Hegseth didn’t tell Trump about Ukraine arms pause, report says

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly didn’t tell President Donald Trump or seek his permission before ordering a pause in shipments of arms to embattled Ukraine last week.

Trump was unhappy and frustrated to find out about the Pentagon chief’s controversial decision, which the president quickly reversed after a high-stakes meeting with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to CNN, which cited five administration officials.

The pause in critical weapons deliveries to Ukraine blindsided Trump at an awkward moment as he appears to be pivoting to a more critical stance towards Russia after months of playing nice with strongman Vladimir Putin.

Trump said Tuesday at a cabinet meeting that he didn’t know who decided to temporarily halt arms shipments to Kyiv.

—New York Daily News

What to know about the ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ cuts to Medicaid

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed the “Big, Beautiful Bill” into law Friday, triggering a countdown to cuts that will impact many Maryland residents in the coming years.

Republicans passed the legislation Thursday after Congress pulled two all-nighters to meet Trump’s self-imposed July 4 deadline. A host of provisions were included in the spending package; chief among them were the permanent extension of the 2017 tax cuts, new tax breaks on overtime and tips, a $40,000 cap on state and local tax deductions, and $350 billion in funding for border security and defense. It will also make cuts to multiple social programs, including SNAP and Medicaid.

The impact on Medicaid will be particularly significant, with Republican lawmakers cutting roughly $1 trillion from the program over the next decade by instituting more frequent eligibility checks and work requirements, among other policy shifts.

The changes are predicted to cause 11.8 million people to lose their health care by 2034, according to the Congressional Budget Office. In Maryland, roughly 246,000 people are expected to lose their coverage.

—The Baltimore Sun

Connecticut wants to be a ‘climate leader’ by 2050. It’s not going to be easy as temperatures rise

Gov. Ned Lamont signed two landmark climate bills recently that set a goal for Connecticut to be carbon neutral by 2050 and to fortify the state’s infrastructure against severe weather, despite recent federal rollbacks that seek to dismantle nationwide carbon standards that have been in place for years, according to officials.

The new laws come after the release of the Environmental Quality in Connecticut report, which showed the state’s environmental status remains overall healthier than a decade ago.

But several challenges remain, including the rapid spread of invasive species and the scourge of climate change increasing severe weather patterns, according to the report by the Council on Environmental Quality.

Senate Bill 9 bolsters climate resilience in infrastructure, its proponents said, while House Bill 5004 supports the renewable energy industry and sets a statewide net-zero carbon emissions goal by 2050.

—Hartford Courant

Houthi attacks in Red Sea sink 2 cargo ships, leave 3 people dead

Houthi attacks in the Red Sea left three crew members dead and sank two cargo vessels in a fresh wave of assaults by the Tehran-backed group along the crucial maritime trade route.

Liberian-flagged MV Eternity C sank on Wednesday after sustaining “significant damage” and had lost all propulsion, the UK Maritime Trade Operations, a liaison between the UK Navy and commercial shipping, said. The Houthis claimed responsibility.

U.S. officials said some surviving crew has been kidnapped. “After killing their shipmates, sinking their ship, and hampering rescue efforts, the Houthi terrorists have kidnapped many surviving crew members of the Eternity C,” the U.S. Embassy in Yemen said in a statement, calling for the sailors’ immediate and unconditional release. The Houthi group earlier said it rescued a number of the ship’s crew members, provided them with medical care and transported them to a safe location.

The vessel was a bulk carrier carrying grains to Somalia for the World Food Program, and was targeted Monday after completing the trip. The attack represents one of the deadliest carried out by the militant group since it began targeting commercial vessels in the Red Sea in 2023 over Israel’s war on Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza.

—Bloomberg News