First Up

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Here's what we're following today:

House Republicans are split over an infrastructure bill that has already won bipartisan approval in the Senate. Most agree on the needs: new money for roads, rail, public transit, broadband and more — instead, the fight is largely over messaging.

The holdup: House GOP members say this bill is linked to a spending package that includes health care, education, climate and child care programs — a separate measure they oppose that has not yet been scheduled for a vote.

Meanwhile, Congress faces two crucial deadlines.

Thursday at midnight: Congress must act by then to extend current spending levels or face a partial government shutdown.
Oct. 18: That's the date Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned the U.S. could run out of cash to pay its bills, leading to the first default in U.S history.
The holdup on both: Senate Republicans blocked a short-term government spending bill that would also raise the debt limit. They want Democrats to use reconciliation — a procedural move that would not need GOP votes.

Death came knocking a last time for the splendid ivory-billed woodpecker and 22 more birds, fish and other species: The U.S. government is declaring them extinct.

The devastating impact of nonfatal firearm injuries in the U.S. has been understudied for decades, with funds for research blocked by the gun lobby and Republican allies in Congress. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that will finally start to change.

Your mail is about to get slower. Under changes announced by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in March, target delivery times will slow by about 30% beginning Friday.

A new study says kids born after 2020 will experience up to seven times more extreme climate events.

Here’s this year’s list of MacArthur "Genius Grant" winners. Among them is NPR’s Daniel Alarcón, writer and producer of the NPR-distributed podcast Radio Ambulante.

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History Lesson

President Woodrow Wilson delivers a speech to a joint session of Congress in April 1917, requesting a declaration of war against Germany.

As the U.S. entered World War I, Congress created two rules that have come into sharp focus this week: A limit on aggregate federal debt and also a cloture rule to end filibusters. Here's how a war gave birth to both.

Today’s Listen

Henry "Enrique" Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys, holds a U.S. flag during a July protest in Miami as part of a show of solidarity for Cubans who were demonstrating against their government in Cuba.

Eva Marie Uzcategui/AFP via Getty Images

One year ago, Donald Trump infamously told the far-right Proud Boys, "stand back and stand by." Some members are now in jail, but the extremist group hasn't receded.

Listen to how the group is building new alliances on the right, or read the story here.

Before You Go

Federal regulators have banned swimming with Hawaii's spinner dolphins to protect the nocturnal animals from people. Swimming with dolphins is a popular tourist activity in Hawaii.

NOAA Fisheries via AP

Swimming with Hawaii’s spinner dolphins, a popular tourist attraction, is now banned as the government tries to protect the playful, nocturnal species.
NEA Jazz master Lonnie Smith, the master of the Hammond B3 organ, died at 79 on Tuesday.
The Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma reached a $75 million settlement with three of the country’s biggest opioid distributors, the first such deal with a tribal nation.