This week’s guide to government and politics in under 10 minutes

Happy Monday. Due to wildfires, lazy summer days have been replaced with hazy summer days. Stay safe out there. 💨☀️

Arizona will have primary elections tomorrow. 

I CANADIAN WILDFIRES CREATE HEALTH RISKS

Air quality in parts of the U.S. and Canada has reached dangerous levels due a wildfires in Canada. Emergency rooms across the Northeast and northern Midwest have reported a spike in patients, and cities including Detroit have handed out filtration masks. The Air Quality Index (AQI) ranges from 0 to more than 300. Values above 100 are unhealthy for sensitive groups, and values above 151 are increasingly unhealthy for the general public, with values over 300 considered an emergency. The AQI in Washington D.C. reached as high as 295 last week, with some cities reporting an AQI of over 500. Scientists argue that higher temperatures from climate change are playing a large role in the increase in wildfires, as higher temperatures dry out vegetation faster and help fires burn through larger areas. 

>> Dig deeper into how wildfires spread and how we fight them here.

I NEW ICE SHOOTINGS PROMPT POLICY DEBATE

Immigration enforcement agents shot and killed two people last week, raising the total for 2026 to at least 15 shootings involving immigration agents. The latest incidents occurred during vehicle stops in Maine and Texas. Following the shootings, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it would halt vehicle stops for immigration enforcement before reversing that policy at the direction of the White House. DHS also announced plans that arrest teams would be equipped with at least one body camera. No agents at the scenes of the shootings wore body cameras. The agency previously announced plans to expand body camera use after immigration agents killed two U.S. citizens in January, but the policy has not yet been implemented. Border Czar Tom Homan cited a lack of funding to purchase the cameras. The most recent reconciliation bill included $31 billion for immigration enforcement technology, including body cameras, but did not require agents to purchase or wear them. 

>> Understand Constitutional protections related to ICE enforcement operations here.

 I HOUSE VOTES FOR PERMANENT DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME

Last week, the House voted to make daylight saving time permanent nationwide. The proposal would end the biannual ritual of moving clocks forward or backward by one hour. The Sunshine Protection Act passed with a bipartisan majority on a 308-117 vote. It faces an unclear future in the Senate, which adopted a similar measure in 2022. President Donald Trump has said he will sign the bill into law if it makes it to his desk. Critics of the bill argue it would extend morning darkness in winter, raising safety concerns, while supporters argue it would have positive impacts on sleep schedules, people’s health, and the economy. Permanent daylight saving time would push sunrise and sunset times back by an hour. For example, that would mean the sun would set at 6:30 PM on January 15 in Washington, D.C., but wouldn’t rise until 8:25 AM. 

>> Discover more about plans to make daylight saving time permanent here. 

I CDC, FDA NAME CYCLOSPORA SOURCE

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) say they have traced the source of the recent Cyclospora outbreak to a shredded lettuce supplier. The CDC is advising people to avoid eating shredded lettuce at Taco Bell locations in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia. Taco Bell has committed to stop using lettuce from the supplier identified in the FDA’s traceback investigation. There have been more than 5,000 Cyclospora cases identified across more than 30 states since May 1. 

>> Find out more about what Cyclospora is and how to stay safe here.

I DHS THREATENS STATES OVER VOTER ROLLS

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) passed away suddenly on Saturday evening at the age of 71. Senator Graham had just returned from a trip to Ukraine. South Carolina’s Republican Governor Henry McMaster will appoint a new Senator to serve out the remainder of Graham’s term, which ends on January 3. Whoever McMaster appoints is expected to have an advantage in a special August 11 primary election to fill Graham’s place on the November ballot, which he won after beating out five primary challengers in June.

>> See Michael Thorning, Director of Structural Democracy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, explain U.S. election security here. 

The war between the U.S. and Iran has resumed following the collapse of the ceasefire, renewing concerns about prices related to the passage of goods and oil through the Strait of Hormuz. 

Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, says the war has contributed to the affordability concerns people are facing. 

Zandi estimates that, so far, the war has cost the average U.S. household at least $1,000 “through the higher cost of energy, oil, natural gas. And that feeds through to higher gasoline prices.” He warns that other factors, like “the cost to the nation to finance this war, the military costs and everything else,” mean the true total is likely higher.

When it comes to interest rates, Zandi argues “there's a very clear link between the war and higher interest rates. I mean, you can see it in mortgage rates… if you go before the war, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was going for, you know, less than 6%.” And that “we're now at six and three quarters. And that is directly related to the war and related to the increase in inflation.”

According to Zandi, consumers need to adapt to the new economic conditions and avoid dipping into savings to cover higher costs, saying “the best strategy is … to become more judicious in driving that you do and figure out how to get that grocery bill down” because, even if the Iran war ends tomorrow, another economic shock could be just around the corner. 

Watch the full interview here.

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