Three weeks ago I started showing you government getting it right, and I wish I’d started sooner.
The Good Government category debuted at issue #500, and your comments keep saying the same thing: thank you for the hope that good government still exists. Since then I’ve run 19 of these stories: Oregon teamed with Dolly Parton to mail every child under five a free book each month. New Jersey is cleaning up group homes and funneling the fines back into better care. Texas rebuilt the state’s websites for residents with disabilities. Two rural Tennessee counties made the data-center industry wait until the rules were written.
The president opened the country’s 250th birthday by calling American support for NATO “ridiculous,” and nobody is pretending the national picture is fine. But politics still influences your life most where you live. Keep your focus on your community, because local change is the kind that grows, town to state to nation.
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Justice Department refuses court-ordered release of more Epstein files, seeking a 60-day delay and arguing the transparency act cannot be privately enforced.
Today’s GovBrief News
Trump calls U.S. support for NATO "ridiculous" and the relationship "one-sided" days before the alliance's 32 member states gather for a summit in Ankara.
Source: Euronews
July 3, 2026
Trump says he gave Iran "a week off" for Khamenei's funeral because "we're nice" as millions chanting revenge on the U.S. open the largest state funeral in Iran's history.
Source: CBS News
July 3, 2026
Iowa restores SNAP recipients' ability to buy soda and candy after a federal court rules the food-restriction waivers violate the federal definition of food.
Source: The Iowa Capital Dispatch
July 3, 2026
Trump pardons six unnamed people imprisoned for disabling vehicle pollution controls, claiming they were persecuted for "fixing their car."
Source: USA Today
July 3, 2026
The Justice Department urges state attorneys general to investigate gas price "gouging" after Trump complains prices are not falling fast enough from war-driven highs.
Source: UPI
July 3, 2026
A New Orleans special prosecutor refuses to withdraw the arrest warrant for Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill despite a state Supreme Court stay of her 16-count indictment.
Source: KADN Lafayette
July 3, 2026
A medical examiner's report shows Camp East Montana staff dismissed a detainee's suicide attempt as manipulation and repeatedly skipped his antipsychotic drugs before his death, ruled a homicide.
Source: The Texas Tribune
July 3, 2026
Extreme heat sends 11 Great American State Fair attendees to hospitals, seven needing advanced life support, as organizers delay Trump's Saturday July Fourth celebration.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
July 3, 2026
New Jersey begins enforcing fines up to $25,000 against group homes that abuse or neglect residents with disabilities, with penalties funding quality improvements.
Source: The New Jersey Monitor
July 3, 2026