Axios

The bodies of two additional victims have been recovered from the rubble of the Surfside building collapse, bringing the death toll to 18, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said Wednesday. 145 people remain unaccounted for.

The latest: At an afternoon briefing, Cava said two of the 18 fatalities were children, ages 4 and 10.

Structural engineers are honing in on the lowest part of the building for reasons why Champlain Towers South collapsed last week in Surfside, Florida, killing at least 16. 

The big picture: While experts doubt that failures with the pool deck slab alone could have caused the fall of the building, "it may be one of the factors that contributed to the collapse," Jason Borden, a Fort Lauderdale-based structural engineer, told The Washington Post.

An Indigenous group in the Canadian province of British Columbia has found 182 human remains in unmarked graves near a former residential school, the Lower Kootenay Band said in a release Wednesday, per AP.

The big picture: The discovery follows two other reports with similar findings at church-run schools.

The House voted 222-190 on Wednesday to create a select committee to investigate the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Why it matters: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi moved forward with the creation of a committee controlled by Democrats after Senate Republicans blocked a bill that would have established a bipartisan 9/11-style commission to probe the Jan. 6 attack.

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has died at the age of 88, his family said Wednesday.

The big picture: Rumsfeld led the Department of Defense on 9/11 and at the start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Pennsylvania's Supreme Court overturned Bill Cosby's 2018 conviction for sexual assault on Wednesday, finding that an agreement he struck to provide testimony in a civil lawsuit in 2005 and 2006 should have given him immunity in the case.

Why it matters: The 83-year-old Cosby, who was sentenced to 3–10 years in prison for drugging and molesting a woman in 2004, was released from prison just before 2:30 p.m. local time, a spokesperson from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections confirmed.

San Jose will require gun owners to compensate taxpayers for gun-related emergency responses, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Why it matters: It's the first U.S. city to take such a step. The move, approved unanimously by the San Jose City Council on Tuesday, comes after last month's mass shooting at a transit station in the city.

The lack of broad Republican support for the Equality Act has "nothing to do with partisanship" but rather "everything to do with hate" as it faces an uncertain future in the Senate, Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) said at an Axios event Wednesday.

Why it matters: The House passed the Equality Act, which would boost federal LGBTQ protections, in February but it faces an uncertain future in the Senate where it would need at least 10 Republican votes.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) urged people to "believe your own damn eyes" when it comes to climate science, during remarks on Wednesday after meeting with President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and other administration officials to discuss the threat of wildfires on the West Coast.

Driving the news: Wildfire season has started early because of the severe drought and record-breaking heat wave affecting the Pacific Northwest. In California, the Lava Fire grew to nearly 18,000 acres overnight and is continuing to spread.

Amazon wants Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan recused from any antitrust investigation targeting the company, arguing her past statements about the e-commerce giant create the appearance that she has prejudged the company.

Why it matters: Amazon's purchase of MGM will reportedly be reviewed by the FTC.

Israel Foreign Ministry officials have been lobbying the State Department to hold off on reopening the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem to avoid creating difficulties for the new government, Israeli officials tell me.

Why it matters: Israel's new government contains an unstable mix of parties with opposing views, and opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu has been pushing the consulate issue to portray the government as weak and unable to stand up to the Biden administration.

Passport applicants will be able mark their self-identified gender without medical documentation, per a new State Department rule that is likely to be issued Wednesday, the New York Times reports.

Why it matters: The rule is set to be announced on the last day of Pride Month and marks the first step toward creating a gender marker on U.S. passports for individuals who identify as nonbinary, intersex or do not conform to gender roles, per the Times.

Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) made a rare intervention into a Democratic party primary Tuesday, endorsing Cuyahoga County Councilwoman Shontel Brown in the race for the Cleveland-based congressional seat, the New York Times reports.

Why it matters: Clyburn's endorsement of Brown over progressive Nina Turner — who is surging in her campaign and is an outspoken ally of Sen. Bernie Sanders —highlights ideological and generational rifts in the Democratic party, per the Times.

The Government Accountability Office said in a new report Tuesday that federal law enforcement agencies need to track use of facial recognition technology more closely to better protect privacy.

Why it matters: Use of face-recognition tech is becoming more widespread within the federal government, with 20 out of 42 federal agencies that employ law enforcement officers using it.

The New York City Board of Elections apologized late Tuesday after election officials removed the latest vote tally for the Democratic mayoral primary from its website following a data error.

Why it matters: New York City's first election using a ranked choice voting system was thrown into disarray when 135,000 test ballots were counted along with the actual ballots, resulting in front-runner Eric Adams' significant lead being cut.

New York City's Commission on Human Rights announced Tuesday that Fox News has agreed to pay a $1 million penalty following an investigation into workplace culture stemming from allegations of sexual misconduct by founder Roger Ailes.

Why it matters: The investigation "into a series of high-profile reports" alleged "a culture of pervasive sexual harassment and retaliation at the network," the commission said in a statement, noting this was the largest civil penalty it had ever ordered.

Kataluna Enriquez has opened up on what it means to her that she'll be the first openly transgender woman to compete in the Miss USA pageant.

Driving the news: Enriquez beat 21 other contestants days out from the end of Pride month to become the newly crowned Miss Nevada USA, and she's using the platform to raise awareness for the transgender community ahead of November's national pageant.

Former President Obama said at the American Library Association's annual conference Tuesday "we should all be worried" by the rise in misinformation, like that which led to the Capitol riot, per CNN.

Details: Obama told moderator Lonnie Bunch he saw some misinformation happening during his presidency, with former President Trump "one of the perpetrators" of stoking sentiment against him. He accused Trump of being "somebody who surfed that for their own advantage."

Democrats have scheduled destination fundraisers — a mix of sun, fun and lobbying — on July weekends and throughout the August recess this summer, lobbyists who have been invited to the events tell Axios.

Why it matters: The fundraising is set to take members out of Washington even as both chambers face difficult negotiations over the bipartisan infrastructure bill and any potential budget resolution. Both demands have the potential to affect their usual monthlong recess.

Business leaders across the country are trying to insert themselves into the infrastructure debate, using whatever external power they possess to push lawmakers to pass the $1.2 trillion bipartisan deal.

Why it matters: Axios surveyed an array of business leaders and their statements, and from UPS to Siemens to Raytheon, everyone seems to want the deal to succeed — particularly since it doesn't include tax increases.

The Biden administration is exploring ways to provide non-detention tracking and services for as many as 100,000 migrant families and 18- to 21-year-olds each year, according to a new government request.

Why it matters: The request for information by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reveals the kinds of options the Biden administration is considering to avoid detaining migrants.

The National Security Agency issued a statement Tuesday calling claims made by Fox News host Tucker Carlson that the NSA is spying on him "untrue."

Driving the news: Carlson claimed on "'Tucker Carlson Tonight," Monday that the NSA was monitoring his electronic communications "in an attempt to take this show off the air," but the agency said this did not happen and he "has never been an intelligence target."

The Biden administration will shut four emergency shelters housing record numbers of unaccompanied migrant children, as more minors arrive at the southern border, an official during a court hearing Tuesday, per AP.

What's happening: The Department of Health and Human Services plans to close two shelters in Texas and stop housing the children at two California convention centers in California by early August, Aurora Miranda-Maese, juvenile coordinator for the agency’s office of refugee resettlement, said at the hearing on custody conditions for minors, according to AP.