Senate Confirms Emil Bove, Trump's ‘Enforcer,’ To A Lifetime Federal Judgeship  —  Bove faced credible allegations of telling DOJ attorneys to defy court orders.  Republicans confirmed him to a seat on a U.S. appeals court anyway.  —  WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans on Tuesday confirmed Emil Bove …

Trump says Epstein ‘stole’ Virginia Giuffre, a heartless and revealing admission  —  Virginia Giuffre died by suicide only three months ago, having lived much of her life as an advocate for survivors of sex trafficking.  Now the president is speaking about her like she's property.

Transcript: Krugman Wrecks Trump's Europe Deal: “Scam on His Voters”  —  The following is a lightly edited transcript of the July 30 episode of the  —  Daily Blast podcast.  Listen to it here.  —  Greg Sargent: This is The Daily Blast from The New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR network.

Trump Administration Puts New Chokehold on Billions in Health-Research Funding  —  The National Institutes of Health can't award grants to outside researchers under new White House restriction  —  The Trump administration is blocking all funding that flows to outside health researchers …

U.S. Economy Grew at 3.0% Rate in Second Quarter  —  Consumer spending rose 1.4% but was offset by weaker business spending  —  Created with Highcharts 9.0.1GDP, change from previous quarterSources: Commerce Department (actual); WSJ survey of economists (forecasts)Notes …

8.8-magnitude earthquake in Russia's Far East sets off tsunami warnings in Japan, Alaska and Hawaii  —  One of the world's strongest earthquakes struck Russia's Far East early Wednesday, an 8.8-magnitude temblor that set off a tsunami in the northern Pacific region and prompted warnings for Alaska, Hawaii and south toward New Zealand.

Now That They're Free  —  Venezuelan men deported by the Trump administration say they endured months of physical and mental abuse inside a Salvadoran prison.  Though happy to be home, they say the fact that they were released is proof of how senseless their detentions were.  —  Reporting Highlights

Sydney Sweeney, American Eagle and the Evolution of Language  —  Have you heard the rumor that the clothing company American Eagle is using racist propaganda to sell clothing?  That's the allegation that bubbled up on social media in response to the company's new ad campaign featuring the actress Sydney Sweeney and a pun.

The antitrust war inside MAGA Powerful lobbyists are battling populist reformers  —  President Trump returned to the Oval Office thanks to massive support from working-class and low-income Americans.  During the transition, Trump telegraphed an intent to honor this realignment by nominating …

As MAGA storm over Epstein calms, White House plans next steps  —  Officials concede the furor has hurt Trump's standing, but the White House believes they've survived the worst of the furor.  —  Three weeks ago, White House officials were battling a frenzy from President Donald Trump's supporters over the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Justice Department Finds the University of California-Los Angeles in Violation of Federal Civil Rights Law  —  For Immediate Release  —  Today, the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division announced that the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) violated the Equal Protection Clause …

Pete Hegseth has discussed running for political office in Tennessee, sources say  —  The defense secretary has talked privately about running a campaign in Tennessee, sources told NBC News.  The Pentagon said Hegseth's “focus remains solely on serving under” Trump.

Top F.D.A. Official Resigns Under Pressure  —  After turning down several new drugs and restricting use of another, Dr. Vinay Prasad drew the ire of the right-wing influencer Laura Loomer and others.  —  The Food and Drug Administration's top vaccine and gene therapy official resigned …

It's Not a Linguistic Debate, it's Man-Made Starvation  —  Defense of Israel cannot condone the indefensible  —  Horrific man-made starvation in Gaza afflicting everyone from civilian children, to doctors caring for the sick and dying, to journalists struggling to survive so they could cover the catastrophe could have been avoided.

170. DOJ's (Ridiculous) Misconduct Complaint Against Chief Judge Boasberg  —  DOJ's complaint that Chief Judge Boasberg engaged in “misconduct” would be laughably stupid if it didn't reflect such a transparently obvious and dangerous attempt to delegitimize the federal courts.

CBS News investigation of Jeffrey Epstein jail video reveals new discrepancies  —  In the weeks after Jeffrey Epstein died at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan, in August 2019, then-Attorney General William Barr said his “personal review” of surveillance footage clearly showed …

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz files bill to target activist groups with anti-organized crime laws  —  Activist groups that fund and organize protests could be targeted by federal law enforcement under the same statute used to go after organized crime if U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz gets his way.

Top Generals Nominated for New Positions Must Now Meet With Trump  —  The move is a departure from past practice and has raised worries that it could lead to the politicization of the military's top ranks.  —  Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has begun requiring that nominees …

Trump's billion-dollar settlement spree  —  President Trump has extracted more than $1.2 billion in settlements from 13 of the most powerful players in academia, law, media and tech, according to an Axios analysis.  — If finalized, a potential $500 million deal with Harvard would represent the largest scalp to date.

Musk's “America Party” is failing to launch  —  Elon Musk's new political party is so far a no-go on the launch pad.  —  Why it matters: A Musk-backed “America Party” could disrupt the midterms and escalate his feud with President Trump.  But “Musk has read the room,” said Dan Ives …