DOGE loses control over government grants website, freeing up billions
A torn image of Elon Musk is seen along Independence Avenue SW in Washington. (Matt McClain/The Post)
By Dan Diamond and Hannah Natanson
Read more at Washington Post
1 big thing: Unprecedented new precedents
Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios
“Through silence or vocal support, House and Senate Republicans are backing an extraordinary set of new precedents for presidential power they may come to regret if and when Democrats seize those same powers.
Why it matters: New precedents are exhilarating when you're in power — and excruciating when you're not, Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen write in a "Behind the Curtain" column.
Here are 10 new precedents, all established with minimal GOP dissent, being set by President Trump + Congress + courts:
Presidents can limit the classified information they share with lawmakers after bombing a foreign country without the approval of Congress.
Presidents can usurp Congress's power to levy tariffs, provided they declare a national emergency.
Presidents can unilaterally freeze spending approved by Congress, and dismantle or fire the heads of independent agencies established by law.
Presidents can take control of a state's National Guard, even if the governor opposes it, and occupy the state for as long as said president wants.
Presidents can accept gifts from foreign nations, as large as a $200 million plane, even if it's unclear whether said president gets to keep the plane at the end of the term.
Presidents can actively profit from their time in office, including creating new currencies structured to allow foreign nationals to invest anonymously, benefiting said president.
Presidents can try to browbeat the Federal Reserve into cutting interest rates, including by floating replacements for the Fed chair before their term is up.
Presidents can direct the Justice Department to prosecute their political opponents and punish critics. These punishments can include stripping Secret Service protections, suing them and threatening imprisonment.
Presidents can punish media companies, law firms and universities that don't share their viewpoints or values.
Presidents can aggressively pardon supporters, including those who made large political donations as part of their bid for freedom. The strength of the case in said pardons is irrelevant.
Today's headlines. Wall Street Journal: "Justices Curb Power of Courts."
Between the lines: Yesterday's Supreme Court ruling limiting nationwide injunctions — a decision widely celebrated by Republicans — underscores the risks of partisan precedent-setting.
Conservatives sped to the courts to block many of President Biden's signature policies — and succeeded.
But taking those broad injunctions off the table now means they'll also be unavailable the next time a Democratic president pushes an aggressive agenda.
That future president will be able to keep implementing even legally shaky policies — just as Trump now can.
What to watch: Trump previewed some of those policies at a celebratory press conference yesterday, saying the Supreme Court's ruling cleared the way for executive actions that had been ‘wrongly enjoined on a nationwide basis.’
They include ending birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants, terminating funding for ‘sanctuary cities,’ suspending refugee resettlement, and blocking the use of federal funds for gender-affirming care.” [Axios]
By Bethany Irvine
The high court handed down several rulings to day as it wrapped up it's final official decision day. | Mark Wilson/Getty Images
“The Supreme Court cleared the deck today as the justices wrapped up the final official decision day, handing down six rulings and delivering President Donald Trump a major victory as he seeks to carry out his domestic agenda.
Nationwide injunctions
The decision: In a big win for Trump, the court ruled in favor of the administration’s request to narrow the scope of nationwide injunctions imposed by judges that blocked his executive order intended to end the right to birthright citizenship. In the 6-3 vote along ideological lines the court ‘sharply curtailed the power of individual district court judges to issue injunctions blocking federal government policies nationwide,’ POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein reports.
The justices said that in most cases, ‘judges can only grant relief to the individuals or groups who brought a particular lawsuit and may not extend those decisions to protect other individuals without going through the process of converting a lawsuit into a class action.’ Left untouched — at least for now — was the legality of Trump’s order.
The opinion: ‘The universal injunction was conspicuously nonexistent for most of our Nation’s history,’ Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote in the majority opinion, adding that the nationwide injunctions apply ‘only to the extent that the injunctions are broader than necessary.’
The dissent: ‘The Court’s decision to permit the Executive to violate the Constitution with respect to anyone who has not yet sued is an existential threat to the rule of law,’ Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote. Notably, Justice Sonia Sotomayor read her own portion of the dissenting opinion aloud in court for 19 minutes, in a ‘signal of the gravity of her concern and the importance of the case,’ Josh writes.
The reaction: The White House was quick to celebrate the win. Trump dropped into the briefing room for an impromptu news conference shortly after the ruling, where he said he was ‘grateful’ to the court ‘for stepping in and solving this very … complex issue and making it very simple.’ Trump also heaped praise on Barrett — who has recently come under fire from the right — noting her decision was ‘brilliantly written.’
What’s next: ‘It's very possible that nothing has changed re: nationwide injunction on birthright citizenship,’ POLITICO’s Kyle Cheney points out. ‘While the court broadly limited nationwide injunctions, it said states may still be entitled to them if it’s necessary for complete relief. Two of the birthright cases were brought by states, who argued they needed nationwide relief because patchwork citizenship rules would be devastating when people move from state to state. If district courts agree, then the nationwide injunctions will remain in place.’
And the majority opinion ‘provides no clear roadmap except to say that the executive order ‘shall not take effect until 30 days after the date of this opinion,’ POLITICO’s Ankush Khardori notes. ‘The absence of clear guidance on this point is likely to generate even more disputes — not the least of which is how the administration is going to enforce the executive order while at the same time defending the executive order against the states’ pending challenges.’
Obamacare coverage
The decision: In another 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court preserved the provision of the Affordable Care Act that requires insurance companies to cover preventive health services at no cost to patients, POLITICO’s Alice Miranda Ollstein and colleagues report.
The analysis: ‘Health policy experts and patient advocates who expressed relief that the Trump administration opted to defend Obamacare remain concerned that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other officials will now deploy that power to reshape what services must be covered by insurance without copays’ and ‘could also empower Kennedy to overhaul other advisory panels at HHS,’ our colleagues write.
LGBTQ+ lessons
The decision: In another 6-3 ruling, the high court sided with a group of parents who opted to remove their children from classes that include books with LGBTQ+ themes. The decision comes after a group of Muslim, Christian and Jewish parents sued Marylans’s Montgomery County Board of Education after the board prevented parents from removing their elementary school children from lessons citing religious reasons. More from POLITICO’s Bianca Quilantan
And more …
Victory for FCC broadband fund: SCOTUS ‘upheld the constitutionality of a multibillion-dollar fund used to expand telephone and broadband services,’ POLITICO’s John Hendel and Josh Gerstein write. ‘It’s also a rare win at the Supreme Court for agency power, as the court’s conservative majority — which is often skeptical of independent agencies — passed up an opportunity to further weaken the administrative state.’
Louisiana in limbo: SCOTUS punted on a case challenging Louisiana’s redrawn congressional map, requesting that it be reargued. It will likely be picked up again in the fall when the court returns from summer recess. ‘Because of the state’s election timeline, it isn’t immediately clear what map will be in use for the midterms,’ POLITICO’s Andrew Howard notes. Primaries in the state are currently set for April.
Deep in the heart: The court, in a 6-3 vote, sided with Texas AG Ken Paxton today — upholding a state law that requires porn sites to verify that their visitors are 18 or older, rejecting a First Amendment challenge, per Josh.
More action on the way: ‘Chief Justice John Roberts announced from the bench that the court plans to issue orders next week on Monday and Thursday,’ Josh writes. ‘Monday’s orders are likely to include grants of review from a conference the justices held yesterday. Thursday’s will likely address cases impacted by the decisions handed down this week.’” [POLITICO]
Republicans racing through reconciliation
“Welcome to The Readback, our weekend digest featuring the best of Punchbowl News this week – a quick roundup of all our scoops, analysis and Capitol Hill insight you won’t find anywhere else. We’ve also included a few of our favorite outside reads from the week.
Republicans are in the middle of a whirlwind rush to get their reconciliation bill to President Donald Trump’s desk by July 4.
At every turn, GOP leaders have drawn on the power of deadlines to force the legislation carrying Trump’s legislative agenda another step forward. Now we’ll see if they can pass the final test.
But first, let’s recap. There was a ton of news this week on two crucial fronts as Republican leaders push to close out the key sticking points on their bill in both the Senate and House.
Medicaid: One of the biggest questions going into this week was what Senate GOP leaders would do to try to win over moderates up in arms over their steep provider tax crackdown.
But the situation only blew up when senators got to town on Monday night. My colleague (and fellow Philadelphia Eagles fan!) Andrew Desiderio scooped that Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) railed against the Medicaid cuts during a private meeting and even handed out a flier to emphasize his point. Some senators who hadn’t slammed the text publicly began airing concerns privately.
Amid all the uproar, Senate GOP leaders worked toward a fix. The Senate Finance Committee began circulating a plan on Wednesday for a $15 billion fund providing relief for rural hospitals that could see painful cuts under the Medicaid plan.
But moderate holdouts weren’t satisfied with that number. By late Thursday, we heard they were homing in on another change — delaying the deeper Medicaid cuts in the bill so they set in later. Senate Republican leaders also started looking at putting more money toward the rural hospital fund.
The twists and turns weren’t over yet. Then, the Senate parliamentarian ruled against the provider tax language, which means it doesn’t meet reconciliation rules. Republicans can’t afford to lose the spending cuts and keep conservatives in line.
So Senate Republicans had to go back to the parliamentarian with new language, as they kept working on political fixes, too.
The series of hurdles that came up for Republicans this week only underscored the harsh realities of reconciliation in the Senate.
Reconciliation is an attractive tool when a party wins a trifecta in Washington — controlling the Senate, House and White House — because it removes the one barrier to the majority’s will, the Senate filibuster. But to get that benefit, the Senate has to meet a strict and obscure set of rules.
SALT: The other big dealmaking this week was over the state-and-local-tax deduction.
SALT has been one of the most divisive and raucous issues for Republicans in the reconciliation process. Seven House Republicans from New York, California and New Jersey are demanding a cap higher than the current $10,000 deduction limit, which crushes their districts. But most of the GOP represents low-tax areas that aren’t impacted much by the cap.
GOP senators were threatening to jam the House with a much lower SALT cap, putting a $10,000 limit in their bill to make the point that the blue-state crew would have to negotiate. The SALT backers vowed not to, but this week they gave in and negotiated.
We broke the news that SALT Caucus members were meeting with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday morning.
The talks quickly hit a feverish pace and most of the SALT backers got quiet, a perennial sign a deal is close.
Almost all the SALT members then struck a deal on Friday with Treasury and the White House to keep the House’s $40,000 SALT cap for five years, then revert to a $10,000 limit. They also agreed to drop a crackdown on SALT cap workarounds. We brought you all the details here.
Nothing’s final until it’s final. But SALT made a huge leap this week. Ultimately, most of the SALT backers caved on permanence and took a short-term cap increase.
The politics. Both Medicaid and SALT are big issues for the reconciliation bill itself. But when it’s over, we’ll be watching how the political dust settles too.
The provider tax crackdown is a tough pill to swallow for many of the most vulnerable Republicans up for reelection next year. Democrats will make Medicaid cuts a fixture of their midterm campaigns.
SALT is essential for blue-state Republicans back home, and they know it. Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) broke with his colleagues and is opposing the latest deal on the cap. That will vex his fellow New Yorkers.
‘We’ve bitched and moaned about $10K,’ LaLota said. ‘How in the world can somebody like me vote for the very thing I’ve been bitching about for three years?’” [Punchbowl]
Attacks on Muslims flood mainstream
Zohran Mamdani speaks during his victory party in the Queens borough of New York City early June 25, 2025. Photo: Barry Williams/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
“Zohran Mamdani's victory in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary triggered a wave of Islamophobic attacks — including from sitting members of Congress — that once might have disqualified the perpetrators from public office.
Why it matters: Openly racist rhetoric has become normalized at the highest levels of American politics, Axios' Russell Contreras reports.
Between the lines: The fractured media ecosystem — splintered into hyperpartisan echo chambers — has made the public shaming of racism less effective.
Attacks that once would have drawn bipartisan outrage now circulate with impunity — especially on social media platforms, where hate can go viral.
Driving the news: Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) urged the Justice Department to denaturalize and deport Mamdani, who was born in Uganda and became a U.S. citizen in 2018.
Under federal law, denaturalization is an extreme measure typically reserved for cases involving fraud during the naturalization process.
‘Zohran 'little muhammad' Mamdani is an antisemitic, socialist, communist who will destroy the great City of New York. He needs to be DEPORTED,’ Ogles posted on X.
The big picture: Islamophobic and antisemitic incidents both reached an all-time high in 2024, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Anti-Defamation League, respectively.
The mainstreaming of Islamophobic rhetoric in political discourse comes a decade after President Trump called for ‘a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States’ as part of his 2016 campaign.
Catch up quick: Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist, defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo by assembling a young, multiracial coalition in one of the nation's largest and most diverse cities.
That coalition included progressive Jewish voters in Manhattan, college-educated liberals in Brooklyn's Park Slope and working-class communities in Queens.
MAGA activists and Republican lawmakers took to social media to attack Mamdani's faith, heritage and left-wing politics.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) posted an AI-generated image of the Statue of Liberty wearing a black burqa.
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) tied Mamdani's victory to what she called America's ‘forgetting’ of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
‘Wow. Just wow,’ James Zogby, co-founder of the Arab American Institute, told Axios after reviewing the posts.” [Axios]
No One Is in Charge at the US Copyright Office
BY KATE KNIBBS | 5-MINUTE READ
“During a wild time for copyright law, the US Copyright Office has no one at the helm—and no one knows when that will change.” [Wired]
INTERNATIONAL
“Abroad: Portugal doubled the amount of time most foreigners need to be legal residents before applying for citizenship to 10 years thanks to pressure from the far right to reduce immigration. Germany is moving closer to suspending family reunification for migrants who do not qualify for full refugee status. Greece will deploy ships near Libya to stem migrant flows.” [Reuters]
Russia will cut military spending, Putin says
“What did he say? Vladimir Putin’s remarks come after a NATO meeting this week where allies agreed to raise their collective spending goal to 5% of GDP over the next 10 years, citing a long-term threat posed by Russia. The West likely will greet Putin’s comments on reduced spending with extreme skepticism.
Ukraine and beyond: Kyiv is taking its struggle against Russia to Africa of all places. It also asked the EU to sanction Bangladeshi entities that it says are importing wheat taken from Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia. And Trump said he might send more Patriot missiles to Ukraine.” [Reuters]
“Kenya’s interior minister accused protesters of trying to overthrow the government after several people were killed in demonstrations.
China’s practice of securing loans to low-income nations through commodities revenue and cash is hurting their ability to manage their finances, a study says.
Japan hanged “Twitter killer” Takahiro Shiraishi in its first execution since 2022.
Cultural appropriation on the runway: Prada’s new expensive sandals sparked a furor in India given their obvious resemblance to handmade Kohlapuri slippers. The owner’s son and Prada’s corporate social responsibility chief acknowledged the connection.
Period issues, including loss of menstruation can signal serious health concerns. Learn how hypothalamic amenorrhea affects the fertility, bodies and minds of seemingly healthy people. Sign up for our Health Rounds newsletter for more stories like this one.
A Tempranillo setback: British tariff rules are hampering Spanish exporters’ red-wine sales to their biggest market.
The Jeff Bezos-Lauren Sanchez wedding is all the rage in Venice. Literally.
If you’re looking for classic rock that’s even more ancient than the Rolling Stones, go to Quebec, where tests found that a belt of volcanic rock is more than 4 billion years old.” [Reuters]
‘Turning Point’
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (center) hosts a peace agreement signing with Congolese Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner (right) and Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe (left) at the U.S. State Department in Washington on June 27.Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
“Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo signed a landmark U.S.-brokered peace deal on Friday that aims to end their devastating decades-long conflict.
‘This is an important moment after 30 years of war,’ U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during the signing in Washington, with Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe calling it a ‘turning point’ in the conflict. Since fighting first broke out in the 1990s, roughly 6 million people have been killed and another 7 million displaced.
Fighting first began following the end of the Rwandan genocide in 1994, when Hutu extremists fled into neighboring Congo to continue their attacks on Rwanda’s Tutsis. Such assaults ultimately led to the First and Second Congo Wars, during which Congolese troops accused Rwandan fighters of targeting Hutu civilians and looting Congo’s lucrative resources.
Today, Kinshasa as well as the United Nations and Western powers accuse Kigali of backing one such rebel group: M23. M23 maintains that it is defending the rights of Congolese Tutsis, but many experts suggest that the organization is a front for Rwanda’s larger territorial and resource ambitions. Kigali has sent thousands of troops over the border into eastern Congo to support M23; however, Kigali insists that the troops are not there in support of M23 but rather are acting in self-defense against Congolese forces and ethnic Hutu militia fighters.
Years of fighting have led to what the United Nations has called ‘one of the most protracted, complex, serious humanitarian crises on Earth,’ as consistent warfare has created a power vacuum in eastern Congo that some have feared could catalyze a larger regional war. Violence escalated in January, when M23 launched a new offensive, seizing the strategic cities of Goma and later Bukavu in an effort to march on the Congolese capital of Kinshasa.
Past peace efforts have largely failed. Both the African Union and Qatar have led peace talks, to little success. The European Union cut military aid to Rwanda in February to try to force Kigali to quell its support for M23, and that month, the United States also imposed sweeping sanctions on key Rwandan army officials.
‘Until the international community recognizes Rwanda’s cavalier meddling in Congo and the violence and human suffering it has unleashed, lasting peace will forever remain elusive—not just in Congo, but also in Central Africa writ large,’ Milain Fayulu and Jeffrey Smith argued in Foreign Policy at the time.
Friday’s deal aims to change that. Under the agreement, the two countries pledge to implement a 2024 deal that would see Rwanda withdraw its forces from eastern Congo within 90 days, according to Reuters, as well as launch a regional economic integration framework within 90 days and a joint security coordination mechanism within 30 days. Congolese military actions against the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, a Congo-based armed group that includes remnants of Rwanda’s former army and militias that carried out the 1994 genocide, would also end within 90 days.
The deal also enables the U.S. government and U.S. companies to gain access to Congo’s critical minerals at a time when Washington and Beijing are competing for influence in Africa. Congo has one of the world’s largest coltan and cobalt reserves and contains extensive reservoirs of gold, tantalum, tin, and tungsten—all of which are essential for technology manufacturing.
Still, some worry that the deal is too little, too late. ‘Some wounds will heal, but they will never fully disappear,’ Congolese Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner warned on Friday. ‘Those who have suffered the most are watching. They are expecting this agreement to be respected, and we cannot fail them.’” [Foreign Policy]
“LGBTQ+ crackdown. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban warned citizens on Friday that those who organize or attend a Budapest Pride event this weekend will face ‘legal consequences,’ with organizers facing up to one year in prison and attendees potentially subject to a $580 fine.
Last March, Hungary’s parliament, dominated by Orban’s far-right Fidesz party, passed legislation allowing police to ban locals from attending LGBTQ+ marches on the grounds of ‘child protection.’ The law also allows Hungarian authorities to use facial recognition software to identify people who attend these events.
Last week, police explicitly banned the Budapest gathering, with Fidesz lawmakers arguing that the country’s Christian conservative agenda supersedes people’s right to freedom of assembly. However, liberal Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony has chosen to go through with the event, with the backing of more than 30 countries and the European Union. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on Hungarian authorities this week to allow the march, and Belgium issued a new travel advisory on Friday for those visiting Hungary.” [Foreign Policy]
“Rare-earth deal. The United States and China have resolved a long-running dispute concerning rare-earth shipments, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Friday. Under the deal, which was signed on Wednesday, China will expedite export applications of controlled items; Beijing suspended rare-earth deliveries to the United States in May after Trump imposed a slew of hefty tariffs on China.
As part of the agreement, Washington agreed to de-escalate the U.S.-China trade war by reducing its duties on Beijing once China’s rare-earth shipments begin anew; however, a statement by the Chinese Commerce Ministry did not explicitly mention rare earths.
The deal is the result of several weeks of negotiations, with Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping speaking over the phone in early June before top U.S. and Chinese officials convened for meetings in London and Geneva. Experts expect the agreement to help normalize supply chains for automakers, the aerospace industry, and semiconductor manufacturers.
The White House trumpeted the deal as a victory, while China’s Commerce Ministry said it hoped that both countries could ‘continuously enhance consensus, reduce misunderstandings, strengthen cooperation, and jointly promote the healthy, stable, and sustainable development of China-U.S. economic and trade relations.’” [Foreign Policy]
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
Trump says he’s ‘terminating’ all trade discussions with Canada
“President Donald Trump said Friday he is ‘terminating’ all trade discussions with Canada, effective immediately, citing the country’s digital services tax.
‘We have just been informed that Canada, a very difficult Country to TRADE with … has just announced that they are putting a Digital Services Tax on our American Technology Companies, which is a direct and blatant attack on our Country,’ Trump said in a Truth Social post.
He accused the country of copying the European Union, ‘which has done the same thing, and is currently under discussion with us.’
Based on the Digital Services Tax he wrote, the U.S. was ‘hereby terminating ALL discussions’ on trade with Canada.
He added that he’d announce tariff levels on Canada within the next seven days.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Trump had previously agreed to secure a new economic and security deal by July 16, in which Canada was hoping Trump would lift tariffs on the country.
Canada’s Digital Services Tax, which imposes a 3 percent tax on large foreign and domestic digital companies that make over C$20 million in revenue, is expected to come into force on Saturday.
The tax applies to certain Canadian profits that companies make from online advertising, social media, online marketplaces and the sale and licensing of user data.
The prime minister’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. But earlier this week, a Canadian official told POLITICO two meetings were scheduled with U.S. officials to discuss a deal.”
Read the latest at POLITICO
TECH
Emotional support bot
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
“People who talk to Anthropic's Claude chatbot about emotional issues tend to grow more positive as the conversation unfolds, Axios' Megan Morrone writes from new Anthropic research.
Why it matters: Having a trusted confidant available 24/7 can make people feel less alone. But chatbots weren't designed for emotional support.
Bots have displayed troubling tendencies — like reinforcing delusional behavior or encouraging self-harm — that are especially problematic for young people or adults struggling with their mental health.
Zoom in: ‘We find that when people come to Claude for interpersonal advice, they're often navigating transitional moments — figuring out their next career move, working through personal growth, or untangling romantic relationships,’ Anthropic's report says.
‘People express increasing positivity over the course of conversations ... suggesting Claude doesn't reinforce or amplify negative patterns.’
By the numbers: Anthropic found that AI companionship isn't fully replacing the real thing anytime soon. Most people still use Claude for work and content creation.
A small share (2.9%) of interactions with Claude were personal exchanges motivated by emotional or psychological needs.
Companionship and roleplay combined were just 0.5%.” [Axios]
HEALTH AND MEDICINE
CNN
A small syringe with a big impact
“Respiratory Syncytial Virus, or RSV, is the most common cause for babies to be hospitalized, but Sanofi is one of a few companies producing a shot that can help prevent this potentially severe illness.
The injection, called Beyfortus, is one of two new forms of protection against RSV, along with a vaccine that recently came out for pregnant moms. CNN’s Meg Tirrell got an inside look at the facilities producing the shot, which contains antibodies that block RSV’s ability to infect cells.
A tiny purple syringe holds the dose for the youngest babies, and thanks to the shot, hospitalization rates for RSV dropped by over half last season, according to the CDC.” [CNN]
CULTURE
Jeff Bezos weds Lauren Sánchez in controversial Venice ceremony
“Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos and former TV journalist Lauren Sánchez are officially married following a star-studded wedding celebration.”
READ MORE at USA Today
1 for the road: The Bezoses
Left: Vogue Magazine via X. Right: Jeff Bezos leaves the Aman Hotel in Venice, Italy, yesterday. Photo: Ernesto Ruscio/GC Images via Getty Images
“Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez tied the knot in front of Fortune 100 CEOs, superstar athletes and Hollywood royalty on Venice's secluded San Giorgio Maggiore island last night.
Paparazzi spotted Oprah Winfrey, Kim Kardashian, Ivanka Trump, Tom Brady, Bill Gates, Queen Rania of Jordan, Leonardo DiCaprio and many other A-listers riding through Venice's canals to the ceremony, AP reports.
Stunning stat: Luca Zaia, president of the Veneto region, was first to give an estimated tally for the bash. He told reporters this week the most recent total he saw was between 40 million and 48 million euros (up to $56 million).
The logistical hurdles that come with planning such a huge event in Venice mean it will cost triple what the same wedding would cost in Rome or Florence, Jack Ezon, CEO of Embark Beyond, a luxury travel company, told AP.” [Axios]