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Record-breaking heat and pockets of drought are baking farmland across the country, threatening crop yields and squeezing out any remaining wiggle room to cope with more extreme weather this summer.

Throughout the Sun Belt, an extended heat wave is sending temperatures soaring into the triple digits and risking heat stress to crops. At the same time, breadbasket states in the Midwest are struggling to manage a drought that’s affecting some areas for a second year in a row. Nearly two-thirds of Kansas is in severe, extreme or exceptional drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, and about half of Missouri and Nebraska are in the same rough shape.

“As long as we have irrigation, we can keep up,” said Jay Reiners, who runs a farm outside Hastings, Nebraska. But “irrigation is meant to supplement Mother Nature, not replace Mother Nature,” he said. “It makes me really nervous.”

This year’s severe dry weather comes on the heels of last summer’s, when 60% of the Great Plains was under moderate to extreme drought. While Reiners’ 3,000-acre farm is mostly irrigated, it includes some dryland crops like corn and soybeans that are “holding on” but will “go backwards really fast” if more rain doesn’t arrive soon, he said.

“We didn’t have an inch of rain until I think May of this year, and we’ve only had a couple inches,” he said, “so we’re starting to feel the effects of the two-years-in-a-row drought.”

Industry experts say fresh July rains across much of the Midwest came just in time for many crops to recover from weather that analysts had warned could deal a historic blow to grain harvests.

As a result, grocery store shoppers aren’t likely to feel the pinch, said Nick Paulson, a professor in the agricultural school of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A combination of crop insurance and the mix of economic factors that determine commodity prices mean weather-related impacts to crop yields typically “don’t end up translating into as large fluctuations at the retail and consumer level,” he said.

But “farmers are definitely not out of the woods yet,” Paulson cautioned. “We are entering a critical period for moisture, particularly for corn, as we get into the end of July and into August,” meaning rainfall levels in the weeks ahead will be decisive.

We’re living off surface moisture, as we call it — rain by rain, week by week.

Dan Basse, president of AgResource

Many growers are still “living off surface moisture, as we call it — rain by rain, week by week,” said Dan Basse, the president of AgResource, an agriculture advisory firm. At this rate, he expects corn and soybean yields to be off by only about 3% to 5% but warned that another dry spell would cause big trouble.

“It’s important that we don’t have any lasting heat and dryness — or any extreme heat for that matter — because crops have nothing in the tank to fall back on,” he said.

Predictable seasonal norms are becoming rarer, as evolving weather patterns disrupt agriculture in ways that are likely to worsen over time, according to the latest version of the National Climate Assessment.

Climate change, fueled by burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas, is expected to increase rainfall variability, raising the likelihood of crop failures from both drought and excessive precipitation. And while growing seasons could lengthen in many places, the increasing frequency of high nighttime temperatures risks adding stress to animals and denting crop yields.

In addition, the El Niño weather pattern is already in effect this year, bringing warmer temperatures on land and sea that can exacerbate extreme weather. A study published in Science in May estimated El Niño alone could cost the global economy around $3 trillion this year, with disproportionate impacts to energy and agriculture.

Farmers in Texas are accustomed to hot summers, but the severe heat wave rippling through the state brought high temperatures earlier than usual, said Russell Boening, who grows corn and sorghum and raises beef and dairy cattle south of San Antonio. After a cooler than normal spring, temperatures surged above 100 degrees in the first week of June.

Cotton plants, which typically thrive in high heat, on a farm in northwestern Texas, where temperatures have hit triple digits.Annie Rice / Avalanche-Journal / USA Today Network

“Is the climate changing? Yeah. I don’t think there’s much argument to that,” said Boening, who is also the president of the Texas Farm Bureau. “We see heat like this every year,” he said, but “normally it doesn’t come until the end of July to August.”

After rain this spring helped buffer his crops from heat damage, Boening said his main concern now is keeping his livestock and workers hydrated and safe as the blistering days wear on. “Is it going to last all the way through the end of August, or are we going to get some relief?” he said.

Climate change is flattening per-capita grain yields around the world, Basse said, “which is not a good thing.” As a result, producers will need to add 20 million acres of cropland within the next five years, he said, particularly with the war in Ukraine — a major grain exporter — disrupting supplies.

Is the climate changing? Yeah. I don’t think there’s much argument to that.

Russell Boening, President of the Texas Farm Bureau

“At the moment, the world is all looking at Brazil very closely” to help fill the gap, Basse said, as the country has been producing record cereal crops and is emerging as the world’s top corn exporter. “It’s kind of become the important gorilla in the room if you’re looking at global grain production.”

Extreme weather is scrambling the math for growers just about everywhere, he continued, citing back-to-back droughts in Europe and a severe one in Argentina that started last winter. Against this backdrop, the rain that finally hit the American Midwest earlier this month was a lucky break “that at least gives us breathing room,” Basse said. “For now, the U.S. has skated a disaster. It was looming.”

Some farmers say this year is already going better than 2022.

After harvesting only half his crops last year, Chris Tanner, who grows corn, sorghum and oats and raises cattle in Norton, Kansas, had been worried about a repeat crisis. By the first week of May, his wheat crop was barely as high as a Coke can, but the late spring rain has since helped it shoot up to a workable size. He’s now expecting an average harvest.

A stunted wheat crop, shown in early May, has rebounded after recent rainfall.Courtesy Chris Tanner

“We’ve learned, through conservation practices and stuff, how to protect the soil and water and utilize the cropping systems that we do to still raise food for a hungry world,” he said.

And in the Southwest, many growers aren’t taking extra measures, a spokesperson for the American Farm Bureau said, since irrigation and crop management practices in the region are already designed for summer temperatures exceeding 110 degrees for days at a time. Certain crops, such as cotton, thrive in high heat, the spokesperson said.

So far, Tanner expects commodity prices to hold steady this year, but he said he feels for growers in worse-off areas nearby.

“Being farmers, you’re an eternal optimist — or try to be — and you plant seeds in the ground and take care of them,” he said, “then watch the environment just wither your livelihood away.”

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As someone who travels frequently, Denise Smith, a San Francisco Bay Area resident, was thrilled to learn this spring about Frontier Airlines’ GoWild all-you-can-fly pass.

For a flat fee of $699, the GoWild pass allowed her to fly anywhere — domestic or international — for three months at a time. Smith believed she’d be able to spend those months fulfilling her travel desires.

And initially, she did — taking five trips in April and May.

But suddenly, as June approached, Smith could no longer find any flights. She reached out to Frontier’s customer service, who told her to clear her web browser, or even try a different computer.

Finally, Smith said, a Frontier supervisor told her she’d get back to her about what might be amiss — but never did. Smith eventually received an email saying that no flights were available for the destination she had in mind, and that she would have to check no more than 24 hours in advance for openings.

In fact, Frontier says there have been no changes made to how the GoWild pass works. Its critical feature is that passengers are indeed unable to book domestic flights more than 24 hours in advance — though the carrier said it has run early-booking promotions in which the 24-hour window is waived. Passengers can buy international flights up to 10 days before departure.

“Now unfortunately because I’ve purchased that pass and am unable to use, I have to book through regular airlines,” Smith said. “So I’m spending more money than I thought I would when I bought the pass.”

A Frontier spokesperson said the pass is designed for people with almost unlimited freedom, like retirees, remote workers and college students on summer break. These passengers typically have the ability to travel at a moment’s notice and don’t mind making stops.

Jacob Brown, a teacher who lives in Denver, moderates a Facebook group for GoWild pass holders. As a regular Frontier traveler, he has learned the best tips for flying with the airline and shares advice with the 10,000 members of the group.

“The whole point of the community, I would hope, is that we can help people make the most of it,’ Brown said, referring to the GoWild pass. ‘So understanding how to use the pass, places to go, deals when you’re there, how to save on accommodations, stuff like that.”

As a moderator, Brown said he’s seen people who think the pass is the ‘best thing they’ve ever done’ and others who think it’s a scam. Brown said much of the frustration comes from a misunderstanding of how flight availability works and how it varies depending on the airport.

Some pass holders might think that Frontier reserves seats for GoWild members, but Brown emphasized that they are paying to access leftover seats for cheap. Others have complained that some flights have tickets for sale and no GoWild availability, but Brown said those flights are being oversold. GoWild tickets are only available if there is a guaranteed seat on the plane.

‘It really is unlimited access to empty seats,’ he said. ‘But it’s also summer, and everyone’s going to Disney World and everybody’s going to Vegas and so the flights were already fairly full. This is not the slow season for air travel. So it’s going to be difficult to use the pass if you’re trying to go somewhere that everyone else is trying to go to.’

Denver is one of Frontier’s hub airports, so there are more options for flights and destinations. Brown has flown to Dallas, San Francisco, Missouri and Pensacola, Florida, using the pass. He said he has already made his money back in savings.

However, for others who don’t live near hubs like Denver, Las Vegas or Orlando, Florida, finding options can be difficult. Michael Mastronardi, a video producer based in Orange County, California, posted a TikTok sharing his frustration trying to book an international trip with the GoWild pass from the John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California.

‘It was just a huge headache, trying to navigate everything,’ he said.

Mastronardi told NBC News he and his girlfriend eventually booked a trip to Nassau, Bahamas. On the way, they will have two overnight stops in Las Vegas and Orlando, and on the way back, they will stop overnight in Orlando and land in Philadelphia.

From Philadelphia, Mastronardi said, ‘it’ll just be day-to-day checking’ for flights back to Santa Ana since domestic flights can only be booked 24 hours ahead.

Mastronardi said he’s not seeing the same functionality with the pass as others are, which he understood was partly because of his location. Frontier has three available routes from the John Wayne Airport, according to its website.

‘At this point, I’m wishing that I didn’t have it. I would have much rather just had the money in my pocket to spend,’ he said. ‘Essentially, I sacrificed my control over my vacations for the ability to book these flights for like slightly cheaper.’

Even pass holders who enjoy the pass admit that they have to relinquish some control of their trips to get value out of this pass. Brad Nelson, a software developer based in San Francisco, said he had to get over this gripe when he first started using the pass.

When he initially traveled with it, Nelson said he would get frustrated because the flights he wanted weren’t available. However, he came to accept that if what he initially wanted wasn’t available, there was always another option.

‘If you have some flexibility, you can totally get there and back,’ Nelson said. ‘It’s just part of the game of finding which flights are available.’

Nelson noticed that finding the full list of flight options online for GoWild pass holders was time consuming and difficult, which fueled a lot of the frustrations with Frontier.

As a result, Nelson created a text service that allows people to find all available options for flights departing a specific airport, which he said over 1,000 people have used so far. He is currently building a website called the 1491 Club that will have more search tools based on feedback from members of the GoWild pass holder Facebook group.

‘It’s turned into a more positive experience because people are realizing that there is value in the pass,’ Nelson said. ‘It just was previously hard to find.’

He added, ‘The point of being a budget airline is these resources are not going to be given to you. But as a group, we’re figuring out perhaps without those resources, if we work together, we can still utilize this pass.’

Smith, from the Bay Area, still feels deceived.

‘I feel very frustrated,’ she said. ‘I have several more trips planned through September, which is why I did this. It’s very frustrating not to be able to use the pass.’

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Amid an unprecedented surge in demand for U.S. passport processing, the State Department is expanding its application-processing call-center hours on weekends, as at least one U.S. senator says the agency should take additional measures to staff up.

In a statement to NBC News, a Department official said the agency is now offering weekend call-center service Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET.  

The spokesperson said the agency has also tripled the number of phone lines available at the National Passport Information Center, and that it is ‘aggressively’ hiring and training additional staff to handle the influx of calls it continues to receive.

The Department said this month that it is experiencing a surge in passport demand this year, with approximately 400,000 applications coming in each week. That is only down slightly from the more-than 500,000 applications a week it was receiving in the first half of the year, as American international travel soars this summer.

Overall, the State Department expects to receive nearly 2 million more applications this fiscal year than in its previous record-setting, pre-pandemic year in terms of applications.

The Department is advising passport applicants to apply at least six months in advance of their departure date.

Following a visit Friday to a passport processing center in Washington, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., told NBC that he was sympathetic to Americans’ frustrations.

‘We have to do better,’ he said, adding, ‘You shouldn’t have to wait three hours on the phone.’

While he said it was evident from his visit that department officials were working as hard as they could, he said the agency should be looking to hire as many workers as possible for call-center positions, since those don’t require security clearances.

‘We ought to be able to have that surge capacity. … You shouldn’t have to call your senators,’ Warner said, though he also believed the biggest demand wave had passed.

A call to both his U.S. senators and his representative has failed to produce results for Jhonas Amulacion, a Spokane, Washington, resident who has been planning since last year to visit his family in the Philippines this summer with his partner.

They submitted their applications in early May and paid the $60 expedited-processing fees.

So far, they’ve received no updates about whether they’ll get their documents in time. Amulacion is bracing for the possibility of having to travel to Seattle — an approximately four-hour drive — for a last-minute in-person appointment.

He said such a trip would already add to the thousands of dollars they paid for their plane tickets — though luckily those are refundable — and the hours spent waiting on hold before dawn to reach a customer-service representative first thing in the morning.

A State Department spokesperson said in an email that customers like Amulacion and his partner would be eligible for a refund of their $60 if they failed to receive their documents in time.

‘I understand everyone being swamped, and that it’s a luxury service to even be able to fly,’ Amulacion said. ‘But we were really hoping to be able to go on this trip with family — I haven’t been there in a long time.’

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New legislation proposed in the House would remove the words ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ from federal law and replace them with a range of terms such as ‘spouse.’

The ‘Amend the Code for Marriage Equality Act,’ introduced by California Democrat Julia Brownley, seeks to amend a number of existing laws by striking the terms ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ from their text. The proposed legislation moves to substitute the words with phrases such as ‘a married couple,’ ‘married person’ and ‘person who has been, but is no longer, married to’’ depending on the context.

‘Although the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that same-sex couples have the right to marry, there are many instances where the U.S. Code does not respect that constitutional right,’ Brownley said in a statement released on Friday.

‘Now more than ever, with an extreme Supreme Court and state legislatures rolling back the rights of the LGBTQ community, it is imperative that Congress showcases its commitment to supporting equality,’ she continued. ‘This common-sense bill will ensure that our federal code reflects the equality of all marriages by recognizing and acting upon the notion that the words in our laws have meaning and our values as a country are reflected in our laws.’

Federal laws targeted for amendment in Brownley’s bill include the ‘Ethics in Government Act of 1978,’ the ‘Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993’ and the ‘Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971,’ among others.

Fox News Digital contacted Brownley’s office for additional comment but did not hear back in time for publication.

A recent Supreme Court ruling in a case that pitted the interests of LGBTQ non-discrimination against First Amendment freedom was seen by the left as a blow to LGBTQ+ rights that amplified calls to expand the court.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented from the majority, along with Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, in the 6-3 decision in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis. Sotomayor called the ruling ‘a new license to discriminate,’ arguing that the ‘symbolic effect of the decision is to mark gays and lesbians for second-class status.’

She mentioned a number of instances of anti-LGTBQ discrimination and violence in her opinion. Justice Neil Gorsuch dismissed Sotomayor’s dissent by saying it ‘gets so turned around about the facts that it opens fire on its own position.’

He added that it is ‘difficult to read the dissent and conclude we are looking at the same case.’

Fox News’ Brianna Herlihy contributed to this report.

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In the Senate, one senator can hold up anything.

And, in the Senate, a determined supermajority of senators can overcome a blockade erected by that sole senator on a nomination or a piece of legislation.

It simply takes time.

That aforementioned supermajority can thwart the tactics of the lone senator bottlenecking the parliamentary traffic. Eventually. Senators must file ‘cloture’ and later ‘invoke’ cloture. That’s the Senate term for overcoming a filibuster. And if senators can cobble together a coalition of 60 of their colleagues on legislation or just 51 for a nomination, the singular senator filibustering the issue at hand is blocking things on borrowed Senate time.

But what happens when a single senator holds up an entire slate of nominees? Or, in this case, the routine promotions of 250 military flag officers? These are the top military leaders in the country.

That’s what unfolded over the past few months. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., is blocking the promotions as a protest over the Pentagon’s abortion policy. Following last year’s Dobbs Supreme Court decision, the Pentagon implemented a plan that would give pregnant women on the armed forces health care plan time off to travel across state lines for abortions. A number of states imposed strict limitations on abortion in light of the Dobbs opinion. Service members can’t control where they’re assigned to serve. So the Pentagon put forth a policy which would give women the opportunity to receive reproductive health care if they so chose.

Tuberville’s move prevented the Marine Corps from having a Commandant.

Marine Commandant Gen. David Berger stepped down a few weeks ago. Gen. Eric Smith is up for the job. But he’s only the acting Commandant since the Senate hasn’t been able to advance his promotion due to Tuberville’s roadblock. The Senate just conducted a confirmation hearing for Air Force Chief of Staff. Gen. Charles Q. Brown to become Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — the top military post in the U.S. However, Brown’s matriculation could fall victim to Tuberville’s hold later this year.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to Tuberville about his holds last week. But it’s unclear if they can bridge the impasse.

Let’s now examine the parliamentary mechanics of Tuberville’s ‘holds’ for the armed forces.

There is no ‘rule’ in the Senate which addresses ‘holds’ on nominations or promotions. It’s kind of a Senate custom. But, truly a ‘hold’ in the Senate is ‘withholding consent.’ In other words, Tuberville is telling other senators that he won’t allow votes on the promotions of senior military officers quickly. Thus, the senator is ‘withholding consent.’ 

So let’s explore the question of ‘consent’ in the Senate.

The Senate typically regards a swath of military promotions of this caliber as ‘non-controversial.’ The Senate, Pentagon and the administration have already vetted the service personnel tapped for these positions. It’s rare that senators would find a red flag at this stage which could sidetrack a promotion. Thus, the Senate often advances the promotions ‘en bloc.’

In other words, the Senate takes a batch of the promotions — if not all — and considers them simultaneously. It’s the most efficient way to move.

Promotions of this nature are subject to one round of cloture.’ In other words, one filibuster. And since we are dealing with a ‘nomination’ (promotion), only a simple majority is necessary in the Senate to overcome a filibuster (usually 51 yeas).

Confirmation of the promotion would come next. That also entails a simple majority.

More than 250 military promotions are pending. But doing them one by one could really start to chew into the Senate’s schedule. Floor time is the most important commodity in the Senate. The more time the Senate burns on promotion, the less time is has to address other nominations – let alone legislation.

Here’s the process:

Let’s say this all begins on a Monday. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., calls up a single nomination/promotion on the floor. Tuberville would indicate he intends to filibuster — not granting consent. So Schumer would immediately ‘file cloture’ on that individual nomination/promotion. By rule, the Senate requires an ‘intervening day’ before it may vote on ‘invoking cloture’ or breaking Tuberville’s filibuster. 

So Tuesday serves as the intervening day. Cloture ‘ripens’ for a vote on Wednesday. If the Senate secures a majority to overcome the filibuster on Wednesday, Tuberville and other senators then have the right to require the Senate incinerate another portion of time before a final vote to confirm the nomination or promotion. Thus, the Senate may not actually vote to approve the promotion until Thursday or so.

So, so each nomination may take about four to five days — depending on what time of day the process started.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I., recently excoriated Tuberville for the time burn. 

‘The senator from Alabama often says if we really wanted these generals and admirals, we would just vote. But I’d like to explain that the senator is now allowing a simple vote. He is demanding cloture on every nomination,’ said Reed.

The Rhode Island Democrat then explained how his staff commissioned the Congressional Research Service (CRS) to figure how much time the Senate would consume, processing each promotion singularly. Reed says the CRS determine if the Senate did nothing but these military promotions and worked around the clock, it would consume ‘668 hours’ or ’27 days.’ If the Senate devoted eight hours of its day just to military promotions, the process would devour 84 consecutive days.

‘So just vote is not an answer,’ snapped Reed. ‘This is not a feasible solution.’

 This is why the Senate often gets ‘consent’ — or, as it’s known on Capitol Hill ‘unanimous consent’ — from all 100 senators to advance a slate of non-controversial nominees or promotions together. This is ‘en bloc.’ But the catch is that all 100 senators must be in agreement.

Provided all 100 senators are on board, the Senate Majority Leader often often tees up a unanimous consent request which hurdles the filibuster bar and even confirms the nominations/promotions all at once. But if a single senator objects, the gig is up.

This expedited process may still happen on a large chunk of nominations/promotions — even if a senator has a reservation about one or two particular people. If a senator insists, the Senate might then just vote on that individual nomination/promotion. 

This is why Tuberville’s decision to withhold consent is important. He’s applying his senatorial prerogative toward more than 250 flag officers up for promotion all at once. Not just an individual officer.

Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, recently placed holds on all of President Biden’s nominees for the Justice Department in retaliation for the prosecution of former President Trump.

Both Tuberville and Vance are well within their rights as senators to engineer this gambit — even if it’s a rarely utilized one. That’s especially true with the case of Tuberville, applying this toward a bundle of routine promotions.

Floor time is paramount in the Senate. Tuberville has capitalized on an issue important to him. And unless the Senate wants to carbonize weeks and weeks on routine, non-controversial promotions, Tuberville is so far prevailing in his protest over the military’s abortion policy.

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National Security Council spokesman John Kirby launched an impassioned defense of abortion funding for service members and their families on Monday, pounding the podium of the White House press briefing room as he called military access to abortion a ‘foundational, sacred obligation.’

The instance occurred when Kirby was asked by a reporter during the daily White House press briefing, what about the Pentagon’s controversial policy for it to use taxpayer funds to reimburse the cost of travel and care related to abortions was ‘critical to military readiness.’

‘Our policies, whether they’re diversity, inclusion, and equity or whether they’re about transgender individuals who qualify physically and mentally, deserve to be able to [serve] with dignity. Or whether it’s about female service members – one in five – or female family members being able to count on the kinds of health care and reproductive care specifically that they need to serve,’ Kirby said.

‘That is a foundational, sacred obligation of military leaders across the river. I’ve seen it myself. And it matters because it says we’re invested in you, because you are being willing to invest in us. You’re investing your life, your family’s livelihood with us. We owe you that back in return,’ he said.

Kirby argued that anyone who signs up to serve – and potentially lose their lives while serving – has ‘every right’ to expect the military to ‘take care’ of them, regardless of ‘who you are, who you love, or how you worship or don’t.’

He described meeting an all female group of service members and spouses who he said told him that abortion restrictions being passed in states across the country were ‘absolutely having an effect on their willingness to continue serving in uniform or to encourage or discourage, in this case, their spouses from continuing service.’

‘So if you don’t think there’s going to be a retention and a morale issue, think again, because it’s already having that effect,’ Kirby said, adding that he has a son and son-in-law currently serving in the Navy who love serving, but don’t get to serve where they choose and have to follow orders on where to go and what to do. 

‘You go where you’re told. That’s the way orders work. You go where you’re assigned. You don’t get to choose. And so what happens if you get assigned to a state like Alabama, which has a pretty restrictive abortion law in place, and you’re concerned about your reproductive care, what do you do? Do you say no and get out?’ he said.

Kirby said service members being faced with that option and choosing to leave meant the military was losing talent and making an already tough recruiting environment worse.

‘It can have an extremely, extremely significant impact on our recruiting and retention. Not to mention it’s just the right darn thing to do for people that raise their hand and agree to serve in the military,’ he added.

Kirby’s comments come as the debate over military funding for abortions continues to be waged in Congress, with Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., holding firm to his commitment to block all top military promotions and nominations as long as the Pentagon’s abortion policy remains in place.

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A prosecutor added felony charges, including attempted sexual assault, Monday against a man accused of attacking Connecticut’s first Muslim state representative after a prayer service, but did not file hate crime allegations demanded by the lawmaker’s supporters.

The case of Andrey Desmond, 30, went before a judge in Hartford Superior Court, where supporters of state Rep. Maryam Khan, including local imams, also gathered.

‘It continues to be a mystery to me why the state isn’t bringing bias crimes in this type of incident,’ said Farhan Memon, chairman of the Connecticut chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. ‘Having this charged as a bias crime sends a message out to the rest of the population that this is going to be something that’s dealt with seriously.’

Hartford State’s Attorney Sharmese Walcott did not return messages seeking comment about the case and the demand to file hate crime allegations.

During the hearing, Walcott said the additional charges were the result of a review of all evidence gathered by Hartford police, including video footage and ‘a clear statement by the defendant … that he intended to force sexual contact,’ according to audio of the hearing provided by the court system.

‘The statement of sexual intent that Andrey Desmond made was in the presence of three children, all under the age of 16,’ Wolcott said, adding the children suffered mental trauma.

Desmond was initially charged with misdemeanors, including third-degree assault and unlawful restraint, after the June 28 attack on Khan outside a Hartford arena where the Muslim prayer service was held. Walcott on Monday added felony charges of attempted third-degree sexual assault, second-degree assault, strangulation and risk of injury to children.

Desmond remains detained on $250,000 bail and is scheduled to return to court Aug. 22. His public defender, Michael Wagner, did not return messages. Wagner did not respond to the allegations during the court hearing, according to the audio. He requested copies of supplemental police reports.

Desmond, who has not entered pleas, was brought to the courthouse lockup, but did not appear in the courtroom for the hearing.

Khan, a Democrat who lives in the Hartford suburb of Windsor, has said she and her family were taking photos outside the arena when a man approached and said he ‘intended to have sexual relations’ with one of them, including Khan’s 15-year-old daughter. Her family was marking Eid al-Adha, the end of the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage by Muslims to Mecca.

Desmond then followed them inside and Khan said he started to pursue her in particular, grabbing at her face and shirt and demanding a kiss. He followed her back outside and tried to grab her face again, she said, but became angry when she ‘dodged him’ and slapped her across the face. She said he later held her in a ‘chokehold’ and held up his hand and mimicked having a gun before slamming her into the ground.

‘I knew in that moment my body went numb, and I thought I was going to die,’ she said at a news conference earlier this month.

Khan said she was diagnosed with a concussion and injured her right arm and shoulder.

The Associated Press doesn’t generally identify people who report attempted sexual assaults unless they publicly identify themselves, as Khan has done.

Desmond was chased down and held by two bystanders until police arrived and arrested him.

Khan did not return an email message seeking comment. Memon said she attended Monday’s court hearing.

She has accused Hartford police of downplaying the assault and called for a federal investigation of the department’s handling of violent crimes, especially against women.

A police spokesman did not return a message Monday.

Hartford Police Chief Jason Thody has expressed his sympathy for Khan and said the department will review its response to the attack.

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The former FBI agent who served as the supervisor of the federal investigation into Hunter Biden at the IRS confirmed key portions of the whistleblower testimony concerning alleged political interference by the Biden administration into the investigation, Republicans on the House Oversight Committee said Monday.

‘Today, a former FBI supervisory special agent assigned to the FBI’s Wilmington office and the Biden criminal investigation confirmed key portions of the IRS whistleblower’s testimony,’ Committee Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., said in a statement.

‘The night before the interview of Hunter Biden, both Secret Service headquarters and the Biden transition team were tipped off about the planned interview. On the day of the Hunter Biden interview, federal agents were told to stand by and could not approach Hunter Biden—they had to wait for his call. As a result of the change in plans, IRS and FBI criminal investigators never got to interview Hunter Biden as part of the investigation,’ Comer said.

He added that the DOJ’s ‘efforts to cover up for the Bidens’ showed there was ‘a two-tiered system of justice,’ and vowed the committee would ‘continue to seek the answers, transparency, and accountability that the American people demand and deserve.’

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley and the second anonymous whistleblower leveling the accusations of DOJ interference in the investigation appeared before the panel earlier Monday.

The whistleblowers have said decisions in the case seemed to be ‘influenced by politics.’ They also alleged federal prosecutors blocked lines of questioning related to President Biden, and said the U.S. attorney in charge of the probe, David Weiss, did not have full authority to bring charges.

The testimony comes as the committee investigates the Biden family’s business dealings.

‘Since taking the gavel in January, the Committee on Oversight and Accountability has made rapid progress in our investigation into the Biden family’s domestic and international business dealings to determine whether these activities compromise U.S. national security and President Biden’s ability to lead with impartiality,’ Comer said in a statement last week. 

‘From the thousands of financial records we’ve obtained, we know the Biden family set up over 20 shell companies, engaged in intentionally complicated financial transactions with foreign adversaries, and made a concerted effort to hide the payments and avoid scrutiny.’

Comer said the whistleblowers have confirmed ‘many findings of our investigation,’ and stressed the importance of hearing from them, and other witnesses, about the ‘weaponization of federal law enforcement power.’

Monday’s testimony came amid a joint-congressional investigation with the Oversight Committee, Judiciary Committee and House Ways and Means Committee into the federal probe into Hunter Biden, and whether prosecutorial decisions were influenced by politics.

House Republicans are demanding more than a dozen federal officials, including the U.S. attorney in charge of the investigation into Hunter Biden, appear before multiple congressional committees for transcribed interviews regarding allegations of politicization and misconduct at their agencies throughout the years-long probe into the president’s son.

The Justice Department announced last month that Hunter Biden had entered a plea agreement that would likely keep him out of prison. As part of the deal, the president’s son will plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax and to one charge of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.

Hunter Biden is set to make his first court appearance on July 26.

The DOJ has denied the investigation was influenced in any way. U.S. Attorney David Weiss from Delaware, who is in charge of the probe, has said the investigation is ‘ongoing.’

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

PROGRAMMING ALERT: Senator Rand Paul will join Jesse Watters Primetime at 8pm to react 

Despite his retirement from public service, U.S. tax dollars are being spent on protective details for Dr. Anthony Fauci and his family – courtesy of U.S. Marshals, documents obtained by Jesse Watters Primetime reveal. 

The Health and Human Services was set to end its protection of Fauci, and the U.S. Marshals assumed protective responsibilities on Jan. 5, 2023, per an agreement with the National Institutes of Health. 

Emails reviewed by Fox News show a brief correspondence with the White House concerning Dr. Fauci’s parking during a visit on Feb. 1, 2023. The nature of the visit was not clear. 

In another email, a redacted name from the U.S. Marshals responds to three individuals at the NIAID/NIH, telling them that ‘inappropriate communications referring to Dr. Fauci’ can be sent to the Justice Department. 

The revelations come after Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., sent a letter last month to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, his department’s Inspector General, and the current head of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Paul requested ‘additional information regarding Dr. Fauci’s employment status and receipt of taxpayer-funded benefits.’ 

‘While many interpreted these statements to mean Dr. Fauci would be ending his employment with the federal government in December 2022, it is not clear if that is in fact the case,’ Paul wrote.

‘This raises questions about Dr. Fauci’s current employment status and whether he is still receiving certain taxpayer-funded benefits associated with active public service, such as legal counsel and protective services,’ the senator added.

A Capitol Hill source previously told Fox News Digital that the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee – of which Paul is the top Republican – was meant to be notified whether Fauci’s security status ended at the end of his employment with the administration, or if was extended somehow. The source said the panel has not heard anything from the administration six months after Fauci said he was done. 

Dr. Fauci, who led the NIAID and was the highest-paid bureaucrat on the federal government’s payroll, announced his retirement in August 2022, after more than five decades in office. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Fauci became a household name and the subject of partisan attacks. He made frequent appearances on television news and at daily press conferences. He officially stepped down in December 2022. 

In his letter last month, Sen. Paul, who has had a combative relationship with Dr. Fauci, said was ‘not clear’ if Dr. Fauci would indeed be ending his employment with the federal government. 

‘This raises questions about Dr. Fauci’s current status and whether he is still receiving certain taxpayer-funded benefits associated with active public service, such as legal counsel and protective services,’ the senator wrote.  

Paul’s letter also asked whether Dr. Fauci still had access to non-public government facilities and if he is getting any legal or security services from the government. 

Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report. 

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

This will be the only Daily for this week. (A new one will be available July 24th.)

As such, two key areas are in focus, both reliable in determining next moves in the market. First, we have the charts of the Economic Modern Family (Russell 2000, Retail, Transportation, Biotech, Semiconductors, Regional Banks–we will leave Bitcoin out for now). Secondly, we have the re-set of the 6-month July calendar range. If we put both together, you will see how well aligned the price charts and the calendar range indicators are. 

Of course, the rates, dollar, earnings, gold, oil, food, climate are all factors as well. However, we want to leave you with a blueprint that is simple and can help you navigate where to put your money right now.

The first 4 charts are all in a weekly timeframe, as per our book Plant Your Money Tree. The Russell 200 IWM is in an Accumulation Phase. The Leadership is on par with the benchmark. Real motion momentum is in a bearish divergence.

Verdict-Monday’s high will be the top of the calendar range. A move over 195 would be hard to argue with. A break under 190 would be suspect.

Retail (XRT) is in a Distribution phase and has to clear the 200-WMA and calendar range high at 67.42. A move under 63.40 would be weak. XRT is underperforming SPY and has a bearish divergence in momentum.

Transportation (IYT) is in a bullish phase. Last week, it made its July Calendar range high. IYT has outperformed SPY, and momentum is weak compared to price. 245 is the key area to hold.

Semiconductors (SMH) has its July range high at 160.70. In a bullish phase, SMH has outperformed SPY since April. Momentum in Real Motion is in a bearish divergence to price. 147 is the 6-month calendar range low. A move below would not be healthy.

All four of these Family members are looking a bit tired in momentum.

Biotechnology (IBB) is the second-weakest Family member, behind Regional Banks.

Just piercing the 50-WMA for an unconfirmed phase change to Recuperation, IBB has to clear 130 and then the 200-WMA at 135.30. It’s not surprising to see it well underperforming the SPY. Momentum in Real Motion has yet to catch up to the recent price action. The calendar range high, interestingly, is just over 130 or Monday’s high. We have eyes on this sector.

Regional Banks (KRE) are in a weekly bearish phase. A move over 45 would help and could also potentially give KRE a boost in leadership against the SPY. Momentum had a mean reversion back in mid-May. Nevertheless, the trip to the overhead 50 and 200-WMAs is far, yet perhaps not impossible.

As mentioned earlier, the rates (FED on tap), dollar, earnings, gold, oil, food, and climate are all factors. However, the most successful traders use the simplest formulas. Weekly charts, phase, leadership, momentum, and the July 6-month calendar ranges should give you a statistical edge in this pivotal time.

Have a great week!

For more detailed trading information about our blended models, tools and trader education courses, contact Rob Quinn, our Chief Strategy Consultant, to learn more.

“I grew my money tree and so can you!” – Mish Schneider

Get your copy of Plant Your Money Tree: A Guide to Growing Your Wealth and a special bonus here.

Follow Mish on Twitter @marketminute for stock picks and more. Follow Mish on Instagram (mishschneider) for daily morning videos. To see updated media clips, click here.

Mish in the Media

Mish talks her approach to being a professional trader in this Options Insight interview with Imran Lakha.

Nicole Petallides and Mish discuss crypto, basic materials, inflation and gold in this appearance on TD Ameritrade.

Mish and Ash Bennington cover a lot in this video from Real Vision, discussing everything from the Fed, to inflation, to the incredible move in stocks and what is next.

Mish talks day-trading tactics, currency pairs, gold, oil, and sugar futures in this video from CMC Markets.

Mish and Angie Miles talk tech, small caps and one new stock in this appearance on Business First AM.

Mish examines the old adage “Don’t Fight the Fed” in this interview on Business First AM.

Mish and Charles Payne talk the Fed, CPI, Inflation, yields, bonds and sectors she likes on Fox Business’ Making Money with Charles Payne.

Mish, Brad Smith and Diane King Hall discuss and project on topics like earnings, inflation, yield curve and market direction in this appearance on Yahoo Finance.

Coming Up:

July 18-19: Business First AM

July 21: BNN Bloomberg

ETF Summary

S&P 500 (SPY): 450 pivotal area, 455 resistance, 437 July low.Russell 2000 (IWM): 193 is the 23-month holy grail.Dow (DIA): 34,000 pivotal.Nasdaq (QQQ): Trouble if breaks 363.Regional Banks (KRE): 42.00-44.00 range.Semiconductors (SMH): 150-160 range.Transportation (IYT): Under 250 some trouble.Biotechnology (IBB): 121-130 range.

Mish Schneider

MarketGauge.com

Director of Trading Research and Education