Monday, July 7 | By Alexis Simendinger & Kristina Karisch |
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| ▪ Texas reels from deadly rain ▪ Netanyahu, Trump to focus on Gaza truce ▪ Trump adds new uncertainty to tariffs ▪ U.S. halt to Ukraine aid in question |
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© The Associated Press | Julio Cortez |
Texas braces for more flood danger after Hill Country tragedy
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The Texas death toll from torrential weekend rain and flooding climbed to at least 82 people as rescuers desperately searched for others still missing, including 10 girls and a counselor from a summer camp. About 850 people have been rescued, according to officials. President Trump on Sunday said he would "probably" visit the region on Friday. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem pledged help on Saturday to those experiencing losses after the equivalent of six months of rain within four hours inundated a Central Texas area vulnerable to flash flooding. The Guadalupe River rose to the height of a two-story building within two ferocious hours on July 4. At least 167 people had to be rescued by helicopter. "Some were clinging to trees to save their lives," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said. More storms that pose life-threatening flood danger are forecast today, the governor warned. "These families are enduring an unimaginable tragedy, with many lives lost, and many still missing," Trump wrote Sunday on Truth Social after declaring a major disaster and noting Noem's work with the governor "to help the people of his Great State." AP photographers captured the scale of the destruction, and one of Texas's largest rescue and recovery efforts. Much of the nationwide focus turned to the missing girls who had been staying at Camp Mystic close to Hunt, Texas. Authorities are still fielding questions about why the young campers were allowed to remain as potential danger mounted in Kerr County. Local officials, calling the event a once-in-a-century flood, said they had not expected such an intense downpour. "There's going to be a lot of finger-pointing, a lot of second-guessing and Monday morning quarterbacking," said Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), whose district includes Kerr County. "There's a lot of people saying 'why' and 'how,' and I understand that." Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas) wrote on social media Saturday that his daughters were evacuated from the camp and reunited with the family. Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) on Sunday wrote on social media that his granddaughters were saved from the Texas flooding, but said their cousin was killed. For the meteorologists and hydrologists tracking the weather patterns that led to the deadly floods, the most urgent advisories were not deployed until late, news outlets reported. Meanwhile, the White House faces criticism for its spending and staffing reductions affecting weather forecasting and planning, including the roles of the U.S. Forest Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Democrats worry the administration's moves are imperiling emergency preparedness and response to anticipated natural disasters, including this year's California wildfire season and the Atlantic hurricane season, which stretches through November. Meteorologists joined Trump and the administration in defending the National Weather Service. The president told reporters on Sunday that "nobody expected" the flooding, which he described as a "100-year catastrophe." The Atlantic: Hurricane science was great while it lasted. Congress is likely to return to a smoldering debate between Washington and red and blue states about whether and by how much to approve federal emergency disaster assistance. Trump in January, following the California wildfires and his criticisms of the state, suggested he might block federal disaster aid unless the state enacted voter ID laws. The Hill: Former President George W. Bush said in a statement he and former first lady Laura Bush are "heartbroken by the loss of life," including children, in the Texas floods. The Hill: Former President Obama said Sunday that he and former first lady Michelle Obama were praying for those affected by the "heartbreaking" flash flooding in Texas. |
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Smart Take
with Blake Burman |
| The Army slogan, "Be all you can be," is one of the most recognizable phrases in the country. Coming off America's birthday, it's worth mentioning that the Army has been hitting its recruiting goals in recent months. As warfare changes in the modern era, the Army is also casting a wider net to attract new types of talent. Just last month, it launched Detachment 201: The Army's Executive Innovation Corps. Leaders from key tech companies Palantir, Meta, OpenAI and Thinking Machines Lab are now lieutenant colonels in the Army Reserves. The Army says it wants to help merge the military with cutting-edge tech, inspiring people to serve without leaving their careers. It's also a sign that the military is adapting to changing needs in an evolving threat environment. |
Burman hosts "The Hill" weeknights, 6p/5c on NewsNation. |
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ISRAEL: Trump is welcoming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House today as he pushes for a ceasefire in Gaza, and on the heels of Israel's U.S.-assisted strikes on Iran. "We have already transformed the face of the Middle East beyond recognition, and we now have the opportunity and the ability to change it even further and bring a great future to the State of Israel, the people of Israel, and the entire [region]," Netanyahu said as he departed for Washington. Netanyahu, whose domestic popularity surged after the conflict with Iran, continues to face criticism among Israelis for his failure to secure a truce and hostage release deal. A number of hostages remain in Gaza, many of them dead. Israel has also come under fire for the humanitarian emergency in Gaza; more than 55,000 Palestinians have died in the enclave since Oct. 7, 2023, and Israeli forces are ramping up their attacks. An 11-week aid blockade, and haphazard food distribution once humanitarian organizations were allowed back in, has resulted in Israeli military attacks on Palestinians seeking food. Trump, who has positioned himself as an international dealmaker, vowing to end the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, will again try to persuade Netanyahu to accept a deal. The president has had a close — but lately sometimes strained — relationship with the Israeli leader. Trump recently called for Israel's courts to drop a series of corruption cases against Netanyahu. And there's unfinished business with Iran. Assessments vary about how effective Israeli and U.S. attacks were in setting back Tehran's nuclear ambitions. "It's a victory lap with a caveat," Alon Pinkas, a political commentator and Israeli former diplomat, told The New York Times. "Netanyahu knows the truth — that Iran retains some capabilities." Israel reportedly agreed to a U.S. proposal for a 60-day ceasefire with Hamas. Hamas said Friday that it was ready to begin negotiations with Israel "immediately." Ahead of Netanyahu's White House visit, Israel sent a delegation to Qatar on Sunday to continue ceasefire negotiations. The Hill's Laura Kelly breaks down five key things to watch for. ▪ CNN: Israel carried out its first strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen since the Israel-Iran ceasefire. ▪ The New York Times: Israel's airstrikes on Tehran's Evin prison, including the hospital ward, have turned it from a hated symbol of oppression into a new rallying cry. UKRAINE: Last week, the Defense Department held up a shipment of U.S. weapons for Ukraine over what officials said were concerns about low stockpiles. But NBC News reports an analysis by senior military officers found that the aid package would not jeopardize the U.S. military's ammunition supplies. The move to halt the weapons shipment blindsided the State Department, members of Congress, officials in Kyiv and European allies. Rep. Adam Smith (Wash.), the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said it was disingenuous of the Pentagon to use military readiness to justify halting aid. Smith said he and his staff had seen the stockpile numbers and "we are not at any lower point, stockpile-wise, than we've been in the 3 1/2 years of the Ukraine conflict." Politico: Inside Trump's chaotic National Security Council. |
- The president will sign executive orders at 4 p.m. in the Oval Office. Trump will welcome Netanyahu to the White House at 6:30 p.m. for a dinner that begins at 6:35 p.m. in the Blue Room.
- Vice President Vance is in San Diego, Calif., and is scheduled to participate in a roundtable event today.
- The House convenes at 10 a.m.
- The Senate holds a pro forma session at 10:15 a.m.
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© The Associated Press | Nam Y. Huh |
THE POLITICS OF HEALTH CARE are playing out on a battleground Democrats know well. The GOP's $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts signed into law by Trump last week don't take full effect until 2028, a presidential election year, but Republican midterm candidates are braced for immediate blowback. They have seen Democrats in action, and they know the attack ads and talking points they face. Republicans for months have been portrayed by their foes as the opposite of Robin Hood — as lawmakers who take from the poor to benefit the rich through provisions of Trump's budget agenda. An estimated 12 million low-income beneficiaries are expected to lose their health insurance by 2034 because of the biggest federal retreat in Medicaid support in its 60-year history. Federal cuts are not projected to be made up by state budgets. Republicans argue the changes they put into law are necessary to address waste and fraud in the program, ensuring that "able-bodied" adults and non-citizens aren't taking advantage of the system. But with 1 in 5 Americans enrolled in Medicaid, Democrats hope the "big, beautiful bill" becomes political poison for Republicans in 2026. The terrain unites a Democratic Party with plenty of experience advocating for Medicare, enacting the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in 1997 and the 2010 passage of the Affordable Care Act, which encouraged states to expand Medicaid with Uncle Sam's backing and gradually reeled in bipartisan public support for ObamaCare. "The key here for Republicans going into the midterms is to clearly go on offense and define the debate around Medicaid in particular today, not tomorrow, not next month, not in the fall, not next year," Kristin Davison, partner at the GOP consulting firm Axiom Strategies, told The Hill. ▪ The Hill: Here's where Trump's approval ratings stand on key issues. ▪ The Hill: Virginia emerges as key bellwether ahead of the midterms. RED, BLUE, NEW? Billionaire Elon Musk has been making primary threats against Republican candidates for backing Trump's "big, beautiful" agenda, which became law over Musk's objections that the legislation explodes the national debt. Musk then turned his publicly explosive split from Trump into a call for a new political party on Saturday. His criticism of Trump, the Republican presidential nominee he backed with hundreds of millions of dollars in 2024, prompted the president to suggest the Tesla and SpaceX CEO would suffer if federal contracts and subsidies are withheld from his companies. The rupture between the two men has mesmerized Washington and Wall Street. Musk said he wants to bankroll a new political party, which he calls "the America Party," although he had not filed the required paperwork at the time of his social media announcement. During a May interview with Bloomberg News, he suggested he might step away from national politics to concentrate on Tesla and his other businesses. The president on Sunday said on Truth Social that Musk was "off the rails" and he denounced the third party idea as "ridiculous." In the United States, third-party efforts in the past sparked more curiosity than conquests. H. Ross Perot came closer to success during his presidential bid in 1992 as an independent when he racked up more than 19 million votes. What third parties lack within the U.S. system are sturdy foundations of support and the infrastructure and funding to compete. |
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© The Associated Press | Ng Han Guan |
TARIFFS: Trump this week will begin sending letters today to other countries setting a tariff rate on their imports, re-escalating his trade war. The 90-day tariff pause, set to lapse July 9, gave businesses and other countries a temporary reprieve, but markets are bracing for the resurgence of tariff-related movement. Trump didn't say which nations would be targeted, or what rates would be set for the tariffs, only that they would go into effect Aug. 1 and could reach as high as 70 percent. The new date offers countries a further three-week reprieve but also sends importers into an extended period of uncertainty. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that about 100 letters will be sent to small countries "where we don't have very much trade," many of which are "already at the baseline 10 percent." Trump also threatened to impose an additional 10 percent tariff on countries "aligning" themselves with the "anti American" BRICS bloc of developing nations. We've been here before. Since Trump's initial April 2 tariff announcement, the president has either paused tariffs, struck deals with individual countries or lowered rates. As Wednesday's deadline approaches, the White House has celebrated new trade agreements with countries including China, the U.K. and Vietnam, while the status of other pacts remains under wraps. Countries that Trump administration officials see as negotiating in good faith could once again be given a longer runway. Trump on Friday touted letters as the "better" option for countries that fail to negotiate deals by the deadline. ▪ The Washington Post: The U.S. seeks a limited trade deal with the European Union as Trump's deadline approaches. ▪ The Associated Press: U.S. tariffs on European goods threaten to shake up the world's largest trade relationship. ▪ The New York Times: How Europe got stuck between China and the U.S. Canada's decision to rescind its digital services tax to restart trade negotiations with the U.S. represents a boon for major tech firms and could spell trouble for similar efforts by other countries. The Canadian government announced last week that it would scrap the tax on U.S. tech firms in a bid to bring the Trump administration back to the table and avoid heightened tariffs. "Going forward, I think the fact that Trump managed to bully or cajole ... Canada into dropping its DST means that this will be a big item that he insists on in talks with Europe and any countries in all these trade negotiations," said Gary Hufbauer, a nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. "I see this as a harbinger of a more general repeal of digital services taxes," he added, calling it a "pretty big deal and a real victory for Trump." |
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And finally … Flashback to July 7, 1976, when women for the first time were allowed to enroll in the U.S. Military Academy in New York, founded by Congress in 1802 and simply known as West Point. By May 28, 1980, 62 of the female West Point cadets graduated and were commissioned as second lieutenants. Forty-five years later, women make up about 22 percent of the 4,500 students at the prestigious military training academy run by the U.S. Army. Men still dominate. At the time of the 1976 breakthrough for women who sought to study at the academy, just 19 women served in the House and there were no female senators. But women's rights and roles in the U.S. were expanding, including elsewhere in the federal government. Some women in the military — well before diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) were pushed out of favor this year — urged lawmakers to think creatively about the role they play in steering talented female students to West Point. Suggestion: Nominate more. By law, West Point only considers applicants who have been nominated by a member of Congress from their state, and lawmakers make their nominations based on an application and in-person interview process that varies from office to office on Capitol Hill. A 2021 report found that lawmakers who most often acted as "gateways to opportunity" by promoting female students for the military academies did not tilt toward one party or the other. But the selection process each lawmaker established, whether reliant on staff or volunteers, made a difference. | |
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