Bellwether Report – Week Ending July 24, 2026

By STAFF

This week’s report covers political, world, cultural, market, and sci-tech news from July 17-24, 2026

This report contains the Global Outlook, Headlines Missed, and People Advance Reports.

TOP NEWS TAGS

1. Iran War
2. 2026 Elections
3. Progressive Media
4. Trump 2020 Election Speech
5. Ukraine War
6. China AI
7. Judgefare
8. Mamdani Watch
9. Progressive Universities Watch
10. Trump Tariffs

A. GLOBAL OUTLOOK

1. HAWAII INVALIDATES AMERICA’S SCOTUS – The Hawaiian Supreme Court has issued a recent ruling that spent tens of pages excoriating the Supreme Court of the United States. The majority held the Supreme Court was no longer valid because it overturned Roe, the 1973 ruling that decriminalized murdering unborn children.

The majority also held that due to the white supremacist nature of SCOTUS, Hawaii is no longer bound by its rulings. There have been no arrested issued by the Department of Justice.

2. XI’S PURGES CONTINUE – Another heavyweight CCP member found himself purged from power by Chairman Xi. Former Politburo member Ma Xingrui was the latest high-profile leader removed under Xi’s anti-corruption operation. The move shows Xi has still not consolidated power after last year’s attempted coup from within.
3. GOP MAKES LAST EFFORT TO PASS SAVE ACT BEFORE MIDTERMS – With the help of four Democrats, against the effort of four Republicans, the U.S. House passed a continuing resolution for funding the government through September 30. That resolution also includes the SAVE Act. The final vote was 214-208.

With the House expected to recess soon until September, this is the last chance for the Republicans to neutralize the vulnerabilities in our election system that make it easy for America’s enemies, which includes the Democratic Party and its GOP operatives, to deliver the result they wanted as opposed to what American voters want.

Read more about the vulnerabilities of our election system in our Deep Dive, Smoking Vulnerabilities, on page 1.

4. TRUMP SEALS NUKE DEAL WITH SAUDIS – President Donald Trump has announced an historic multi-billion-dollar deal with Saudi Arabia. The deal will result in U.S. firms being contracted to help the Saudis build a nuclear power plant. Critics warn the Saudis will develop a nuclear arms program through the civil program the U.S. will help it build.
5. BURNHAM TAKES THE HELM – Andy Burnham took the helm of the United Kingdom on Monday, July 20. Burnham was coronated by his party to replace the outgoing leader of the party, Keir Starmer. So far, Burnham has hinted he will mostly be advancing the pro-immigrant, anti-nativist censorship policies of the previous regime.
6. HOUTHIS ANNOUNCE PLANS TO SHUT DOWN RED SEA – Following Iran’s provocation, the Houthis of Yemen have pledged they will shut the Red Sea down. The hope is that shutting down two major shipping lanes, the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz, will cripple the global economy. They have followed up with attacks that Trump warns will result in further attacks on an already beleaguered Iran.
7. PROTESTS GROW IN UKRAINE OVER ZELENSKY’S MILITARY FIRINGS – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has chosen Major General Ihor Skybyuk to become the new chief of the General Staff of the Armed Force. The move follows numerous shake-ups in military leadership that are leading to street protests from Ukrainians.

Zelensky said of the appointment, “We determined the order of further steps. Today, decisions regarding the replacement of the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be formalized — the relevant decrees are being prepared. Together with Mykhailo Drapatyi and Yevhenii Khmara, we determined that the new chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be Major General Ihor Skybyuk — a very experienced military officer, with whom the new commander-in-chief defended Ukraine side by side.”

8. GOP DEFENDS TRANSGENDERS IN MILITARY – Four members of the Republican Party voted with Democrats to strike down an amendment in the defense authorization act. This amendment would permanently ban transgenders in the military. This would also have prevented biological males from using biological females’ private spaces. Right now, it is only Trump’s executive orders that sustain this standard in the U.S. military today.
9. TRUMP REDEPLOYS TARIFF GEOPOLITICS – President Donald Trump appears prepared to utilize tariffs as a geopolitical tool once again. He announced a 50% tariff on Canada that came without warning. He followed up this announcement with more tariffs targeting multiple nations he accuses of practicing “forced labor.” This could indicate the administration believes it has a legal path to apply tariffs that doesn’t conflict with SCOTUS’ recent ruling on tariffs.
10. JUDGE PAUSES PARAMOUNT-WARNER DEAL FOR TWO WEEKS – U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín of the Northern District of California has put a two-week hold on the DOJ-approved Paramount-Warner merger. The deal is being held up by a California lawsuit seeking to prevent it from happening. The judge was nominated by former President Joe Biden.
11. U.S. HOUSE PASSES SYMBOLIC WAR POWERS RESOLUTION – Four Republicans crossed the aisles to help Democrats pass a non-binding War Powers Resolution aimed at signaling lack of support for the War in Iran. The four Republicans are the usual suspects that traditionally support Democrats during most critical votes. They are Tom Barrett of Michigan, Warren Davidson of Ohio, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, and lame-duck representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky.

B. HEADLINES MISSED

1. CANADA’S NEW HATE SPEECH LAW IS ALREADY TRIGGERING POLICE VISITS – The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms is reporting numerous Canadians have already been contacted by police about their social media posts in response to the new “Combatting Hate Act” becoming law. Currently, the UK is number one in social media arrests worldwide, which is worth noting because Canada’s anti-speech laws are similar to the UK’s anti-speech laws.
2. AI IS GOING INTO TRILLION DOLLAR DEBT – A surge in hidden debt among AI giants like Oracle and Meta is setting off alarms in the industry. The hidden debt comes from future payment operations for expenses not yet online to make money. For instance, leases and property taxes must be paid on sites that are earmarked for databases that haven’t been built or completely built yet. The hidden debt amounts to more than $1.65 trillion.
3. VIRGINIA LOOKS TO LEGALIZE STATUTORY RAPE – Virginia’s “Reproductive Freedom Act” would decriminalize statutory rape by giving girls under 18 the legal “right” to consent. Josh Hetzler, one of the challenging attorneys to the bill, said “Among other wild consequences, it will eliminate statutory rape laws for consenting minors, since the amendment provides an unqualified ‘fundamental right to reproductive freedom’ to every ‘individual,’ without any limitation on age. This is wrong and extremely dangerous for Virginia.”
4. NICARAGUA ENDS ELECTIONS – The far-left government o0f Nicaragua has announced to the country that elections are now over. The Co-President of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, declared, “there will be no elections.” Ortega and his wife have ruled Nicaragua through the Sandinista Party for nearly 20 years, though not with the total rule they now possess, at all levels of government, including local government.
5. 300K NORTH CAROLINA STUDENT LOANS IN DEFAULT – North Carolina has released a report that reveals over 300,000 people in the state have defaulted on their student loans. This amounts to billions of dollars owed. Nationally, one in five student loan borrowers are in default.

C. PEOPLE ADVANCE

1. UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS FALL TO HISTORIC LOWS – The U.S. Labor Department’s jobs report reveals an historic low in unemployment applications. Last month, 187,000 people filed for unemployment, a number not seen since September 6, 1969. The figure also beat the expert’s predicted number for unemployment filings at 222,000 people.
2. NEW JERSEY ASSAULT RIFLE BAN ASSAULTED BY COURT – The 3^rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down New Jersey’s recent ban on “assault weapons.” This is the first time a Federal Appeals Court has directly ruled against any state’s “assault weapons” ban.
3. GOP TARGETS “WOKE” ABA – The House Oversight Committee has announced plans to investigate the accusations that the American Bar Association has become a progressive weapon of political war.

Representative Brandon Gill (R-TX) said a task force investigating them will “analyze how the American Bar Association (ABA) has weaponized its accreditation authority to promote DEI policies that are contrary to federal civil rights law and the negative consequences in the legal profession that result from these harmful policies. Members will also explore how Congress can help permanently eliminate DEI policies within American institutions, including the legal profession and academy.”

4. TRUMP ADMIN LOOKING TO DENATURALIZE FRAUD – The Trump administration announced efforts to root out U.S. citizenship naturalization fraud. The White House intends on conducting the “largest denaturalization effort ever.” The White House posted on X, “When you commit fraud during the naturalization process, you forfeit the right to keep your U.S. citizenship…”
5. WNBA STAR STANDS TALL FOR WOMEN – Sophie Cunningham is going viral for her multiple acts of defiance against wokeness in a women’s basketball league that embraces it, the WNBA. She plays for the Indiana Fever, which is also home of the league’s superstar, Caitlin Clark. When asked by reporters about her stance against men presenting as women playing in women’s sports, she unapologetically doubled down on her stance.