Monday, July 21, 2025
All civic learning topics for this day
Today's Topics
ODNI Director Gabbard declassifies files claiming Obama treason
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released additional classified reports July 21, 2025, claiming "overwhelming evidence" that Obama administration officials "manufactured and politicized intelligence" about Russian 2016 election interference. She declassified over 100 pages of emails and memos alleging Obama directed creation of false intelligence to undermine Trump. However, her claims conflict with a bipartisan 2020 Senate Intelligence Committee report that unanimously concluded Russia interfered to benefit Trump, and special counsel Durham's four-year investigation never charged any officials with wrongdoing. The Justice Department announced a "strike force" to evaluate her allegations.
D.Mass court hears Harvard v. HHS over NIH grant suspension
Harvard University President Alan Garber faced off in federal court July 21, 2025, against Trump administration officials who froze $2.2 billion in research grants, later expanded to $2.7 billion total. Education Secretary Linda McMahon declared Harvard would receive "no new grants" and terminated existing contracts affecting 47 cancer clinical trials involving 10,000 patients. The dispute centers on Trump demands for anti-DEI compliance, merit-based admissions, and campus speech restrictions.
State Department strips climate from G20 as U.S. assumes presidency
Reuters reported July 21, 2025, that Trump administration officials plan to remove climate change and development aid from the G20 agenda when the U.S. assumes presidency in 2026, pursuing "back to basics" economics instead. European Council President Charles Michel threatened to organize a parallel climate summit excluding America if Washington abandons two decades of cooperation.
Energy and Commerce advances Safer Beauty Act targeting FDA gaps
Representatives Jan Schakowsky and Frank Pallone reintroduced the Safer Beauty Bill Package July 21, 2025, requiring the $90 billion cosmetics industry to disclose toxic ingredients and ban cancer-causing chemicals. Industry lobbyists spent $50 million defeating similar legislation while one in eight beauty products contains substances banned in Europe for causing birth defects.
Judiciary Democrats protest Bove nomination to Second Circuit
Senator Cory Booker led a Democratic walkout in the Senate Judiciary Committee on July 20, 2025, after Republicans advanced Emil Bove’s appeals court nomination without whistleblower testimony. The move delayed the nomination vote and highlighted concerns over transparency in judicial confirmations.
DOJ ordered to petition SDNY for Epstein grand jury materials
Former President Trump on July 20, 2025, directed Attorney General Pamela Bondi to file a federal court petition to unseal ‘pertinent’ Jeffrey Epstein grand jury testimony after the Wall Street Journal published an alleged letter. He denied the letter’s authenticity and threatened legal action.
FDIC and Fed project banking crisis from unregulated stablecoins
Traditional banks and the Federal Reserve on July 18, 2025, warned that U.S. dollar–pegged stablecoins like Circle and Tether could siphon off more than $3 trillion in customer deposits, undermining lending models and stressing insurance frameworks. They cautioned that the GENIUS Act’s reserve rules may give nonbanks an upper hand in liquidity access.
Senate kills $1.1 billion for public media and foreign aid on party lines
The Senate passed the rescissions bill 51–48 on July 19, eliminating $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and folding USAID into the State Department. Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski joined Democrats in opposing the media cuts. President Trump praised the vote as a win for fiscal discipline.
Attorney General Bondi issues 30-day ultimatum to sanctuary states
On July 20, the DOJ gave California sheriffs 30 days to hand over names, charges, and release dates of all noncitizen inmates. AG Pamela Bondi said the timeline enforces federal immigration law against state sanctuary statutes. Los Angeles and San Francisco sheriffs pushed back, citing privacy and state protections.