Speaker Mike Johnson to shut down House early amid Jeffrey Epstein drama | The Excerpt
On Wednesday’s episode of The Excerpt podcast: Paste BN White House Correspondent Bart Jansen discusses the latest tensions surrounding Jeffrey Epstein's case files, as House Speaker Mike Johnson sends lawmakers home early. President Donald Trump has announced a new trade deal with Japan that sets a 15% tariff. How much did the military parade cost last month? New research sheds light on the six dams most at risk of failing in the U.S. Paste BN National Music Writer Melissa Ruggieri remembers Ozzy Osbourne.
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Taylor Wilson:
Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson, and today is Wednesday, July 23rd, 2025. This is Paste BN's The Excerpt.
Today, tensions over Epstein files continue as the House goes home early. Plus, what was the cost of last month's military parade? And, we remember Ozzy Osbourne.
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Republican House speaker Mike Johnson said he is shutting down House operations early this week, sending lawmakers home today ahead of a five-week recess. The move comes as tensions over Jeffrey Epstein's case files continue to boil and as federal prosecutors asked to meet Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell. I spoke with Paste BN White House correspondent Bart Jansen for the latest.
Thanks as always for joining me, Bart.
Bart Jansen:
Thanks for having me.
Taylor Wilson:
Give us a bit of a refresher here, Bart, if you don't mind, in the last few weeks when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein news, some of the tensions around the Trump White House, and really how he got to this point.
Bart Jansen:
Trump and many of his allies and supporters have argued for years that more information about the investigation into this allegedly notorious sex trafficker, prosecutors contend that there could have been a thousand victims, that more information about that case should be released. And in particular, what a lot of folks have focused on was the idea that there was a client list, a little black book, some sort of chronology of who might have been a client of Epstein, and thus also perhaps vulnerable to criminal charges, that Epstein died by suicide in his jail cell awaiting trial in August of 2019. Maxwell is serving her prison sentence, but basically nobody else has been charged. And the idea was that there were many, many people, maybe some of the richest and most politically powerful people in the country visiting his island and perhaps committing illegal acts. So all sorts of Trump supporters have sought to get more information about who else might have been involved. The results so far have been disappointing to these folks.
Taylor Wilson:
While Democrats have questioned Trump's connections with Epstein because they were photographed together at parties, Trump has denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein and denied visiting the island.
Meanwhile, Bart, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, plans to send lawmakers home earlier than expected this week ahead of an August recess. Why is he doing so? And does this impact the broader conversation here at all?
Bart Jansen:
Some of the lawmakers, including Republicans, this is bipartisan, want to get the idea of a client list or more information out about the Epstein investigation. So there is a bill now, a piece of legislation from Representative Thomas Massey, a Republican of Kentucky, and Ro Khanna, a Democrat of California, that basically want to force the Trump administration's hand to release, they say, everything that they've got. So that piece of legislation could have gotten a vote this week before the August recess. And rather than do that, Speaker Johnson has postponed any potential vote on that until after the break.
Of course, after the break, perhaps attention to the issue dies down. The sponsors were disappointed to have the vote delayed, but all of this followed. Attorney General Pam Bondi released a memo on July 7th saying that yes, Epstein did die by suicide in the cell. Nobody else was involved. There were conspiracy theories that perhaps some of these powerful people or their minions had killed Epstein to keep the list quiet. But she said he was killed by suicide, that there is not a scandal there, and that there is not a great deal more information to release from the files because the vast bulk of it is child pornography, which she says can never be released. So her, basically, refusal to release additional information from Justice Department files rankled a lot of Trump supporters, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Massey, others. So that's why this legislation got prompted.
Taylor Wilson:
And Bart, we know Ghislaine Maxwell has been in the news this week as it pertains to the Justice Department and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. How does she enter the story this week?
Bart Jansen:
The Justice Department on Tuesday said that they want to talk to Maxwell to see if she will provide more information about the investigation such as the potential for a client list. I don't know if they allow her to bring a little black book with her into prison, but she is somebody who presumably would know about other rich or powerful people who may have been indulging at Epstein's Island. So they have put in a request for that. Her lawyer says they are in talks, but we'll have to see whether that actually leads to anything. And so that's where the House Committee steps up and says, "Well, maybe we don't need to ask permission. We'll maybe subpoena her and force her to testify to us." And so it's a couple of different avenues to see if anybody can pry any more information about who might have been Epstein's most rich and powerful clients.
Taylor Wilson:
You mentioned Ghislaine Maxwell, Bart. This was an associate of Epstein's. What did the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee announce yesterday? As it pertains to her?
Bart Jansen:
They announced that they want to subpoena her. Of course, Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for conspiring to sexually abuse minors in coordination with Jeffrey Epstein. And they want to subpoena her to ask her more questions about that investigation.
Taylor Wilson:
All right. Lots to chew on during this recess. Bart Jansen covers the White House for Paste BN. Thank you, Bart.
Bart Jansen:
Thanks for having me.
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Taylor Wilson:
President Trump has struck a trade deal with Japan that lowers tariffs on auto imports and spares Tokyo from new levies on other goods in exchange for $550 billion of US-bound investment and loans. Trump said the US will impose a 15% tariff on Japanese imports under the agreement, which he hailed as a massive deal. In a Truth Social post yesterday, he previously threatened a 24% tariff on Japan beginning August 1st when higher tariffs for countries across the world are set to go into effect. Japan is the fourth largest trading partner of the US behind Canada, Mexico, and China.
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The Army spent $30 million on the massive 250th anniversary parade that moved down the streets of the nation's capitol for hours last month, coinciding with President Donald Trump's birthday. That's according to Army officials yesterday. The money covered the cost of hauling dozens of tanks and armored vehicles by train and truck from military bases in Texas to Washington. Approximately 7,000 soldiers also converged on the city for the occasion with some marching the route in historic costumes. Warplanes also flew overhead. The Army's final tabulation does not include the cost of the parade's significant security requirements, including for the Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security, FBI, and local police personnel.
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The number of dams in the US at risk of overtopping is increasing according to a new study. About 250,000 people in three states live downstream of those dams, the researchers found. The study published in the peer-reviewed British Journal Nature Communications warned that they've identified six dams having the greatest overtopping probability with several being located near large population centers, posing potential risks to the downstream communities. The dams are all located in either California, Kansas, or Texas. According to Florida State University scientists, the geographic distribution shows that certain regions are particularly vulnerable to changing weather patterns like more frequent extreme rainfall. You can read more with a link in today's show notes.
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Ozzy Osbourne has died at the age of 76. I caught up with Paste BN national music writer Melissa Ruggieri, to talk about the life and legacy of the Prince of Darkness.
Melissa, thank you so much for joining me.
Melissa Ruggieri:
Of course. I wish it was under different circumstances though.
Taylor Wilson:
Well, let's go way back first. I mean, how did Ozzy get his start in music and when did things really take off for him?
Melissa Ruggieri:
Ozzy was a Birmingham England guy, and that's a working class town in England. And he really was the troublemaker from the time he was a teen. He worked minial jobs. He was put in jail. And when he got out of jail, he really just leaned hard into music. And that's when he got together with Black Sabbath in the '60s. And really just the career took off from there. And after being with Black Sabbath for a few years, he just wanted to do his solo thing as often happens and still happens, and that's exactly what it became.
I think with Black Sabbath, he was more of a front man rock singer, whereas when he went off to be Ozzy, he became a figure as well. He became a character almost when he was being Ozzy solo.
Taylor Wilson:
Can we go back to that moment when he split off from Black Sabbath? I mean, what led to that? What happened functionally and how did they later reunite?
Melissa Ruggieri:
It's the usual band stuff. And also Ozzy had some severe alcohol and drug issues, and the band just really got tired of dealing with that. And that's a story as old as rock and roll itself. But they remained relatively on good terms throughout the years even when Ozzy was having his huge solo success and they got back together for their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. And then of course, just a few weeks ago, the final concert that was really supposed to be Ozzy's retirement. And he did go out on his throne, singing, waving, adored by 40,000 people at a park packed in Birmingham again. He went back home to do this.
So it really was a full circle thing. And I almost liken it to when someone's been really sick and is in the hospital and they're waiting for that last son, daughter, spouse, whomever to come visit for the last time, and then they feel at peace and they can pass on. I think that's really probably what happened with him. I think once he had this big giant concert and was able to say goodbye, then he was ready to go.
Taylor Wilson:
Well, that's beautiful he got the chance to do that. What will the musical legacy of Ozzy be in the years to come, Melissa?
Melissa Ruggieri:
Ozzy had some amazing songs, especially those first albums in the early '80s when you listen to songs like Crazy Train and also his partnership with Randy Rhoads, who was his guitarist at the time, who was tragically killed. But that first album, Blizzard of Oz, with Crazy Train on it and Mr. Crowley, those are the songs that really established Ozzy as also sort of this menacing figure that he wanted you to be afraid of him. It was rock and roll. He was heavy metal. It was the kind of things that when your parents saw that album in your collection, they went, "Where did you get that and what are you listening to?" And he really reveled in that.
And throughout the decades with Bark at the Moon, Shot in the Dark, and then of course, Mama I'm Coming Home, which was a huge hit for him and probably one of his most mainstream hits, those are the things that really just made him more family-friendly, if you will. And hey, let's not forget about the Osbournes also.
Taylor Wilson:
Yeah, well, I was going to ask, I mean, he's had these other cultural impacts, but what does the Osbournes mean to folks? I mean, this is a show I grew up with and I know it was a huge hit in a moment when reality TV was really kind of coming into its own, right?
Melissa Ruggieri:
It really was. And I think that's the thing that made people go, "Oh, okay, so Ozzy is this guy who we heard about him biting the heads off of bats and urinating on the Alamo and being banned from this and that." I mean, he was a troublemaker. And he was a rock star. And he's the first to always say in any interview, and he has another book coming out October 7th actually, where he talks about this too, that had he done things clean and sober and straight and narrow and down the right path, he wouldn't be Ozzy. And that's kind of what we have to remember too, is he really did do everything the crazy way, the way he wanted it to, and yet also was able to temper that a little bit with the reality show that I think gave people an idea of what he was like as a human being and not just a rock star.
Taylor Wilson:
Well, as you mentioned, he had his final Black Sabbath show just weeks ago. How had he been spending his later years, Melissa?
Melissa Ruggieri:
Well, he was actually diagnosed with a form of Parkinson's in the early 2000s, and he's had spinal surgeries. He was paralyzed from the waist down for a very long time. And obviously in recent years he's had a really hard time walking around. Anytime you would see him in a public place like on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he would be seated already. The camera would cut away so he could be wheeled out on his throne. And that's of course where he was seated, where he did the last Black Sabbath show as well. But he was still sort of always there.
And Sharon, of course, his wife. We cannot forget the influence of Sharon on Ozzy's life and his career and how she was always talking about him. So it always felt like he was still there, even if he really wasn't in the public eye as much as he used to be.
Sharon really was the one who helped usher him into the mainstream even when Ozzfest came out. Lollapalooza didn't want anything to do with Ozzfest. And Sharon being a brilliant manager and a brilliant music mind, she said, "You know what? We're going to start our own festival and we're going to be more successful than yours." And Ozzfest went on for years and years with heavy metal bands that weren't necessarily able to headline on their own, but put them together on Ozzfest with Ozzy headlining. And there you go, you had a huge success.
Taylor Wilson:
Melissa Ruggieri covers music for Paste BN, joining us to remember the life and legacy of Ozzy Osbourne. Thanks, Melissa.
Melissa Ruggieri:
Thank you.
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Taylor Wilson:
And later today, Elon Musk says he's launching a third political party, but history and public opinion aren't necessarily on his side. Elon Musk has to decide what his goals are. Is it to actually win some of these seats or does he want to maybe push certain agendas? Paste BN White House correspondent Joey Garrison explains what it takes to launch a viable third party and why Musk might be setting himself up to fail. Here is conversation with my colleague Dana Taylor today beginning at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
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And thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can find the pod wherever you get your audio. And as always, you can email us at podcasts@usatoday.com. I'm Taylor Wilson. I'll be back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from Paste BN.