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Obama judge denies DOJ request to change lawyers in census citizenship question case

A New York federal judge barred the Justice Department on Tuesday from changing its lawyers in a legal fight over the Trump administration's effort to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. U.S. District Court Judge Jesse Furman, an Obama appointee, said government lawyers' motion for the change was "patently deficient" except in the case of two lawyers who have already left the department or the civil division which is handling the case. President Trump lashed out at the ruling on Twitter, writing, "So now the Obama appointed judge on the Census case (Are you a Citizen of the United States?) won’t let the Justice Department use the lawyers that it wants to use. Could this be a first?" So what's next? The president has indicated in the past week that he would use his executive order power to add the question to the census.

Trump stands by Labor secretary but says he will look into his handling of the Epstein case

President Trump on Tuesday defended Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, who is facing mounting calls to resign over his handling of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein’s 2008 sex trafficking case. Acosta, who was U.S. attorney for Florida at the time, helped Epstein to secure a plea deal that resulted in an 18-month sentence—he served just 13 months. The deal was criticized as lenient because Epstein could have faced a life sentence. Acosta negotiated a deal that resulted in two state solicitation charges, but no federal charges. Trump said a lot of people were involved in Epstein's case a decade ago and that it needed to be reviewed very carefully. But he added that Acosta has been an "excellent" secretary of labor who's done a "fantastic job."

Howard Kurtz, host of "Media Buzz" on Fox News, has one warning about the Epstein case, as lurid as the allegations are: Be careful about implicating Trump, former President Clinton and others, despite the hedge fund manager's many political connections.

AOC-Pelosi war of words rages on in fight for soul of Democratic Party

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., fired back at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., saying she found remarks by the leader of their party's caucus "puzzling" after Pelosi dismissed her and three other progressives, Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.; Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.; and Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., who'd voted against a $4.6 billion border aid package at the end of June. “All these people have their public whatever and their Twitter world,” Pelosi told the New York Times last Saturday. “But they didn’t have any following. They’re four people, and that’s how many votes they got.” On Tuesday, Ocasio-Cortez responded, "It’s not even the four of us. It’s like ‘These ones.' What the speaker said... it’s not true. It’s just wrong... as progressives, it’s okay not to vote for the legislation to make a point." Fox News' Sean Hannity says "all-out war" is erupting in the Democratic Party and Pelosi is losing control of her caucus to AOC and "the new extreme left."

NEW BUZZ: AOC says she’s open to getting rid of entire Department of Homeland Security

NYC to give World Cup champion US women's soccer team heroes' welcome

Thousands of fans and tons of confetti are expected as New York City and the nation honor the U.S. women's national soccer team for its World Cup title victory with a ticker tape parade up Gotham's Canyon of Heroes. The parade will begin at 9:30 a.m. ET and move up the Canyon of Heroes, a section of Broadway between the Battery and City Hall. The stretch of lower Manhattan has long hosted ticker tape parades for world leaders, veterans and hometown sports stars. The festivities come amid speculation over whether the team will be invited to the White House and whether its stars would accept the invitation. Team superstar Megan Rapinoe doubled down in her opposition to visit the Trump White House on Tuesday but expressed that she was open to accept invitations from anyone who "believes the same things we believe in" like Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY.

Remembering Ross Perot, populist pioneer

Ross Perot, billionaire businessman and 1992 independent presidential candidate who won 19 percent of the vote, died Tuesday at age 89. One presidential historian argues Perot may have been President Trump's predecessor in terms of offering a populist, anti-establishment message to voters and was not the spoiler in the 1992 election that figures in the George H.W. Bush re-election campaign made him out to be. "There's always been a populist strain in American politics," Craig Shirley told "The Ingraham Angle," calling Perot "prescient" regarding comments he made about NAFTA. In those remarks in the early 1990s, Perot famously claimed the trade agreement would result in a "giant sucking sound" as jobs left the U.S.

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TODAY'S MUST-READS

Emmy-winning actor Rip Torn dead at 88.

California becomes first state to give taxpayer-funded health benefits to illegal immigrants.

Family attorney refutes accounts that grandpa accidentally dropped toddler off cruise.

MINDING YOUR BUSINESS

Top US, Chinese trade officials have 'constructive' talk on holding face-to-face meeting.

Joe Biden earned millions after leaving White House, tax returns show.

Google announces new streaming support for YouTube, Amazon Prime video.

#TheFlashback: CLICK HERE to find out what happened on "This Day in History."

SOME PARTING WORDS

Tucker Carlson points out that while Democrats call Trump's census citizenship question "racist" and illegal, we have no idea how many illegal immigrants live within our borders.

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Fox News First is compiled by Fox News' Bryan Robinson. Thank you for joining us! Enjoy your day! We'll see you in your inbox first thing Thursday morning.