Attorney General Pam Bondi dodged questions on the Jeffrey Epstein files and on any clashes with FBI deputy director Dan Bongino during a Tuesday news conference.
Why it matters: The MAGA faithful have been unhappy with Bondi's handling of the case since a Justice Department and FBI memo concluded there's no evidence that convicted sex offender and disgraced financier Epstein kept a "client list" or that he was murdered.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) abruptly canceled Tuesday's remaining floor votes as opposition from a group of right-wing Republicans stymied efforts to send legislation establishing a regulatory framework for stablecoin issuers to President Trump's desk.
Why it matters: Johnson is facing demands to combine the so-called GENIUS Act with two other crypto bills the chamber is considering this week. That would force the Senate to reconsider the legislation, likely leading to significant delays.
President Trump said Tuesday he's speeding up permitting and making it easier for data centers to connect to the electricity grid in announcing $92 billion in AI and energy investments at a Pennsylvania summit.
Why it matters: Trump's endorsement of building new power plants — and locating data centers right next to them — reflects the growing thirst for electricity from the energy-intensive facilities.
HBO and HBO Max have taken the lead in Emmy nominations this year (142), cruising past Netflix (121), per Deadline.
Why it matters: It's the most Emmy nominations for HBO in a single year, thanks to a slew of big hits over the past year, including "The White Lotus," "The Last of Us" and "The Penguin."
Media companies are racing to add custom AI chatbots to their websites and apps in an attempt to lure user traffic away from apps like ChatGPT and Gemini.
Why it matters: They hope a more limited chatbot on their site, trained solely off of vetted journalism, will be enough to lure consumers from bigger apps that tend to make mistakes.
New renderings and deets on a first-of-its-kind exhibit coming to the Franklin Institute have dropped.
The big picture: The world premiere of "Universal Theme Parks: The Exhibition" is just oneof several big attractions heading to Philly next year, during the nation's 250th birthday.
The latest "Superman" reboot is a box office smash, bringing in an impressive $122 million in its domestic debut over the weekend, according to estimates from Comscore.
Why it matters: The fate of the DC Comics franchise, and to a smaller extent Warner Bros. Pictures, is riding on the film's success.
According to data from Renaissance Capital, there have been just four biotech IPOs this year that have raised over $50 million — down from 10 in the same period last year. Venture bets are slowing too.
This weekend may offer some clues about whether or not President Trump has any regrets about releasing a meme coin just before he took office.
Why it matters: Selling 200 million Official Trump (TRUMP) tokens on the Solana blockchain gave him multiple billions in paper wealth nearly instantly, but it has also been fodder for Democrats' cries of corruption, and even skepticism from some industry allies.
Lee Enterprises, one of the last remaining independent local newspaper companies, has added a $4.99 per month "temporary" surcharge to its newspaper subscriptions, citing inflation and global tariffs, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The vast majority of newsprint material comes from Canada, which President Trump has hit with a 25% tariff and threatened to raise that to 35% starting Aug. 1.
But newspapers were exempted from the policy in April, leaving subscribers confused about what's really to blame for the price hikes.
Consumer prices rose at a quicker rate in June, breaking a monthslong streak of cooling inflation, the Labor Department said on Tuesday.
Why it matters: The data will likely concern economic policymakers, who fear that President Trump's tariffs will raise prices and reignite rising prices across America.
Second-quarter EV sales fell 6.3% compared to April-June of 2024, and the road ahead looks jarring with the loss of consumer purchase subsidies looming, per new Cox Automotive data.
Why it matters: While sales set a record in 2024, and the first half of 2025 narrowly did, too, the upward march was getting less consistent even before the GOP's new budget law nixed incentives.
Anthropic is teaming up with financial services firms to launch a unified Claude interface for simultaneously analyzing market data across multiple sources.
Why it matters: It's Anthropic's first big disruption for one industry: finance. And it won't be the last.
The second-quarter earnings season kicks off Tuesday with some of the major banks set to report. While tariffs are likely to come up through this cycle, it's not the main focus for investors.
Why it matters: Wall Street has moved on from the trade war. The question is whether consumer spending effects that show up this earnings cycle will force investors to reckon with the real-world impact of the levies.
Labubu — a mischievous little monster with fangs — is America's must-have toy, and it's causing fans of all ages to line up and resale prices to soar.
Why it matters: Finding a Labubu, a spicy-eared collectible from China, isn't easy, especially for fans in New Orleans who are hours away from the nearest verified retailer.
Shares in Nvidia rallied sharply Tuesday morning, helping boost the entire market, after the company said the U.S. government will again allow it to ship powerful AI chips to China.
Why it matters: The export ban cost the company more than $10 billion in revenue, CEO Jensen Huang has said previously, so the reversal will come as a huge boon to its bottom line.
Google is launching AI Works for America, a new initiative to train workers and small businesses in essential AI skills, the company announced Tuesday.
Why it matters: The AI leaders who say the tech will reinvigorate — and not decimate — the workforce have yet to reveal many concrete plans to train workers whose jobs could become obsolete.
The New York, Boston and San Francisco areas have relatively high shares of trips taken on foot or bicycle rather than in a vehicle, a new report finds.
Why it matters: Walking and biking can be healthier alternatives to driving, while places designed for people rather than cars can have less air pollution, better neighborhood connectivity and other benefits.
A surprising new study finding that AI tools can reduce programmers' productivity is upending assumptions about the technology's world-changing potential.
Why it matters: Software runs our civilization, and AI is already transforming the business of making it — but no one really knows whether AI will decimate programming jobs, or turn every coder into a miracle worker, or both.
House Republicans on Monday night voted against attaching a Democratic amendment to landmark cryptocurrency legislation that would force the Justice Department to release the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Why it matters: It's the outcome Democrats anticipated, and one they plan to gleefully cite as President Trump continues to grapple with the MAGA fallout over the DOJ's handling of the documents.
![Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks during a news conference at the DEA headquarters on July 15, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. ]](https://images.axios.com/O1lrs1J5fMOmj5AQUK_pDy5iTsw=/0x143:5495x3234/1920x1080/2025/07/15/1752617288426.jpg?w=3840)
