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Today's Headlines: The EU is floating the idea of Canada becoming its first-ever associate member in response to Trump's trade war — which would be a historic geopolitical realignment — and separately proposed banning children under 13 from social media entirely across member states, with 13-15 year olds getting supervised mini accounts with one hour daily limits, Europe is actually doing the things we keep talking about doing. Back in the states, the Fed raised interest rates by a quarter point for the first time since 2023. As usual, markets fell, and Trump responded by demanding rates drop to 1% or less because "our country is booming," which is one way to describe $6 diesel and a $38 billion war. Congress had an unusually productive day: the House passed expanded Russia sanctions, voted to hold Leon Black in contempt for suing the committee that subpoenaed him rather than testifying about his Epstein ties, and the Senate blocked the crypto industry's self-written Clarity Act 50-49 — six votes short of passing — given the president's own ability to profit from crypto made it a tough sell even for some Republicans. Mitch McConnell returned for day two and nearly voted the wrong way on the farm bill before aides redirected him, which is either reassuring or alarming depending on how you look at it, but the bill passed and that's something. And Trump campaigned in North Carolina for Republican senate candidate Michael Whatley and told the crowd he would withhold FEMA disaster funding if Whatley loses, which is textbook extortion.
Resources/Articles mentioned:
Axios: EU chief floats associate membership for Canada after U.S. trade attacks
Wired: The EU Plans to Ban Social Media for Under-13s
CNBC: Fed approves interest rate hike, signals one more to come this year
Axios: House passes Russia sanctions bill
PBS: House votes to hold billionaire Leon Black in contempt of Congress over Epstein investigation
NYT: Senate Votes to Block Crypto Bill in Major Blow to the Industry
The Hill: Senate panel advances farm bill following McConnell’s return
Trump tries to salvage 'tough' North Carolina Senate race for GOP
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