Wednesday, July 2, 2025

⏰ Tick Tock

Days to Utah's 2025 municipal primary elections (8/12/2025) - 41
Days until Election Day (11/4/2025) - 125
Days until the 2026 midterm elections (11/3/2026) - 489
Days until the 2028 presidential election (11/7/2028) - 1,224

👀 Here's what you need to know for Wednesday morning:

UTAH AND THE WEST

Report: Trump eyes FTC commissioner for Utah's top federal prosecutor. [Utah Political Watch]

Utah's Curtis, Lee vote to pass Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill" in Senate. [Fox 13]

All of Utah's downwinders could be compensated under Senate's "big, beautiful bill." [Utah News Dispatch]

Utah seeing water trend that typically occurs later in the summer. [KSL]

9 Utahns now have measles, Utah health department reports. [KSL]

New city plans call for hundreds of housing units, a hotel and more at Smith's Ballpark site. [Building Salt Lake]

USU Report shows Utah women have more mental health issues than men. [KSL]

NATIONAL

House Speaker Mike Johnson is furiously trying to convince reluctant Republicans to pass the GOP megabill approved by the Senate on Tuesday. Several members of his caucus have threatened to sink the legislation. [Politico]

  • GOP tax bill includes a $6,000 "senior deduction." Here's who qualifies. [Washington Post]

Without explanation, the Trump administration is not releasing $7 billion in federal education funding for after school and summer programs, students learning English and teacher training. [New York Times]

INTERNATIONAL

Iran says it is suspending cooperation with the U.N. atomic agency and blocking inspectors from determining what damage was done by U.S. airstrikes. [Wall Street Journal]

The Pentagon has halted shipments of some weapons and munitions to Ukraine over fears that U.S. stockpiles are becoming too low. [Politico]

The U.S. State Department revoked visas for the British punk duo Bob Vylan for their upcoming tour. The move came after the lead singer changed "Death, death to the IDF," referring to the Israeli military, at the Glastonbury music festival. [Washington Post]

ECONOMY

Car sales cooled in June as buyers are no longer scrambling to get in front of President Trump's tariffs. [Wall Street Journal]

TECHNOLOGY

Amazon deployed its 1 millionth robot worker on Monday. [CNBC]

Managers are increasingly trusting AI to make hiring and firing decisions as well as determining which employees get raises and promotions. [Axios]

MEDIA

Paramount has agreed to pay $16 million to end President Trump's lawsuit over edits to a "60 Minutes" interview of Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential campaign. [Los Angeles Times]