The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed the Department of Justice on Tuesday for files in the sex trafficking investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, part of a congressional probe that lawmakers believe may show links to President Donald Trump and other former top officials.
The Republican-controlled committee also issued subpoenas for depositions with former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and eight former top law enforcement officials.
The committee’s actions showed how even with lawmakers away from Washington on a monthlong break, interest in the Epstein files is still running high. Trump has repeatedly tried to move past the Justice Department’s decision not to release a full accounting of the investigation, but lawmakers from both parties, as well as many in the president’s political base, have refused to let it go.
Here's the latest:
RFK Jr. pulls $500 million in funding for vaccine development
The Department of Health and Human Services will cancel contracts and pull funding for some vaccines that are being developed to fight respiratory viruses like COVID-19 and the flu.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary and a longtime vaccine critic, announced in a statement Tuesday that $500 million worth of vaccine development projects, all using mRNA technology, will be halted.
The projects — 22 of them — are being led by some of the nation’s leading pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer and Moderna.
The mRNA vaccines are credited with slowing the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.
Kennedy said in the Tuesday statement that he wants the health department to move away from mRNA vaccines, calling on the department to start “investing in better solutions.” He provided no details on what those technologies might be.
Trump says FBI ‘may have to’ help bring Texas Democrats back to state
After Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas called on the FBI to help locate and arrest Democrats who left the state to block a vote on a new congressional map, Trump said, “They may have to.”
“A lot of people have demanded they come back,” said Trump. “You can’t just sit it out. You have to go back, you have to fight it out."
Legal experts and even Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton say it would be difficult to enforce consequences against the Democratic lawmakers.
Texas House rules allow for fines of $500 every day the Democrats are absent. The House also issued civil warrants for the missing lawmakers to be arrested and returned to the House.
Trump says he knew nothing about Ghislaine Maxwell’s prison transfer
Asked about Maxwell going from a federal prison in Florida, to a minimum-security prison camp in Texas, Trump said, “I didn’t know about it all,” but added, “It’s not a very uncommon thing.”
Trump was also asked about deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche having interviewed Maxwell, Epstein’s ex-girlfriend, and said he’d not spoken to Blanche about the encounter. He did say, however, that, “Whatever he asked would be totally appropriate.”
He also said that “anything he talked about with her” is “something that would be totally above board.”
Trump says Vance is ‘probably’ heir apparent to his MAGA movement
The president said Vance is “doing a great job” and would be “probably the favorite at this point” in response to a question about the vice president’s prospects as the Republican nominee if he runs for president in 2028.
But Trump also said he thought Secretary of State Marco Rubio “is also somebody that maybe would get together with JD in some form.”
Trump said there are other “incredible people” who might make good candidates and said it’s “too early, obviously, to talk about.”
Trump says he may use National Guard or military at the 2028 Olympics
Trump says “we’ll do anything necessary to keep the Olympics safe” and said that includes potentially deploying “our National Guard or military.”
His statement comes after the president sent National Guard troops to Los Angeles to respond to immigration protests earlier this year.
Los Angeles is hosting the 2028 Games beginning on July 14, 2028.
Trump says he’ll name his pick for Federal Reserve official this week
Trump told reporters that he plans to name his pick to join the Fed Board of Governors soon, though he is choosing whether he’ll nominate someone to permanently join the board and possibly succeed Jerome Powell or simply serve out the remaining monthslong term of Adriana Kugler, who resigned as a governor last week.
“I’ll be making that decision before the end of the week,” Trump said.
The president repeated that he has four candidates to succeed Powell, whose term as chair ends in May 2026.
Trump has said Kevin Hassett, his White House economics aide, and Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor, are two of his picks. He declined to name the two others.
Trump says occupation of Gaza ‘pretty much up to Israel’
Asked Tuesday whether he supported Israel occupying all of Gaza, Trump said he wasn’t aware of the “suggestion” but that “it’s going to be pretty much up to Israel.”
“We are there now trying to get people fed,” Trump said.
He added that his administration has provided funds to supply food to “the people of Gaza that are obviously not doing too well with the food.”
Federal judge rules Trump administration cannot reallocate billions meant for disaster mitigation
A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from reallocating more than $4 billion meant to help communities protect against natural disasters.
U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns granted a preliminary injunction sought by 20 Democrat-led states while their lawsuit over the funding moves ahead. The states argue the Federal Emergency Management Agency lacks the authority to end the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program and redirect more than $4 billion of its funding.
The program aims to harden infrastructure around the country against potential storm damage. Noting money for the program was allocated by Congress, the states say any attempt to redirect it would run afoul of the Constitution.
Trump says US meeting with Russia tomorrow and will make decision on tariffs
Trump said “we’ll see what happens” regarding his threat to tariff nations that use Russian oil, which could increase import taxes dramatically on China and India.
“We have a meeting with Russia tomorrow,” Trump said regarding the ongoing war in Ukraine. “We’re going to see what happens. We’ll make that determination at that time.”
The president said in response to a reporter’s question that he has not publicly committed to a specific tariff rate.
Trump signs Olympics executive order
Trump has signed an executive order creating an Olympics task force ahead of the 2028 Games, which the U.S. is co-hosting.
Organizers said the upcoming Olympic torch relay will go to all 50 states for the first time, and presented Trump with a set of medals commemorating the gold, silver and bronze medals awarded during the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.
“Can I say I won them athletically?” Trump asked.
Trump uses White House auditorium his administration derided as Biden ‘fake Oval Office’
President Donald Trump is using a White House auditorium that his administration poked fun at his predecessor, Joe Biden, for using.
Trump is set to sign an executive order creating an Olympics task force ahead of the 2028 Games in the South Court Auditorium instead of the Oval Office, where he typically signs such directives.
The Biden administration frequently held events with Biden in the auditorium -- drawing criticism from Trump officials.
Alina Habba, a former Trump attorney who was his choice as the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey, posted on X from the auditorium in March, declaring, “We’re in Biden’s FAKE Oval Office.”
The following month, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the same room “Joe Biden’s former office that he pretended to be his office.”
Trump sends US delegation to Polish president inauguration
A U.S. delegation led by Kelly Loeffler, the administrator of the Small Business Administration, is headed to Warsaw for the inauguration of incoming Polish president Karol Nawrocki.
Nawrocki, who will be sworn in Wednesday, is a conservative historian and staunch nationalist whose beliefs are considered in line with that of Trump.
Administration officials encouraged Polish voters ahead of the election to support Nawrocki.
Others in the delegation to Warsaw include Vince Haley, Trump’s domestic policy chief, and speechwriter Ross Worthington.
Michigan Gov. Whitmer meets with Trump to discuss tariffs and Medicaid cuts
Once political adversaries, Michigan’s Democratic governor met with Trump at the White House on Tuesday — the latest in a string of meetings between the two during Trump’s second term.
“I’ve always said that I’ll work with anyone to get things done for Michigan,” Whitmer said in a statement. “That’s why I’ve continued to go to Washington, D.C. to make sure that Michiganders are front and center.”
Whitmer said she traveled to the White House to discuss the impact tariffs are having “on Michigan’s economy, especially our auto industry.” According to Whitmer, they also discussed “the harm Michigan will face due to changes in the Medicaid program,” due to the tax and spending bill signed into law by Trump.
The White House did not offer comment or confirm that the meeting occurred.
Trump’s push for drilling and mining sharpens debate for Alaska Natives
The once-abundant salmon populations of the Kuskokwim River in southwestern Alaska have declined so sharply in recent years that authorities have severely restricted subsistence fishing on the waterway. They’ve imposed even tighter restrictions on the Yukon River to the north.
Various factors are blamed for the salmon collapse, from climate change to commercial fishing practices. The impact is not just on food, but on long-standing rituals, including at fish camps where elders transmit skills and stories to younger generations.
So when Alaska Natives debate proposals to drill, mine or otherwise develop the landscape of the nation’s largest state, it involves more than an environmental or economic debate. It’s also a spiritual and cultural one.
“We have a special spiritual, religious relationship to our river and our land,” said Gloria Simeon, a Yup’ik resident of Bethel, Alaska.
US-Brazil relations hit low as Trump backs Bolsonaro with sanctions
Analysts say the White House embraced a narrative accusing Brazil of undermining the rule of law and committing human rights abuses.
Trump described Bolsonaro’s prosecution by Brazil’s Supreme Court as a “witch hunt,” a phrase he also has used to describe the previous probes into his own actions. Bolsonaro faces charges of attempting a coup after losing the 2022 election.
The White House has appeared to embrace a narrative pushed by Bolsonaro allies in the U.S. that the former Brazilian president’s prosecution for attempting to overturn his 2022 election loss is part of a “deliberate breakdown in the rule of law,” with the government engaging in “politically motivated intimidation” and committing “human rights abuses,” according to Trump’s statement announcing the tariffs.
Justice Department says much of what’s in Epstein grand jury transcripts has already been made public
Much of the information “was made publicly available at trial or has otherwise been publicly reported through the public statements of victims and witnesses,” prosecutors wrote in court papers Monday. They noted that the disclosures excluded some victims’ and witnesses’ names.
The filing aimed to support the DOJ’s request to release the usually secret grand jury records amid a public clamor for more transparency about the investigation into Epstein, six years after the financier died in prison.
Prosecutors also said last week that some of what the grand jurors heard, the public eventually did too, referring to Maxwell’s 2021 trial and various victims’ lawsuits. There were only two grand jury witnesses, both of them law enforcement officials, prosecutors said.
DOJ attorneys made clear Monday that they’re seeking to unseal only the transcripts of grand jury witnesses’ testimony, not the exhibits that accompanied it.
Trump setting up a 2028 Olympic Games task force
The White House says Trump later Tuesday is signing an executive order establishing a task force for the Los Angeles games in three years.
Trump has said the Los Angeles Olympics are among the events he’s most looking forward to in his second term.
The 2028 Games will be the first Olympics to be hosted by the U.S. since the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Trump administration wants to end abortion coverage through Veterans Affairs
The administration is calling to remove abortion coverage from the list of medical benefits for veterans and their families, saying it’s not needed.
The Department of Veterans Affairs posted the proposed rule change Monday and opened a public comment period on it that runs through Sept. 3. The department said in its proposal that it wants to ensure it “provides only needed medical services to our nation’s heroes and their families.”
The department says it would still provide abortion in life-threatening circumstances — something state laws allow, even in places where bans are in place. But critics of the change note abortion wouldn’t be provided when pregnancies are the result of rape or incest.
Amy Friedrich-Karnik, director of federal policy at the Guttmacher Institute, said in a statement that the change would cut off millions of veterans and their families from services.
▶ Read more about abortion coverage at the Department of Veterans Affairs
Democrats are rallying to make the Texas redistricting fight go national
National Democrats are closing ranks behind Texas state lawmakers who’ve left the state to prevent, at least for now, Republicans from satisfying President Trump’s wishes for a gerrymandered congressional map that would help Republicans in the 2026 midterms.
Standing with Texas legislators gathered in Illinois, Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin promised Tuesday that the party is “bringing a knife to a knife fight” rather than stand by. He warned that the GOP plan in Texas is “a test case for the rest of the country” and a “model for other red states to lie, cheat and steal away to victory.”
California officials are considering their own effort to further tilt their U.S. House delegation to Democrats to counter Texas.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said Tuesday that Trump’s push in Texas is “not democracy — that’s not America.” He mocked Texas leaders for doing Trump’s bidding. “When Donald Trump calls, they say, ‘Yes, sir, right away,’” Pritzker said of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, who’s running for the Senate in 2026.
Trump says he’s checking out the new White House ballroom space
After making observations from the White House roof, Trump walked over to an area above the briefing room, briefly interacting with reporters gathered below.
Asked why he was on the roof, Trump said he was “taking a little walk” and mentioned the “ballroom on the other side.”
Last month, the White House announced that construction on a massive, new $200 million ballroom — the first structural change to the Executive Mansion itself since the addition of the Truman balcony in 1948 — would begin in September. One of the five men with him appeared to be James McCrery, architect for the project.
“Just another way to spend my money for this country,” Trump said. “Anything I do is financed by me.”
Trump pops out on the roof of the West Wing
He appeared to be taking stock of several areas including the roof of the press briefing room and the Rose Garden.
Wearing a suit with a red tie, Trump walked the area Tuesday with several other people, as someone with them took photographs.
Trump may have been surveying ongoing renovation and construction work at the White House. He returned to the presidency with grand ideas for remaking the building, like paving over the Rose Garden and building a massive ballroom.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he spoke to Trump by phone Tuesday
It comes days before the U.S. deadline for Russia to stop the killing in its 3-year-old invasion of Ukraine.
Zelenskyy said the two leaders discussed the possible severe sanctions on Russia that Trump has threatened to announce Friday.
Such a move “can change a lot” in the war, Zelenskyy said on social media.
Ukraine and the U.S. are also working on an agreement for bilateral drone production, he said, adding his thanks for Trump’s efforts to end the war.
The White House did not immediately return a message seeking information on the call.
The Associated Press
