Monday, July 20

· President Donald Trump and top Homeland Security officials doubled down on sending federal forces to Portland, Oregon, to quell protests. Mayor Ted Wheeler, who said he was also tear gassed by federal officers, referred to the federal presence as Trump’s “personal army.”

· The Department of Commerce economically blacklisted 11 Chinese companies due to their alleged use of the forced labor of Uighurs and other Muslim groups. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said, “Beijing actively promotes the reprehensible practice of forced labor and abusive DNA collection and analysis schemes to repress its citizens.”

· The United States announced sanctions on Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Russia’s Chechen Republic, or Chechnya, over human rights violations including accusations of abductions, torture and killings of his opponents. The sanctions bar him from travelling to the U.S.

· Trump announced his intention to send federal forces to Democratically led cities across the country like New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, Baltimore and Oakland in retaliation against nationwide protests. Many of these cities only have small protest movements.

· A federal judge allowed dozens of Muslim plaintiffs to move forward with a lawsuit against federal officials including Attorney General William Barr that challenges the constitutionality of the government's terrorist watchlist. Roughly 4,700 U.S. residents were on the watchlist as of 2017.

· Top congressional Democrats made public a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray, originally sent July 13, that states they are “gravely concerned” that Congress is vulnerable to “a concerted foreign interference campaign, which seeks to launder and amplify disinformation in order to influence congressional activity, public debate, and the presidential election in November.”

· The Senate confirmed Russ Vought to lead the Office of Management and Budget more than a year after he was tapped as its interim director.

Tuesday, July 21

· A report led by Sen. Bob Menendez indicated China uses artificial intelligence and biometrics to keep track of its citizens and control information and is carrying out a global campaign of "digital authoritarianism" to conduct surveillance and censor information.

Wednesday, July 22

· The State Department ordered the closure of China's consulate in Houston, Texas, to, according to a spokesperson, “protect American intellectual property and Americans.” Beijing called the move “an unprecedented escalation” of tensions between the two countries.

· Documents obtained by the Associated Press revealed the Trump administration is detaining immigrant children as young as one year old in hotels for up to several weeks before deporting them to their home countries.

· The House of Representatives voted 233-183 to pass legislation reversing Trump's “Muslim ban,” which barred immigrants from mostly Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. The bill is called the NO BAN Act and is unlikely to advance in the Republican-controlled Senate.

· The House voted to remove Confederate statues from the Capitol in response to nationwide protests. The decision will, for example, remove a bust of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, who authored the Dred Scott decision in 1857, and replace it with a statue of Thurgood Marshall, the first Black Supreme Court justice.

Thursday, July 23

· A federal judge ordered the release of Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, and his return to home confinement following suggestions during a court hearing that Cohen was sent back to prison as a retaliatory action in response to his plans to publish a book about Trump before the November election.

· Trump cancelled all in-person events at the Republican National Convention in Florida next month. “The timing for this event is not right,” Trump said. “It’s just not right with what's happened recently, the [coronavirus] flare-up in Florida.”

· The U.S. accused Russia of conducting a test of an anti-satellite weapon in space, asserting, according to Al Jazeera, that “it exposed Moscow’s intent to deploy weapons that threaten U.S. and allied satellites.”

Friday, July 24

· A federal judge blocked federal agents from arresting or using physical force against journalists and legal observers at protests in Portland, Oregon. “None of the government's proffered interests outweigh the public’s interest in accurate and timely information about how law enforcement is treating protestors,” Judge Michael Simon wrote.

· A memo to higher education officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement said new international students who were not already enrolled in classes as of March 9 will "likely not be able to obtain" visas if they intend to exclusively take courses online.

· The House approved a $259.5 billion spending package to ward off a government shutdown in a 224-189 vote. The four-bill package sets budgets at the State, Interior, Agriculture and Veterans Affairs departments while imposing new restrictions on the Trump administration. It is unlikely to pass the Senate.

Saturday, July 25

· No news to report.

Sunday, July 26

· Top Trump administration officials like Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin proposed to rush through a narrow stimulus bill prioritizing the extension of federal unemployment benefits set to expire this week for millions of Americans instead of passing a more comprehensive stimulus package. “Perhaps we put that forward, get that passed, as we can negotiate on the rest of the bill in the weeks to come,” Meadows said on a morning talk show.