1 The House Passes Senate-Approved Border Funding Package
What a difference a day makes. The House was faced with voting on the Senate’s four-point-six-billion-dollar humanitarian aide package for migrants at the southern border. It was something House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she wouldn’t vote on…well the House did – and it passed…with a vote of 305-102. While the Senate-approved bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, there were plenty of objections from Democrats who wanted a bill with more protections for migrants. As you might recall, the House passed its own emergency border funding package earlier this week – and it included strict standards for migrant detention facilities. But then the Republican-led Senate rejected that House bill and passed its own version without those protections. So what got Pelosi to shift? Apparently, a meeting with Vice President Pence – which saw the Trump administration agree to notify Congress about the death of a migrant child in custody within 24 hours, and to set a "a 90-day limit for a child in an influx facility. Meanwhile, the Customs and Border Protection Agency has a new boss – at least for now. In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said that acting ICE director Mark Morgan will take over as acting Border Patrol chief, replacing John Sanders as acting head of Customs and Border Protection. Morgan previously served as Border Patrol chief before being named acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in May.
2 Tillerson Unloads
When you fire someone by tweet, chances are there’s not a whole lotta love being felt. And that would easily be the case for former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who says he had to simplify foreign policy information for an "inattentive" President Trump. In transcripts from a closed House meeting last month, Tillerson said he also had to frequently deal with diplomatic end-runs by Trump's son-in-law (and top White House advisor) Jared Kushner. Tillerson also outlined a lack of cohesion in the White House – and said that Kushner would pretty consistently go around him an Defense Secretary James Mattis. In fact, Tillerson said Kushner held several pivotal discussions with foreign leaders without any notice to him or other State Department leaders. And while the White House hasn’t responded to the transcript release, when Mr. Trump got word that Tillerson met with lawmakers last month – he lashed out and called Tillerson, "dumb as a rock.
3 Police Have A Person Of Interest In Missing Utah Women's Case
Salt Lake City Police say they have a person of interest in the case of missing University of Utah student MacKenzie Lueck. Police served a search warrant and removed evidence from a home near where Lueck was last seen. Police say the owner of the home is considered a person of interest, but no arrests have been made at this time. It's not clear what connection Lueck may have had to the home or owner. Lueck went missing June 17th after a Lyft driver dropped her off at a park in North Salt Lake in the middle of the night. The driver told police she got into another vehicle driven by an unknown person and didn’t appear in any distress. That Lyft driver was also immediately cleared of suspicion.