The Daily Brief — July 23, 2026
Minnesota sentencing, new condition for Saudi nuclear deal, police fatally shoot man
These are today’s top stories, delivered straight to your inbox. Catch up here on all the news.
Life Sentence for Minnesota Killings
The man who admitted to fatally shooting former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, last year has been sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison, plus an additional 40 years. Last month, he pleaded guilty to six federal charges stemming from the killings of the Hortmans, as well as the non-fatal shootings of state senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette.
As part of a plea agreement, Vance Boelter admitted to murder, stalking, and firearms charges after federal prosecutors agreed not to pursue the death penalty.
During the sentencing hearing today, Hoffman described how the June 14, 2025, attack continues to shape his family’s daily life. He said they no longer receive mail at their home, have installed steel security doors, and have had to alter many everyday routines because of the lasting effects of their injuries.
Saudi Nuclear Deal in Doubt
A day after the US and Saudi Arabia signed a nuclear deal, President Trump has added a new condition: he now says the deal won’t go into effect unless Saudi Arabia joins the Abraham Accords, the 2020 agreements his administration brokered that normalized diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab states. Saudi Arabia has no formal ties with Israel and has long said it won’t establish them without progress toward a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 war and is allowing new settlements there, and Israeli forces currently control roughly 60% of Gaza’s territory. The Israeli parliament passed a resolution in 2024 opposing the creation of a Palestinian state.
Saudi Arabia has not publicly responded to Trump’s new requirement that it join the Abraham Accords. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the added condition, calling it a “historic leap forward for peace in the Middle East.”
Judge Questions Testosterone Policy
A federal judge has questioned the difference between the Defense Department’s new testosterone-replacement-therapy plans and hormone treatment for transgender men.
Last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a new annual screening program for “testosterone deficiency” among troops. Those found to be deficient can choose to receive testosterone. Separately, the Defense Department has banned gender-affirming hormone treatments for transgender troops. Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, DC, raised the question in an order related to an ongoing lawsuit over President Trump’s ban on trans soldiers. In that lawsuit, the Pentagon has argued that the cost and impact of offering hormone therapy would reduce combat readiness.
Reyes asked the Pentagon to explain why, under the ban’s logic, needing hormone treatment disqualifies transgender men but not non-trans men receiving the same hormone through Hegseth’s new program. It has until August 7 to respond.
Newsbreak
Looking for your next summer read? Check out Runner, the new book from The Preamble’s own executive editor, Ashton Lattimore. Set in Prohibition-era Martha’s Vineyard, this historical novel follows a young woman from a Black seafaring family who plunges into the dangerous world of rum-running to save her home and uncover the truth about her father’s death. The story was inspired by a real-life shipwreck that took place in 1923, and offers a rare glimpse into the historical Black community of Oak Bluffs. It’s history, mystery, and family saga all rolled into one — we’d be so honored if you pre-ordered a copy!
Houthis Strike Saudi Tankers
Oil prices jumped to their highest level in nearly two months today after Yemen’s Houthi militants said they had struck two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea. Brent crude, the international benchmark, crossed $100 a barrel, and US crude rose to about $92 a barrel. The national average price for a gallon of gas in the US climbed to $4.09 today, AAA said, up 15 cents from last week.
Earlier this week, the Iranian-backed Houthis announced a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea. The country relies on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the narrow waterway connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, to ship oil. Its reliance on the waterway increased following the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran.
President Trump said the US will hold Iran responsible for any further Houthi strikes on ships in the Red Sea.
Police Fatally Shoot Man in WI
Police in Madison, WI, fatally shot a man yesterday afternoon. A bystander’s video of the shooting shows officers struggling with the man, who is then pulled to his feet as an officer yells that the man has a knife and calls for a taser. As the man begins to fall to the ground with his legs pinned by an officer’s foot, another officer appears to draw a gun. Three shots are heard. It is not clear what happened before the video recording began.
Madison Police Chief John Patterson said at a news conference that officers went to a neighborhood after a report of a man checking parked cars. The man fled on a bike, with police in pursuit. During a struggle at an intersection, the man pulled out a knife and injured an officer, according to Patterson.
Patterson said he had seen the video but that it did not convey the full extent of what happened. None of the officers were wearing body cameras, Patterson said. The Wisconsin Department of Justice is investigating the incident.
Later in the evening, protesters marched against the shooting and held a candlelight vigil at the scene.
Immigrants Face Fines or Deportation
More than 100,000 immigrants have received letters from the Trump administration saying they must either pay large fines or leave the country. The letters were sent to people who have received final removal orders and remained in the country. A 1996 law allows the federal government to fine immigrants for failing to heed a removal order, but no president had imposed such penalties until now. Trump, who has pursued more aggressive immigration enforcement in his second term, ordered the “collection of all fines and penalties” from people living in the country unlawfully.
The government is charging $998 for each day an immigrant stays in the country after receiving a removal order, up to a five-year limit. This means the maximum fine is more than $1.8 million. Immigrants and their lawyers said the letters came with a flyer that told them, “Leave on your own terms,” and offered to forgive the fines for anyone who used the CBP Home app, run by Customs and Border Protection, to self-deport.
After one such immigrant appealed, she received another letter from the Department of Homeland Security threatening additional steps: referring her to a private debt collector, starting federal collection litigation, reporting her to credit bureaus, and factoring the debt into her future immigration proceedings.
Grants to Sex Education Programs Canceled
The Trump administration has canceled federal grants to organizations that offer adolescent health and sex education classes to reduce teen pregnancy, saying they promote teen sex.
In a letter sent to Fact Forward, an organization in Columbia, SC, the administration said it was canceling their $1.6 million grant immediately because it did not support “content that encourages, normalizes or promotes sexual activity for minors.”
The five-year Teen Pregnancy Prevention grants had supported sex education on topics including consent, decision-making, and healthy relationships. They were adjusted for student age and for a community’s values and culture. For example, Fact Forward runs a curriculum called K.I.N.G.S. — Knowledge Instills Next Generational Success — aimed specifically at Black high school and college-age young men. The programs were offered in schools, juvenile detention centers, and foster care settings. HHS canceled 53 of the program’s 67 grants in June, totaling roughly $66 million.
The organizations whose grants were canceled can apply for new funding, but only if they comply with the administration’s requirements. Among them is a mandate that grant recipients teach abstinence as the only method of preventing teen pregnancy. The guidance also makes only limited mention of preventing sexually transmitted infections and contains virtually no discussion of lesbian, gay, or transgender sexuality. The deadline to apply for the next round of grants is this week.
Last week, organizations in three states that lost funding for sex education programs, along with a nonprofit that supports them, filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Department of Health and Human Services and Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The suit seeks to block the termination of the grants and prevent the administration from enforcing the new eligibility requirements for future funding.
Blanche Vote Postponed
The Senate Judiciary Committee postponed a vote on Todd Blanche’s nomination to serve as attorney general.
In opening remarks before the committee’s session began today, Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said the vote would be rescheduled but did not explain the delay. Instead, he accused Democratic members of unfairly attacking Blanche’s character. All 10 Democrats oppose the nomination, arguing that Blanche has acted more as President Trump’s personal attorney than as an impartial official.
At Blanche’s confirmation hearing last week, several witnesses, including survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse and a former Justice Department pardon attorney, urged senators to reject his nomination.
Today’s postponement comes as the committee’s Republican majority returns to full strength. Sen. Darline Graham Nordone of South Carolina — who was recently appointed to replace her late brother Lindsey Graham — joined the panel, restoring the GOP’s 12-member majority. Two Republican committee members, Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and John Cornyn of Texas, have not publicly said how they will vote. The other Republicans have said that they will support Blanche.