Senate Democrats pushed through approval of a $740 billion economic package Sunday, bringing a hard-fought victory on climate, healthcare and taxes to the Biden administration. The action sends the measure to the house following 27 hours of debate and a tie-breaker vote from Vice President Kamala Harris. The package authorizes the largest surge of spending in U.S. history to tackle climate change with roughly $370 billion set aside to reduce emissions by 40% by the end of the decade. While Democrats battled off Republican amendments, they also denied amendments from Sen. Bernie Sanders, including an amendment to expand the child tax credit. Despite the overall wins for Democrats, Republicans did succeed in voting down a cap on the price of insulin in the private market.

China extended military drills near Taiwan for the fifth day as tensions mount between the two countries. The drills came in the wake of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last week, marking a significant turning point in China-U.S. relations. China’s People’s Liberation Army said the exercises tested its long-range air and ground strikes as Taiwan’s official news agency reported Taiwan’s army will conduct live-fire artillery drills in response. Air traffic around Taiwan returned to normal after Taiwan reopened its airspace Monday after the drills led to some flight cancellations over the weekend.

A jury ruled that far-right radio personality Alex Jones must pay $49.3 million in damages to the family of one of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre for saying the country’s deadliest school shooting was a hoax. Jones had previously been found liable for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress against the family. Jones’ lawyer could face his own legal consequences after accidentally giving a digital copy of Jones’ phone records to the family’s lawyers.

President Joe Biden will visit eastern Kentucky to survey the damage from last week’s flash flooding that killed more than three dozen people. The state faced the threat of more heavy rain and flash flooding over the weekend with up to 2 inches of rain within one to three hours predicted. Firefighters rescued at least 19 people in Denver, Colo., from flash flooding as the city saw a surge of rain storms Sunday. U.S. cities are facing more frequent and extreme precipitation as a warming atmosphere supercharges weather-related disasters, and aging infrastructure appears to be increasingly outmatched against the threat.

Some big U.S. companies are saying hiring is becoming easier, with employers in hard-hit sectors like hospitality, retail and healthcare reporting an easing in hiring challenges despite an overall tight job market. The rigid labor market pushed wages up across the board but not enough to combat inflation, forcing many workers to seek second jobs and increase hours to pay for normal expenses. Lower-income households are struggling more deeply with inflation despite the resilient job market as richer households spend more and push prices up. A hot July jobs report will likely force the Federal Reserve to continue raising interest rates to temper inflation and cool the labor market.

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