve is expected to again raise the interest rate in its ongoing effort to slow the advance of inflation. High energy prices remain the primary driver behind the high PPI rate. While the core PPI, which excludes the more volatile economic sectors such as food and energy, has slowed slightly, economist Mahir Rasheed warns, “Despite a modest improvement in supply conditions, price pressures will remain uncomfortable in the near term and bolster the Fed’s resolve to prevent inflation from becoming entrenched in the economy.” The lone bit of good economic news from June was the jobs number — employers added 372,000 jobs as labor demand remains high.

• Did the Associated Press get something right on guns? The AP recently engaged in a rare bit of genuine journalism. The Leftmedia outlet announced an update to its stylebook, recommending that journalists refrain from using the term “assault weapon” and “assault rifle” when referencing semiautomatic rifles, observing that such terminology is “highly politicized.” The AP goes to accurately explain: “The preferred term for a rifle that fires one bullet each time the trigger is pulled, and automatically reloads for a subsequent shot, is a semi-automatic rifle. An automatic rifle continuously fires rounds if the trigger is depressed and until its ammunition is exhausted.” In eschewing the use of the label “assault” for semiautomatic rifles, the AP notes that it “convey[s] little meaning about the actual functions of the weapon.” Precisely.

• ICE about to run out of funding amid record migrant surge: Come October, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will run out of funding if Joe Biden’s Department of Homeland Security doesn’t secure more money. Jon Feere, the former ICE chief of staff, blasted the Biden administration by contending, “Instead of seeking enforcement resources, the Biden administration is putting more money into so-called Alternatives to Detention, but more specifically into what they call ‘case management’ and ‘wraparound services’ which means endless taxpayer handouts for illegal aliens.” Feere further observed, “The plan is to give millions of taxpayer dollars to activist groups who will provide social services to illegal aliens, ranging from helping them obtain attorneys, find employment, to providing mental health care.” DHS has been pulling millions from the budgets of both the U.S. Coast Guard and ICE and allocating the funds to various immigration activist groups. Clearly, the administration’s plan is not to prevent illegal immigration but to fuel it, and limiting ICE is just another component of Biden’s intentional open-borders policy.

Headlines

• House passes $839 billion defense bill, swatting down Biden’s military plans (Politico)

• Ex-CIA engineer convicted of biggest theft of secret information in agency’s history (Fox News)

• Dumb and dumber: FBI and DHS confirm buying and using Chinese drones, as ban hasn’t happened (Washington Examiner) | Chinese firm bought North Dakota farm near Air Force drone base (NY Post)

• Manchin says he won’t support climate, tax provisions in sweeping Democrat bill (Fox News)

• Most top Biden officials have zero years of business experience (Daily Wire)

• Democrats call for Schumer and Pelosi to strip SCOTUS of abortion jurisdiction (Daily Wire)

• Ohio 10-year-old’s alleged illegal immigrant rapist, 27, was listed as minor in abortionist’s report to state (Fox News) | Mother of rape victim gives bizarre interview, says daughter “fine,” media telling lies (Daily Wire)

• Dick’s Sporting Goods hit with civil-rights complaint for funding abortion tourism, not childcare (NR)

• Uber sued by more than 500 women over sexual assault claims (Washington Examiner)

• Truckers say California law likely to make supply chain crisis even worse (PJ Media)

• “Free to leave”: Enes Kanter Freedom rips LeBron James over Brittney Griner comments (NY Post)

• Pennsylvania outlaws Zuckbucks ahead of midterms (The Federalist)

• Policy: A novel look at the marriage penalty (IFS)

• Humor: White House still searching for a Biden it can send out in public (Babylon Bee)

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