Good morning. It’s Thursday, July 17.

1. Big Trump Win

2. Adam Schiff Hit with Criminal Referral Over Mortgage Fraud

3. UK to Lower Voting Age to 16

4. RFK Jr. Fires Top Aides in HHS Shakeup

5. Epstein-Funded MIT Lab Hosted Child Sex Robot Panel

6. Trump Cancels $4B Funding for California's ‘Train to Nowhere’

7. Jaguar Cuts 500 Jobs After Woke Rebrand

1. Big Trump Win

The U.S. Senate on July 16 voted to pass $9 billion in spending cuts requested by President Donald Trump, including cuts to National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).

The measure passed in a 51–48 vote. Two Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), voted against the bill. Although having voted against the bill in an earlier procedural vote, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) decided to back the bill. Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) missed the vote due to being in hospital.

The early morning passage of the bill came after a long voting series with a flurry of amendments from Democratic lawmakers.

2. Adam Schiff Hit with Criminal Referral Over Mortgage Fraud

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., has been referred to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution regarding mortgage documents.

The director of the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in May citing alleged misconduct by Schiff, who owns homes in California and Maryland.

“Based on media reports, Mr. Adam B. Schiff has, in multiple instances, falsified bank documents and property records to acquire more favorable loan terms, impacting payments from 2003-2019 for a Potomac, Maryland-based property,” FHFA Director William Pulte wrote in the letter, which Fox News obtained on Wednesday. “As regulator of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks, we take very seriously allegations of mortgage fraud or other criminal activity. Such misconduct jeopardizes the safety and soundness of FHFA’s regulated entities and the security and stability of the U.S. mortgage market.”

3. UK to Lower Voting Age to 16

Sir Keir Starmer was accused of an attempt to “rig the political system” after the Government announced it was handing the vote to 16-year-olds.

The change, which was promised in Labour’s manifesto last summer and will be in place in time for the next general election, will bring the voting age down in line with Scottish and Welsh elections.

The Prime Minister said 16 and 17-year-olds were old enough to pay taxes and they should therefore get a say in the running of the country.

4. RFK Jr. Fires Top Aides in HHS Shakeup

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has fired several top advisers, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) confirmed on July 16.

“Secretary Kennedy has made a leadership change within the Immediate Office of the Secretary,” a spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email.

The fired aides are Heather Flick Melanson, who was the HHS chief of staff, and Hannah Anderson, who had been the department’s deputy chief of staff for policy, according to Dr. Robert Malone, a close ally of Kennedy whom the health secretary recently appointed to a federal advisory committee.

5. Epstein-Funded MIT Lab Hosted Child Sex Robot Panel

A Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) lab previously funded in part by Jeffrey Epstein hosted a panel where attendees openly discussed the idea of using “child-size sex robots” to treat pedophiles.

The MIT Media Lab’s July 2016 conference on research questions without “social and moral constraints” included a panel discussion arguing that pedophilia should not be seen as a “moral failing” but rather a medical condition and that the development of “child-size sex robots” is an inevitability, a transcript and video of the event shows.

The Media Lab’s ties to the disgraced financier span a 17-year period in which the lab readily accepted Epstein’s cash donations and facilitated introductions with its scientists on-campus and off, according to a 2020 fact-finding report commissioned by the university. The lab’s director contemplated inviting Epstein to one of its conferences in July 2016, the report states, the same month of the conference where the child-size sex robots were proposed, the only conference the lab hosted that month, according to its website.

6. Trump Cancels $4B Funding for California's ‘Train to Nowhere’

California’s embattled high-speed rail project suffered a major setback after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the termination of $4 billion in unspent federal funding by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).

Citing 16 years of failure, no completed high-speed track, and escalating costs, Duffy declared the project, dubbed the “train to nowhere,” a mismanaged and over-budget “boondoggle.”

“This is California’s fault. Governor Newsom and the complicit Democrats have enabled this waste for years. Federal dollars are not a blank check – they come with a promise to deliver results,” Duffy said in a statement.

7. Jaguar Cuts 500 Jobs After Woke Rebrand

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is looking to cut 500 management jobs as it copes with falling sales and brand management issues in the wake of its much-maligned woke repositioning efforts.

Last week, the legendary British carmaker revealed a drop in sales in the three months to June blamed on slow exports to the U.S. because of tariffs and the planned wind-down of older Jaguar models.

Leftist UK Prime Minister had noted that tariff imposition and gave his promise he would protect the jobs of Jaguar workers, a hollow vow that has now been defeated by events.