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It’s Thursday. Does anyone else think the D.C. thunderstorms this summer have been particularly wild? Here’s one 📹video of last night’s light show.

In today's issue:

• Senate votes to defund NPR, PBS
• House breaks longest vote record
• Elon Musk pokes the Epstein file bear
• Hogg, McCarthy bring sass to Hill Nation Summit
• Obamas address divorce rumors

🪫️ NEWS THIS MORNING

Hope there’s a Celsius restock in the Senate today:

The Senate wrapped up its marathon voting session after 2 a.m. Thursday, passing a rare bill to take back $9 billion in federal funding.

Where did this $9 billion come from?: Nearly $8 billion in cuts to foreign aid programs and more than $1 billion in cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

What happens now?: The bill heads back to the House for a final vote. It’s expected to pass.

It's worth noting that congressional Republicans have some concerns about Trump’s use of a rare tool to cut funding. Though they are still on the verge of approving the cuts, reports The Hill’s Aris Folley.

🗨️ Follow today’s live blog

What do these cuts mean for PBS and NPR?: The bill cut nearly $1.1 billion in funding for public media. That includes PBS and NPR, plus many local stations. Larger stations in big markets may have an easier time fundraising to make up the funding gap (you know the famous slogan about donations “from viewers like you”), but PBS’s chief says it will be “devastating” for rural areas.

CNN estimates that stations will likely feel the funding cuts starting in the fall.

Helpful Q&A explainer from CNN: ‘What will happen to PBS and NPR stations if the Senate votes to claw back funding?’

Maybe Elmo will do a “story time” on TikTok: Why Elmo is sad today

Why Republicans wanted to defund NPR: Republicans have long accused public radio and television of political bias. Trump recently threatened to withhold support for any Republican who votes against this bill.

^ But not all Republicans agreed: Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) was concerned that cutting public broadcasting would hurt rural radio stations that often provide the only source of information during natural disasters.

Democrats just walked out of a hearing in protest:

Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee just approved two controversial Trump nominees. Democrats, who didn’t have enough votes to block the nominations, got up, walked out of the room and did not vote.

📸 Photo of the walkout

The first controversial nominee: Emil Bove, one of President Trump’s former criminal defense attorneys, has been nominated for a lifetime appointment as a jurist on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.

Why Bove is controversial: “He has been accused by a whistleblower of saying the administration should consider telling the courts........

© The Hill