“Former special counsel Jack Smith obtained text messages that 44 members of Congress sent to senior White House officials during the final weeks of President Donald Trump’s first term,” Politico reports. “The latest exchanges were part of a trove of materials that the National Archives turned over to Smith’s team following a subpoena for White […]

“Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said it is incumbent upon television news stations not to air a speech by President Donald Trump set for Thursday,” Mediaite reports. Said Ocasio-Cortez: “He’s basically doing a made-for-TV broadcast about election fraud and conspiracy theories.” She added: “I don’t think we should be contributing to the platforming of lies about […]

“The House voted Tuesday to end Americans’ practice of switching their clocks twice per year, delivering a win for President Donald Trump, who has called for permanent daylight saving time over the objections of medical groups and lawmakers who represent Midwestern states,” the Washington Post reports. “The bill still needs to clear the Senate, where […]

“The lead investor in a South Korean aluminum company that has challenged Commerce Department penalties on certain exports from South Korea to the United States made a $2 million payment last year to President Trump’s holding company,” the New York Times reports. “The payment by the parent company, Base Group, was revealed for the first […]

“President Trump’s new plan to wrest control of the Strait of Hormuz by resuming strikes and reimposing the blockade is his third major shift in military strategy as he searches for a way to turn the tables on Iran in the nearly five-month-old war,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “Trump has tried air and missile […]

CNN: “The surprise directive sparked a 24-hour sprint within the administration and across the Middle East to decode the specifics of a proposal that Trump had seemingly come up with on the spot. And while he reversed his plans on Tuesday, the episode further underscored the freewheeling, transactional nature of Trump’s approach to foreign policy, […]

The Atlantic: “The State Department told a court last year that the secretary didn’t use disappearing messages. By this spring, it had dropped that claim.”

“Billionaire Elon Musk likely broke Wisconsin law when he handed out $1 million checks to voters in the 2025 state Supreme Court election, a bipartisan panel has found,” CNN reports. “The Wisconsin Elections Commission, consisting of three Democrats and three Republicans, voted 5-1 in closed session on Thursday to refer the complaints to the district […]

“President Donald Trump ‌on Tuesday said he did not think anybody ​should be able ​to charge a fee for ships ⁠transiting the Strait of ​Hormuz,” Reuters reports. Said Trump: “I don’t like the concept of a fee, but ​at the ​same ⁠time, it’s not fair that ​we’re protecting this Strait ​for ⁠the entire world.” Financial […]

“Privately, most elected Republicans in this building think the president has lost it and is dooming them to dismal losses this fall.” — Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), speaking to reporters.

“Darline Graham has officially filled the South Carolina Senate seat left vacant by the death of her brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham,” Politico reports. “Republicans’ swift move to fill the late senator’s seat maintains the party’s already slim margin in the chamber as it tries to advance priorities before August recess.” Fox News: “The halls of […]

“As Speaker Mike Johnson and the White House push forward with a third reconciliation bill, many rank-and-file Republicans are growing frustrated about being excluded as top leaders leaned mostly on conservatives in its discussions,” NOTUS reports.

“President Donald Trump plans to use part of a primetime speech Thursday to discuss new findings about the security of American elections, among other topics — setting up yet another high-profile opportunity for the president to dispute the results of the 2020 election he lost,” CNN reports. Said Trump: “It’s really, really big news, and […]

“A new bill that had been championed by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham would give President Trump fresh authority to impose tariffs on the largest importers of Russian energy, in legislation designed to punish Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “The measure, which was expected to be introduced in Congress […]

“President Donald Trump said the FBI was ‘wasting their time’ if they were looking into the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close ally of the president, who died on July 11 after a sudden illness,” USA Today reports. “Asked by a reporter whether he had any knowledge of why the FBI was looking into […]

“The sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, a top ally of President Donald Trump and one of Washington’s best-known politicians, is renewing focus on the country’s aging lawmakers,” the AP reports.

“President Trump continued to raise red flags about Spencer Pratt’s election results in his baid for Los Angeles mayor — saying something has to be done about the ‘crooked’ elections in our country,” the New York Post reports.

“Billionaire Ken Griffin has already invested roughly $40 million into this year’s midterm campaigns—a total that could easily double by November—as he works to try to shape the future of the Republican Party and help it hold its House and Senate majorities,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “Details of his giving, shared by two people […]

“House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan said Tuesday he is negotiating with a key GOP holdout in hopes of drafting an immigration bill that can help unlock the ongoing floor impasse,” Politico reports. “Jordan (R-OH) said he is speaking with Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), who is leading a block of hard-line conservatives who are upset GOP […]

“Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Tuesday ordered its agents to temporarily halt most car stops following two fatal shootings in Houston and Maine,” NOTUS reports. Fox News: ICE agents instructed to end most vehicle stops in major policy shift.

“Washington and Tehran have been locked in the most dangerous round of fighting since a fragile truce ended almost six weeks of open conflict in April, as the U.S. seeks to stop Iran from asserting control over the Strait of Hormuz,” the Financial Times reports. “Yet while the conflict has worsened, it remains far smaller […]

President Trump hinted he may want Rep. Russell Fry (R-SC) as the long-term replacement for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) as a special election for the seat fast approaches, Fox News reports.

“Two federal judges have ordered the Department of Homeland Security to do the opposite thing, at the same time. This summer, conflicting court rulings over the use of Social Security numbers in a citizenship database have created an unusual legal dilemma within President Donald Trump’s aggressive push to create a voter verification system,” NOTUS reports. […]

“The oil market’s top players aren’t waiting around to see who winds up with control over the Strait of Hormuz — countries and companies are scrambling to bypass the waterway,” Axios reports. “Why it matters: The Iran war threw a spotlight on the strait as the longtime center of the global energy trade, and the […]

President Trump reversed himself on charging a 20% toll for transiting cargo through the Strait of Hormuz, the AP reports. He now says on social media that his reversal was “based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership” and the Gulf states will make “Trade and Investment Deals” into the U.S. and investments “will be […]

“House Speaker Mike Johnson and the White House are hoping to push a narrow reconciliation bill through the House by the end of next week that would include very few Republican priorities and focus mostly on defense and farm aid,” NOTUS reports. “The working plan is for the bill to have sections from four committees: […]

“Writer E. Jean Carroll has been paid more than $5.6 million that she was owed as part of a federal civil jury verdict holding President Donald Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation, a court filing showed Tuesday,” CNBC reports.

“Warren Buffett has stopped donating money to the Gates Foundation, ending a two-decade philanthropic partnership following revelations about interactions between the ‌Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates and the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein,” Reuters reports.

“Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) has spawned some social media mockery after a clip of her sounding hyper-Midwest while talking about how she will ‘stick it to ’em!’ went viral,” Mediaite reports. Said Stevens: “I am gonna be workin’ on our behalf, I am gonna be tellin’ the stories on our behalf. And you better believe […]

“Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) said that her split with President Trump over her push for the Epstein Files Transparency Act could have been the tipping point in her failed gubernatorial bid,” NewsNation reports. Said Mace: “It may have ended my political career.”