“Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg left the door open to a potential 2028 presidential run during a visit to Iowa, but said he is focused on the 2026 midterm elections,” USA Today reports. “After rallying phone bank volunteers with Democratic congressional hopeful Sarah Trone Garriott in Des Moines on July 13, the former mayor […]

“Americans’ confidence in 14 of the nation’s core institutions is at or near all-time lows, according to new Gallup polling,” Axios reports. “Why it matters: Trust in America’s institutions is being pulled apart by a widening partisan gap, with Republicans far more confident than Democrats in the Trump 2.0 era of mass societal disruption.”

New York Times: “Rural voters have been President Trump’s most enduring supporters, but they have edged away from him as the Iran War has spiked prices of diesel and fertilizer. Tariff wars have made it harder for farmers to sell their products, and rural families depend especially heavily on the Affordable Care Act subsidies that […]

Washington Post: “In the days since Graham’s death, our era of paranoid politics has produced a string of theories online: He died in Kyiv. He was taken out by Israel. He was poisoned by Iran. He was blown up by Russia.l ”In a statement, Graham’s office said Sunday that preliminary findings from the D.C. medical […]

“New York became the first U.S. state on Tuesday to halt construction of large new data centers, imposing ‌a one-year moratorium as concerns grow that the facilities driving the artificial-intelligence boom are raising power costs, straining water supplies and burdening local communities,” Reuters reports.

“The Senate is still reeling from South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham’s death, and GOP leaders will soon have to turn to the weighty question of who will fill his spots on key congressional committees,” Semafor reports. “Those include Judiciary, Appropriations, Environment and Public Works, and his Budget Committee chairmanship.”

“Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh will have his resistance to previewing interest-rate decisions tested again Tuesday morning when he appears before lawmakers for the first time since his confirmation,” Semafor reports.

“Mike Lawler was in his element at the Rockland County America 250 celebration,” NOTUS reports. “He’s one of the most endangered House Republicans, running for reelection in New York’s 17th Congressional District at a time when President Donald Trump’s approval ratings are at record lows and voter concerns about the economy are increasing.” “But making […]

“House GOP leaders face a pivotal test Tuesday as they try to break a conservative revolt that has paralyzed the House floor for weeks,” Fox News reports. “The rebellion, including several dozen Republicans, has repeatedly forced House Speaker Mike Johnson to pull votes on key legislation, grinding House business to a halt just months before […]

“A wave of nationalist fervor in Iran is creating a difficult atmosphere for the country’s diplomats, making it harder to agree to U.S. terms to permanently end the fighting and secure much needed relief from sanctions,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “The regime, rocked by protests early this year and still deeply unpopular with much […]

“President Trump’s primetime Thursday speech from the White House is slated to include election integrity, an update on Iran and whatever else he deems important,” Axios reports. Said an adviser: “It will be a potpourri.” “Though ever-available to reporters, Trump hasn’t given many primetime, direct-to-camera speeches from the White House. He wants to do more […]

“President Trump gave Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) his support for a highly unusual military action against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen,” Axios reports. “The Saudi strike on the Sanaa airport Monday and Houthi retaliatory missile attacks that followed were the most serious cross-border escalation since 2022. They could signal the collapse of […]

“The United Arab Emirates’ Defense Ministry said early Tuesday that Iran attacked two tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, killing one mariner and wounding eight others,” the Associated Press reports.

“Four in five Americans expect ‌the U.S. war with Iran to drag on for an extended period, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted as fighting escalated and President Donald Trump declared a blockade of Iranian shipping in the Gulf.” “The three-day poll ​completed on Sunday found that 79% of respondents think U.S. military involvement in […]

“John Thune’s Senate super PAC has $238 million in the bank — more than double what it had at this point in the last election cycle under then-GOP Leader Mitch McConnell,” Axios reports.

“Senators from both parties are rallying around a revised Russia sanctions package to honor the legacy of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC),” Axios reports. “Bipartisanship is in short supply in the Senate. Graham’s sudden death may briefly revive it.” “Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said passing the updated sanctions bill — which has […]

“Maggie Haberman claimed in a Sunday podcast interview that President Donald Trump’s well-documented affinity for attractive men and classic masculinity at first alarmed people in his administration,” The Wrap reports. Said Haberman: “I don’t know that Donald Trump has ever celebrated pride, period. But he certainly has a fixation and fascination with male looks.”

“President Trump’s much-touted ceasefire with Iran effectively collapsed on Monday as he ordered the reinstatement of a naval blockade and announced that he will impose tolls on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, despite his own administration’s position that such fees violate international law,” the New York Times reports. “As the ceasefire that he once […]

“Morale at the Social Security Administration — which is at a 59-year staffing low due to the Trump administration’s sweeping workforce cuts — is poor,” NOTUS reports. “To fix it, SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano has twice sent staff packages of chocolate-covered pretzels. They’re from his daughter’s company, Pretzables, emblazoned with Pretzable’s branding, website and phone […]

“President Trump formally notified Congress last week that the U.S. has resumed military strikes against Iran, providing the Pentagon an extra 60 days to utilize U.S. forces in the U.S. Central Command  theater absent congressional approval,” The Hill reports. Financial Times: Trump says U.S. will hit Iran “hard” this week.

“A Brazilian Supreme Court justice barred presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro from visiting his father, former leader Jair Bolsonaro, for 90 days, effectively preventing any visits until after the first round of October’s election,” Bloomberg reports.

“Hungarian lawmakers approved a constitutional amendment ousting the Viktor Orban-allied president, delivering on Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s pledge for a clean break from his nationalist predecessor,” Bloomberg reports.

“Darline Graham Nordone was picked Monday to serve out the term of her late brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who died suddenly over the weekend,” the Washington Post reports. “A mother of two who has never held elected office, Graham Nordone was a political confidante of her older brother, who helped raise her after their […]

“The passage of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz has been slowed significantly by the persistent cycle of hostility between the United States and Iran. But whether prices at the pump rise or fall will depend not only on how much oil flows out of the Persian Gulf but also on decisions made by […]

“Protestors swarmed Sen. Susan Collins’ district office in Maine on Monday, chanting ‘vote her out!’ and ‘ICE out now!’ hours after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents killed a man they said was using his vehicle as a weapon against them,” NOTUS reports. Mother Jones: Colombian immigrant in Maine reportedly killed by ICE agents.

“The U.S. is tapping in to its national stocks of crude with abandon. The withdrawals are taking a toll on the strategic reserve system,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “Just in the past four years, the Biden and Trump administrations have ordered the largest releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve while seeking to tamp down […]

“His voice is going to be really, really missed in terms of the relationship that Senate Republicans have with the president and his team, because he was so good and so effective at talking to the president. And he was so respected by the president.” — Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), remembering Sen. Lindsey […]

“Ukraine is targeting Russian energy infrastructure with its growing fleet of long-range drones and missiles, causing fuel shortages in one of the world’s biggest oil and gas producers and embarrassing President Vladimir Putin,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “In dozens of strikes since this spring, Ukraine has pounded oil refineries across its larger neighbor, hitting […]

“A new White House task force reviewing thousands of pages of classified intelligence and law enforcement documents for evidence of irregularities in U.S. elections is expected to begin releasing documents within weeks,” MS NOW reports. “The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, whose acting chief, Bill Pulte, has been accused by Democrats of politically […]

“Over the past year, the Trump administration has made deals to acquire equity stakes in more than two dozen firms, an unusual practice that has extended the government’s influence over industries including semiconductors, nuclear energy, minerals, quantum computers and steel,” the New York Times reports. “Artificial intelligence executives are increasingly wondering if they will be […]