1/ The Trump administration plans to use a fast-track deportation process to bypass immigration judges in order to quickly deport undocumented immigrants who have illegally entered the U.S. within the past two years. Previously, the policy for “expedited removal” had been limited to migrants caught within 100 miles of the U.S. border who had been in the country for less than two weeks. The Department of Homeland Security defended the shift, saying the new plan will ease the backlogged immigration courts by allowing ICE to deport unauthorized immigrants without placing them in “timeconsuming removal proceedings.” Expedited removals will take effect immediately. (Washington Post / CBS News / New York Times)

  • Trump wants to meet with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer “ASAP” to discuss conditions at the U.S.-Mexico border after Schumer took a tour of migrant detention facilities and called them “inhumane.” (Washington Post)

2/ House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler said there is “very substantial evidence” in Robert Mueller’s report that Trump is “guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors.” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff added that it was “clear” that the Justice Department feels bound by an Office of Legal Counsel opinion that prevents indicting a sitting president, alleging that Trump “is an essentially unindicted co-conspirator.” The House Judiciary Committee would be in charge of leading impeachment proceedings if the House decided to move forward with articles of impeachment. Mueller is scheduled to testify on July 24th in front of both the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees in back-to-back public hearings, where he will answer questions about the contents of his report and his 22-month-long investigation. (CNN / Politico / Washington Post)

3/ Trump doesn’t think Mueller should be allowed to testify before Congress about his ties to Russia and possible obstruction of justice. Trump tweeted that “Mueller should not be given another bite at the apple,” because “in the end it will be bad for him.” Trump also complained that the “phony Democrats” in Congress “have done nothing but waste time on this ridiculous Witch Hunt,” and again called for investigations into Hillary Clinton instead of himself and his campaign. (Washington Post / The Independent / Politico)

  • Inside the preparations for Mueller’s testimony. (Politico)

  • 19 questions for Mueller ahead of his congressional testimony. (New York Times)

4/ Mueller will offer his entire 448-page report as his official statement when he testifies Wednesday before the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees. Justice Department officials have reportedly told Mueller that the department expects him to limit his congressional testimony to the public findings in his report, arguing that anything outside the report is covered by “presidential privilege” that hasn’t been waived. Mueller will have a brief opening statement, which hasn’t been seen by the Justice Department. (NBC News / Politico / CNN)

5/ Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee have paid more than $600,000 in legal fees to the law firm that represents Hope Hicks. The House Judiciary Committee is reexamining the truthfulness of Hicks’s mid-June testimony after unsealed court documents revealed that she was in close contact with Michael Cohen as he was negotiating a hush money payment with Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet about an alleged affair with Trump. (CNN)

  • 📌 Day 911: The House Judiciary Committee asked Hope Hicks to clarify her congressional testimony after newly unsealed documents showed “apparent inconsistencies.” The documents reveal that Hicks spoke on the phone with Trump and Michael Cohen about Stormy Daniels and the Trump campaign’s attempt to stop Daniels from going public with the allegations about an affair with Trump. Hicks originally stated that she “had no knowledge of Stormy Daniels other than to say she was going to be mentioned in the story.” Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler said the new documents “raises substantial questions about the accuracy” of Hicks’ original statements. (CNN / NBC News / Politico / Vox)

6/ A federal judge blocked congressional subpoenas for Trump Organization financial records in a lawsuit over whether Trump is violating the emoluments clause of the Constitution. Democrats sent 37 subpoenas earlier this month seeking financial information about Mar-a-Lago, the Trump International Hotel, Trump Tower and other Trump properties. The subpoenas had a due date of July 29th. Judge Emmet Sullivan made the decision after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said it should hear the case. (CNN)

  • The Trump National Doral is one of the finalists to host the G7 summit next year. (Axios)

poll/ 59% of Americans disagree with Trump that the four Democratic congresswomen of color should “go back” to their countries, while 40% agree with Trump’s comment. (CBS News)

poll/ 52% of Americans disapprove of the job Trump is doing as president; 44% approve. (NPR)

poll/ 54% of voters in 11 southern states either “strongly approve” or “somewhat approve” of the way Trump’s handling his job – up from 52% approval from September of last year. (NBC News)

study/ 45% of the Fortune 500 companies in the U.S. were founded by immigrants and their children. The same study also found that that number is growing, despite claims that immigration leads to lower wages and fewer jobs for American citizens. The Fortune 500 companies examined in the study brought in a combined $1.6 trillion in annual revenue last year, and employed 13.5 million people. On average, the companies founded by immigrants also employed 11% more people than the Fortune 500 companies with non-immigrant founders. (Axios)

Notables.

  1. The White House and congressional negotiators reached a two-year budget deal that would raise the spending cap by $320 billion and suspend the debt ceiling until after the next presidential election. The House must approve the agreement before members leave July 26th for a six-week recess. The Senate, meanwhile, can put vote on it next week. The measure will also need Trump’s signature and he didn’t explicitly say he’ll sign it, but called it a “real compromise.” (Washington Post / New York Times / Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg / Politico)

  2. Trump “offered to personally vouch” for rapper A$AP Rocky’s bail. Trump tweeted that during “a very good call” with Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, he “assured him that A$AP was not a flight risk.” The artist has been in custody since early this month over an alleged fight. Trump became involved after Kim Kardashian West contacted Jared Kushner. (Associated Press)

  3. A Republican political organization in Illinois posted and then deleted a movie-style poster depicting the four congresswomen of color who have been attacked by Trump as “The Jihad Squad.” The poster included the slogan, “Political Jihad Is Their Game,” and depicted Rep. Ayanna Pressley aiming a gun with a smile on her face. (Chicago Tribune / NBC News)

  4. A Louisiana police officer posted on Facebook that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez “needs a round.” Charlie Rispoli was replying to a post by a satirical website with the headline “Ocasio-Cortez on the Budget: ‘We Pay Soldiers Too Much.’” Officials in the city where the officer works condemned his comment, but said they weren’t sure it constituted a threat. (New York Times)

  5. Stephen Miller defended Trump’s tweets and campaign rally where the crowd chanted “send her back.” Miller called labeling Trump’s behavior “racist” a tactic “deployed by the left” used to “silence and punish and suppress people they disagree with.” (Washington Post / USA Today)

  6. Trump claimed that he could easily “wipe” Afghanistan “off the face of the earth,” but doesn’t “want to go that route” because he’d have to “kill 10 million people.” (Daily Beast / Vox)