President Biden visits Italy: President Biden is visiting Italy for the G7 Summit. He is scheduled to attend an official meeting with Italian Prime Minister Meloni, the host of the G7 Summit. President Biden's schedule included attending four sessions of the G7, followed by a participation in a Global Infrastructure Investment Partnership event. The evening schedule included the signing of a bilateral security agreement with Ukraine and a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Zelensky. G7 members decided to lend Ukraine $50 billion in frozen Russian assets.
Trump at the Capitol: Republican Senators Mitt Romney, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski announced their intention to skip today's meeting on Capitol Hill between Republicans and Donald Trump. The meeting's announced purpose was to discuss policy, but it was seen primarily as a show of unity between Republicans and Trump. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced his plans to attend the meeting. It will be his first face-to-face meeting with Trump in nearly three and a half years. McConnell has previously said that Trump should be held accountable for trying to overthrow the government in an attempted coup.
Interest rates: The Federal Reserve, as expected, decided to keep interest rates where they are for now. The Fed stated that it remains firmly committed to maintaining its goal of returning inflation to 2%, and that it does not expect it would be appropriate to lower interest rates until it has greater confidence that inflation is moving from above 3% toward its 2% goal. The Fed stated that it is prepared to adjust monetary policy as needed, implying that interest rates may move, but did not indicate whether interest rates will rise or fall in the future.
RAINFALL: Florida counties Broward, Collier, Lee, Miami-Dade and Sarasota are under emergency states today due to flooding caused by three days of heavy rain. Up to 20 inches of rain has fallen in some areas already, with up to 8 more inches expected between today and tomorrow. The rain is expected to continue through the weekend. More than 8 million people are under flood warnings, including in the cities of Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Naples.
Contempt of Congress Voting: House Republicans voted along party lines to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a subpoena and turn over audio tapes of President Biden to a Republican-led committee. The recordings are from interviews conducted by Special Counsel Robert Hur while he was investigating Biden's handling of classified documents. Records of the interviews were previously turned over to Congress. Republicans are believed to want to use the audio recordings in Trump's election commercials. One of the leaders of the movement to hold Attorney General Garland in contempt of Congress is Rep. Jim Jordan, who has ignored congressional subpoenas.
Howard Feynman Passes Away: Journalist Howard Feynman, who worked for NBC News and MSNBC, worked for Newsweek magazine for 30 years, and was an editor at The Huffington Post, has died at the age of 75. He had been battling pancreatic cancer. Feynman was a panelist on the PBS program “Washington Week in Review” for 12 years and also appeared on CNN's “Capital Gang Sunday.”
