🗞️Kamala Harris loses Secret Service protection

August 29th, 2025

What happened today 🇺🇸,

• President Trump canceled the extended Secret Service protection for former VP Kamala Harris…Harris was entitled to six months of protection after leaving office in January, but former President Biden had extended her security detail for an additional year shortly before he left office…Trump's action cancels that extension, returning her protection to only the legally mandated six-month period

• President Trump has moved to cancel $4.9 billion in foreign aid that Congress had previously approved by using a rarely utilized budget tool called a "pocket rescission" which allows the executive branch to withhold funds late in the fiscal year, effectively preventing Congress from acting before the funds expire on September 30th, 2025…the move if facing bipartisan backlash as lawmakers argue it undercuts Congress’s constitutional authority over government spending

• Republican Senator, Joni Ernst, from Iowa has decided not to seek reelection in 2026

• A U.S. federal appeals court ruled that many of the tariffs imposed by President Trump earlier this year are not legally permissible under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)…the tariffs remain in place temporarily while the legal process continues and the Trump administration is expected to seek Supreme Court review

• Texas Governor Abbott signed into law a new congressional map that redraws districts and is expected to benefit Republicans…read more here

• The Department of Transportation has canceled $679 million in federal funding for a dozen offshore wind projects across 11 states…read more here

• Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services, Jim O’Neill, has been appointed to serve as the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

• PepsiCo announced that it will invest $585 million to increase its stake in energy drink maker Celsius to approximately 11%…this investment also involves Celsius acquiring PepsiCo’s Rockstar Energy brand in the U.S. and Canada, while PepsiCo will take over distribution of Celsius’s Alani Nu brand in those markets

• California has reached a deal with Uber and Lyft that allows gig workers, specifically app-based drivers, to form unions and collectively bargain for better pay and additional benefits

• Spirit Airlines has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection again, less than a year after emerging from its previous bankruptcy in March

• July PCE inflation, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure, came in at 2.6% year over year which was in-line with expectations, Core PCE inflation came in at 2.9% year over year which was also in-line with expectations

• DOW down .20% / S&P down .64%

Bonus: A look at the top sectors for foreign direct investment in 2024

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