Friday, July 3, 2026

Good Morning! On this day in 1775, George Washington formally took command of the Continental Army at Cambridge Common in Massachusetts. He accepted the role without pay, asking only to be reimbursed for his expenses.

Did you know America also declared independence from the King's English? Today's edition looks at how we ended up spelling things our own way, from "honor" to "center," thanks largely to one stubborn dictionary maker named Noah Webster. We have details below.

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New Rule Targets $1.1 Billion in Drug Markups

The Trump administration proposed a rule Thursday to stop hospitals from marking up discounted drugs for Medicare patients, projecting $1.1 billion in savings for consumers next year.

The current 340B program lets hospitals serving low-income patients buy drugs at steep discounts, then bill insurers far more. One prostate cancer drug costs hospitals about $700 per dose but brings in roughly $5,000.

The program now spans more than 40% of U.S. hospitals. The average senior on Medicare Part B who receives one of these drugs would save about $800 a year in co-payments.

Trump's first administration attempted a similar cut, but the Supreme Court struck it down in 2022. The new rule would take effect in January.

Vatican Excommunicates 6 Rebel Bishops

The Vatican excommunicated six bishops of the ultraconservative Society of Saint Pius X on Thursday after the group consecrated four new bishops, one American, without Pope Leo XIV's approval.

The breakaway society rejected 1960s reforms that swapped Latin Mass for local languages and opened the church to other faiths. Some 15,000 supporters watched the five-hour unsanctioned consecration ceremony, complete with $92.50 commemorative wine boxes.

Pope Leo, the first American pope, had begged the group to "please turn back," calling the plan a "sin of extreme gravity."

The Vatican also invalidated confessions and marriages performed by the society's roughly 700 priests and warned that formal supporters face excommunication too. Its American branch, headquartered in Kansas, claims 25,000 adherents.

Ranking: America's Economy, State by State

The United States economy has grown to nearly $31 trillion, by far the largest in the world, and just six states generate almost half of it, according to a new analysis of federal data.

California leads the pack with $4.3 trillion in output, nearly 14% of the national total. Texas ($2.9 trillion), New York ($2.5 trillion), Florida ($1.8 trillion), Illinois ($1.2 trillion), and Pennsylvania ($1.1 trillion) round out the trillion-dollar club.

The breakdown shows how regional strengths, from Silicon Valley tech to Texas energy, keep the economy diversified as America nears its 250th birthday. See how your state ranks here.

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The following stories are featured exclusively on The Flyover Podcast—a daily show that gives you the most important headlines in under 15 minutes. Clicking the links will take you directly to these stories:

➤ Trump Accounts launch on the Fourth of July with a $1,000 federal deposit, though most eligible families have yet to enroll. (Hear Details)

➤ Wisconsin school officials barred a graduating senior from including a Bible verse in the ceremony slideshow. (Hear Episode)

➤ Brooklyn bodegas are openly selling an experimental weight-loss drug over the counter, despite a federal ban on its commercial sale. (Listen Now)

➤ Former CIA Director John Brennan sued the Trump administration, seeking a court order requiring officials to preserve records from two federal investigations targeting him. (More)

➤ A federal judge blocked the U.S. Postal Service's proposed mail-in voting restrictions nationwide, ruling they violated a 2021 settlement with the NAACP requiring expedited ballot delivery. (More)

➤ President Trump vowed to deliver a "really long" speech at Saturday's Salute to America celebration despite predicting 107-degree heat, saying he wants to show he "can do anything." (More)

➤ Fewer than half of Democrats, 45%, say they are proud to be American, compared with 93% of Republicans, according to a Marist poll released ahead of July 4. (More)

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➤ NASCAR returns to Chicagoland Speedway this weekend for the first time in seven years, headlined by Sunday's eero 400 Cup Series race on TNT. The action kicks off tonight with the ARCA Menards Series Ashley Furniture 150. (See Schedule)

➤ LeBron James is in talks to film his entire 2026-27 season as a documentary or episodic series in what’s expected to be his 24th and potentially final NBA campaign. James confirmed this week that he's leaving the Lakers and is willing to take a minimum deal to join a title contender. (More)

➤ Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero homered for the sixth straight game this week, becoming the youngest player in over a century to accomplish the feat at just 22 years old. (More)

➤ The John Deere Classic is underway at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois, with second-round play continuing today. It’s the last PGA Tour event in the U.S. before heading overseas for the Genesis Scottish Open and The Open Championship. (See Leaderboard)

➤ Yesterday’s Results: World Cup | Wimbledon | MLB | WNBA | Golf

➤ Wednesday night's USMNT win over Bosnia and Herzegovina drew 24.4 million viewers on Fox, making it the most-watched English-language soccer broadcast in American history. The audience peaked at nearly 32 million. (More)

➤ U.S. midfielder Weston McKennie went viral on social media for blasting country music on the team bus following their 2-0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina. His exhausted teammates seem reluctant at first to sing along, but eventually the whole bus joins in. (See Video)

➤ USMNT striker Folarin Balogun will miss Monday's Belgium match after a controversial red card against Bosnia for stepping on a defender's ankle. FIFA rules offer no appeal for a one-game red card suspension, leaving the Americans without their leading scorer. (More)

➤ Three World Cup Round of 32 matches are on today's schedule: Australia-Egypt at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Argentina-Cape Verde in Miami, and Colombia-Ghana in Kansas City, all on Fox. (See Schedule)

Daily Market Report 07/02/2026

▼	NASDAQ National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations	25,832.67	-0.80%
▲	SPX S&P 500	7,483.24	0.00%
▲	DJI Dow Jones Industrial Average	52,900.07	1.14%
▲	BTC Bitcoin	$61,357.02	2.26%
▲	GOLD Per Ounce	$4,133.00	1.59%
▲	SILVER Per Ounce	$61.31	2.04%
▼	OIL West Texas Intermediate Crude	$68.48	-0.15%
▲	RIVN Rivian Automotive Inc.	$18.63	+8.44%

Bitcoin, gold, silver, and oil are traded 24 hours a day.

➤ Big Stock Move: Rivian shares surged almost 9% Thursday after the electric vehicle maker raised its 2026 delivery forecast, citing stronger-than-expected demand for its new R2 SUV and delivery vans. (See Details)

➤ U.S. employers added 57,000 jobs in June, well below the 115,000 economists expected, though the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.2%. (More)

➤ Tesla delivered a second-quarter record 480,126 vehicles, topping Wall Street estimates by roughly 74,000 and marking 25% growth year over year. (More)

➤ Microsoft is committing $2.5 billion and 6,000 employees to a new unit, Microsoft Frontier Company, that will embed engineers inside client businesses to speed AI adoption. (More)

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➤ A "once-in-a-generation" expedition will survey the sunken ships of polar rivals Ernest Shackleton and Robert Falcon Scott this month, using deep-sea vehicles to create "digital twins" of both wrecks. (See Details)

➤ The sun fired off 10 flares in 24 hours, launching solar storms that could push the northern lights as far south as New York and Idaho over the July Fourth weekend. (See Forecast)

➤ Humans naturally drift left when wandering, according to a new study. The counterclockwise bias held from Spain to Japan, and researchers still can't explain why. (More)

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Friday Entertainment is brought to you by:

➤ Oscar-winning filmmaker Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ will return to theaters in September in a newly restored 4K version ahead of the 2027 release of The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One. (More)

➤ Canada will make its Eurovision Song Contest debut in 2027 after joining the European Broadcasting Union, becoming the first new participating country since Australia entered the competition in 2015. (More)

➤ The British Museum's upcoming exhibition of the 11th-century Bayeux Tapestry, the embroidered masterpiece depicting the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, sold out in just over 24 hours, marking the museum's biggest single day of ticket sales. (See Tapestry)

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➤ A daredevil couple who got engaged atop the Empire State Building's antenna walked out of court Thursday facing felony charges. Their lawyer's defense: "She didn't say 'no.'" (See Photos)

➤ America's hot dogs vary wildly by region, from Chicago's strict no-ketchup rule to Arizona's bacon-wrapped Sonoran dog. One thing unites the country: Costco's $1.50 combo, unchanged since the 1980s. (See Details)

➤ Thomas Jefferson predicted American English would fully split from Britain's "mother-tongue." It never happened, but Noah Webster's dictionaries set out to give America its own version, including adjusting the spelling of words such as "honour," "favour" and "centre." (See Details)