The Year of the Flood

The National Weather Service has issued a staggering 3,160 flash flood warnings nationwide this year through July 16 — the most for that period in any year since records began in 1986. As meteorologist Michael Lowry put it, “2025 has been the year of the flood.”

Monday saw the most flash flood warnings ever issued in a single July day, with nearly 100, primarily across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. The devastation has been widespread — from the Texas hill country, where four months of rainfall fell in four hours, to New York’s flooded subway systems and long-delayed flights, to New Jersey declaring a state of emergency with roads under water. Two Virginia cities faced warnings of “catastrophic” damage, as slow-moving storms dumped several inches of rain across the Mid-Atlantic.

The pattern shows no signs of stopping. Florida and the Gulf Coast now face flash flooding risks in the coming days.

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🇮🇱🇸🇾 Middle East

• Israel Bombs Syria: Israel bombed the Syrian capital, hitting the presidential palace and Defense Ministry in Damascus. The strikes purportedly aimed at ending Syrian government military involvement in Suwayda, a region controlled by the Syrian Druse minority, which is allied with Israel. Amid U.S. fears that the strikes could destabilize the Syrian government, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he believed Israel’s strike was “likely a misunderstanding” and is optimistic that all parties may come to terms.
• Gaza Church Struck: Israel said Holy Family Church in Gaza was “mistakenly” hit during a Thursday military operation and “regrets” damage done to the city's only Catholic church. The strike killed at least three sheltering people, prompting Pope Leo XIV to call for a Gaza ceasefire.

📃 U.S. Government Declassifications and Firings

• Obama-Era Intel Declassified: Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declassified an Obama-era intelligence assessment that Russia did not cyber-hack the 2016 election, despite later intelligence community statements and leaks to the media that directly or implicitly said that Russia had done so. The DNI has turned over these documents to the DOJ for criminal referral. Gabbard has argued that the released documents demonstrate that the accusations of Russian collusion with the Trump campaign, accusations that plagued the Trump presidency, were in fact an orchestrated disinformation campaign originally organized by the Obama White House.
• Secret Service Failures: A new Government Accountability Office report reveals senior officials failed to share “classified threat information” with agents protecting Trump days before the Butler assassination attempt.
• DOJ Firings: Attorney General Pam Bondi's “Weaponization Working Group” fired more than 20 Justice Department employees who worked on January 6th cases and Trump’s classified documents investigation. The dismissals bring total firings related to Special Counsel Jack Smith's prosecution to about 37, with another 15 potentially facing termination.
• Maurene Comey Out: Among those ousted by the DOJ is Southern District of New York prosecutor Maurene Comey — daughter of former FBI Director James Comey — who worked on or led cases against Jeffrey Epstein and Sean “Diddy” Combs.
• Trump Sues Rupert Murdoch Empire: President Trump sued Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal over an article that said Trump had contributed a cryptic note and a drawing as part of a birthday gift for disgraced financier Jeffery Epstein. The suit asked for awarded damages “not to be less than $10 billion.” Also, at President Trump’s request, the Justice Department asked a federal judge to unseal grand jury testimony from the Jeffrey Epstein case.
• Department of Education Firings: The Supreme Court allowed the administration to proceed with firing over a thousand Education Department workers.
• Auto-Pen Usage: According to newly released emails, the pardon of NIH Director Anthony Fauci was approved for signing with the “auto-pen” by Jeff Zients, Biden’s Chief of Staff and previously his coronavirus response coordinator.

🤖 AI and Crypto

• AI Investment: President Trump announced an investments totaling more than $100 billion from private companies across tech, energy and finance to turn Pennsylvania into a hub for artificial intelligence. The announcement was made during the Inaugural Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit in Pittsburgh, featuring President Trump, tech leaders, and Pennsylvania Senator Josh Shapiro.
• Crypto Act Passed: President Trump signed the GENIUS Act into law, which provides regulation for stablecoins. This means many mainstream banks will soon try to make stablecoins a part of everyday life. A stablecoin is a cryptocurrency that is tied to a stable asset like the U.S. dollar. Bitcoin topped $119,000 earlier this past week. This move seems to be the introduction of a new universal payment system.

⛪️ Religion

• Magnolia Network Controversy: Chip and Joanna Gaines' new show "Back to the Frontier" is facing conservative evangelical backlash for casting a same-sex couple with twin sons born via surrogate. Chip Gaines responded to the controversy on X by criticizing "modern American Christian culture" as judgmental and hateful, then told Christians to "judge not" and "love one another,” seemingly unaware of the irony.
• Rev. MacArthur Passes: The Rev. John MacArthur, an influential evangelical preacher who led Grace Community Church in Los Angeles for over five decades, died Monday at age 86 from pneumonia. He was known for his Reformed cessationist theology, expository preaching style, and culturally controversial stances including defying COVID-19 health orders and opposing women in pastoral roles. MacArthur's influence extended globally through his Grace to You broadcast ministry, numerous books including the MacArthur Study Bible, and his role in training future church leaders at Master's University and Seminary.

🩺 Trump’s Health: The President was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a condition not uncommon among older adults, causing swelling in his legs.

🗽 Cuomo's Return: The former New York governor announced an independent campaign for NYC mayor, having lost the Democratic nomination to Zohran Mamdani, a self-avowed socialist. Current mayor Eric Adams is also in the race as an independent. The general election is decided by first‑past‑the-post: whoever gets the most votes wins. There's no runoff, even if the vote is split among multiple candidates and none of them get a majority. Cuomo says if he is not ahead in the polls, he will drop out and not be a part of a “suicide mission” that hands the victory to Mamdani.

🚧 Border Crossing Numbers: Illegal crossings hit their lowest point since modern record-keeping began, with only 25,228 total encounters in June — CBP's lowest monthly total since 2003.

🏛️ Congressional Rescissions: The Senate passed Trump's $9 billion clawback package with a 2:30 A.M. tie-breaking vote from Vice President JD Vance, rescinding funding for PBS, NPR, and foreign aid programs.

📺 The Late Show Canceled: The Late Show, hosted by Stephen Colbert, will end in May 2026 after CBS made a “purely financial decision” to end the show amid challenging late-night television economics and audiences choosing other networks.

🛩️ Bernie's Jets, Pt. 2: FEC records show Sanders spent another $230,000 on private jets in Q2 alone for his “Fight the Oligarchy” tour, bringing his year-to-date private jet expenses above $500,000.