Capitol Hill all-nighter
As the sun rises in Washington, senators still debate
Over twenty hours after they began voting on President Donald Trump's tax bill, Republican senators are still trying to resolve disagreements over policies to meet the president's July 4 deadline.
The nitty gritty: Republicans hold a 53-47 majority and face united Democratic opposition and the defection of at least two of their members. If the Senate approves the bill, it heads back to the House, where votes are scheduled to begin July 2.
What we know about the Idaho shooting suspect who ambushed firefighters
Officials have identified the sniper who was found dead after starting a fire and fatally shooting two responding firefighters. The sniper was identified as Wess Roley, 20, Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris confirmed at a news conference Monday afternoon. Roley is accused of lighting a fire in the early afternoon June 29 and then shooting two first responders who arrived to put it out. The suspect "at one point wanted to be a firefighter," according to Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris. "We don't know if there's a nexus between that desire and what happened.
More news to know now
What's the weather today? Check your local forecast here.
Heading to the beach this weekend?
Maybe check local guidance on water safety. Officials have closed off swimming at beaches in some parts of Illinois, New York and Washington due to excessive bacteria in the water. In Massachusetts, nearly 20 beaches are closed to the public as swimming could cause illness, according to the Patriot Ledger, part of the USA TODAY Network. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that bacteria known as vibrio are often typically found in coastal waters and can cause various vibriosis symptoms, including diarrhea, stomach cramps, vomiting and fever, as well as blistering skin lesions and dangerously low blood pressure. Here's some of the areas where excessive bacteria levels prompted beach closures or advisories ahead of the Fourth of July.
The summer job may be a myth of bygone era
The U.S. hiring cooldown is casting a chill over a teen summer job market that has sizzled the past few years. Not only are fewer teenagers looking for jobs, but also a smaller share of those looking are getting hired. The development appears to reflect the demise of a post-pandemic hiring frenzy that provided teen summer job hunters the most favorable landscape in more than 50 years, along with benefits experts say can bolster their entire careers. Among other factors, experts point to a generally slowing U.S. labor market, economic uncertainty spawned by President Donald Trump's tariffs and automation that's wiping out the kind of entry level jobs typically snared by young people.
Today's talkers
Glastonbury sets upset UK and US officials
The State Department revoked visas for members of Britain's Bob Vylan punk-rap duo after they led chants during their set at the Glastonbury music festival in England over the weekend. The U.S. government and the BBC, which broadcast the event, said the language was antisemitic. The BBC issued a warning on screen for strong language while the set was being streamed online, but it acknowledged that it should have gone further. The lead vocalist of the grime-meets-punk rock group appeared to refer to the weekend performance in a post on Instagram, writing: "I said what I said."
Photo of the day: A Messi moment
We never thought it would happen: Paris Saint-Germain blanked Inter Miami 4-0 on Sunday in front of 65,574 fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. Messi kept his emotions in check, but you could see his helplessness every time he looked down after looking up at the scoreboard in the first half.
Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com.
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30 minutes ago
Women legislators fight for 'potty parity'
For female state lawmakers in Kentucky, choosing when to go to the bathroom has long required careful calculation. There are only two bathroom stalls for women on the third floor of the Kentucky Statehouse, where the House and Senate chambers are located. Female legislators — 41 of the 138 member Legislature — needing a reprieve during a lengthy floor session have to weigh the risk of missing an important debate or a critical vote. None of their male colleagues face the same dilemma because, of course, multiple men's bathrooms are available. The Legislature even installed speakers in the men's bathrooms to broadcast the chamber's events so they don't miss anything important. In a pinch, House Speaker David Osborne allows women to use his single stall bathroom in the chamber, but even that attracts long lines. 'You get the message very quickly: This place was not really built for us,' said Rep. Lisa Willner, a Democrat from Louisville, reflecting on the photos of former lawmakers, predominantly male, that line her office. The issue of potty parity may seem comic, but its impact runs deeper than uncomfortably full bladders, said Kathryn Anthony, professor emerita at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's School of Architecture. 'It's absolutely critical because the built environment reflects our culture and reflects our population,' said Anthony, who has testified on the issue before Congress. 'And if you have an environment that is designed for half the population but forgets about the other half, you have a group of disenfranchised people and disadvantaged people.' There is hope for Kentucky's lady legislators seeking more chamber potties. A $300 million renovation of the 155-year-old Capitol — scheduled for completion by 2028 at the soonest — aims to create more women's restrooms and end Kentucky's bathroom disparity. The Bluegrass State is among the last to add bathrooms to aging statehouses that were built when female legislators were not a consideration. In the $392 million renovation of the Georgia Capitol, expanding bathroom access is a priority, said Gerald Pilgrim, chief of staff with the state's Building Authority. It will introduce female facilities on the building's fourth floor, where the public galleries are located, and will add more bathrooms throughout to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. 'We know there are not enough bathrooms,' he said. There's no federal law requiring bathroom access for all genders in public buildings. Some 20 states have statutes prescribing how many washrooms buildings must have, but historical buildings — such as statehouses — are often exempt. Over the years, as the makeup of state governments has changed, statehouses have added bathrooms for women. When Tennessee's Capitol opened in 1859, the architects designed only one restroom — for men only — situated on the ground floor. According to legislative librarian Eddie Weeks, the toilet could only be "flushed' when enough rainwater had been collected. 'The room was famously described as 'a stench in the nostrils of decency,'' Weeks said in an email. Today, Tennessee's Capitol has a female bathroom located between the Senate and House chambers. It's in a cramped hall under a staircase, sparking comparisons to Harry Potter's cupboard bedroom, and it contains just two stalls. The men also just have one bathroom on the same floor, but it has three urinals and three stalls. Democratic Rep. Aftyn Behn, who was elected in 2023, said she wasn't aware of the disparity in facilities until contacted by The Associated Press. 'I've apparently accepted that waiting in line for a two-stall closet under the Senate balcony is just part of the job,' she said. 'I had to fight to get elected to a legislature that ranks dead last for female representation, and now I get to squeeze into a space that feels like it was designed by someone who thought women didn't exist -- or at least didn't have bladders,' Behn said. The Maryland State House is the country's oldest state capitol in continuous legislative use, operational since the late 1700s. Archivists say its bathroom facilities were initially intended for white men only because desegregation laws were still in place. Women's restrooms were added after 1922, but they were insufficient for the rising number of women elected to office. Delegate Pauline Menes complained about the issue so much that House Speaker Thomas Lowe appointed her chair of the 'Ladies Rest Room Committee,' and presented her with a fur covered toilet seat in front of her colleagues in 1972. She launched the women's caucus the following year. It wasn't until 2019 that House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones, the first woman to secure the top position, ordered the addition of more women's restrooms along with a gender-neutral bathroom and a nursing room for mothers in the Lowe House Office Building. As more women were elected nationwide in the 20th century, some found creative workarounds. In Nebraska's unicameral Legislature, female senators didn't get a dedicated restroom until 1988, when a facility was added in the chamber's cloakroom. There had previously been a single restroom in the senate lounge, and Sen. Shirley Marsh, who served for some 16 years, would ask a State Patrol trooper to guard the door while she used it, said Brandon Metzler, the Legislature's clerk. In Colorado, female House representatives and staff were so happy to have a restroom added in the chamber's hallway in 1987 that they hung a plaque to honor then-state Rep. Arie Taylor, the state's first Black woman legislator, who pushed for the facility. The plaque, now inside a women's bathroom in the Capitol, reads: 'Once here beneath the golden dome if nature made a call, we'd have to scramble from our seats and dash across the hall ... Then Arie took the mike once more to push an urge organic, no longer do we fret and squirm or cross our legs in panic.' The poem concludes: 'In mem'ry of you, Arie (may you never be forgot), from this day forth we'll call that room the Taylor Chamber Pot.' New Mexico Democratic state Rep. Liz Thomson recalled missing votes in the House during her first year in office in 2013 because there was no women's restroom in the chamber's lounge. An increase in female lawmakers — New Mexico elected the largest female majority Legislature in U.S. history in 2024 — helped raise awareness of the issue, she said. 'It seems kind of like fluff, but it really isn't,' she said. 'To me, it really talks about respect and inclusion.' The issue is not exclusive to statehouses. In the U.S. Capitol, the first restroom for congresswomen didn't open until 1962. While a facility was made available for female U.S. Senators in 1992, it wasn't until 2011 that the House chamber opened a bathroom to women lawmakers. Jeannette Rankin of Montana was the first woman elected to a congressional seat. That happened in 1916. Willner insists that knowing the Kentucky Capitol wasn't designed for women gives her extra impetus to stand up and make herself heard. 'This building was not designed for me," she said. "Well, guess what? I'm here.' ___ ____
30 minutes ago
As ADA turns 35, groups fighting for disability rights could see funds slashed
TOPEKA, Kan. -- Nancy Jensen believes she'd still be living in an abusive group home if it wasn't shut down in 2004 with the help of the Disability Rights Center of Kansas, which for decades has received federal money to look out for Americans with disabilities. But the flow of funding under the Trump administration is now in question, disability rights groups nationwide say, dampening their mood as Saturday marks the 35th anniversary of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act. Federal dollars pay for much of their work, including helping people who seek government-funded services and lawsuits now pushing Iowa and Texas toward better community services. Documents outlining President Donald Trump's budget proposals show they would zero out funds earmarked for three grants to disability rights centers and slash funding for a fourth. Congress' first discussion of them, by the Senate Appropriations Committee, is set for Thursday, but the centers fear losing more than 60% of their federal dollars. The threat of cuts comes as the groups expect more demand for help after Republicans' tax and budget law complicated Medicaid health coverage with a new work-reporting requirement. There's also the sting of the timing: this year is the 50th anniversary of another federal law that created the network of state groups to protect people with disabilities, and Trump's proposals represent the largest potential cuts in that half-century, advocates said. The groups are authorized to make unannounced visits to group homes and interview residents alone. 'You're going to have lots of people with disabilities lost,' said Jensen, now president of Colorado's advisory council for federal funding of efforts to protect people with mental illnesses. She worries people with disabilities will have 'no backstop' for fighting housing discrimination or seeking services at school or accommodations at work. The potential budget savings are a shaving of copper from each federal tax penny. The groups receive not quite $180 million a year — versus $1.8 trillion in discretionary spending. The president's Office of Management and Budget didn't respond to an email seeking a response to the disability rights groups' criticism. But in budget documents, the administration argued its proposals would give states needed flexibility. The U.S. Department of Education said earmarking funds for disability rights centers created an unnecessary administrative burden for states. Trump's top budget adviser, Russell Vought, told senators in a letter that a review of 2025 spending showed too much went to 'niche' groups outside government. 'We also considered, for each program, whether the governmental service provided could be provided better by State or local governments (if provided at all),' Vought wrote. Disability rights advocates doubt that state protection and advocacy groups — known as P&As — would see any dollar not specifically earmarked for them. They sue states, so the advocates don't want states deciding whether their work gets funded. The 1975 federal law setting up P&As declared them independent of the states, and newer laws reinforced that. 'We do need an independent system that can hold them and other wrongdoers accountable,' said Rocky Nichols, the Kansas center's executive director. Nichols' center has helped Matthew Hull for years with getting the state to cover services, and Hull hopes to find a job. He uses a wheelchair; a Medicaid-provided nurse helps him run errands. 'I need to be able to do that so I can keep my strength up,' he said, adding that activity preserves his health. Medicaid applicants often had a difficult time working through its rules even before the tax and budget law's recent changes, said Sean Jackson, Disability Rights Texas' executive director. With fewer dollars, he said, 'As cases are coming into us, we're going to have to take less cases.' The Texas group receives money from a legal aid foundation and other sources, but federal funds still are 68% of its dollars. The Kansas center and Disability Rights Iowa rely entirely on federal funds. 'For the majority it would probably be 85% or higher,' said Marlene Sallo, executive director of the National Disability Rights Network, which represents P&As. The Trump administration's proposals suggest it wants to shut down P&As, said Steven Schwartz, who founded the Center for Public Representation, a Massachusetts-based organization that works with them on lawsuits. Federal funding meant a call in 2009 to Disability Rights Iowa launched an immediate investigation of a program employing men with developmental disabilities in a turkey processing plant. Authorities said they lived in a dangerous, bug-infested bunkhouse and were financially exploited. Without the dollars, executive director Catherine Johnson said, 'That's maybe not something we could have done.' The Kansas center's private interview in 2004 with one of Jensen's fellow residents eventually led to long federal prison sentences for the couple operating the Kaufman House, a home for people with mental illnesses about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Wichita. And it wasn't until Disability Rights Iowa filed a federal lawsuit in 2023 that the state agreed to draft a plan to provide community services for children with severe mental and behavioral needs. For 15 years, Schwartz's group and Disability Rights Texas have pursued a federal lawsuit alleging Texas warehouses several thousand people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in nursing homes without adequate services. Texas put at least three men in homes after they'd worked in the Iowa turkey plant. Last month, a federal judge ordered work to start on a plan to end the 'severe and ongoing' problems. Schwartz said Disability Rights Texas did interviews and gathered documents crucial to the case. 'There are no better eyes or ears,' he said.
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Resurfaced Video Shows Trump Making Lewd Comments About Baby Daughter's Breasts
A video showing Donald Trump commenting on the legs and breasts of his 1-year-old daughter resurfaced and went viral this week, as speculation swirled about his connections to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The clip comes from a 1994 interview with Trump and his then-wife Marla Maples, which aired during an episode of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Trump and Maples' only child together, Tiffany, was born on October 13, 1993. The show's host, Robin Leach, asked Trump, 'What does Tiffany have of yours and what does Tiffany have of Marla's?' 'She's a very beautiful baby,' Trump said. 'She's got Marla's legs. We don't know whether or not she's got this part yet, but time will tell.' As he said the final line, Trump made a gesture toward his chest that indicated large breasts. Maples laughed, but viewers haven't found Trump's answer to be quite so humorous. In 2016, Trevor Noah showed a clip of the then-newly resurfaced interview on The Daily Show, triggering dismay from viewers who found Trump's comments bizarre and inappropriate. 'We know for sure that there's no female too small for Trump to reduce her to her body parts,' the former late-night host said. 'We know this.' The video attracted widespread attention again last week when the X account @CalltoActivism posted it with the caption, 'This is NOT normal. Every American needs to see this.' The tweet has been liked almost 20,000 times since it was posted on July 19. Perhaps relatedly, the hashtag #TrumpIsAPedoRapist was one of the platform's top trending 'Politics' topics on Friday, along with #EpsteinTrumpFiles. The old video wasn't the last time Trump would say something shockingly sexual about one of his daughters. In a 2006 appearance with Ivanka Trump on The View, the future president remarked that 'If Ivanka weren't my daughter, perhaps I'd be dating her.' The comment prompted a shocked reaction from the show's hosts, who told him 'Stop it' and 'You're so weird.' That exchange—in which Trump said Ivanka had 'a very nice figure'—came two years after Trump gave the OK to Howard Stern to call Ivanka 'a piece of a--.' Trump has repeatedly expressed his fondness for younger women over the years, a trait that linked him with Epstein during their years-long friendship. 'He's a lot of fun to be with,' Trump said of Epstein in a 2002 New York Magazine interview. 'It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.'
