July 31

Trump announces $200 million White House East Wing ballroom project funded by private donors

The White House announces plans to build a 90,000-square-foot neoclassical ballroom and overhaul the East Wing at an initial cost of $200 million, to be funded entirely by private donors. The project, designed by architect James McCrery II (hired July 13), calls for demolishing the existing East Wing to build a state ballroom large enough to host events exceeding the East Room's capacity. The Trust for the National Mall — a nonprofit that partners with the National Park Service — is designated to collect donations. Democrats and historic preservationists immediately raise conflict-of-interest concerns, arguing that private financing of White House construction by entities holding federal contracts implicates the Constitution's Emoluments Clauses.

D.C. Board on Professional Responsibility recommends Jeffrey Clark disbarment

A majority of the D.C. Board on Professional Responsibility recommended that Jeffrey Clark be disbarred for violating attorney ethics rules in his efforts to use DOJ to overturn the 2020 election results. The board found Clark engaged in dishonest conduct by drafting a letter containing false claims and attempting to use his position to pressure Georgia officials. The recommendation went to the D.C. Court of Appeals for final review.

Senate confirms Susan Monarez as CDC director on a 51-47 vote

The Senate confirmed Dr. Susan Monarez as CDC Director on a 51-47 party-line vote. Monarez, an infectious-disease policy specialist who previously served as deputy director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, was nominated after Trump withdrew Dave Weldon. She was sworn in the same day and inherited a CDC weeks after HHS Secretary Kennedy purged the ACIP and 1,200 CDC staff had been dismissed in earlier reorganizations.

Trump administration refers Harvard to DOJ over a Title VI finding

The Trump administration announced it had referred Harvard University to the Department of Justice after Education Department investigators concluded Harvard had committed a "violent violation" of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act in its handling of campus antisemitism. The referral came ten days after the D.Mass court heard Harvard's challenge to its $2 billion NIH grant freeze. Harvard called the characterization misleading and said it had implemented substantial antisemitism reforms.

Biden accuses Trump of trying to dismantle constitutional checks in ABA speech

Former President Joe Biden addressed the American Bar Association on July 31, 2025, accusing President Trump of attempting to dismantle constitutional checks and balances through executive overreach, court-packing threats, and attacks on the independence of the judiciary. Biden called on lawyers to serve as a bulwark against democratic erosion. The speech marked Biden''s most direct public criticism of the Trump administration since leaving office.

Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh killed in Tehran

Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh killed in Tehran..

Trump questions Kamala Harris's racial identity at Black journalists convention

At the National Association of Black Journalists convention, Donald Trump questioned Kamala Harris's racial identity, despite Harris long identifying as both Black and South Asian. The remarks drew backlash for attacking a multiracial Black woman's identity as politically opportunistic.

CIA drone strike kills al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul

A CIA drone strike kills al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri on the balcony of a safe house in Kabul, Afghanistan, 21 years after he helped plan the September 11, 2001 attacks and following Osama bin Laden as al-Qaeda's top figure. Biden announces the operation from the White House, stating "Justice has been delivered." The strike validates Biden's "over the horizon" counterterrorism strategy, the premise that the U.S. could maintain counterterrorism capability in Afghanistan without keeping troops on the ground. Zawahiri had been living in a house owned by a senior Taliban official, raising questions about Taliban commitments under the Doha Agreement.

Seditious conspiracy statute is enacted during the Civil War, 18 U.S.C. 2384

Congress enacted 18 U.S.C. § 2384, criminalizing conspiracies to overthrow the federal government, seize federal property, or obstruct the execution of law by force, at the height of the Civil War. The statute was infrequently prosecuted for over a century, with notable uses including the 1993 World Trade Center bombing case and the 1995 Elohim City-linked Oklahoma City plot. The January 6, 2021 prosecutions of Oath Keepers and Proud Boys leaders marked the most extensive use of the seditious conspiracy charge in American history, and the subsequent DOJ reversal in 2026 reignited debates about when political violence crosses into sedition.