Thursday morning news: July 23, 2026

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House passes key bills » The House of Representatives passed the annual defense bill on Wednesday, authorizing a record $1.15 trillion in defense spending. It was a near party-line vote, 216 to 212.

Speaker Mike Johnson:

JOHNSON: House Republicans passed the NDAA to provide a much needed pay raise for our troops and to rebuild the arsenal of freedom.

The bill would give troops a raise of 5 to 7 percent and officially rename the Defense Department to the Department of War.

A short time later, they also pushed through a $95 billion budget plan to fund the Iran war, among other things.

JOHNSON: The budget resolution that unlocks our third reconciliation bill, which of course is Republicans' best shot to get as much of the Save America Act into law as possible, in addition to funding our national defense and our farmers.

That squeaked through on a vote of 216 to 214. A handful of Republicans balked, uneasy that none of it is paid for.

It's not the money yet, but a blueprint that lets them move the funding past a Senate filibuster on party-line votes.

The plan steers more than $70 billion to the Pentagon and the Iran war. GOP Congressman Marlin Stutzman:

STUTZMAN: US service members are working day and night to be sure Americans are safe from a nuclear bomb in Iran and to advance peace in the Middle East.

But Democrats say it's the wrong fight. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries:

JEFFRIES: Donald Trump's reckless and costly war of choice in Iran has skyrocketed gas prices on everyday Americans who are already suffering.

The plan now heads to the Senate where its fate is uncertain.

Dignified transfer ceremony » President Trump stood and saluted at Dover Air Force Base Wednesday as servicemembers carried four flag-draped caskets off a military plane, the remains of soldiers killed in Iranian airstrikes.

They ranged in age from 19 to 30. Two were killed in an Iranian missile and drone attack on a base in Jordan. A third went missing in that attack and is now presumed dead. The fourth died in Iraq.

The president described his message to the grieving families.

TRUMP: We love you. We love your child … and that's what they are to them. They're their children. There's no games, no nothing … that's their child. And all you can do is throw out your heart.

It was the third such ceremony Trump has attended since the war began in February. Eighteen American service members have now been killed.

Maduro in court » Former Venezuelan dictator, Nicolás Maduro, appeared in a New York courtroom Wednesday. WORLD’s Benjamin Eicher reports:

BENJAMIN EICHER: The ousted ruler sat quietly as a federal judge set a date for his drug-trafficking trial.

He and his wife, Cilia Flores, will stand trial June first of next year. They're accused of working with cartels to flood the United States with cocaine, in what prosecutors call a narco-terrorism conspiracy. Both have pleaded not guilty, and both could face life in prison.

U.S. forces captured the couple in a middle-of-the-night raid in Caracas back in January and flew them to New York. They've been behind bars in a Brooklyn jail ever since.

Maduro's lawyers plan to argue he can't be tried at all, because as a foreign head of state, he has immunity. A judge will hear that argument in November.

For WORLD, I’m Benjamin Eicher.

Ukraine latest » In Russia:

SOUND: [Warehouse attack]

Flames billowed from a warehouse Wednesday in the southwestern city of Nevinnomyssk. That warehouse owned by Wildberries, Russia's largest online retailer. Ukraine's military has been targeting multiple sites owned by the retailer, accusing the company of providing logistics for Russia's military.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is in Manila, where he plans to have a sit-down meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio later today.

LAVROV: [Speaking Russian]

Speaking here on Wednesday, Lavrov said he planned to ask Secretary Rubio about recent comments by President Trump that there would soon be a settlement to Russia's war with Ukraine. He also says ANY one-on-one meeting would be useful.

For his part, Secretary Rubio told reporters Wednesday:

RUBIO: The war in Ukraine, I think, has in many ways impeded the ability of Russia and the United States to find areas of agreement on other topics. That doesn't mean we won't seek to find other areas of potential cooperation. But by the same token, you know, we'd like to see that war come to an end. We think it would be good for Russia if that war came to an end. So we'll raise it.

He also said that as leaders of the two largest nuclear-armed countries in the world, it would be reckless and irresponsible for them not to keep lines of communication open.

Severe weather » Tropical Storm Bertha made landfall in southern Louisiana Wednesday, just east of New Orleans. The winds were weak, around 45 miles an hour, and with the heaviest rain offshore, the damage was limited.

Today, lingering rain trails the storm along the coast, and Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry cautioned:

LANDRY: I want to remind everyone of something important, that forecasts can change and even a weaker storm can produce dangerous rainfall, localized flooding, and hazardous travel conditions.

Meanwhile, West Virginia is reeling from catastrophic flash flooding. Torrential rain swamped homes and businesses, washed out bridges, and swept away cars.

Crews have pulled dozens to safety, and the governor has called in hundreds of National Guard troops. Some residents are still unaccounted for.

Governor Patrick Morrisey:

MORRISEY: Right now we're in the phase of search and rescue. We remain in a position where we're looking to identify any individual who we might be able to save.

Crews are still searching this morning.

France deaths during heatwave » France's June heat wave was far deadlier than first feared. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin reports.

KRISTEN FLAVIN: The country's health agency now estimates nearly 5,800 more people died than usual over about two weeks. It was France's deadliest heat wave since 2003. The Paris region was hit hardest. Some morgues filled up and had to turn bodies away.

But the crisis stretches well beyond France. Across Europe, record summer heat has killed well over 10,000 more people than expected, with Germany, Belgium and Britain also counting thousands of dead. In one late-June week alone, monitors counted more than 14,000 excess deaths.

And the numbers keep climbing as more data comes in. Officials say many heat deaths are never recorded as heat-related, so the true toll is almost certainly higher.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

I'm Kent Covington.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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