The Daily Brief — July 16, 2026
Aid to Israel, Epstein survivors say no to Blanche, military testosterone screening
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Aid to Israel
Yesterday almost half the Democrats in the US House voted to end military aid to Israel. The amendment, attached to a funding bill for the State Department, would have eliminated $3.3 billion in annual aid and barred any spending in the bill from going to the country.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries
The amendment failed 104–314, with 103 Democrats in favor of cutting off the aid, 98 against, and 10 voting “present.” Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who sponsored the amendment, was the only Republican to support it.
The result marked a dramatic departure from 2016, when the House approved military aid to Israel by a 405–4 margin.
Democratic leadership split publicly on the amendment. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries voted no, saying it was too broad. Democratic Whip Katherine Clark voted yes, saying, “I believe we must change course.”
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, long known as one of Israel’s strongest defenders in Congress, also voted to end the aid. She called the amendment an “unfortunate choice” but said she supported it “for the message that it sends.”
The vote highlights the growing divide between Democrats over military aid to Israel. Read more in Elise Labott’s Preamble article from earlier this week.
Trump Primetime Address
President Trump is set to give a primetime address tonight in which he’s likely to repeat claims about fraud in the 2020 election.
The White House hasn’t released a draft of the speech, but sources suggest Trump will claim there’s new information on foreign interference, including from China, in the 2020 election. He will also reportedly talk about voting machine security.
“It doesn’t get bigger, because without free and fair elections, you don’t have a country… We’ll be discussing other things too, but it’s going to be a very big announcement,” Trump said earlier this week.
Former DOJ Attorney Says Blanche Endangered Judges
Former DOJ pardon attorney Liz Oyer testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche fueled threats of political violence against judges by attacking those who rule against the Trump administration. She said it amounts to “declaring a war against the courts.”
The committee was holding its second day of confirmation hearings for Blanche, whom Trump has nominated to be attorney general. As evidence of the threat of political violence, Oyer pointed to the testimony of two Supreme Court justices — Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett — before the House and Senate Appropriations committees earlier this week in which they requested additional security funding for Supreme Court justices.
Separately, one of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, Dani Bensky, asked senators on the committee to “put politics aside” and not confirm Blanche. She criticized the Justice Department for failing to redact personally identifying information about survivors, including information about her, when it released the Epstein files. She also criticized Blanche’s decision not to meet face-to-face with them.
The Senate panel has 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats after the sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) last week, meaning that a single GOP defection could sink Blanche’s nomination. Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, a Republican on the committee, said he will not vote to confirm Blanche unless he meets with the survivors.
News Break
On Nov. 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the fluky victor in a tight race for president. The country was bitterly at odds; Southern extremists were moving ever closer to destroying the Union, with one state after another seceding and Lincoln powerless to stop them. Slavery fueled the conflict, and somehow the passions of North and South came to focus on a lonely federal fortress in Charleston Harbor: Fort Sumter. In The Demon of Unrest, Erik Larson draws on diaries, secret communiqués, slave ledgers, and plantation records to offer a gripping account of the chaotic months between Lincoln’s election and the Confederacy’s shelling of Sumter.
Vance on Epstein Files
Vice President JD Vance said the Trump administration “absolutely” mishandled communications about the Jeffrey Epstein files.
During a podcast interview with Joe Rogan released yesterday, Vance pointed to former Attorney General Pam Bondi, who once said an alleged Epstein “client list” was “sitting on my desk right now.” Vance said Bondi made a mistake by overstating “what we had and what we didn’t have.”
Vance has previously pushed internally for releasing the full record, including materials mentioning Trump, while others in the administration, like White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, have favored releasing less.
Testosterone Tests for Troops
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a new annual screening program for “testosterone deficiency” among American troops, saying it’s necessary to keep them at their “absolute best.”
The screenings will be added to the medical checkups already required of service members 30 and older. Those under 30 can volunteer to be tested. Testosterone replacement therapy will be available for anyone found deficient who wants it.
The Pentagon hasn’t explained what prompted the new policy, and it declined to say whether female troops would be screened for hormones.
Iran War Intensifies
The US and Iran traded military strikes, with the US launching attacks in northern Iran today. The US military said it carried out the strikes for the sixth consecutive night “to further degrade Iranian military capabilities.”
American forces also hit an Iranian ship that it said was trying to break the US naval blockade of Iranian ships and ports. Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones into Bahrain and Kuwait.
Cyclosporiasis Diarrhea
Nearly 7,000 people are now suspected to have been infected with cyclosporiasis, a parasitic foodborne illness that can cause weeks of diarrhea.
The CDC says that 1,645 cases are lab-confirmed and more than 5,100 additional cases are under investigation. The final number could be much higher because not everyone who has the parasite visits the doctor. This time last year, there were fewer than 250 cases.
Cyclosporiasis is caused by a microscopic parasite that spreads through food or water contaminated with feces. It doesn’t spread person-to-person.
The agency recommends seeing a doctor for prolonged or watery diarrhea and cooking vegetables before eating them. Foods linked to past outbreaks include basil, bagged salads and salad mixes, cilantro, parsley, and snow peas.
It’s difficult to pin down the exact source of contamination because symptoms can show up anywhere from two days to two weeks after it is eaten.