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by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, July 17.
- Trump’s $1tn for Pentagon to add huge planet-heating emissions, study shows (“Exclusive: 17% increase in military spending will add emissions equivalent to those of some entire countries”)
- Enter the kill zone: Ukraine’s drone-infested front slows Russian advance
- New U.S. assessment finds American strikes destroyed only one of three Iranian nuclear sites
- Syria leader vows to protect Druze after sectarian violence prompts Israeli strikes
- Israel, Mixing Force With Diplomacy, Takes ‘Discordant’ Approach to Syria
- Syrian President Condemns Israeli Airstrikes on Damascus
- US Eyes Tariff Rate of 10% or 15% for More Than 150 Countries
- African Nation Says It Will Repatriate Migrants Deported by U.S. (“The Trump administration sent five deportees to Eswatini, an African kingdom, saying that their own countries would not take them. But Eswatini says it will send them home.”)
- The Chaotic Early Days Inside Florida’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Detention Center (“Several immigrant detainees described high tension and anxiety at the remote, hastily constructed facility over a lack of information, recreation and access to medication.” Call it a concentration camp, not some cutesy nickname.)
- Despite vow to remove the worst offenders, ICE data shows less than 1% of deportees had murder convictions
- “Even God Cannot Hear Us Here”: What I Witnessed Inside an ICE Women’s Prison (“Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk opens up for the first time about her shocking arrest and 45 days in a South Louisiana processing facility. She recalls the generous and compassionate women who helped her through this harrowing ordeal.”)
- ICE Agents Are Harassing the Courthouse Volunteers Who Assist Besieged Immigrants (“They want to be doing this with no witnesses.”)
- Don’t Fire Jerome Powell, Mr. President (Wall St. Journal editorial board: “Whatever the Fed chief’s errors, canning him early would be worse.”)
- Trump, 79, Can’t Remember Appointing His Own Fed Chair
- TACO for Lunch? Trump Once Again Stops Short of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
- Trump says it’s ‘highly unlikely’ he will fire Fed Chair Powell after broaching idea with GOP reps (“A recent Supreme Court decision indicated the president doesn’t have the authority to remove officials at the Federal Reserve at will.”)
- Trump’s Plans to Put Emil Bove on the Supreme Court (That’s HORRIFYING.)
- Hundreds of DOJ alumni warn Senate against Trump’s appellate judge nominee
- 900 Ex-Justice Dept. Lawyers Urge Senate Not to Confirm Bove as Federal Appeals Judge
- Chief Justice Roberts Secretly Praised Trump in Crisis Talks With Judges (Roberts is truly heinous.)
- Trump officials halt ‘dangerous’ research, overriding NIH career scientists
- Trump administration taking new steps to block wind and solar projects, undisclosed memo says (“The directive puts these renewable energy projects under heightened scrutiny at Interior in a move that could slow approvals and construction.” That’s completely insane.)
- Solar and Storage Stability: How America Can Maintain Energy Security Through Severe Weather
- Senate sends Trump’s DOGE cuts package to the House as deadline to pass it closes in
- Senate approves Trump’s bill to cut spending, sending it to the House (“The legislation hands the Trump administration a victory in its ongoing power struggle with Congress over federal spending.” Congressional Republicans are giving up their “power of the purse” to the president. Why the hell would they do that??? Also, that totally demolishes the entire concept of checks-and-balances, separation of powers, each branch jealously guarding its prerogatives, etc.)
- PBS, NPR Set to Lose Federal Funding as Senate Passes DOGE Cuts
- Crypto regulation bills move forward after record-setting House vote (“The future of three crypto bills in Congress is uncertain after two days of House Republican infighting over the contents of the legislation and the process for moving it.”; “House Speaker Mike Johnson spent around 10 hours trying to unite his conference enough to push through a procedural vote to approve rules of debate for the crypto bills and an adjacent Pentagon appropriations package.”)
- Inside Trump’s Frantic, Failing Mission to Crush the Epstein ‘MAGA Rebellion’ (“The president and his administration are telling supporters to forget about the convicted sex offender. It isn’t working”)
- Jeez, I wonder why Trump won’t release the Epstein files
- Elon Musk Blows Major Hole in Trump’s Epstein ‘Hoax’ Theory (“Trump’s former right-hand man is defiantly refusing to let the Jeffrey Epstein story go away.”)
- Loomer delivers searing warning: Epstein could ‘consume’ Trump presidency
- “Um … What?”— Elon Musk Criticizes Trump’s Epstein Files Hoax Claim
- Musk mocks ‘Epstein hoax’ claims after president blasts its ‘stupid’ believers (“Musk says Trump should release files and ‘point out which part is the hoax’ as the president struggles to contain crisis within Maga base.”)
- Trump faces backlash as 69% believe Epstein details concealed -Reuters/Ipsos poll
- Mike Pence says “the time has come” to release the Epstein files
- QAnon shows the staying power of Epstein theories. Trump should know they won’t go away
- Nobody (Not Even Trump) Can Control the Epstein Story (“Welcome to the era of late-stage conspiracism.”)
- Trump slams his own supporters as ‘weaklings’ for falling for what he now calls the Epstein ‘hoax’
- Maurene Comey: prosecutor in Jeffrey Epstein case reportedly fired by DoJ
- Maurene Comey, daughter of James Comey and prosecutor of Jeffrey Epstein, is fired (“Comey, who had worked in the U.S. attorney’s office for nearly a decade, prosecuted both Jeffrey Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell.” Retribution. Also illegal.)
- Justice Department fires Maurene Comey, prosecutor on Epstein case and daughter of ex-FBI director
- Over 1 in 5 high-level Trump picks held crypto, Post analysis finds (“The unprecedented level of digital assets highlights an enormous reversal of fortune for the cryptocurrency industry.”)
- Democrats try a new tone: Less scripted, more cursing, Trumpier insults (Just talk like normal people!)
- News Not Bad Enough for You? RFK Jr. Is Reportedly Considering Another Presidential Run
- Trump says Coca-Cola will use real sugar in its US flagship drink. The company isn’t confirming that (Uh, why?)
- How the Washington Post Lost Its Readers’ Trust (“Now the entire Opinion staff, and perhaps the Post itself, stands at a precipice.”)
- Video: Kaine Speaks on Senate Floor to Slam Republican Defunding of Faith-Based Organizations
- Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D-VA04) Demands Answers from DHS Secretary Noem on ICE Raids at Chesterfield County Courthouse (Rep. McClellan calls out “disturbingly authoritarian behavior that not only undermines our safety, but also threatens the very foundation of our constitutional democracy.” )
- Commentary: If the attorney general won’t defend Virginia, who will?
- New Virginia Poll: Spanberger +12 (49%-37%) Over Sears; Hashmi +10 (46%-36%) Over Reid; Jones +9 (46%-37%) Over Miyares (50% of Virginia voters STRONGLY disapprove of Trump; only 49% approve of Youngkin)
- New VCU poll gives Spanberger a lead of 12 percentage points. Here’s what to know about that. (Ridiculous comment about 49% approval supposedly indicating that Youngkin is popular. In fact, that’s among the worst in the country for governors, and among thew worst ever at this point in their term for a Virginia governor.)
- Youngkin visits Iowa and S.C. as 2028 presidential race looms
- New poll shows big lead for Democratic statewide ticket
- Spanberger widens lead as Virginia voters prioritize cost of living, personal freedoms
- Virginia 2Q25 Campaign Finance Reports Coming In…Spanberger, Hashmi Hold Huge Cash Leads; House of Delegates Dems Doing Well Also
- Democrats continue their fundraising advantage in House races
- Spanberger has more than three times as much cash as Earle-Sears in what might be unprecedented financial advantage (“Democrats hold strong campaign finance leads in many races across Virginia this year, according to the most recent campaign finance reports.”)
- Spanberger outraises Earle-Sears 2-to-1 in Virginia governor’s race
- Spanberger expands financial advantage over Earle-Sears, with $15.2M to spend
- Earle-Sears shakes up campaign for Va. governor as fundraising, polls lag (“Will Archer, pastor of Potomac Valley Church in Dumfries, may stay on with the campaign in a different role.”)
- Democrats hit Earle-Sears in new ad over job cuts, business ranking drop
- SCC says Dominion’s future spending plan ‘legally sufficient,’ warns against impact on consumers
- Virginia Governor Boosts Artificial Intelligence to Fill Jobs, Cut Regulations (“The focus on artificial intelligence, part of a partnership with Google, raises concerns among some environmentalists and homeowners about the proliferation of data centers needed to power AI.”)
- Virginia Retirement System investments lag benchmark, but it expects ‘comparable’ rates
- When will UVa have a new president?
- UVa hospital CEO Wendy Horton to resign
- As federal job losses mount, Fairfax leaders sound alarm
- Norfolk cleared to start construction on first phase of floodwall
- CWG Live updates: Surging heat today before increasing storm chances into the weekend
