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Daily Briefing: Fighting with coworkers

Nicole Fallert   Paste BN

Good morning!🙋🏼‍♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert. Why are there sardines on seemingly everything?

Quick look at Thursday's news:

  • The House is about to vote on a bill that is expected to touch many corners of American life, healthcare to the southern border and the national debt.
  • Two Israeli embassy staff members in Washington were fatally shot on Thursday.
  • An involuntary process is stealing the homes of some Indigenous Americans.

Trump tax bill but vote still uncertain

A vote on a sweeping Republican bill is on the House's docket Thursday morning after a marathon all-night debate.

What it is: The legislation, which President Donald Trump has dubbed the "big, beautiful bill," would enact Trump's major campaign promises like eliminating taxes on workers' tips while benefits would decrease for those in the lowest income levels because of spending cuts.

  • It hasn't been assured House Republicans would get this done. Some GOP from primarily Democratic states held out on raising a tax deduction cap that would benefit their constituents, while fiscal conservatives remained concerned about the cost of the legislation, which is expected to add around $3.3 trillion to the deficit over the next 10 years.
  • But Republican holdouts struck a deal with House GOP leadership to advance the bill, with tweaks such as moving up the implementation of Medicaid work requirements from 2029 to December of 2026
  • Not so "big and beautiful" for all Americans: Trump promises the bill will bring glory, however, wins be limited to those who benefit most from it – top earners, according to analyses from multiple sources.

Israeli embassy staff fatally shot near Jewish museum in DC

A preliminary investigation indicates that two Israeli embassy staffers were exiting an event Thursday at the Capitol Jewish Museum in Washington when they were fatally shot, authorities and officials said. The suspect, identified as Elias Rodriguez, 30, of Chicago, was observed pacing back and forth outside the museum before the shooting, police said. Rodriguez then approached a group of four people and opened fire, striking the two victims. Rodriguez later entered the museum and was detained by event security, according to police. Police said Rodriguez shouted "Free, free Palestine" when taken into custody.

More news to know now

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Oklahoma to require schools to teach Trump's 2020 election conspiracy theories

Oklahoma's public school history teachers will soon be required to teach the disproved conspiracy theory that the Democratic Party stole the 2020 presidential election from President Donald Trump. The Republican-led state's new high school history curriculum says students must learn how to dissect the results of the 2020 election, including learning about alleged mail-in voter fraud, "an unforeseen record number of voters" and "security risks of mail-in balloting." The new curriculum also removed a prior proposal for lessons about George Floyd's murder and Black Lives Matter, and teaches as fact the hotly contested theory that COVID-19 emerged from a lab leak.

How the Nooksack 306 were ripped from their homes — and their tribe

Tucked among the spruce and fir trees – with the snow-capped Cascade Mountains towering in the background – in this northwest Washington pocket, are a people called the Nooksack 306. They were raised as members of the Nooksack Indian Tribe, and they self-identify as such. But in 2016, they were stripped of their tribal citizenship and benefits because tribal leaders said they could not prove ancestry of at least one-quarter Nooksack blood. The involuntary process is referred to as disenrollment. Paste BN's Suzette Hackney shares a first-person account of the great injustice suffered by the Indigenous people from this region. Not one of stolen land, but one of lost homes.

Today's talkers

'What's your sign?'

The past decade has seen rising interest in New Age practices, largely associated with young people seeking mental wellbeing. Some have cultivated social media followings initiated by pandemic-related anxiety and social distancing. A new report from the Pew Research Center indicates nearly a third of U.S. adults consult astrology, tarot cards or fortune tellers at least once a year, with the share highest among women, young people and the LGBTQ community. A third of those who do say they do so to gain helpful insights — while the rest say they pursue the practices just for fun. 

Photo of the day: Looking fresh in France

We're suddenly really, really into film after seeing photos of Irish actor Paul Mescal at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday. He donned a layered look during a press call for the film, "The History of Sound." And those sunglasses, so French, so chic.

Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at Paste BN, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com.

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