Two men looked at your electric bill today, and only one put money on the table.
Rhode Island Energy announced a 15% winter rate hike this morning. Within hours, Gov. Dan McKee declared an energy affordability emergency and moved $28 million in carbon fees paid by power plants so the average family won’t pay a dollar more this winter. By afternoon, Donald Trump was at the EPA collecting signatures on a voluntary pledge and promising that despite the data center boom, “electricity bills for American families will actually come down.”
Analysts expect those data centers to push bills up as much as 40% in the next four years, and a pledge doesn’t bind a single utility. In Rhode Island, nobody has to apply for the relief. It lands as a credit on the bill.
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Judge orders the Pentagon to explain why Hegseth's new testosterone therapy program for troops differs from the hormone care its transgender ban prohibits.
Today’s GovBrief News
Trump makes the Saudi nuclear deal contingent on normalizing relations with Israel, declaring no enrichment a day after officials said the pact might allow it.
Source: UPI
July 23, 2026
U.S. bombs Iran for a 13th straight night as Houthi attacks on Saudi tankers spread the war to the Red Sea and push oil past $100.
Source: CBS News
July 23, 2026
25 states sue DHS for withholding 20% of terrorism-preparedness grants until states adopt Trump's preferred election rules, calling the $148 million condition unconstitutional.
Source: Reuters
July 23, 2026
Alaska deactivates up to 3,500 voters as possible noncitizens off old DMV data, sweeping in naturalized citizens, a 700% jump from last year's flagged total.
Source: The Alaska Beacon
July 23, 2026
California rejected nearly 150,000 primary mail ballots, most for lateness voting experts link to Postal Service processing changes that shift where and when postmarks apply.
Source: The Associated Press
July 23, 2026
Federal judges let Tennessee's map splitting majority-Black Memphis into three districts stand for August, ruling partisan motive explains the dilution without proof of racial intent.
Source: The Tennessee Lookout
July 23, 2026
Trump imposes 10% to 12.5% tariffs on 60 economies under a forced labor rationale, his third scheme since the Supreme Court struck his tariffs in February.
Source: The Wall Street Journal [gift link]
July 23, 2026
Pentagon erases four soldiers killed this month from the Iran war death toll, claiming their deaths came after Trump declared a ceasefire in April.
Source: CNBC
July 23, 2026
ODNI quietly loses about 200 personnel to firings and reassignments since acting chief Pulte arrived June 2, shrinking the spy coordinator to about half its size.
Source: The Washington Post
July 23, 2026
Colorado prosecutors charge a GEO Group detention worker with felony assault for shooting an anti-ICE protester in the foot outside the Aurora facility.
Source: NOTUS
July 23, 2026
Vance Boelter receives two consecutive life terms plus 40 years for assassinating former Minnesota House Speaker Hortman and her husband and shooting Sen. Hoffman's family.
Source: KMSP Minneapolis
July 23, 2026
Appeals court blocks the end of TPS for Haitians through Monday, a four-day reprieve for 350,000 people whose work permits were set to expire Friday.
Source: NBC Chicago
July 23, 2026
Leaked document catalogs the surveillance tools available across ICE, a 404 Media review shows, from smartphone location tracking to 1.8 billion insurance claims.
Source: 404 Media
July 23, 2026
Education Department bars civil rights investigators from citing racial disparities in school discipline, advanced classes, or admissions as evidence of discrimination, skipping public comment.
Source: Chalkbeat
July 23, 2026
House votes 214-208 to end the Iran war, its second rebuke since June, hours before the Senate blocks a companion resolution and strikes continue.
Source: The Hill
July 23, 2026
Transportation Secretary Duffy asks Congress to direct Amtrak to rename Penn Station, months after officials dangled $16 billion in tunnel funds for naming it after Trump.
Source: Politico
July 23, 2026
Hundreds march through Madison after a police officer shoots and kills Corey Ruiz, whose family retains civil rights attorney Ben Crump as the independent monitor subpoenas records.
Source: WKOW Madison
July 23, 2026
Rhode Island Gov. McKee declares an energy affordability emergency, directing $28 million in climate auction funds to offset a 15% winter rate hike for 450,000 households.
Source: WJAR Providence
July 23, 2026
DOJ withdraws subpoenas of three New York Times reporters and their family members after a judge threatens sanctions, though it vows to keep hunting their sources.
Source: Courthouse News Service
July 23, 2026