Good morning, and welcome to RedState's "Morning Minute" — a brief glimpse at which stories are trending at the moment and a look ahead at what the day may bring. Consider this your one-stop shop for news to kickstart your day. 

TOP O' THE MORNIN'

The Look on Jill Biden's Face During Joe's Speech Says Everything

But now Jill is going to have to learn how to cope without being in the limelight, and no one is more deserving of that fall from power.

What WAS That?

Biden has delivered angry speeches, he’s delivered divisive speeches where he calls half of the electorate enemies of democracy, he’s dropped remarks that he’s plagiarized from others, but this… this was a nothing speech.

Report: Leak Reveals More About Why Obama Hasn't Endorsed Harris

But the Kamala pick undercut that whole idea. According to this "source," Obama is "furious" that things haven't gone his way. 

WHAT'S ON TAP?

Today on Capitol Hill...

It's been a busy week on the Hill, between hearings related to the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, the address by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and all manner of "useful idiots" protesting in and around the Capitol and defacing and damaging property (though not facing meaningful consequences for same). There are only a handful of hearings on Thursday, such as: 

• House Agriculture, Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development Subcommittee — “Reauthorizing the CFTC: Stakeholder Perspectives”
• House Oversight and Accountability, Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation Subcommittee — “Enhancing Cybersecurity by Eliminating Inconsistent Regulations”
• Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs — Hearings to examine advancing national security through export controls, investment security, and the Defense Production Act
• Senate Foreign Relations — To receive a closed briefing on international support for Russia's war in Ukraine

White House What's Up

President Lame Duck Joe Biden will receive his Daily Brief, then meet with Netanyahu in the Oval Office in the early afternoon, followed by a meeting with the families of American hostages held by Hamas. Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will also host an early afternoon festival of falsehoods press briefing.

Full Court Press...

Nothing of note in the courts today...but you just never know when an interesting development might crop up — after Hunter Biden's legal team received a scorching blow late Wednesday from the judge in his California tax case, it will be interesting to see how they respond. 

MORNING MUSING

I spent much of Wednesday listening to FBI Director Christopher Wray testify before the House Judiciary Committee regarding (mostly) the assassination attempt on former President Trump. I noted this in some of my reporting on the issue, but the Wray we saw Wednesday was quite a bit different from the Wray we've seen previously — he actually appeared forthright in many of his answers and was far more informative than former Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle was in her testimony on Monday. Here's my working theory on that: I think this happens to be a situation where the FBI knows this colossal failure wasn't on them, and they, for once, aren't in the crosshairs. In this chapter, the FBI gets to come in and play the good guy, helping to investigate the crime itself while facing very little blowback. Maybe. 

LIGHTER FARE 

Now, that's a bargain. 

America Offers To Trade All Of Its Communists For Democratic Protesters In Hong Kong https://t.co/twreNrLb7C

— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) July 25, 2024