Trump’s Field Trip to the Fed
President Donald Trump and other administration officials are heading to the Federal Reserve today to learn about the central bank buildings’ $2.5 billion renovation.
Fed. Chair Jerome Powell has been under fire from Trump for months for leading the Fed in holding fast on interest rates — declining to continue last year’s reductions due to concern over the inflationary impact of the administration’s tariff hikes.
In recent days, Trump has said that he did not plan to fire Powell before the end of his term — but has not fully closed the door over removing him over his handling of the renovation project.
Lately, Trump and other Washington Republicans have used described the costly upgrades as possibly fraudulent, an allegation Powell denies. Proven fraud would provide Trump grounds for firing the chair. Read More
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick also said in a Fox News interview last night that Powell “should either resign or be replaced.”
Meanwhile, economists are gleaning more details on the state of the economy — and of what’s to come.
Details of Trump’s tariff agreements with foreign nations are continuing to crystallize ahead of his Aug. 1 deadline, with Trump suggesting yesterday that he would not go below 15% as he sets so-called reciprocal tariff rates. Read More
Weekly jobless claims data will be released today, a key metric used to gauge the strength of the job market.
See Also:
- Trump’s Japan Trade Deal Raises Fears He Gave Away Too Much
- Xi to Meet EU Chiefs at Downsized Summit Hit by Trade, Ukraine
- Bessent Set to Miss Key US-South Korea Trade Talks This Week
- Vietnam Sees Trump Tariffs Cutting Up to a Third of US Exports
- Justice Department Prepares Crackdown on Trump Tariff Violators
- Where Does President Trump’s Tariff Campaign Stand?: QuickTake
The Speaker’s BGOV Visit
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) gave a wide-randing, exclusive interview with Bloomberg Government yesterday.
The man with one of the toughest jobs in Washington discussed what’s coming down the pike for Congress, House Republicans’ prospects for the midterm election, and Powell’s future at the central bank. He also gave us his Trump impersonation.
The interview also provided insight into Johnson and how he works with his Republican colleagues and the president. Today Jonathan Tamari and Maeve Sheehey break down why the speaker has lasted longer in this role than many expected and how he intends to add to his legislative successes. Read More
Johnson also shared his plans for a second big, beautiful megabill, the potential for new border and immigration legislation and even what he thinks about the potential release of files on the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Read the full transcript of the interview with our editors and reporters.
Bloomberg Government customers, check out this morning’s Congress Tracker where Tamari breaks down the must-read news from the interview.
The Future of the Epstein Files
The Epstein files saga dividing the GOP continued to plague the House in the hours before it left for summer break — and may persist after the House returns from recess.
The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed convicted sex offender and Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell to testify next month, Billy House reports. An Oversight subcommittee also voted 8-2 yesterday to subpoena the full Epstein record, after Republican Reps. Nancy Mace (S.C.), Scott Perry (Pa.), and Brian Jack (Ga.) backed a Democratic amendment, Maeve Sheehey reports. Read More
Elsewhere, the House Appropriations Committee scrapped a Justice Department funding bill vote set for today to sidestep a potential fight there over Epstein documents, Jack Fitzpatrick reports. Read More
Trump said during the campaign that he’d release the Epstein records, but he has since backed away, prompting transparency concerns among his MAGA base. While some Republicans want to give the president time, others are starting to partner with Democrats to push for answers.
See Also:
Judge Jeannine’s Do-Over
The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a do-over vote for Jeanine Pirro and several other US attorney nominees today.
The panel voted to advance Pirro, a former Fox News host tapped to be US attorney for the District of Columbia, and the others last week. But Democrats left the hearing in protest, so the minority party alleges the committee lacked the needed quorum to conduct business.
Pirro’s isn’t the only US attorney saga legal spectators are tracking.
Judicial experts are closely watching New Jersey, where the Trump administration earlier this week fired federal trial judges’ choice for the state’s top federal prosecutor when they didn’t choose the interim US Attorney Alina Habba. Habba is Trump’s former personal attorney.
That move could foreshadow other fights over chief federal prosecutors holding temporary posts in blue states like California, New York and Nevada, David Voreacos and Justin Wise report.
For the New Jersey role, what happens next is anyone’s guess. Habba’s four-month term is set to expire at the end of the week. That’s the longest she can serve without US Senate confirmation. Read More
Before You Go
Mapping Miderms: Texas Republican legislators, prodded by Trump, began meeting in a special session this week with redrawing the state’s congressional map on the agenda. The goal: to bolster their party’s precarious House majority ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, Greg Giroux reports. Read More
Columbia Strikes White House Deal: Columbia University reached a landmark deal with the Trump administration to restore federal funding for research, easing a crisis that has rattled the school’s finances and upended its leadership. The Ivy League school will pay a $200 million penalty over three years to resolve multiple civil rights investigations, clearing the way for the reinstatement of the majority of more than $400 million in canceled grants and contracts, as well as access to billions of dollars in future grants. Read More
Trump Weighed Nvidia Breakup: President Donald Trump said he considered attempting to break up Nvidia to increase competition in artificial intelligence chips before finding out “it’s not easy in that business.” Read More
Tesla Warns About Trump Tax Bill Impacts: Tesla warned that provisions in Trump’s $3.4 trillion fiscal package will pose meaningful challenges for the EV maker in the next several months. The legislation eliminated civil penalties that automakers had been required to pay US regulators that oversee US fuel economy requirements. Read More
Sugar Shortage?: Coca-Cola said Tuesday it will launch the new Coke variety this fall sweetened with domestic cane sugar, a week after Trump said the company had agreed to switch from corn syrup. But whether US farmers can meet that demand is unclear. Read More
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