Morning Headlines - Thursday, July 17, 2025 | Recent News

Start your day informed with today’s must-read headlines from around Wisconsin and the world. And don’t forget to check out our Meme of the Day at the end for a little humor to go with your news!

U.S. and World Headlines

Senate Passes $9B In Cuts To Global Aid, Public Broadcasting In Win For Trump

The Senate voted early Thursday to claw back $9 billion in federal funding for global aid programs and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, sending the package requested by President Trump to the House for a final vote.

The 51-48 vote on what’s known as a rescissions package is a victory for Trump, who has vowed to shrink the size of the federal government, and who has come under fire from Democrats for adding a projected $3.3 trillion to the debt over the next decade by signing his One Big, Beautiful Bill Act into law earlier this month.

Senators finally passed the package after 2 a.m. Thursday after voting for more than 12 hours on amendments.

Crypto Regulation Bills Move Forward After Record-Setting House Vote

The future of three crypto bills in Congress is uncertain after two days of House Republican infighting over the contents of the legislation and the process for moving it.

House Speaker Mike Johnson spent around 10 hours trying to unite his conference enough to push through a procedural vote to approve rules of debate for the crypto bills and an adjacent Pentagon appropriations package.

The rules were only approved after a group of ‘no’ votes flipped to yesses.

Prosecutor In Diddy And Epstein Cases Fired By US Justice Department

The US Department of Justice has fired a veteran federal prosecutor who worked on the cases against sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, and hip hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs.

It is not clear why Maurene Comey was removed from her job at the Southern District of New York.

She is the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, whom President Donald Trump fired in 2017.

Babies Made Using Three People's DNA Are Born Free Of Hereditary Disease

Eight babies have been born in the UK using genetic material from three people to prevent devastating and often fatal conditions, doctors say.

The method, pioneered by UK scientists, combines the egg and sperm from a mum and dad with a second egg from a donor woman.

The technique has been legal here for a decade but we now have the first proof it is leading to children born free of incurable mitochondrial disease.

These conditions are normally passed from mother to child, starving the body of energy.

Shane Gillis Stuns ESPYs Crowd With Epstein Joke As He Also Takes Aim At Caitlin Clark And Shedeur Sanders

Comedian Shane Gillis stunned the ESPYs crowd on Wednesday night as he mocked President Donald Trump with a Jeffrey Epstein joke.

Gillis became the latest MAGA-friendly media personality to turn on Trump after anti-trans activist Riley Gaines slammed the president on Wednesday for refusing to release the so-called Epstein files.

And Gillis wasted little time addressing that controversial topic while hosting the ESPYs - but first teed up a quip about the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riots.

Wisconsin's 2026 Race For Governor By The Numbers, More Than 15 Months Out

The latest fundraising numbers and campaign spending in Wisconsin’s closely watched race for governor shed some light on how the contest is shaping up more than a year before voters will start casting ballots.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has yet to say whether he will seek a third term in 2026. Two Republicans have already launched campaigns and one of them started running ads this week. Many others are waiting in the wings.

Here’s a look at some of the numbers related to where the race stood as of July 16.

Wisconsin Filmmaker's Docuseries On Drug Prices Pulled From Amazon Platforms

A docuseries created by filmmaker Mary Strause was abruptly pulled from Amazon streaming platforms.

The series, "Modern Medical Mafia," investigates pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), who are often accused of manipulating drug prices.

Chairman of the Board at Hometown Pharmacy, Dan Strause, shared that the series was inspired by a young man from Appleton.

As He Weighs Reelection Bid, Tony Evers’ Fundraising Lags Millions Behind His Last Run For Office

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers raised about $760,000 during the first six months of 2025, well shy of the nearly $5.3 million he raised during the same period in his reelection bid four years ago.

It’s unclear whether Evers will run again for governor. Throughout the year, he’s said an announcement would come after work on Wisconsin’s state budget was finished. That happened in the early morning hours of July 3 on the heels of a bipartisan deal with state lawmakers.

As Democrats and Republicans wait for an answer, Evers’ fundraising total from the first six months of 2025 raises more questions. From the beginning of January to the end of June, his campaign brought in $757,215. That’s just a fraction of the $5,275,701 Evers raised during the same period in his successful reelection campaign.

GOP House Members Want Chance To Get Redistricting Suit Tossed

Wisconsin’s GOP members of Congress want the chance to urge the state Supreme Court to reject a challenge to the state’s House districts rather than moving forward with a novel approach to hear such lawsuits.

Republican lawmakers in 2011 passed legislation directing the state Supreme Court to appoint a panel of three circuit court judges to hear any challenge to a congressional or legislative district.

But attorney Misha Tseytlin on Friday sent the justices a letter arguing the court should hear arguments on whether an “inferior tribunal” has the power under the Wisconsin Constitution to overturn maps that the state Supreme Court put in place in 2022.

Eligibility Of Wisconsin’s Nyzier Fourqurean In Question After Appeals Court Reverses Injunction

Wisconsin cornerback Nyzier Fourqurean’s status for this coming season is now unclear after a federal appeals court overturned a preliminary injunction that granted him another year of NCAA eligibility.

Seventh Circuit judges ruled in a 2-1 decision rendered Wednesday to reverse the ruling by a lower court, after the NCAA appealed.

Fourqurean, a fifth-year senior, had argued that his first two college seasons at Division II Grand Valley State should not count toward his eligibility.