👋🏼 It's Cuneyt, back with Town Talker, my weekly column on politics and power.

It's been a losing month in Congress for local leaders.

Why it matters: Republicans are targeting D.C.'s local budget like we haven't seen in years, and area politicians are failing in their bid to stop an expansion of flights at Reagan National Airport.

Driving the news: In the battle over National Airport, local senators and Mayor Muriel Bowser are adamant against any new direct flights. They don’t think the airport can handle more traffic.

• But a bipartisan proposal to add seven roundtrip flights at DCA advanced yesterday to the House floor.
• Adding seven new flights is a compromise that won the backing of Southwest Airlines, joining Delta, which had kicked off an ambitious campaign in April with the original aim of adding more than 20 new flights.

🥊 Meanwhile, in D.C.-specific meddling, the House GOP last week advanced bills that would:

• Prohibit the city from using lucrative traffic cameras.
• Stop the right turn on red ban from going into effect.
• Allow anyone with a concealed carry license from any of the states to conceal carry handguns in the city and on Metro.
• Prohibit noncitizens from voting in local elections.
• Repeal D.C.'s assisted suicide law called Death with Dignity.
• Maintain bans on using funds for abortions and the sale of marijuana.

Zoom in: Even if you're no fan of speed cameras, banning them in D.C. will throw the city's budget out of whack.

• An extra 343 new traffic enforcement cameras are projected to bring $580 million in revenue over the next four years. Prohibiting their use could mean cuts to other city services.

The intrigue: Democrats hope the Senate will be a firewall against some of these proposals.

• Yes, but: Democrats have used local D.C. laws as bargaining chips in the past. (See: Obama and abortion, Biden and the criminal code.)

📣 What they're saying: The budget intervention "would undermine public safety in the District and imperil our long history of sound budgeting," Mayor Bowser, Council chair Phil Mendelson, and Attorney General Brian Schwalb wrote to congressional leaders last week.

The other side: The intervention follows the dialed-up rhetoric from Republicans against the District earlier this year. Rep. Laurel Lee, a Republican from Florida, recently said the city has had "significant and in some cases very concerning failures."

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Michele Norris, the well-known opinion columnist for the Washington Post and former NPR host, asked people to do something unusual: In just six words, write about your experience of race in America.

Driving the news: Norris draws from The Race Card Project, which she created in 2010, for her new book, "Our Hidden Conversations," out in January of next year, Axios' Mike Allen writes.

Some examples of the 500,000+ responses Norris received, via her publisher, Simon & Schuster:

• "You're Pretty for a Black girl."
• "White privilege, enjoy it, earned it."
• "Lady, I don't want your purse."
• "My ancestors massacred Indians near here."
• "Urban living has made me racist."
• "I'm only Asian when it's convenient."

More on the book

The Women's World Cup kicks off tomorrow, and bars across town are ready to watch — some at all hours.

Why it matters: Team USA is packed with Washington Spirit players, including forward Trinity Rodman and midfielder Ashley Sanchez.

Yes, but: Since the tournament takes place in Australia and New Zealand, some matches are broadcast live overnight for viewers here.

Be smart: The first game takes place on Thursday at 3am ET with New Zealand facing off against Norway.

• The USA will play its first game on Friday against Vietnam, starting at 9pm, and then won't play again until next Wednesday against the Netherlands, also at 9pm.

Here are a few places for getting into the games:

🍳 Boundary Stone: The Bloomingdale pub is staying open late — including for matches at 3am D.C. time. A small breakfast menu and happy hour beers will be available.

🏳️‍🌈 As You Are: The queer café/bar in Capitol Hill is showing most matches throughout the next two weeks, including those overnight.

🍺 Midlands: The beer garden in Park View will show the nighttime games (those starting 8pm-10:30pm) both indoors and outdoors with drink specials available. The bar also plans on showing the 6am quarterfinals and final match next month.

🍗 Atlas (Navy Yard): The brewery will only show games during normal operating hours (to 11pm on weekdays and 1am on weekends), but will have happy hour every weekday from noon until 6pm (unless there's a Nationals game).

Full list

✈️ There are two scheduled flyovers today — one over Arlington National Cemetery, the other over Audi Field for the MLS All-Star Game. (ARLNow)

🖥️ The University of the District of Columbia and Howard University will offer free health data information courses to train the next generation of public health experts. The courses are available to students starting in August. (DCist)

🚸 Franklin Park will be all about kids from July 28 through July 30 with a series of free events, including pop-ups, play installations, rides, and live youth performances. (WTOP)

📅 Check out what's going on next week.

Free Online Budgeting Class virtually on July 25:

This class is for you if:

• You want to start saving more money toward your biggest financial goal.
• You know you need to do something different with money but you don’t know where to start.
• You’re sick of unexpected expenses coming up that get in the way of saving money.

Hosting an event? Email [email protected].

If you haven't realized yet, Go-Go is always on the go. We barely caught her before she took off this week!

• Can you spot where Go-Go is?

Hit reply with a correct guess and you'll be entered for a chance to win Axios swag.