Live updates: Trump to headline Mount Rushmore’s celebrations; heat forces changes to National Mall event plans

People across the country are preparing to celebrate America’s 250th birthday this weekend — a process that has been made more challenging as event organizers scramble to deal with the extreme heat. President Trump is headed to South Dakota late on Friday, where he’s expected to make remarks at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial and…

‘It’s crazy’: GOP rebel declares war on Republican leadership

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) committed to block House floor proceedings unless House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) inserts the SAVE Act into a must-pass piece of legislation, Punchbowl News reported on Friday.Luna has pressed for the SAVE America Act – a bill that mandates voter ID and citizenship checks while adding new restrictions on mail-in ballots – to be folded into the annual defense policy bill."We should be doing all of the above," Luna told Punchbowl News for its report published Friday. "Why not try? It's crazy."Luna has already disrupted leadership's plans once – she helped defeat a rule that would have inserted SAVE Act language directly into the defense bill, despite House GOP leaders having spent three years working to keep unrelated amendments out of it.Meanwhile, Senate Republicans have grown frustrated with inter-party disputes. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) told Punchbowl that Republicans "need to be very careful" about how they message the standoff, arguing that Democrats – not Republicans – are the ones blocking the SAVE Act's passage.“The message we need to convey to our supporters – it’s not Republicans that are preventing the SAVE America Act from being passed. It’s Democrats,” Johnson told Punchbowl News.

Iran plans dayslong funeral for Supreme Leader Khamenei after war death

The country's theocracy hopes to see millions flood the streets of the capital beginning Saturday in scenes reminiscent to the burial of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989.

Iran Holds Funerary Processions for Late Supreme Leader in Symbolic Referendum for Regime

The Iranian regime has cast the funeral procession as a symbolic rebuke to the U.S.-Israeli campaign that sought to decapitate its leadership.

How extreme heat is changing DC’s July 4th weekend event plans

Much of the eastern half of the U.S. is dealing with extreme heat this week, including the nation’s capital. The high temperature Thursday in Washington, D.C., was forecast to be 102, according to the National Weather Service. The heat comes as D.C. prepares to celebrate the country’s 250th birthday over the Fourth of July weekend.…

Germany Just Announced a Major Change for Its Entire Workforce

Judge blocks Trump’s USPS mail-in ballot changes

A federal judge struck down a proposed rule from the Postal Service that would have forced states to turn over their mail-in and absentee voter rolls to the agency. Senior Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, a nominee of former President Bill Clinton, ordered the USPS to be enjoined from implementing its proposed rule in line with President Donald […]

Senate votes to halt Iran war, then flips

The Senate voted for and against ending the war with Iran on two consecutive days, with President Trump lashing out at four GOP senators who had voted for a resolution barring any future U.S. military activities against Iran, and the administration arguing that the resolution is unconstitutional.