Wednesday, July 9, 2025
⏰ Tick Tock
Days to Utah's 2025 municipal primary elections (8/12/2025) - 34
Days until Election Day (11/4/2025) - 118
Days until the 2026 midterm elections (11/3/2026) - 482
Days until the 2028 presidential election (11/7/2028) - 1,217
What I'm thinking about this morning...
A remarkable piece of reporting from ProPublica demolishes on Sen. Mike Lee’s quixotic plan of selling off millions of acres of public lands as a panacea for the housing crisis.
The problem for Lee is that past efforts to sell public land to create affordable housing haven’t worked very well.
In Nevada, a 1998 law allows for cities to buy BLM land at $100 per acre if it’s to be used for affordable housing. The result? A mere 850 affordable housing units on 30 acres of land. That same law allows for the sale of public lands in the Las Vegas Valley at market rates, which has led to the sale of more than 17,000 acres at an average cost of $200,000 per acre.
Lee’s land-sale provision, stripped from the massive GOP tax cuts and spending bill before it passed the Senate, would have permitted developers to nominate federal lands for sale at market rate only. There would have been no incentive for developers to choose to build affordable housing over pursuing the higher profit margin that comes with high-end housing.
As the article points out, there’s no “silver bullet” solution to the housing crisis - but that’s not stopping policymakers like Lee from trying to find it.
Wednesday morning's headlines:
Utah and the West
Sen. John Curtis calls for briefing from White House after weapons pause to Ukraine. [Deseret News]
Sen. Mike Lee claims judicial abuse as judge pauses defunding of Planned Parenthood. [Deseret News]
"No Kings" shooting probe isn't over, but police say that's not unusual in homicide cases. [Salt Lake Tribune]
Trump administration approves another energy project in Utah with expansion of oil train facility. [Utah News Dispatch]
For years, millions in taxpayer funds flowed to a private education group. Now a judge says the public has a right to see the records. [Salt Lake Tribune]
He thought Lake Powell gas prices were too high. He was right. [Fox 13]
Utah home prices slowed in 2024 – but housing market still ranks among nation's most expensive. [Utah News Dispatch]
National
Congress has just 83 days to pass 12 appropriations bills before the Sept. 30 deadline to fund the government. Lawmakers will be in session for just 22 of them. [Punchbowl News]
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not inform the White House before he authorized a pause on weapons shipments to Ukraine last week. [CNN]
President Donald Trump threatened to seize control of New York City is "communist" Zohran Mamdani is elected mayor. [New York Post]
The FBI has reportedly launched criminal investigations of former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey for potential wrongdoing related to the Trump-Russia investigation. [Fox News]
Several Republican senators say they had no idea that a provision limiting tax deductions for gambling losses was included in the massive tax cuts and spending bill signed into law by President Trump. [Huffington Post]
California rejects the Trump administration's demand that they ban transgender athletes. [Ed Source]
Sen. Ted Cruz's office said he would return to Texas from a vacation in Europe "as fast as humanly possible" when flooding hit the state, killing more than 100 people. Cruz was spotted sightseeing at the Parthenon in Greece the day after the natural disaster hit. [Daily Beast]
International
President Trump is considering sending another Patriot air-defense system to Ukraine. [Wall Street Journal]
Economy
President Trump says the U.S. will impose a 50% tariff on copper imports. [Reuters]
President Trump said Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell should "resign immediately" if allegations that he misled Congress over renovations to the Federal Reserve's headquarters are true. [Bloomberg]
CEOs are extremely confident about business conditions and the U.S. economy over the coming year. [Chief Executive]
Elon Musk is preparing to sell about $1 billion worth of shares in SpaceX, which would give the company a valuation of $400 billion. [Financial Times]
Environment
It's already shaping up to be a brutal fire season in California. [Los Angeles Times]
Foreign, feral honeybees are crowding out native bee species in southern California. [Los Angeles Times]
Media
President Trump's Truth Social media platform inked a deal to stream content from conservative network Newsmax. [Washington Post]
