Morning Headlines - Wednesday, July 23, 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

Democrats Divided Over Looming Government Shutdown Fight

Democrats are deeply divided over how hard to press their leverage with President Trump and his Republican allies on getting concessions in a bill to fund the government that needs to pass by Sept. 30 to avoid a shutdown.

Senate Democrats held a tense lunch meeting Tuesday to discuss their plan for how to vote on the first spending bill to reach the floor — the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs appropriations bill — as well as their strategy for how to handle the end-of-September government funding deadline.

Trump And Japan Reach Trade Deal With 15% Tariffs On Imports

President Donald Trump said Tuesday on Truth Social that his administration had reached a deal with Japan, one of the largest U.S. trading partners, to lower its tariff rate to 15% as part of a sweeping trade agreement.

That rate is lower than the 24% that Trump threatened Japan with on April 2 and the 25% he said he would hit Japanese imports with in a letter on July 7. Before Trump’s current term, the effective U.S. tariff rate on Japanese imports was less than 2%, according to World Bank data.

Transgender Athletes: US Olympics Quietly Makes Major Policy Shift

Transgender women will no longer be eligible to compete for the United States in the Olympic or Paralympic Games in women's categories, after a recent policy change from the U.S. Olympi & Paralympic Committee (USOPC).

The committee cited President Donald Trump's February executive order, titled "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports," which mandates immediate enforcement, including against schools and athletic associations that "deny women single-sex sports and single-sex locker rooms," according to the document, and directs state attorneys general to identify best practices for enforcing the mandate.

Meta Updates Safety Features For Teens. More Than 600,000 Accounts Linked To Predatory Behavior

Meta introduced new safety features aimed at teen users, including enhanced direct messaging protections.

Meta said it removed more than 600,000 accounts that were linked to predatory behavior on Instagram and Facebook. The removed accounts were found to be leaving sexualized comments or requesting sexual images from adult-managed accounts featuring children

'There Will Never Be Another Ozzy': Stars Pay Tribute To Rock Legend

Music stars, fans and former bandmates have paid tribute to Ozzy Osbourne, the frontman of pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, who has died at the age of 76.

Black Sabbath have "lost our brother", said the band's co-founder Tony Iommi, while bassist Geezer Butler remembered their final gig and drummer Bill Ward shared an old photo of them together.

The music icon's death on Tuesday came less than three weeks after his band played their farewell gig in his home city of Birmingham.

Statehouse Democrats Pitch Limits On Legislative Legal Bills

After eight years of lawsuits from and against the Republican-controlled state legislature, a pair of Wisconsin Democrats are proposing a cap on legal fees.

State Rep. Amaad Rivera-Wagner, D–Green Bay, and Sen. Chris Larson, D–Milwaukee, on Tuesday introduced legislation that would require the full Assembly, the full Senate, or the full legislature to sign-off on hiring outside attorneys before the Assembly, the Senate, or the legislature could hire lawyers for cases that legislative staff attorneys can’t hire.

Rivera-Wagner and Larson say their proposal would limit “unchecked, single-leader decisions that have cost taxpayers millions.”

State Dem Party Through Federal Account Outraises State Gop By More Than $136K In June

The state Dem Party outraised the state GOP by more than $136,000 in June through its federal account.

Dems reported $374,369 raised, while the Republican Party reported $237,906 in June, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.

In May, Dems outraised Republicans by $258,627. Republicans reported raising $157,307, while Dems reported receiving $415,934 that month.

Fight For Control Of Wisconsin Senate Is Shaping Up Ahead Of 2026 Election

With well over a year to go before the 2026 election, Wisconsin Democrats have launched their first campaigns aimed at winning control of the state Senate, focusing on a handful of seats that were made competitive under new legislative maps.

Democrats’ hopes of winning a majority in either the state Senate or Assembly aren’t new, but they have been buoyed by new, more competitive, voting districts. The districts were redrawn by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and passed by GOP lawmakers after the liberal majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled the old Republican-drawn maps unconstitutional.

Tiffany’s Legislation To Help Wabeno Small Business Clears House

Congressman Tom Tiffany’s (WI-07) Wabeno Economic Development Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives with overwhelming bipartisan support. H.R. 3937 will expedite the conveyance of 14 acres of land in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest to Tony’s Wabeno Redi-Mix for fair market value.

After years of not making progress with the U.S. Forest Service, Tony—the owner of Tony’s Wabeno Redi-Mix -- turned to Congressman Tiffany’s office for help. His business is running out of nearby aggregate materials like stone, sand, and gravel, and they will exhaust supply in approximately 2 years. The adjacent parcel is critical for the business’s future and ability to stay in operation.

Special Fall Hunting And Trapping Season Application Deadlines Approaching

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reminds hunters and trappers that less than two weeks remain to apply for bobcat and fisher permits or a chance to hunt sharp-tailed grouse this fall.

The harvest of bobcat and fisher is regulated through a special permitting system, and harvest permits are awarded through a preference point lottery system. To receive a permit, a hunter must apply by the Aug. 1 deadline and be a drawing winner.