Welcome to Monday, July 29, warm- and cold-bloods...

To paraphrase Trump's reboot of "Hairspray": "Good morning, Baltimore, you 'disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess.'"

The president on Saturday attacked Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), tweeting that his congressional district was "the worst run and most dangerous anywhere in the United States."

"Cumming [sic] District is a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess. If he spent more time in Baltimore, maybe he could clean up this very dangerous & filthy mess," Trump tweeted.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and others denounced the attacks as racist.

"@RepCummings is a champion in the Congress and the country for civil rights and economic justice, a beloved leader in Baltimore, and deeply valued colleague. We all reject racist attacks against him and support his steadfast leadership."

White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney defended Trump's remarks, telling "Fox News Sunday": "Have you seen some of the pictures on the Internet? Just this morning from the conditions in Baltimore?"

The Baltimore Sun condemned Trump's comments in an op-ed titled "Better to have a few rats than to be one."

"If there are problems here, rodents included, they are as much his responsibility as anyone’s, perhaps more because he holds the most powerful office in the land," the Sun's editorial board wrote.

How do you feel about Trump's criticism of Baltimore?

On the Radar

SCOTUS OKs Border Wall Funding

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling on Friday that lifts a lower court’s injunction to allow President Trump to use roughly $2.5 billion in unspent Dept. of Defense funding for various border wall projects along the Southern border.

All five of the conservative justices voted to lift the injunction and allow the Trump administration to use the funds for border wall projects, while three of the court’s liberal justices dissented, and Justice Stephen Breyer authored an opinion concurring and dissenting in part.

Do you support Trump using unspent defense funds on the border wall?

‘Safe Third Country’

President Trump announced from the Oval Office on Friday that the U.S. reached a “safe third country” agreement with Guatemala that would require migrants traveling through Guatemala from countries like Honduras and El Salvador to apply for asylum there instead of the U.S.

According to data compiled by USAFacts, 41% of all asylum claims in fiscal year 2017 were made by migrants from the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala (13%), Honduras (10%), and El Salvador (18%). The crime and economic hardship that drove those asylum-seekers have continued, and many have been apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border in recent years.

Apprehensions have spiked in 2019, with May’s 132,880 apprehensions marking the highest monthly total seen since 2006. While monthly apprehensions declined to 94,897 in June, the March-June 2019 period has the highest four-month apprehension total since 2006 as this chart from USAFacts shows:

PIC-O

Do you support the "safe third country" agreement with Guatemala?

Under the Radar

Schools Displaying ‘In God We Trust’

Public schools across South Dakota are hanging up "In God We Trust" signs after a new state law took effect which requires the motto be displayed where students are "most likely" to see it.

"As soon as we heard that it was going to be a state law ... we started looking at different options and we chose to do stenciling as it is the most uniform and most affordable option," Rapid City Area Schools community relations manager Katy Urban told NPR. "It's a really great thing for our schools and our districts and that kids are seeing it posted on a daily basis."

Various organizations have condemned the law, including the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

"The motto 'In God We Trust' is inaccurate, exclusionary, and aimed at brainwashing American schoolchildren into believing that our nation is a theocracy," the organization said.

Should public schools be required to post “In God We Trust”?

Your Gov't At a Glance

The White House: President Trump in D.C.

At 10:00am EDT, the president will participate in a signing ceremony for H.R. 1327 - Never Forget the Heroes: Permanent Authorization of the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund.
At 11:45am EDT, the president will receive his intelligence briefing.
At 12:30pm EDT, the president will have lunch with the vice president.

The House: Out

The House will return Monday, September 9th.

The Senate: In

Attempting to override the veto of a bill to block the coproduction & sale of laser guidance systems for bombs to Saudi Arabia.
Attempting to override the veto of a bill to block an arms deal allowing Saudi Arabia to manufacture fuzes for precision guided bombs.
Attempting to override the veto of a bill to block the sale of laser guidance systems for precision bombs to the United Arab Emirates.
Taking a procedural vote on the nomination of a district judge for Arizona.

What You're Saying

Here's how you're answering Does the U.S. Need to Stop the Domestic Shark Fin Trade?

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But wait, there's more!

And, in the End...

Happy Birthday NASA

On July 29, 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Act was signed into law by President Dwight Eisenhower, creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and tasking it organizing American space exploration efforts.

NASA’s formation came less than a year after the Soviet Union had gotten an early lead in the Space Race by successfully launching the first satellite to orbit Earth.

One of the primary things the Eisenhower administration did was dissolve NASA’s predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, and transferred its 7,500 employees and facilities worth $300 million to NASA’s control. This gave the fledgling space agency the resources it would need to begin overseeing space operations.

Click here to read about the history of the National Aeronautics and Space Act and the ongoing impact of NASA.

Paws up for International Tiger Day,

—Josh Herman