Hello readers. Welcome back to On Politics. Zach Schermele here, USA TODAY's congressional correspondent. It's Wednesday, and you can already smell the jet fumes here in the Capitol as lawmakers in the House get ready to leave for the August recess. There's a lot happening today, so let's get into it.
|
Speaker Mike Johnson's got a lot of bills to push out the door before the House leaves for a month. Among them: the annual defense policy bill, an attempt to ban members of Congress from stock trading and a version of the SAVE America Act. Regardless of whether the GOP unites to pass everything in one fell swoop today, much of it may change or go away in the Senate.
|
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, a consistent GOP leadership critic, laid out his views on what's happening pretty clearly: "If we really wanted to ban stock trading for members of Congress, we would offer stand-alone legislation and could get a large bipartisan majority," he wrote on X. "But today we have political theater cooked up by 25 yr old staffers."
|
The House of Representatives side of the U.S. Capitol on July 22, 2026.
Eric Lee, REUTERS
|
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, lifted his hold this morning on Trump ambassador nominees Kari Lake and Doug Mastriano. He'd threatened to block their confirmation votes out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee over unrelated concerns about the administration not releasing funds for PEPFAR, a George W. Bush-era program meant to stop the spread of HIV globally. Cornyn, a former White House ally who was snubbed for a Trump endorsement, said in the Senate halls yesterday the program remains "one of the best ways to make friends and create allies in Africa." When a reporter next to me asked him whether it was ironic that he had to leverage his political committee power to pressure the White House to release funds Congress already appropriated, Cornyn said, "It's kind of fun."
|
Mamdani says NYC can't arrest Netanyahu |
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called on federal officials to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu after calling the Israeli prime minister a "war criminal."
|
In a statement posted across the mayor's social media platforms last night, the mayor said New York City would be unable to arrest Netanyahu after he directed city officials to look into legal pathways for his detainment if he visited. Read more from my colleague Amethyst Martinez, our New York City reporter.
|
Zachary Schermele is the congressional correspondent for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com.
|
|
Donald Trump threatened to bomb Iran's bridges and power plants, in response to attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
|
|
Supporters of India's youth-led "cockroach" movement have been camping in the capital New Delhi. Here is a look at what sparked the protests.
|
|
|
|
Our app gives you award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, eNewspaper and more.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sign up for the news you want
|
Exclusive newsletters are part of your subscription, don’t miss out! We’re always working to add benefits for subscribers like you.
|
|
|
|
|
|
