memeorandum: Capitol agenda: GOP turns toward DOGE cuts and a shutdown cliff (Calen Razor/Politico)

9:35 AM ET, July 7, 2025

Top Items:

Alex Isenstadt / Axios:

Exclusive: DOJ, FBI conclude Epstein had no “client list,” committed suicide … - The administration is releasing a video — in both raw and “enhanced” versions — that it says indicates no one entered the area of the Manhattan prison where Epstein was held the night he died in 2019.

Discussion: The Hill, HotAir, Meidas+, Newsweek, New Jersey Online, Mediaite, Forbes, NewsMax.com, Townhall, Raw Story, The Independent, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, RedState, Breitbart, Washington Examiner and The Post Millennial, more at Techmeme »

Caitlin McCormack / New York Post:
Jeffrey Epstein didn't have a ‘client list,’ and committed suicide, DOJ and FBI reveal in findings that debunk conspiracy theories: report

Discussion: Mediaite, Raw Story and The Gateway Pundit

The Texas Tribune:

Texas lawmakers failed to pass a bill to improve local disaster warning systems this year — A GOP state lawmaker who represents Kerr County says he likely would vote differently now on House Bill 13, which would have established a grant program for counties to build new emergency communication infrastructure.

Discussion: CBS News, New York Times, Alternet.org, Ace of Spades HQ, Raw Story, TEXAS RURAL REPORTER and HuffPost

Noah Berlatsky / Public Notice:

Trump gutted the weather service. Then Texas flooded. — 🗣️ Paid subscribers make Public Notice possible. If you appreciate our fiercely independent coverage of American politics, please support us. 👇 — Over the weekend, torrential rains struck central Texas …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Yahoo News, Townhall, E&E News, Bloomberg, Common Dreams and Semafor

Associated Press:
Live Updates: Desperate Search for Missing in Texas Floods as Death Toll Passes 50

Discussion: The Free Press, Axios, The Gateway Pundit, Semafor, Mother Jones, Politico, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, Houston Public Media, New York Times, MSNBC, Boston Herald, Washington Post, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera and The Japan Times

CNN:
Beleaguered Weather Service defends its forecasts as Texas officials point fingers over flood warnings

Wall Street Journal:
At Least 82 Dead in Texas Floods as Families of Missing Wait and Hope

Discussion: New York Times, Forbes, Associated Press, Al Jazeera, WTOP News, The Japan Times, MSNBC, CBS News and Houston Public Media

Catherine Bouris / The Daily Beast:
ICE Barbie Dodges Blame for Disastrous Texas Flooding on Trump's Watch

Discussion: MeidasTouch News, NBC News, The Dean's Report and New York Post

Sarah Fortinsky / The Hill:
Johnson on Texas floods: ‘We feel just as helpless as everyone else does’

Discussion: Washington Times

Max Tani / Semafor:

Times pushed ahead to avoid being scooped on Mamdani Columbia story — The Scoop — The afternoon before a long holiday weekend isn't always the best time to drop a major scoop. But the New York Times did not want to wait to publish its story about Zohran Mamdani's application …

more at Mediagazer »

Calen Razor / Politico:

Capitol agenda: GOP turns toward DOGE cuts and a shutdown cliff — Republicans finally got their “big, beautiful bill” across the finish line. Now they're turning to their next urgent tasks: codifying billions in spending cuts and avoiding a government shutdown.

Discussion: Semafor

Punchbowl News:

7/7/25 ☀️ AM: … The Senate returns Tuesday, the House is out of session until July 14. President Donald Trump is back in D.C. Trump said he'll likely visit disaster-stricken Texas on Friday. … The horrific tragedy in Texas continues to unfold. The death toll is more than 80, including 28 children.

Discussion: New York Post and The Hill

Frank Bruni / New York Times:
Now You See Josh Hawley, Now You Don't — Senator Josh Hawley sure knows how to scurry away.

Discussion: Raw Story, Alternet.org and Daily Kos

Politico:
Republicans just cut Medicaid. Will it cost them control of Congress?

Discussion: Raw Story

Arjun Kharpal / CNBC:

Tesla shares drop 7% in premarket trading after Elon Musk says he is launching a political party … Tesla shares fell in premarket trade on Monday after CEO Elon Musk announced plans to form a new political party. — The stock was down 7.13% by 4:27 a.m. E.T.

Discussion: Reuters, The Guardian, Washington Times, Bloomberg and NewsMax.com

Ben Berkowitz / Axios:

Tesla shares plunge again as politics, China weigh on Musk … - Trump posted to Truth Social that Musk had become a “TRAIN WRECK,” and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — long a Musk foe — told CNN he expected the boards of Musk's companies would be opposed to his activities.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, NBC News, Breitbart and Wall Street Journal

Michelle L. Price / Associated Press:
Musk says he's forming a new political party after split with Trump over tax cuts law

New York Times:

From Food Aid to Dog Chow? How Trump's Cuts Hurt Kansas Farmers. … Wheat grows so prodigiously here on the Kansas high plains that in 1953 the surplus birthed one of the Cold War's big ideas: Food for Peace, a federal government program that delivered the excess bounty to a hungry postwar world.

Ana Swanson / New York Times:

Trump Keeps Foreign Countries on Edge as Tariff Deadline Nears — The president is again threatening higher tariff rates on a dozen foreign nations, as a deadline elapses this week for making trade deals. — President Trump is set to rekindle economic pressure on America's trading partners this week …

Discussion: Washington Post, Axios, NPR, NewsNation, Business Insider, The Hill, Blaze Media, Newsweek and USA Today

John Bowden / The Independent:
Scott Bessent spars with CNN host over whether Trump's tariffs count as trade deals

Discussion: Washington Times, Townhall, Salon, Cafe Hayek, Semafor, CBS News, The Independent, The Hill, Politico, Bloomberg, Euractiv, Raw Story, NewsMax.com, CNN and Axios

Maya Goldman / Axios:

Trump bill's health effects won't be felt until after midterms — President Trump's tax and spending bill sets in motion nearly $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and other health policy changes that could loom over the midterm elections. — But the real effects likely won't be felt until well after the ballots are cast.

Discussion: The Hill

Alex Isenstadt / Axios:

Potential 2028 GOP contenders already making moves … Now several ambitious Republicans are signaling they see an opening to offer themselves to primary voters as the future of the party. — “Everyone knows Trump has one term left, and I would say its a wide-open opportunity,” …

Discussion: Raw Story

Mark Hertling / The Bulwark:

If We Don't Stand With Ukraine, What Do We Stand For? — ON JULY 1, THE PENTAGON REPORTEDLY canceled a shipment of weapons for Ukraine, including artillery ammunition, rockets for the HIMARS system, weapons to shoot down Russian airplanes and helicopters, and, most crucial of all …

Discussion: Foreign Affairs

Victor Davis Hanson / American Greatness:

The Frightening Dream House of Zoran Mamdani … After his first-place win in the New York City mayoral primaries, Zoran Mamdani is furiously denying everything that he once glibly thought was cutting-edge and cool. — So, like a good postmodern relativist, Mamdani now claims he didn't really mean …

Politico:

Playbook: Why Biden wanted the CNN debate — With help from Eli Okun, Bethany Irvine and Ali Bianco — Good Monday morning. This is Jack Blanchard. — FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Biden bombshell: Here's one for the history books. This morning, Playbook readers can read the actual six-page memo …

Discussion: New York Post

Ian Austen / New York Times:

Looking Beyond the U.S. for Trade, Canada Begins Shipping Natural Gas to Asia — A tanker is headed to South Korea with a first shipment of liquefied natural gas from Canada, which hopes to reduce its export reliance on its neighbor. — The voyage of a tanker loaded with liquefied natural gas …

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

In Digital Era, Supreme Court Insists on Vast Piles of Paper — The court's rules require many litigants to submit 40 copies of their briefs, resulting in millions of pages printed each term. Critics call the process outdated and wasteful. — In his year-end report in 2023 …

Paul Krugman:

Real Men Burn Stuff — The manosphere and the war on renewable energy — “We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters.” That famous 2011 quip from the venture capitalist Peter Thiel still resonates, even though Thiel himself has become a deeply malignant force in American politics.

Washington Post:

Trump's $5 million ‘gold card’ visa might never happen — The president and his aides have exaggerated the likelihood that such a program can be legally implemented and have made no effort to introduce legislation that would be needed. — Summary0 — Over the past four months …

Daryna Krasnolutska / Bloomberg:

Zelenskiy Spoke With Trump on Replacing Kyiv's Envoy to US — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy discussed replacing the current ambassador to the US during his phone call with President Donald Trump on Friday, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Discussion: Reuters and The Kyiv Independent