The Senate Homeland Security Committee voted 8-5 along party lines Thursday to certify a contempt resolution against Dr. Anthony Fauci, after he invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times at a July 29 hearing, refusing to answer questions about gain-of-function research and whether he lied under oath. The referral heads to Acting AG Todd Blanche and U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro for D.C. A Biden-era pardon covers Fauci's federal exposure through January 19, 2026 — but three states are pursuing separate investigations the pardon cannot block.
Members headed home Thursday amid warning signs for Republicans: prediction markets now give Democrats an 83 percent chance of retaking the House, with analysts drawing comparisons to the 2006 Democratic wave driven by inflation above 3 percent and gas above four dollars a gallon. The White House is pushing members to use the break to promote the Big Beautiful Bill agenda, but the economic headwinds are real and November is closing in fast.
The national gas average remains above four dollars — driven by Strait of Hormuz disruptions — while Q2 GDP growth decelerated to just 1.5 percent annualized. Inflation held at 3.5 percent year-over-year through June, but real average hourly wages rose only 0.1 percent, meaning most workers are effectively losing ground. A new poll shows Democrats now lead Republicans on economic trust for the first time in a decade.
ICE recorded its highest monthly detention total of Trump's second term in July, taking more than 46,000 people into custody, with DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin specifically citing murderers, rapists, and drug traffickers removed in a single week. CBP officers at Laredo's World Trade Bridge separately seized over 1.1 million dollars in cocaine across two interdictions last week. Border apprehensions are tracking near 58,000 this month — well down from the 2023 peak — as enforcement focus has clearly shifted to criminal removal operations.
Iran's Foreign Ministry says Tehran and Oman have agreed on shipping lane coordinates and are close to a joint statement that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz under a 60-day initial accord, with mines cleared from the central lane within 30 days. But Iran's top Revolutionary Guard commander declared Thursday that Tehran will keep pursuing nuclear weapons as long as the U.S. and Israel possess them. Trump has structured the talks in two phases — Hormuz first, denuclearization second — and the durability of phase two is very much an open question.
The Defense Department is revising U.S. nuclear strategy to emphasize limited tactical nuclear deployments in regional conflicts, addressing what planners see as a dangerous gap between conventional warfare and full strategic exchange. The revision comes alongside intelligence assessments that China is ahead of schedule on warhead production and that Russia has repositioned tactical nuclear assets since the Ukraine war began. No official release date has been set.
China's new ethnic unity law — asserting legal authority over ethnic Chinese anywhere in the world, including Taiwan — drew comparisons to Putin's pre-invasion rhetoric at a major security forum this week, as Taiwan still awaits U.S. approval on a stalled 14-billion-dollar arms deal. Separately, Ukraine has exhausted its Patriot missile stockpile and can no longer intercept Russian ballistic missiles, with President Zelensky making emergency appeals to European allies while Russia deploys North Korean missile units to the front.
The FDA granted full approval Thursday to Moderna's mFlusiva — the first influenza vaccine built on mRNA technology — for adults aged 50 to 64, after a 40,000-person Phase 3 trial showed a 27 percent reduction in flu cases versus a standard shot. Adults 65 and older received accelerated approval based on immunogenicity data. The path was rocky: an FDA official initially blocked the application under the heightened vaccine scrutiny of the RFK Jr. era at HHS, before a unanimous advisory panel recommended approval in June.
The Trump administration's UAP transparency program released a newly declassified Energy Department report documenting a 2015 incident at the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas — the primary U.S. facility for assembling and dismantling nuclear warheads. Two security officers reported tracking a silent, four-foot-tall object with no visible propulsion system moving at 10 to 15 miles per hour before the plant was placed on lockdown. The release is part of the fourth wave of UAP file disclosures and includes military infrared footage.
A Montana teenager — an experienced ranch hand — used a lasso to pull a man from the fast-moving Yellowstone River in a split-second rescue now making national rounds. The teen happened to have rope on hand, looped it around the struggling man, and hauled him to safety before he could be swept further downstream. Bystanders captured the whole thing on video, and local authorities credited the teen's quick thinking and practical skills with saving his life.
