NOTUS | News of the United States

Trump’s Pulte Problem

Marissa Martinez — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 21:43:32 GMT

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 21:43:32 GMT https://www.notus.org/final-notus-newsletter/trumps-pulte-problem

Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency Bill Pulte speaks with reporters at the White House, Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025, in Washington. Mark Schiefelbein/AP

Good afternoon. This is the Final NOTUS newsletter for June 10, 2026. You can get it in your inbox every day by signing up here — it’s free!

THE LATEST

Mike Johnson is putting up a short-term proposal to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act until July 2 before it expires in two days. But because a suspension vote requires approval from two-thirds of the House, the measure will all but likely fail with Democratic holdouts — which many in Republican leadership expect to happen, sources told NOTUS. Members are currently scheduled to fly out after votes.

Donald Trump proposed the extension this morning, but Senate Democrats still say they won’t play ball as long as Bill Pulte is the nominee for acting director of National Intelligence.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Virginia) suggested Deputy DNI Aaron Lukas would be an acceptable temporary option. The White House has also reached out to Pete Hoekstra, a former House Intelligence Committee chair, in its search for a permanent replacement.

Trump’s Truth Social post also noted Pulte, who will start next Friday, will begin downsizing agency operations — which could open the door to shuttering it altogether.

THE ADMINISTRATION

Government lawyers argue that a temporary restraining order against the White House UFC event should be dismissed, saying the alleged harm — including the potential “hideous” and “disgusting” sights — is easy to avoid.

The court filing also cited former presidents’ South Lawn exhibitions, from George W. Bush’s annual tee-ball games to Joe Biden’s ice-skating rink.

Inflation has risen for a third-straight month. The Consumer Price Index report showed a 4.2% rise in May compared to last year, with overall prices increasing 0.5%.

“No, I love it. The numbers are great,” Trump said when asked if he was concerned about today’s numbers.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that the U.S. has been taking “millions of barrels of oil” out of the Strait of Hormuz unbeknownst to Iran. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said he was unaware of this during a later House committee hearing.

“I do not think the president’s lying — I think the president’s talking casually about our efforts to stop the flow of Iranian oil,” Wright told Rep. Emilia Sykes (D-Ohio). “I don’t have any serious objection to what he said.”

The IRS is scrambling to hire thousands of staff after facing sweeping cuts last year, contradicting leaders’ assertions that the downsizing was inconsequential.

THE HILL

Bill Gates told House Oversight Committee members that Jeffrey Epstein had tried to blackmail him into a friendship after learning the tech billionaire had been unfaithful in his marriage.

Gates, who has not been accused of wrongdoing in connection to Epstein, said he had never witnessed evidence of criminal conduct.
Ranking member Robert Garcia (D-California) said Gates also provided information about people in Epstein’s circles.

Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Kentucky) wants to invite Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to sit for an interview this summer as part of the Epstein probe.

Republicans’ targeting of ActBlue, the Democratic fundraising juggernaut, could derail a bipartisan push for campaign finance reform.

AN ODE TO WEMBY

https://x.com/jbillinson/status/2064517311269122121?s=46

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Thief Stole $40,000 From D.C. Law Firm’s Political Committee

Jenna Monnin — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 21:20:48 GMT

The political action committee of Washington, D.C.-based law firm Arnold & Porter experienced a recent theft. PA Wire/PA Images via AP

A thief stole $40,000 from law firm Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP’s political action committee by passing a “fraudulent” check, according to a federal filing reviewed by NOTUS.

The theft occurred on April 30 when an unknown person transferred funds from the committee to a retail branch of Truist Bank in Washington, D.C. The committee reported the bogus check to the bank shortly after it was disbursed, it told federal regulators.

“On the next business day (May 1st), the bank reversed the charge, and all funds were returned to the committee's bank account,” the PAC reported to the Federal Election Commission.

Arnold & Porter, headquartered in Washington, acknowledged NOTUS’ request for comment but did not provide additional details on the incident.

The D.C. Metropolitan Police Department told NOTUS they received “no police reports at that address in the month of April 2026.”

The FBI did not immediately respond to a request asking if Arnold & Porter filed an incident report for the theft.

The Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP PAC is funded by the law firm's partners to contribute money to political candidates and campaigns.

The Arnold & Porter PAC maintains a bipartisan profile through its contributions to candidates and campaigns.

The committee contributed $141,000 to federal candidates during the 2024 election cycle, with about 42% of donations going to Democrats and about 58% going to Republicans, according to an analysis of federal data by OpenSecrets.

The theft from the Arnold & Porter PAC adds to a growing list of candidates and committees that have reported fraudulent activity in their federal disclosures. Political committees have experienced millions of dollars in theft over the last decade, and in many cases, PACs are never able to recoup their stolen funds.

Last year, a PAC for the accounting giant KPMG, the 7th largest consulting firm by global revenue, reported a $10,000 check was “fraudulently intercepted” and “altered and cashed by an unknown party,” the PAC wrote in a memo to the FEC. KPMG disputed the transaction with PNC Bank, but “was unable to recover the funds.”

An “unknown individual” scammed a PAC for the American Fintech Council, a leading financial technology trade association, out of nearly $2,500 by accessing the committee’s checkbook. When “the unknown party attempted to cash additional fraudulent checks,” the transactions were denied and the stolen funds were recovered by EagleBank.

Jonas Murphy, former director of government affairs at the National Venture Capital Association, pleaded guilty to interstate transportation of stolen property in December for what prosecutors allege amounted to more than $1 million in embezzlement from his trade association’s political committee, VenturePAC.

Among the Justice Department’s accusations: Murphy spent $67,000 in stolen funds on automotive country club membership in New York and $9,180 on a shopping spree at a Manhattan clothing boutique. Murphy is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court on Thursday.

Political committees for members of Congress have also lost hundreds of thousands of dollars to theft this decade, according to federal campaign finance records.

This year alone, the leadership PAC of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island), Oceans PAC, had more than $7,600 stolen by what a spokesperson called “an unaffiliated third party” in January.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) told federal regulators that a hacker stole more than $3,000 from his campaign committee in December. Booker’s PAC opened a new bank account to “prevent any future fraudulent activity.”

Whitehouse’s PAC was able to recoup the funds, but Booker’s campaign committee was unable to recover the stolen cash as of NOTUS’ May report on the matter.

‘Spoiled, Adulterated’ Food: Trump Golf Club Hit With Health Violations

Dave Levinthal, Taylor Giorno — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 21:11:21 GMT

Health inspectors cited the Trump National Golf Club Hudson Valley for critical violations in April. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

President Donald Trump vows to “make America healthy again.”

But one of Trump’s golf courses risked making patrons sick, New York state health records indicate.

A Dutchess County health inspector flagged the Trump National Golf Club Hudson Valley in Hopewell Junction, New York, for a “critical violation” at its restaurant, according to New York State Department of Health inspection records from April 16.

The violation stems from the restaurant having “food from [an] unapproved source, spoiled, adulterated on premises,” the inspection record states.

It also dinged the Trump restaurant for a “non-critical” violation involving “in use” food dispensing utensils being “improperly stored.”

trump health violation (2428x406, AR: 5.98)

On its website, the Trump golf club advertises its “delicious cuisine” as being “prepared by the Club’s culinary staff led by a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America.”

Neither the Trump National Golf Club Hudson Valley nor The Trump Organization, which owns and operates the club, immediately responded to requests for comment from NOTUS.

Several Trump properties have been hit with health code violations in the past year.

In December, Chicago health inspectors found flies, faulty dishwashers and wastewater flooding the floor of the main kitchen around three prep sinks at the Trump International Hotel and Tower, according to city health records first reported by NOTUS.

When health inspectors returned a week later, the restaurants had resolved the issues, although an inspector again instructed management to replace a broken ice machine lid.

In November, Westchester County Department of Health officials found insects and rodents at the Trump National Golf Club Westchester, according to state health data first reported by NOTUS.

The unwelcome guests comprised one of five violations cited by health inspectors, who also observed a laundry list of violations including “dirty surfaces,” “poorly constructed” rooms “in disrepair,” food “uncovered, mislabeled, [and] stored on floor,” and “missing or inadequate sneeze guards.”

And in May 2025, health inspectors flagged 18 health code violations at Trump’s golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey. The golf club manager said at the time that the citations were “politically motivated.”

Health inspectors revisited the Bedminster golf club after Forbes first reported on the violations. Inspectors in June 2025 revised the golf club’s score from 32 out of 100, then the lowest grade in Somerset County, to 86.

What Happens to Bill Pulte's Job Running Housing Now?

Raymond Fernández — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 20:51:31 GMT

In his role as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Bill Pulte has gone after some of Trump’s political enemies by accusing them of mortgage fraud. Mark Schiefelbein/AP

Bill Pulte’s lack of intelligence credentials has been the central point of contention in the debate over his taking on the role of acting director of national intelligence.

But lawmakers, including some Republicans, say that it’s an open question whether he can continue to do his job as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency as well, as President Donald Trump has said Pulte plans to do.

“I don't see how he can possibly do both jobs,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told NOTUS.

While Republicans defend Pulte’s record on housing, some were unclear on how he would multitask.

“I have no idea,” said Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) when NOTUS asked how Pulte would manage the dual roles. “I don't know how to answer that. The president says he'll do both jobs, so presumably he'll do both jobs.”

Trump announced that Pulte would take the acting DNI role earlier this month. On Wednesday, he announced Pulte would be in the role by June 19, faster than previously anticipated.

Pulte’s appointment has become a sticking point in negotiations to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which is set to expire on Friday.

That’s in part due to his work as director at FHFA, where he has gone after some of Trump’s political enemies by accusing them of mortgage fraud. That track record has raised concerns for Democrats.

“He is qualified for neither job. He should be out in both jobs. He never should have been the nation's chief housing official, and he is the most unqualified nominee for DNI in our nation's history, and maybe the most unqualified for any position of trust in American history,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), told NOTUS.

FHFA did not respond to NOTUS’ request for comment.

The backlash has been intense enough that Trump went out of his way last week to clarify that Pulte was not a “permanent” choice for the DNI role.

Still, on Wednesday he reaffirmed his choice as he looks for a permanent DNI replacement.

“The President chooses the best and most talented people to serve in his Cabinet. That is why this Administration has achieved record successes for the American people,” Davis Ingle, a spokesperson for the White House, told NOTUS in a statement. “Bill Pulte is a great selection and he will do a great job on behalf of the American people.”

As director of the FHFA — an independent regulatory agency that oversees Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and the Federal Home Loan Bank System — Pulte oversees institutions that collectively provide trillions in funding to U.S. mortgage markets and financial institutions.

He overhauled the boards of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac within days of being sworn in, cut staff, and pushed through a credit score overhaul that the banking industry had sought for years.

His fans in Congress defend his ability to multitask between that role and that of DNI.

“He's an extraordinarily smart person and can do multiple things.” Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), who said he has known Pulte for two decades, told NOTUS. “He's built a great team, which is what you do when you're an executive. You make sure you have great people around you.”

Some Republican senators deferred to the White House when asked about Pulte’s ability to fulfill his duties while emphasizing that the DNI role was interim.

Asked if someone could successfully do a good job in two separate agencies, Sen. James Lankford (R-Oklahoma) told NOTUS: “Marco Rubio did.”

Republicans’ ActBlue Probe Could Derail Campaign Finance Reform

Violet Jira — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 20:17:39 GMT

House Administration Committee Chair Bryan Steil held a hearing to question ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones, who pleaded the Fifth 22 times. Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images

Republican lawmakers are targeting ActBlue, the Democratic fundraising juggernaut, as they push for campaign finance reform. It’s putting an otherwise bipartisan effort at risk.

Four bills reforming campaign finance were recently approved by the House Administration Committee: two from Chair Bryan Steil (R-Wisconsin), one introduced by ranking member Rep. Joe Morelle (D-New York), and another introduced jointly by Reps. Jared Golden (D-Maine) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pennsylvania). The ideas, such as requiring a CVV code for credit card contributions and prohibiting contributions with gift cards, are mostly bipartisan and popular with legislators and Americans alike.

Legislation making similar changes has been championed time and time again by Democrats and Republicans alike going back more than a decade, from then-Sen. Marco Rubio to former Rep. Katie Porter .

But further bipartisan progress appears strained as it coincides with a Republican-led investigation into whether ActBlue accepted improper contributions and misled Congress about its fraud prevention practices in a 2023 letter to Steil. Democrats say the one-sided probe — Morelle called the investigation a “partisan witch hunt” — shows that Republicans are more focused on political wins than reform.

A senior Democratic committee aide not authorized to speak on the record said that committee Republicans were “clearly unserious in their attempt to deliver the campaign finance reform that Americans want to see.”

The Committee on Administration held a hearing on Wednesday with ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones, where she pleaded the Fifth 22 times and did not answer a single question from Republican legislators.

“Anytime that an issue is viewed as weaponized on Capitol Hill, that creates headwinds,” said Michael Beckel, director of money in politics reform at Issue One, a nonprofit group that advocates for reducing the influence of money in politics.

“Tackling a major institutional player like ActBlue, that's going to make some Democrats less enthusiastic about helping it across the finish line, even if in the abstract, Democrats and Republicans alike are going to tell you that the CVV information should be processed on all credit card donations to campaigns,” he continued.

After the hearing on Wednesday, Steil said he views the legislation and the ActBlue investigation as separate issues.

“There's two issues on the table,” the committee chair said. “One is updating our campaign finance laws to the modern era. We’ve shown bipartisan support of that. But this question as it relates to ActBlue is about lying to Congress, and for only one entity — ActBlue — is there evidence of lying to Congress.”

But Steil told Fox News in May that the legislation was informed by the committee’s investigation into ActBlue.

“My investigation into ActBlue has demonstrated that the current campaign finance laws weren’t drafted for the modern era we live in,” he said at the time.

Though most of the changes the legislation seeks to enact are popular with Democrats and Republicans, the Campaign Finance Transparency Act makes one change that could be unpopular with Republicans.

The bill calls for the elimination of the de minimis reporting exemption. As it stands, committees are required to report the name, address, occupation and employer of any individual who contributes more than $200 aggregated. The legislation seeks to eliminate that threshold and require that all campaign contributions be itemized. Small dollar donations made through conduits like WinRed and ActBlue are already required to be itemized.

It’s an idea that’s unpopular with conservatives, free speech groups and many in the campaign finance world.

“The threshold for itemized reporting of political contributions is just too low,” Dan Backer, a conservative campaign finance lawyer who won the Supreme Court case that struck down aggregate contribution limits, told NOTUS. “Two hundred dollars is a negligible amount in the scheme of federal elections. I think from a practical perspective, raising it to $500 or more makes sense. Lowering the limit would just clutter the reports, waste time and money, and doesn’t add any real value.”

Steil’s office did not respond to a request from NOTUS about why that change was necessary. But a money-in-politics expert, granted anonymity to speak candidly, theorized that it stems from a conspiracy theory that bad actors are exploiting the $200 limit by having straw donors donate $199, circumventing the need for their identities to be reported.

“I think that will never get across the finish line,” the money in politics expert said. “If this bill ever makes it over to the Senate, it’s never going to pass [Sen. Mitch] McConnell on the Rules Committee.”

McConnell (R-Kentucky), who chairs the Senate’s Rules and Administration Committee, is a fierce opponent of campaign finance restrictions and has previously opposed new legislation requiring the disclosure of donors. His office did not have a comment on his position on the reporting threshold.

The legislation is also being advanced at a time when Republicans are potentially running up against a clock, should Democrats retake the house in November.

Steil and other Republicans on the committee said they are committed to seeing the legislation through, though none have articulated how.

Comer Wants Todd Blanche to Testify on the Epstein Files

Torrie Herrington — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 20:10:38 GMT

To advance his nomination to the full chamber, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche faces a tight vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is split 12-10 between Republicans and Democrats. Francis Chung/POLITICO/AP

Rep. James Comer (R-Kentucky), the chair of the influential House Oversight Committee, told reporters Wednesday that he is pushing to have acting Attorney General Todd Blanche testify in front of the panel this summer about his handling of the release of millions of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein.

The testimony comes at a tough time for Blanche, who was tapped by President Donald Trump last week to lead the Department of Justice on a permanent basis and is facing a high-stakes confirmation battle in the Senate.

Blanche can’t lose any Republican support if he wants to stay atop the DOJ. To advance his nomination to the full chamber, he faces a tight vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is split 12-10 between Republicans and Democrats. A deadlocked vote would kill his confirmation.

“Whether there are the votes to move him through the committee, I don’t know the answer to that,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), a member of the Judiciary Committee, said last week. Any unflattering news cycle created by his testimony could present problems.

Blanche will need to get the approval of Sen. Thom Tillis, a retiring North Carolina Republican who has repeatedly broken with the Trump administration.

“The key for Todd, or anybody going through Judiciary Committee, is being pretty tight on Jan. 6. They better not have said for one minute that the people that beat up police officers … were righteous people,” Tillis said last week. “You come even close to saying that, you don’t have a [chance] of getting my vote in Judiciary.”

Comer told reporters Wednesday that he’s been communicating with the Justice Department and that he hopes Blanche will appear before the House committee in July.

“The main thing that we have for Blanche is the question on what, if any documents are left out there,” Comer said. “So that’s the main question.”

Comer’s call for Blanche to testify comes after former Attorney General Pam Bondi told the Oversight Committee in a recent transcribed interview that Blanche was responsible for overseeing the release of the Epstein files.

Democrats on the committee have also been eager for Blanche to appear.

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-California), the ranking member on Oversight, told reporters that Democratic members also want Blanche to testify — even more so than Bondi.

“It’s not enough to just get Blanche in,” Garcia said. “We have to have Blanche under oath, it’s got to be videotaped and released to the public.”

The DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The IRS Cut Staff. Now It's Rushing to Hire Thousands.

Eric Katz — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 19:46:01 GMT

The Internal Revenue Service pushed out 28,000 employees in 2025, or around 27% of its workforce. Aaron M. Sprecher/AP

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called any concerns over the cuts to IRS staffing “a complete fallacy” in a testimony to Congress earlier this month.

Frank Bisignano, the IRS CEO, told lawmakers that the “pundits out there saying IRS is going to fail” as a result of sweeping staffing cuts are wrong.

“I feel good about the number of employees I have right now,” Bisignano said in March.

Internally, however, the agency is projecting an entirely different picture. While the Trump administration publicly stated that the IRS has suffered no ill effects from the staffing cuts, the agency was sounding the alarm that it would be unable to handle tax season, requesting special permission to hire thousands of employees on an expedited basis.

The IRS ultimately requested, and received, special authority to hire 8,000 employees on an expedited basis, according to an internal memorandum obtained by NOTUS.

The agency has “seen massive cuts to its staff in 2025 through workforce reduction initiatives” and “ongoing staffing shortages put the 2026 Filing Season at risk,” Alex Kweskin, the agency’s top human-resources official, said in the late-February memo to the Treasury Department that was later passed on to the Office of Personnel Management.

“Processing of tax returns, return information, balance due, delinquent returns, and correspondence for taxpayers and practitioners remains an on-going issue,” he said in the memo, noting that the agency is still dealing with backlogs.

The Trump administration allowed the IRS to use a hiring authority that’s available to federal agencies when a “critical hiring need or severe shortage of candidates exists.”

An Office of Personnel Management official confirmed that it has granted the accelerated hiring authority to the IRS, which declined to comment. The IRS will have the approval through September, though Kweskin said in the memo the need would remain through that time “at a minimum.” The authority empowers agencies to bypass the normal steps that typically bog down federal hiring, such as consideration of veterans’ preferences or a full rating and review of top candidates.

The hiring push comes after the tax agency pushed out 28,000 employees last year, or around 27% of its workforce. The cuts were among the most significant of any agency during President Donald Trump’s second term.

Danny Werfel, who led the IRS under then-President Joe Biden, said the agency was now acknowledging the warnings that watchdogs had issued when the cuts first went into effect.

“The effects of IRS staffing reductions are often invisible to taxpayers — until they need help,” Werfel said. “If a return is flagged, a refund is delayed, correspondence goes unanswered, or a case requires human review, having enough trained employees becomes critical to resolving the issue in a timely manner.”

He added that while growing backlogs may seem abstract to Americans, “for taxpayers it means longer waits, greater uncertainty and delayed resolution of stressful tax matters.”

The IRS is primarily hiring clerks, tax examiners, accounting technicians, tax specialists and contact representatives. Their division, Taxpayer Services, by far the largest in the IRS, shed 9,000 employees last year, or 21% of its workforce.

The IRS surged staffing to customer service — and throughout the agency — under the Biden administration using Inflation Reduction Act funds, though Congress has revoked much of that money and the agency has unwound all the hiring gains achieved under the previous administration.

Bessent called the hiring surges under Biden “a complete disaster.”

One former senior IRS official who recently left the agency said it was foreseeable that the agency would look to unwind some of its cuts, though he noted the hiring effort would not focus on enforcement personnel.

“I don’t understand how the system can operate,” the former official said. “I’m not surprised that they do not have adequate people to do this.”

The IRS could encounter difficulty in reaching its hiring target given the Trump administration’s slash-and-burn approach to the federal workforce, the former senior official said, adding that in previous staffing efforts he helped spearhead the agency lost out to companies like Amazon for the entry-level, frontline jobs for which it is now hiring.

“I don’t know how that plays out when there’s so much uncertainty and so many people were let go across the IRS and across the federal government,” the former official said.

Doreen Greenwald, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents most IRS employees, said her organization tried to warn the agency about the impacts of its cuts and hopes it will now push for more resources from Congress.

“We are glad the IRS now seems to realize it needs an adequate workforce to fulfill its critical mission on behalf of the American people,” Greenwald said. “Unfortunately, the IRS forced thousands of professional, experienced employees out the door and must now go through the time and expense of hiring and training thousands of new employees.”

The agency has taken some steps to mitigate the impacts of its cuts, including by assigning employees with no relevant experience to process tax returns and boosting the use of mandatory overtime.

But the load on the IRS has only grown since the Trump administration gutted its staff. In addition to staffing cuts and ongoing attrition, Kweskin’s memo also cited the “significant changes in tax law” brought on by last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

That measure has required the diminished IRS workforce to implement more than 100 changes to the tax code, he said.

Bill Gates Says Epstein Tried to Blackmail Him

Stephen Neukam — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 18:57:23 GMT

Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, told House Oversight committee investigators that convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein leveraged information about his marriage to continue their friendship. Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

Tech billionaire Bill Gates told the House Oversight Committee that convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein tried to blackmail the Microsoft cofounder into a personal friendship, after Epstein learned Gates had been unfaithful in his marriage.

Gates told investigators working on the panel’s Epstein probe on Wednesday that in 2014 he cut off his relationship with Epstein, who Gates saw at the time as a connection to wealthy donors for his philanthropic work. In response, Gates said, Epstein tried to pressure him into reconnecting.

“Epstein was working to use information about my infidelities — in addition to many lies
that he layered on top — to pressure me to re-engage with him,” Gates told the panel in his opening statement, obtained by NOTUS. “He was unsuccessful in this effort, but it shows some of the ways he tried to leverage his interactions with me to further his agenda.”

Congressional investigators say they are familiar with Epstein’s pressure tactics. Democrats left the interview saying Epstein saw a vulnerability and tried to exploit it for his own gain.

“[Epstein] uses that over and over again,” Rep. Robert Garcia (D-California), the top Democrat on the committee, told reporters. “He used it with women, he used it with those he employed, used it with other powerful men.”

Gates was divorced from his longtime wife, Melinda, in 2021. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Gates told employees that allegations related to more than 20 affairs had come up during his divorce. And although Gates stepped down from Microsoft’s board of directors in 2020, reports suggest he is still very much involved in the tech giant.

Gates, who appeared for the closed-door interview voluntarily, told the panel that he never witnessed or had any indication Epstein was involved in criminal conduct. He told lawmakers he never visited Epstein’s island, ranch or home. In the opening statement, Gates apologized and said he “should never have met with Epstein in the first place.”

Democrats on the committee told reporters during a break in the interview that Gates provided investigators with names of people who were “in Mr. Epstein’s orbit.” Garcia said that includes former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, who earlier this year resigned from Harvard after his name appeared hundreds of times in the release of the Epstein files.

Garcia told reporters that Gates “was around people that were actually abused, and that was recognized in some of the discussions we had inside.”

Gates told lawmakers that he ceased the relationship with Epstein when he realized the potential group of donors that the convicted sex offender had brought together “were a dead-end.” Still, Gates admitted that his relationship with Epstein spanned multiple years, beginning with a meeting in 2011. Democrats said the behavior is worrying.

“Some of his answers show us that many of the men who engaged with Jeffrey Epstein only saw what they wanted to see with their interactions,” Rep. Emily Randall (D-Washington) said.

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Kentucky) said going into the interview that he wanted to know the specifics of Gates’ relationship with Epstein and whether Gates knew what was going on.

Gates is the latest high-profile name to sit for an interview in the congressional investigation into Epstein. Comer announced Wednesday that he was asking the Justice Department for acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to speak with the panel in July. Democrats demanded that Blanche appear before the committee again after former Attorney General Pam Bondi told lawmakers last month that Blanche was in charge of the release of the Epstein files.

DCCC Backed a Losing Candidate — And Some Democrats Are Thrilled

Oriana González — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 18:04:34 GMT

Democratic voters went against party leaders in picking a challenger to face Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.) in the November midterm election. Tom Williams/AP

Some House Democrats are celebrating Randy Villegas’ Democratic primary win, setting him up to face Republican Rep. David Valadao in a highly competitive race in California’s Central Valley this November.

Villegas defeated Jasmeet Bains, a California state assemblywoman who was backed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the House Democrats’ campaign operation. The AP called the race for Villegas about a week after Election Day.

Villegas’ win over Bains marks the first time that a DCCC pick has not advanced to the general election this cycle. His victory, members say, sends a clear message to the DCCC: Stop getting involved in Democratic primaries. This dynamic is also playing out in the Democratic primary in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, where the DCCC-backed Maine state Sen. Joe Baldacci.

The primary in Maine’s 2nd district will be decided in a ranked-choice runoff after no candidate managed to get a majority of votes in the race, according to the AP. Baldacci was ahead by only two percentage points.

Leading up to the election, polls showed Baldacci leading the Democratic field, but other Democratic candidates saw a surge of support after the DCCC announced it was backing Baldacci. In one poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire in late May, Jordan Wood, a former political operative, emerged as the top pick.

“If you have candidates that are good Democrats that are connected to the community, I think the Democratic Party and the DCCC should weigh in against Republicans,” Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said.

“I think that the DCCC should save its resources for the general election,” Casar continued.

Rep. Analilia Mejia (D-New Jersey), a progressive who won the vacant seat left by the state’s Gov. Mikie Sherrill despite not being backed by New Jersey’s political establishment, said the Maine and California races show that “everyday voters are so tired of what feels rigged and what is like predetermined, that was the case in my race.”

“Rome is on fire, so business as usual fails the American people,” Mejia added.

Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Arizona), who backed Villegas in February, told NOTUS that Villegas’ win “means that, in most cases, I believe the DCCC should stay out of local races. Clearly, Randy was the best representative for that community.”

Villegas framed his victory as a win over the party establishment and the wealthy.

“Despite the onslaught of outside corporate money spent against us, we have shown that working people are ready for change. We are ready for the government to work for us, not just the wealthy and well-connected,” Villegas said.

In a press release, BOLD PAC, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’ campaign arm, said Villegas’ win “demonstrates the power of our Latino community coming together to demand representation that reflects their lived experiences.” The group was an early Villegas backer.

House Democrats previously told NOTUS they were concerned that the DCCC would back non-Hispanic candidates in majority-Hispanic districts like California’s 22nd Congressional District, which has an over 74% Latino population.

In a statement to NOTUS, DCCC executive director Julie Merz did not directly weigh in on specific races, but said the committee focuses on “supporting top-tier candidates” who can flip districts in November. “Strong nominees allow us to expand our battlefield, spread our resources to more races, and deliver Democrats the biggest majority possible. Nearly all of our Red to Blue candidates have already won their primaries,” she said.

Merz did not explain the DCCC’s reasoning behind choosing Bains over Villegas in the primary. Bains has served in the state assembly since 2022 and previously defeated Latino candidates in her majority-Hispanic district.

Generally, the DCCC does not interfere in Democratic primaries, though it has in the past, and last November, DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene (D-Washington) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries did not rule out getting involved in battleground district primaries. In May, the DCCC added Bains to its coveted “Red to Blue” program, exposing her to more fundraising opportunities and organizational resources.

The DCCC’s initial choice to pass on Villegas impacted some advocacy groups’ endorsements in other races.

Melissa Morales, the president of Somos Votantes, an organization dedicated to electing Latinos to office, told NOTUS that the group decided to back Manny Rutinel in the Democratic primary for Colorado’s 8th District because “of what we were seeing with the DCCC endorsement in California 22.” (The DCCC has not backed any candidates in that race.)

“When a qualified Latino candidate is passed over in a district where Latino voters are a decisive constituency, that sends a signal, and Latino voters feel that, and it really just feeds the frustration with the Democratic Party,” Morales said.

Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Illinois) told NOTUS on Tuesday she believes that the DCCC’s “best way of saying, ‘My bad, let me do better’ is really by putting all the resources in place to make sure that Randy Villegas becomes the next congressman.”

“It's better for them to just focus on the races once someone has been elected to go to the general, than meddling in primaries,” she added.

Indeed, on Wednesday morning, the DCCC announced it would be adding Villegas to its “Red to Blue” program. In a press release, the committee said it “is invested in providing Villegas, a top-tier candidate, with the support needed to continue building a winning campaign.” The DCCC website, which earlier in the day showed Bains as its preferred choice, was updated to indicate its support for Villegas.

“Randy Villegas is a son of the Valley and has spent his career fighting for working families left behind by David Valadao’s failed representation, votes to gut health care, and history of selling out the Valley to his party bosses and billionaires. Randy is a people-first leader capable of energizing voters and winning this seat, and we are all in to elect him and flip this seat,” DelBene said in a statement.

Villegas, who previously told NOTUS that not getting DCCC’s backing was “a badge of honor,” said he welcomed “this vote of confidence in our campaign, our winning message, and the people of the Central Valley as we work to defeat David Valadao.”

Prior to the announcement that he was added to Red to Blue, the DCCC hosted “Red to Blue” candidates in Washington on Tuesday for a training event, and Villegas was present, according to one candidate who also attended.

Frequent DCCC critics say this should serve as a lesson learned for the committee.

Villegas’ race was “an under-the-radar fight with the establishment,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-New York), who in 2018 defeated a prominent senior House Democrat, told NOTUS, calling Villegas’ upset “a huge victory.”

“Sometimes the establishment, they'll get involved based on very traditional metrics of what they think makes a successful candidate, and I think popular movements can show that other things can be key,” Ocasio Cortez added.

Trump Seeks Short-Term FISA Patch as Pulte Pick Stalls Reauthorization

Hamed Ahmadi, Avani Kalra — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 17:07:45 GMT

“I am asking Congress to send me a short-term extension of FISA to provide time for the selection and confirmation of a permanent Head of the Agency,” President Donald Trump said in a Wednesday social media post. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

President Donald Trump asked Congress on Wednesday to pass a short-term extension of a major spy powers program that’s set to expire this week after his appointment of Bill Pulte as interim intelligence director helped derail a longer reauthorization.

The request comes after Republicans urged the White House to name a permanent director of national intelligence to free up the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, which expires Friday. House Speaker Mike Johnson returned to the White House on Wednesday to discuss the bill, after meeting with Trump a day earlier about naming a permanent intelligence chief.

“I am asking Congress to send me a short-term extension of FISA to provide time for the selection and confirmation of a permanent Head of the Agency,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump did not back away from his decision to put Pulte in the acting role, saying Pulte will still take over on June 19. But he also said he is looking for a permanent nominee “with experience in National Security.”

“He's going to be there for a short while, while we pick somebody else. We're interviewing five different people, they're all very good, very different, and we'll put somebody there, but people want it downsized,” Trump told reporters Wednesday in the Oval Office as he signed into law the bill boosting immigration enforcement funding.

Senate Democrats blocked a longer reauthorization last week over Pulte’s appointment. Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has no intelligence background and has drawn criticism from Democrats and some Republicans.

Johnson said Wednesday that he plans to put a short-term extension through July 2 on the House floor Thursday morning.

The bill will be considered under suspension of the rules, meaning that it will need support from two-thirds of the House to pass. That would require a significant number of Democrats to vote in support.

Many in House Republican leadership do not expect the bill to pass. Clearing the votes required to pass on suspension will be very hard, people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity told NOTUS. And Democrats do not plan to back the measure in the House, either.

“Under no circumstances should we move forward with an extension of surveillance authority as long as Bill Pulte, who's deeply unqualified, is on track to being the acting director of intelligence,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters Wednesday.

A short-term extension does not appear to have much support on the Hill.

“I’m not sure there are votes there,” Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Wednesday.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) said he opposes the idea, though he was not speaking for the Democratic caucus.

Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, called a short-term extension “so messy” on Tuesday.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Wednesday that the extension would depend on “what the traffic will bear.” He said he heard a three-week extension is being discussed as an option.

FISA allows intelligence agencies to target foreigners overseas, but it has drawn concerns about privacy because Americans’ communications can be swept up and later searched without a warrant.

Reauthorizing FISA faced difficulties, even before the fight over Pulte. Lawmakers had failed to reach a long-term deal earlier this year amid pushback from privacy hawks, and Congress instead passed a 45-day extension to give negotiators more time.

Trump defended the program as essential to national security.

“FISA 702 is very important to our Military, and keeping the American People safe, especially during the World Cup and America250 Celebrations,” Trump wrote. “If nothing is done, this important Law will expire this week.”

This story was updated to include Thursday’s expected House vote.

Two House Republicans Will Face Off for California’s 40th District

Manuela Silva — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 12:42:00 GMT

If Rep. Young Kim loses in the general election, her ouster would be one of the first Republican casualties in California in the aftermath of Proposition 50, the redistricting measure California Democrats launched to counter Republicans’ redistricting in Texas. Bill Clark/AP

California voters passed a redistricting ballot measure last year that altered the lines of California’s 40th Congressional District. That change forced two Republican House members into a primary race for the redrawn seat, and those two incumbents will now move on to November’s general election, according to Associated Press projections.

Rep. Ken Calvert and Rep. Young Kim advanced in the nonpartisan primary, topping six other Democratic or politically unaffiliated candidates to square off for a seat Cook Political Report categorizes as solidly Republican.

If Kim loses in the general election, her ouster would be one of the first Republican casualties in California in the aftermath of Proposition 50, the redistricting measure California Democrats launched to counter Republicans’ redistricting in Texas. Under the new maps, the 40th District includes parts of Calvert’s former 41st District, which led to Calvert and Kim each claiming the heavily red district as their own in what became a bitter primary.

Kim, who was first elected in 2020, announced her plans to run for reelection in the 40th District last summer. But hours after the passage of Proposition 50, Calvert announced he would abandon the 41st District, which had been redrawn as a solidly Democratic seat, per Cook Political, to challenge Kim in the neighboring district.

Calvert, who’s served in the House for 33 years, is the chairman of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee. Throughout his reelection campaign, his campaign committee attracted donations from a range of defense executives or their associated political action committees, including in the days after the Iran war began.

Both candidates raised and spent millions during their primary fight. According to FEC filings reported on May 21, Calvert’s campaign raised over $5.7 million in total through May 13 and spent over $3.6 million in that time. Kim’s campaign raised over $8.2 million through May 13 and spent $6.6 million, according to her campaigns’ May 21 FEC filings.

In a rabidly red district in staunchly blue California, each candidate has spent time and advertising dollars arguing their opponent isn’t sufficiently loyal to Donald Trump’s MAGA movement, but the president declined to make an endorsement in the primary race.

“We need a conservative who’s been with President Trump through thick and thin, not just when it’s politically expedient,” Calvert told The New York Times, referring to Kim. “She’s part of the more moderate group in the House, and she has separated herself from President Trump on numerous occasions.”

The Maine Concern

Evan McMorris-Santoro, Jasmine Wright — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 10:01:00 GMT

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 10:01:00 GMT https://www.notus.org/newsletters/the-maine-concern

Robert F. Bukaty/AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty

Today’s notice: Platner wins big, but big enough? The U.S. strikes Iran. Republicans on the Hill don’t like Trump’s AI company equity plan. The Secret Service prepares to be busy. And: Will D.C. ban foie gras?

THE LATEST

On the ground in Maine: In theory, Graham Platner’s win last night in the Democratic Senate primary kicked off one of the most important races on the party’s map. Huge resources should pour into the effort to unseat incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins now. But will they? “It just doesn’t feel worth the investment when this guy has proven to be so untrustworthy,” one Democratic strategist told NOTUS.

Our Igor Bobic, Christa Dutton and Alex Roarty report on the trepidation among some Democrats and the desire to move on from the series of scandals that have dogged Platner for months. “I’m sure it’ll be an interesting general election, but I think he can win,” Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minnesota) said.

One metric worth considering: As the polls closed, some wondered how big a win Platner would have to put up in the primary to silence critics. As votes were still being counted late last night, he appeared to be doing better in his primary than the last Democratic nominee to face Collins, the former state legislator Sara Gideon, did in hers.

Christa was at Platner’s victory party. She caught some of that ride-or-die energy he’s going to need to calm national Democratic nerves. “The tattoo, the sexting — which I thought was ridiculous as far as an issue — and a couple other things, they don’t look good, but he’s a realized man,” one supporter at the rally told her. “When you hear him speak, he doesn’t speak in platitudes.”

A name you won’t be hearing on the general election campaign trail: Rep. Nancy Mace. She failed to qualify for the runoff in the South Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary, which will feature Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and state Attorney General Alan Wilson. There’s a runoff in both the Republican and Democratic primaries for Mace’s House seat as well.

Other results: The Democratic primary in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, being vacated by retiring Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, will go to a ranked runoff. The winner of that primary will face former Republican Gov. Paul LePage in the fall. And Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) won his primary over an opponent who had drawn a lot of attention by condemning the war in Iran, which Graham has championed.

Meanwhile, in Iran: U.S. Central Command announced just before 9 p.m. ET yesterday that it had completed “self-defense strikes against Iran,” the latest test of an increasingly tenuous ceasefire with the country. The strikes were launched after Donald Trump said the U.S. “must, of necessity, respond” to an attack that brought down a U.S. Apache helicopter patrolling the Strait of Hormuz.

Open tabs: Kalshi Plans Workplace Disclosure Rule to Combat Insider Trading (WSJ); The White House blocked a study on alcohol consumption. This is what it said (The Hill); Gallego hires Andrew Bates for crisis comms around Swalwell (Axios); ICE has detained over 500 babies and toddlers under Trump (MS NOW)

From the Hill

The DHS shutdown fight finally ends: Yesterday, House Republicans narrowly passed a party-line immigration-enforcement funding bill that their counterparts in the Senate approved last week. There were lots of distractions during this process — Trump’s “anti-weaponization” fund, ballroom construction money — but in the end none of them were attached to the bill.

Republicans say no to Trump’s AI stock plan: “I’m not a huge fan of the government owning industry, and I think with this you’d combine the worst of the big bureaucrats with the Big Tech monopolist,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) told NOTUS, echoing several members of his party who do not want the president to go through with his plan for the government to own equity stakes in AI companies.

FISA shot/chaser: Senate Republican Leader John Thune told reporters yesterday that it would be easier to pass a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act reauthorization if Trump appointed a permanent director of national intelligence now, our Hill team reports. But that appears unlikely. “William Pulte, who is working closely with Tulsi Gabbard, will be taking over as Acting Director of National Intelligence on Friday, June 19th,” Trump posted to Truth Social yesterday evening, seemingly dashing Thune’s and others’ hopes.

From the White House

The Secret Service’s busy summer: It will be one of the most demanding periods in the agency’s history, NOTUS’ Derek Hawkins reports. The first test comes this weekend, when the agency provides security for a UFC cage fight at the White House. Then comes the 250th anniversary events, campaign travel, the World Cup and on and on.

The list got longer just last week when Trump announced his “rally to end all rallies” would take place on June 24 in place of a Freedom 250 concert that many acts dropped out of. Derek reports that Secret Service officials have met to discuss how they would position the rally stage and mitigate lines of sight. One agenda item: whether livestock from the Great American State Fair happening on the National Mall would need security screening.

NOTUS METRO

Sign up for our new local newsletter. NOTUS has added some of the best reporters covering D.C.-area news, sports and culture. Sign up for the NOTUS Metro Newsletter now!

Bad news for Butterworth’s? The MAGA-favored eatery may lose one of its prized dishes if a petition drive to get a foie gras ban on the D.C. ballot succeeds this summer, NOTUS’ Martin Austermuhle reports. June is a make-or-break month for the effort; organizers say they are more than halfway to collecting the roughly 24,000 signatures they need to turn in by early July.

A recent study says D.C. is tied with Las Vegas for having the second-highest number of restaurants serving foie gras in the country. New York is first. “It is my favorite ingredient, hands down,” Bart Hutchins, Butterworth’s chef and co-owner, told Martin. The restaurant has a regular menu item featuring foie gras and lamb, and recently offered foie gras ice cream, too.

ON NOTUS PODCAST

From your favorite podcast app: On today’s episode of On NOTUS, President Trump blurs the lines between branches as Speaker Johnson cedes influence in the House. NOTUS’ Oriana González is joined by her colleagues Kadia Goba, Reese Gorman and Paul Kane to discuss Trump’s influence in both chambers of Congress. Plus, new revelations about the House Ethics Committee, including how a gender gap impacted one investigation into sexual misconduct allegations.

NEW ON NOTUS

Awkward: The long-shot Republican nominee for governor in Pennsylvania, Stacy Garrity, is supported by Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania, a grassroots organizing group founded by donor and organizer Cliff Maloney, NOTUS’ Avani Kalra reports. The backing is notable because Maloney has faced multiple accusations of sexual assault and harassment throughout his time in Pennsylvania politics — though he has denied the allegations.

More: Social Security Is in Worse Shape Than Previously Projected: Report, by Torrie Herrington

Ex-Fox News Host Steve Hilton to Face Xavier Becerra in California Governor’s Race, by Manuela Silva

NOT US

‘Unbelievable how accurate’: How paid influencers hype Polymarket’s odds, by Jason Beeferman, Maya Kaufman, Jessie Blaeser and Declan Harty for Politico
A Disorienting Weekend With the Women of Turning Point, by Elaine Godfrey for The Atlantic
How Spencer Pratt Lost Los Angeles, by Maxwell Adler for Vanity Fair
The Fading Fun of Trump 2.0, by Philip Wegmann, Sabrina Rodriguez and Elias Leight for The Wall Street Journal

BE SOCIAL

That’s a whole lot of cash.

https://x.com/rpyers/status/2064153750600839471

Correction: Yesterday’s newsletter misstated the entity that EMILYs List’s super PAC arm paid. It paid the FTX Recovery Trust. It also misstated which elections Sam Bankman-Fried contributed to, which were all prior to FTX’s bankruptcy in 2022.

Thank you for reading! If you liked this edition of the NOTUS newsletter, please forward it to a friend. If this newsletter was shared with you, please sign up — it’s free! Have a tip? Email us at tips@notus.com. And as always, we’d love to hear your thoughts at newsletters@notus.com.]]>

Trump's UFC Fight Kicks Off a Summer of Stress for the Secret Service

Derek Hawkins — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 09:45:00 GMT

President Donald Trump's trip to the NBA Finals led to heavy Secret Service presence at Madison Square Garden. Ryan Murphy/AP

The UFC cage match at the White House Sunday marks a major test for the Secret Service during one of the most demanding security calendars in the agency’s history. And after three recent shootings involving the service and multiple assassination attempts on President Donald Trump, scrutiny is high.

Officials are devoting substantial resources to the UFC event, planning for which has been underway since last year. They’re also looking ahead to a summer packed with high-level protective operations, including America’s 250th anniversary festivities, World Cup events in 11 U.S. cities, and a heavy travel schedule for Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

Just last week, the service added another unexpected item to its list: a Trump rally on the National Mall at the site of the upcoming Great American State Fair. The president announced a “Rally to end all Rallies” would take place on June 24 instead of a planned 250th anniversary concert series that was scuttled after musical acts backed out over the organizers’ political ties.

Service officials are working out how to secure the stage and mitigate lines of sight for the event, according to people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to discuss the plans.

Before the date was set, the timing of the speech raised questions about whether equipment from the state fair, perhaps even livestock, would require security screening.

Taken together, current and former officials say the crush of assignments has made 2026 feel like a presidential election year, when campaigning, party conventions, and more officials needing protection combine to put immense strain on the already-overstretched agency.

Trump White House (5231x3487, AR: 1.50)

“It’s never been experienced before, even when former President Obama was running against John McCain and he was attracting tens of thousands of people wherever he went,” said Robert Pacsi, a retired Secret Service leader and expert in event security. “There’s this constant kind of campaign tempo.”

Adding to the pressure, Secret Service personnel in April thwarted a gunman who tried to storm the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, and in the following weeks shot two other armed suspects, one of them fatally, who exchanged gunfire with agents near the White House.

The slew of events could compound the agency’s ongoing struggle to manage staff burnout, attrition of experienced agents and an ever-expanding protective mission.

Last year, service officials launched a massive hiring effort to bolster agent and officer ranks ahead of what is certain to be a grueling cycle in 2028. But many agents with deep experience in protective operations have left the agency in recent years, and more are expected to depart soon, leaving their less experienced counterparts to manage complex assignments.

Trump White House Correspondents Dinner (3999x2666, AR: 1.50)

Jim Helminski, a retired Secret Service official who worked on previous hiring efforts, said that despite strain on the workforce, he believes the service can handle this summer’s unforgiving protective schedule. But he questioned whether the agency was staffing up quickly enough to keep pace with security demands in the longer term.

"While the service continues to successfully execute its mission, it's difficult to determine whether the current staffing levels provide the personnel depth, reserve capacity, and operational flexibility that leadership considers optimal," Helminski said. "The ultimate success will be whether the agency can recruit, train, and retain enough personnel to meet its 2028 workforce goals."

Secret Service leaders and other federal law enforcement officials involved in security planning say they are well equipped to ensure protectees and the public remain safe at the UFC fight and the summer's major events.
Donald Trump UFC (5118x3412, AR: 1.50)There is a possibility, though, that the UFC event won't go forward: A federal lawsuit by the Public Integrity Project, a good-government group, seeks to halt the fight. The complaint filed on behalf of a local activist and Vietnam veteran contends the transformation of the South Lawn is unlawful and that the event will improperly enrich Trump.

Regardless, security preparations for the fight at the White House, dubbed UFC Freedom 250, have been underway since the fall. Officials from the Secret Service, White House, and UFC have spent months gaming out everything from potential drone threats to evacuation routes to the movement of the fighters, guests, and Trump himself.

"For this event, and throughout the America 250 and Freedom celebrations this summer, attendees can expect a visible security presence that includes uniformed law enforcement officers, specialized police units, and military support teams," Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in an emailed statement.

Guglielmi also pointed to “extensive security measures the public may never see, including sophisticated technology, intelligence and counter-surveillance capabilities, plainclothes federal agents, and tactical response teams that work every day to protect Washington, D.C.”

White House spokesman Davis Ingle said in a statement: “President Trump’s number one priority is the safety and security of anyone who is participating or attending the many events honoring the Nation during our historical semiquincentennial celebrations.”

Representatives for the UFC did not respond to requests for comment.

The fight will feature an audience of about 4,000 packed into a 150-foot-wide arena known as “the claw” on the South Lawn. Trump, UFC president Dana White, and an assortment of other VIPs are expected to watch the event there, under a canopy emblazoned with white stars and lined in stage lights and camera rigging. As many as 100,000 more members of the public may watch the event on screens at the Ellipse.

Construction of the arena began in late May and has involved an intensive security protocol that the service uses at political party conventions and other events that feature large, custom-built infrastructure.

Every worker who enters the site undergoes a background check and is inspected for weapons. Their tools, vehicles and every component of the stage itself are also inspected. Once the crews are done for the night, the Secret Service’s canine, explosive and technical security teams sweep the site to make sure nothing suspicious was planted or left behind. The site is swept again the following morning before anyone returns.

Trump White House UFC (6000x4000, AR: 1.50)

“You zero it out,” said Pacsi, the former Secret Service official, “and create as safe of a bubble as you possibly can.”

At the event itself, security will be on par with a Super Bowl or Boston Marathon. Law enforcement presence will be huge, with hundreds of agents and officers from the Secret Service, D.C. police and other agencies patrolling the grounds and surrounding streets.

Everyone who enters the arena will receive the same security screening that White House visitors receive when they visit the complex, according to people familiar with the arrangements. About a quarter of the seats in the arena will be reserved for active military members who meet specific height and weight requirements. The White House did not respond to questions about how the other seats will be allocated.

Countersnipers and counter-drone operators will post up in the area, and any building with a line of sight will be closely monitored. Canine officers and countersurveillance agents in plain clothes will fan out in the crowds. Magnetometers will be deployed by the dozens.

Holding such a sprawling event at the White House gives the service home field advantage they would not have at a private arena, with unencumbered access to the agency’s offensive and defensive resources, security experts said.

“It would be very different if it were being held at a sporting arena or convention center or college campus where you don’t control the grounds, or the staff don’t want you there at all,” said James Hamilton, a private security consultant and former FBI supervisory special agent. “It can really only be done at the White House.”

The service is also well accustomed to hosting large events on the South Lawn — among them the annual Easter Egg Roll, which draws tens of thousands of people, as well as state dinners and, in 2020, Trump’s nomination acceptance speech.

Trump (4155x2770, AR: 1.50)

“It’s a violent Easter Egg Roll,” former Secret Service supervisor Paul Eckloff said of the UFC event. “It may be far more polarizing than the Easter Egg Roll, and it’s a spectacle, but it breaks down to the same manageable things in terms of managing the crowd, setting up magnetometers, coordinating entry for VIPs and the press.”

Still, security experts said extreme vigilance would be essential given the popularity of mixed martial arts and a broader threat environment in which risks to Trump and other public officials remain high.

“The copycats are real, and they’re coming,” Hamilton said. “The White House Correspondents’ Dinner video of the shooter is very concerning because it’s something that the bad guys can observe and say, ‘OK, this is how close you can get.’ The Secret Service has got to bump that security perimeter way out — and they will.”

Pennsylvania Republican Gubernatorial Nominee Working With Acquitted Sex Assault Defendant

Avani Kalra — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 09:27:00 GMT

Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Stacy Garrity, a Republican, has forged political connections with an operative who's been previously accused of sexual misconduct. Matt Rourke/AP

A donor and organizer for Pennsylvania Republican gubernatorial nominee Stacy Garrity has faced accusations of sexual assault and harassment throughout his time in Pennsylvania politics.

Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania, a right-leaning grassroots group founded and run by Cliff Maloney, has contributed $16,000 to Garrity since 2020.

Maloney, who has denied all sexual misconduct allegations, has also pledged his organization will knock on 750,000 doors for the Republican nominee. Maloney’s PAC contributed to the Garrity campaign just after he attended a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago in March, Pennsylvania campaign records show.

Garrity, in turn, has appeared in Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania social media videos, on their podcast and at the organization’s events throughout her political career and now as she attempts to defeat incumbent Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a potential 2028 presidential candidate.

Garrity also highlighted Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania’s work on her campaign’s behalf, doing so in a social media video she made in March with Maloney’s group. She said the group “getting out there and knocking on doors is going to be incredibly important to declaring victory.”Maloney, Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania and the Garrity campaign did not respond to NOTUS’ multiple requests for comment.

Maloney has long faced questions about his personal conduct.
CliffMaloney1 (2048x1364, AR: 1.50)In 2022, he was arrested and charged for allegedly drugging and raping a woman in 2013 while a student at the University of Pittsburgh. According to the criminal complaint, the victim alleged Maloney gave her a drink after the pair left a fraternity party together and she lost consciousness before waking up in his bed.

Maloney has repeatedly denied those claims, and in 2023, a jury found Maloney not guilty of four of six charges he faced and could not reach a verdict on two others — a judge later dismissed the two remaining charges.

Maloney nevertheless surrendered his teaching license because he was “criminally charged in relation to allegations that he engaged in sexual activity with an adult female without her consent,” according to a report from the Pennsylvania Professional Standards and Practices Commission.

In 2021, Young Americans for Liberty, a conservative activist organization that operates primarily at high schools and on college campuses, removed Maloney as its president.

The move came after women within the organization accused Maloney of covering up incidents of alleged sexual misconduct.

Former Young Americans for Liberty staffer Addyson Rae Garner began the series of accusatory posts in January 2021 under the tag #YALtoo.

“Cliff Maloney Jr. fancies himself the godfather of the liberty movement, but instead of sending people to kneecap the goons who assaulted your daughter, he’ll promote the goons — and even help them run for office,” Garner alleged in the post.

Another staffer, Taylor Hall, later alleged on Twitter that Maloney had asked her to bring him food in his hotel room at a conference hosted by the organization, where Maloney asked her to get in bed with him. Hall said that she denied Maloney’s sexual advances and Maloney threatened her position at the organization.

“He lectured me about loyalty to him, and that people who aren’t loyal to him ‘don’t stick around long’ in the organization before asking me to come get in bed with him,” Hall wrote. “I actually gave him a chance, in tears, to take back what he said and apologize. He used that opportunity to make sexually demeaning comments about me instead.”

The Young Americans for Liberty board announced Maloney’s termination in a press release that stated Maloney was “losing the confidence of the board.” The organization also said it would continue its “independent investigation into all allegations.” It’s unclear what the results were.

At the time, Maloney said the “allegations against me are “100% false.”

Maloney’s support for Garrity’s gubernatorial campaign comes at a time when the Republican nominee has struggled to keep financial pace with Shapiro — Garrity raised only $2.5 million ahead of the May primary, Pennsylvania filings show. Shapiro had raised $37 million by comparison, according to state records.

Stephen Medvic, a government professor at Franklin & Marshall College, said that Maloney’s early ground support for Garrity is particularly notable because the Garrity campaign doesn’t yet have a significant on-the-ground door knocking operation.

“The ground game, it hasn’t really ramped up yet,” Medvic said. “I think that's that's in part because she didn't have any opposition for the nomination, so in some ways, you know, she didn't have to build out a full campaign organization.”

Meanwhile, Garrity’s fundraising has been “extremely anemic, because the incumbent governor is so popular that it seems unlikely that any Republican, that any nominee, could beat him,” Robin Kolodny, a political science professor at Temple University, told NOTUS, adding that it’s unclear if Garrity even has a door-knocking operation outside of Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania.

The Pet Duck Helping the Effort to Ban Foie Gras in D.C.

Martin Austermuhle — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 09:20:00 GMT

Meghan Abrego and her duck, Olivia Gray, at Eastern Market. Kainaz Amaria/NOTUS

For being involved in a political campaign, Olivia Gray isn’t one for words. But when she does make noise, it has the sound of a familiar refrain: Quack, quack, quack.

“She doesn’t have a voice that’s English-speaking, so I have to be her translator,” said Meghan Abrego, her owner. “We’re just trying to save her friends.”

One could forgive Olivia for not saying anything – she is a duck, after all. But her presence at Eastern Market on a recent Sunday played an important role in the effort to implement one of the quirkier ballot initiatives in recent D.C. memory.

Olivia and Abrego approached shoppers with petitions in hand, asking them to support a ban on the sale and production of foie gras, which comes from the livers of ducks and geese that have been fattened up. The French consider it a delicacy; animal rights activists say it’s a disgrace, arguing that its production most frequently entails force-feeding fowl.

“Look at her, she’s relaxed and happy,” Abrego said, pointing to Olivia as she waddled around in front of a crowd of curious onlookers. A Swedish blue, Olivia is domesticated. “Why not embrace being a duck for what they truly are and can be?”

Meghan Abrego gathers signatures to ban foie gras at Eastern Market alongside her duck Olivia Gray. (8015x5343, AR: 1.50)

Organizers with the campaign for what is formally known as Initiative 86, launched this year by Pro-Animal D.C., say they are three quarters of the way toward collecting the roughly 24,000 signatures from D.C. voters they need to get on the ballot. Should the group succeed by early July, D.C. voters will get the chance to vote on Initiative 86 in November.

The efforts aren’t limited to D.C. An allied group has already gathered the necessary signatures to put a similar foie gras ban to voters in Denver, and lawmakers in Portland, Oregon, recently (and narrowly) approved their own ban. Pittsburgh took the same step just over two years ago. California has banned the production of foie gras for more than a decade.

“It is one of the most uniquely cruel factory farming processes,” said Cady Witt, the campaign’s director in D.C. “It’s one of the only ones where they use force-feeding and where they have the intention to give an animal a disease.”

The campaign’s petition circulators – some of whom came to D.C. from Denver – lean heavily into describing the force-feeding that ducks and geese undergo, which they equate to essentially giving the animals liver disease; an image on the back of their clipboards shows a duck with a funnel shoved down its throat.
Meghan Abrego gathers signatures to ban foie gras at Eastern Market alongside her duck Olivia Gray. (7061x4707, AR: 1.50)It is, Witt concedes, a niche issue in the greater scheme of animal rights advocacy. She calls foie gras a “fancy rich-people product,” but also says dozens of restaurants in D.C. serve it. A recent study from Colorado State University’s Animal-Human Policy Center says D.C. is tied with Las Vegas for having the second-highest number of restaurants serving foie gras in the country; New York is first.

That’s probably down from where things were even a few years ago, largely because of the D.C. Coalition Against Foie Gras, a local activist group that has demanded that restaurants in the city stop serving the product. Their tactics have included loud protests outside and inside restaurants; one restaurateur unsuccessfully sued the group over its aggressive tactics.

But the co-owner and chef of one of the D.C. restaurants still serving foie gras says it’s misunderstood. “It is my favorite ingredient, hands down,” says Bart Hutchins of Butterworth’s on Capitol Hill, where a $29 dish features foie gras paired with lamb tartare and an onion ring.

“America has a culture of enjoying parts of the animal that aren’t prime cuts,” he says. “We used to be able to get liver and onions on the menu. We’ve lost that. Foie gras is one of those low barriers to entry to get back into that. It’s hyper-palatable.”

Butterworth Foie Gras (8192x5464, AR: 1.50)

Hutchins says it’s a year-round dish in the restaurant, which is popular with Republican administration officials and congressional staffers, and one of its most ordered.

Hutchins – who also recently served a foie gras ice cream – disputes that ducks and geese are harmed in the production of the ingredient, and that in the greater fight for animal rights and a healthier food system, there are greater battles to be fought.

“Commercial pigs are disgusting. Commercial chickens, too,” he says. “We could ban the sales of animals raised that way, or there are many ways we could be conscious of animals and the quality of our foods, but this isn’t one.”
Butterworth Foie Gras (8192x5464, AR: 1.50)Animal rights activists like Max Broad of D.C. Voters for Animals don’t disagree that there are other, more widespread issues that merit attention, though he says focusing on foie gras makes strategic sense.

“This being kind of niche makes it digestible,” he says. “It’s not a sweeping change, it’s small and it makes sense. And it’s not going to raise hackles because a lot of people don’t eat it or even know what it is. It’s something people can get on board with without making any sacrifice.”

There have been similar niche efforts in D.C. in the past. In 2020, the D.C. Council passed a bill banning the sale of ivory and rhino horns. A later push to ban fur sales faltered, though. And while ballot initiatives have become a regular feature of D.C. elections over the past decade – voters have weighed in on everything from legalizing marijuana possession to implementing ranked-choice voting – and they usually pass, a 1991 initiative to ban horse-drawn carriages in the city failed.

Witt says she’s confident the campaign will collect the signatures it needs to get on the November ballot. And if it’s approved by voters, she thinks it will carry symbolic weight. “If we can get this banned here, the force-feeding of birds,” she says, “we’ll set a precedent for the rest of the country.”

Butterworth Foie Gras (8192x5464, AR: 1.50)

Hutchins hopes it doesn’t even get that far. But if it does, he says he’s already agreed to a televised debate on the issue. “It’s so easy to be uneducated about the things we’re voting on. It is to some extent a really good example of politics of our time: all outrage and no substance,” he says. “I would encourage people not to sign it.”

Back at Eastern Market, though, D.C. resident Nick Wall was convinced enough by a circulator’s pitch – and Olivia’s presence – that he signed the petition to get Initiative 86 on the ballot. “I don’t like the idea of force-feeding anything,” he said.

Senate Republicans Break With Trump On His AI Equity Idea

Samuel Larreal, Jeff Stein — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 09:17:00 GMT

President Donald Trump's interest in having the federal government take equity in AI companies faces opposition among Republican senators. Steve Helber/AP

Congressional Republicans are breaking with President Donald Trump over his call to have the federal government take shares in the largest artificial intelligence companies.

At least a dozen GOP House and Senate offices are against the idea, according to interviews with lawmakers and their aides.

“I don't think the federal government should be in the business of being an equity holder in private companies,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), chairman of the Senate Committee on Science, Technology and Commerce, told NOTUS.

Even Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), who has become an outspoken voice for the government to have a larger role in AI regulation, was hesitant about Trump’s approach.

“I’m not a huge fan of the government owning industry, and I think with this you’d combine the worst of the big bureaucrats with the Big Tech monopolist,” he said.

On Friday, Trump told reporters that the administration was weighing acquiring equity in the biggest AI giants, such as Anthropic and OpenAI, as the companies move toward historically large initial public offerings.

The idea was initially floated to the president by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who suggested his firm voluntarily cede shares worth billions of dollars to the government as a way to stem public anger over the rise of AI.

Trump, too, touted the idea as a response to broad public angst over the rise of AI, as polls continue to show Americans are apprehensive about the potential impact of new data centers and the new technology.

“There’s so much money, they’re so big, where pieces could be given to the American public,” Trump told reporters last week. “There’s something interesting about it.”

The government taking equity in AI firms could result in billions of dollars in federal revenue, distributable as dividends or as a way to pay down the deficit, rather than allowing company profits to accrue to a far narrower share of executives and investors.

Supporters of the government getting a cut of AI giants’ profits argue that the technology is built on the accumulated contributions of the public at large, and therefore the public at large should also benefit from it. Those on the opposite side of the political spectrum as Trump, like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), are proponents of this position.

Trump’s allies, meanwhile, have balked at the proposal since it became public — the latest intraparty rupture over the president’s proposed interventions in the economy.

“I don’t like that idea at all. That’s the reverse of privatization,” said Stephen Moore, an outside adviser to the White House. “There’s a lot of angst over this idea of the government taking shares in private companies. It’s not the proper role for the federal government. You can’t have the government taking private property.”

Senate Republicans worry that government involvement in the AI industry could stifle innovation, which has been a political priority for the GOP establishment since Trump returned to office.

“I still think that the private enterprise program is the best,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota) said. “I’d rather have open competition and not have the government favor one particular type of product because they have a stake in it versus another. I think that could cause us some problems long term.”

“Generally I think the private sector should remain the private sector,” Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) said.

Trump’s economic policies have at least partially defied long-standing party orthodoxy on tariffs, deficits and the independence of the nation’s central bank. In both his first and second term, the president has embraced a much more active, interventionist role for the federal government in the economy, partially reversing the libertarian posture of the party of Ronald Reagan.

Republicans have supported the president’s economic agenda despite those breaks from their preferences, in part because he still supports large tax cuts and business deregulation.

But Trump’s interest in having the government acquire shares in private firms may pose an even greater conflict for the party.

Republican lawmakers were already unhappy with the president’s existing moves to take equity shares in companies, including a 10% share in the chipmaker Intel. Acquiring parts of the AI companies, whose investments have lifted the U.S. economy over the last year, would represent an even bigger move in that direction.

“They don’t like it at all,” one GOP aide said of the party’s reaction, predicting near unanimous opposition among the conference to the idea.

Not all Republican senators were against the idea outright. Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), one of Trump's strongest supporters in the Senate, said he wouldn’t weigh in on the idea of the government acquiring shares in AI companies until he had more details.

However, he lauded Trump’s deal with Intel as "brilliant."

“Remember, Biden was just gonna give them $10 billion on behalf of the taxpayer,” Moreno told NOTUS. “Trump said: ‘Here $10 billion, but we get 10% of the company.’”

In comments to reporters, Trump compared his plan to one pushed by Sanders, which would have the government acquire at least 50% of the AI firms’ shares. Altman’s talks with the administration have centered on giving the government far less than 50% of his company’s shares, but conservative policy analysts fear even partial nationalization could validate Sanders’ plans.

“Even if they’re not vocal, Republicans think this is a bad idea,” said Doug Holtz-Eakin, a former adviser to Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) and the president of the American Action Forum, a center-right think tank. “It’s terrible to talk like this — it gives people like Bernie Sanders some legitimacy, which is something nobody should ever do.”

D.C. Council Votes to Restore Social Services, Defying Bowser Cuts

Martin Austermuhle — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 09:15:00 GMT

Mayor Muriel Bowser had proposed cutting the programs as part of the 2027 budget. Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images

The D.C. Council moved Tuesday toward restoring hundreds of millions of dollars for social services and programs that Mayor Muriel Bowser had proposed cutting as part of the 2027 budget, using money from the city’s reserves and pulling in new revenue by decoupling from federal tax cuts approved by Republicans in Congress last year.

In their first vote on the city’s $21.2 billion budget, lawmakers did not consider any tax hikes, despite one proposal that would have imposed a new tax on wealthy residents’ capital gains, dividends and rental income.

But lawmakers could still consider the option before a final budget vote on June 23. Regardless, Chair Phil Mendelson said he would hold a public hearing in the fall on new ways for the District to bring in more revenue.

“It is more than likely we will see a tax increase next year,” Mendelson said.

The first budget vote came against the backdrop of mounting challenges to D.C.’s economy and fiscal situation, driven in large part by the downstream effects of widespread layoffs that have cost the city more than 44,000 public- and private-sector jobs since the start of 2025.

Revenue growth that drove ever-expanding budgets over the last decade has largely stalled, and Bowser’s proposed budget – which she unveiled in April – cut almost $500 million from programs and services.

Bowser said the city needed to become more fiscally conservative and focus on spurring the local economy. But critics said her proposed budget would slash critical social services like health care, housing vouchers and cash assistance for low-income families just as poverty rates and the number of residents receiving government assistance have ticked up.

“The executive went down a path where the budget was balanced on the backs of the most vulnerable but didn't ask anything from families like mine,” Ward 6 Council member Charles Allen said. “The proposed budget felt like trickle-down economics: incentives to those who have means and at best you hope the incentives will trickle down.”

The estimated $420 million Mendelson was able to cobble together from reserves and decoupling will restore funding for a program that increases pay for child care workers; increase enrollment and eliminate an existing waitlist for the city’s child care subsidy program; add 659 new housing vouchers for families facing homelessness; reverse Bowser’s proposed cuts to a paid family leave program; and delay cuts to the TANF cash assistance program and health care for immigrant residents.

It will also set aside $100 million for pay raises for unionized government workers, which Bowser had not included in her proposed budget; fully restore funding for a program that offers low-income residents free legal representation in civil legal matters; and provide $15 million in additional funding for charter schools.

“Hundreds of millions of dollars in critical programs were reduced substantially,” Mendelson said. “The budget I am proposing restores all of these programs without significant tax increases.”

But whatever victories lawmakers might claim in a difficult budget year are largely temporary. Much of the funding Mendelson restored is on a one-time basis, meaning that a new mayor and council will face the exact same funding challenges – a “fiscal cliff,” as some have termed it – next year.

Mendelson’s move to pull $150 million out of one of the city’s four reserve accounts – which contain some $2.2 billion, with limits on how it can be spent and has to be paid back – also drew opposition from D.C. Chief Financial Officer Glen Lee, who wrote in a letter to the council that drawing down reserves would imperil “the District's ability to meet its basic obligations and pay bills throughout a fiscal year.”

Mendelson has dismissed those concerns, saying that even after withdrawing $150 million the city would still have sufficient money left in those accounts. But the disagreement between the chairman and the CFO underscores broader concerns about D.C.’s fiscal situation.

“I am concerned we are running into a buzzsaw of sorts,” Ward 5 Council member Zachary Parker said during the budget debate Tuesday. “The council is going to need to work on revenue or to more seriously address cutting back our spending across government.”

Bowser has leaned on the council to focus more on what she says is government overspending, and work to avoid tax increases. Even still, the mayor put forth some tax increase proposals of her own, including one that would have raised the levy on medical marijuana and another on nightly hotel stays. The council rejected both.

Some lawmakers, including Ward 1 Council member Brianne Nadeau, have shown more interest in raising taxes. Nadeau successfully inserted a new 20-cent fee for every delivery made by third-party services like DoorDash and UberEats into the budget, a move aimed at restoring funding for food-access programs for low-income residents.

Nadeau had also floated a 3 percent tax on passive income – which already exists at the federal level – held by households earning more than $500,000. That proposal was supported by advocacy groups that said the estimated $160 million in annual revenue could help provide funding for everything from emergency rental assistance and housing vouchers to environmental programs and mental health workers in schools.

She ultimately held back on inserting the proposal into the budget during the debate on Tuesday, saying that she didn’t think it was ready for full consideration. But she hinted that it could still come up, whether before the final budget vote later this month or in the fall.

“We should keep it on the table,” Nadeau said. “What I’d love to do is help the next mayor and council get on strong footing with their revenue streams so they’re not immediately saddled with having to face a fiscal cliff.”

Stick and Pick? Shop Around? The Wizards Have Options at No. 1

Scott Allen — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 09:10:00 GMT

BYU forward AJ Dybantsa is the prospect most likely to be chosen No. 1. Will the Wizards make that pick? Jon Robichaud/AP

Toward the end of their third straight season with fewer than 20 wins, the Washington Wizards issued a public apology for an April Fools’ Day halftime skit in which a “fan” was tricked into believing he made a half-court shot while blindfolded to win $10,000.

Facing backlash on social media from those unaware the skit was scripted and that the fan was in on the joke, the team conceded the prank “missed the mark.”

The episode was, in the online parlance of the franchise’s long-suffering fans, #SoWizards. Two months later, with the team making headlines for much better reasons and season-ticket sales reportedly up, all is forgiven.

The Wizards own the No. 1 pick in the June 23 NBA draft for the first time since 2010. And in another indication that the franchise’s days as a laughingstock may be behind it, Washington has been mentioned as a potential trade suitor for one of the league’s biggest stars (more on that later).

Most of the talk is about what the architects of the Wizards’ rebuild — team president Michael Winger and General Manager Will Dawkins — will do on draft day. Owning the No. 1 pick guarantees nothing (see: Brown, Kwame), but Washington at least possesses the luxury of choice.

What are their options? We asked NBA experts for their take.

Stick and Pick A.J. Dybantsa

BYU forward AJ Dybantsa and Kansas guard Darryn Peterson are widely considered the top talents in this year’s draft, and while neither is the same caliber of prospect as Victor Wembanyama when he went No. 1 in 2023 to the San Antonio Spurs, both have star potential.

The Wizards have a solid young core of recent first-round picks in Bilal Coulibaly, Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington, Kyshawn George, Tre Johnson and Will Riley. They acquired accomplished veterans in four-time all-star guard Trae Young and 10-time all-star center Anthony Davis before last year’s trade deadline. Now they have a chance to add a franchise cornerstone.

Dybantsa led the nation in scoring at 25.5 points per game. The 6-foot-9 wing is an explosive playmaker with the ability to create off the dribble, hit tough shots and guard multiple positions. At the NBA draft combine, Dybantsa posted a 3.14-second three-quarter court sprint time, which matched John Wall’s mark from 2010, and a 42-inch vertical leap.

“It’s very hard to see a world in which he is not a very good NBA player,” ESPN senior NBA writer Tim Bontemps said in a phone interview.

“When evaluating players this young, it’s always about balancing risk and reward,” NBA draft analyst Matt Babcock wrote in an email. “To me, and I think to most evaluators, the highest level of confidence is in Dybantsa’s long-term outlook.

The Athletic’s David Aldridge and Josh Robbins surveyed 13 NBA executives, scouts and front-office officials about Washington’s options, and of the 10 who were willing to name the player they thought the Wizards should pick, seven voted for Dybantsa.

“Don’t complicate it,” one of those voters told The Athletic.

Most mock drafters, including ESPN’s Jeremy Woo, The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie, CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish, The Ringer’s J. Kyle Mann and Yahoo’s Kevin O’Connor, have Dybantsa going No. 1.

Darryn Peterson AP - 26063127643467 (3598x2399, AR: 1.50)

Move Back for Darryn Peterson

One intriguing dynamic in this year’s draft is that the leadership of the Utah Jazz, who own the No. 2 overall pick, have long been enamored with Dybantsa. A Massachusetts native, Dybantsa has spent the last two seasons in Utah after transferring to Utah Prep for his senior year of high school and then starring at BYU. Jazz owner Ryan Smith is also a prominent BYU booster.

That has led many to connect the dots for a possible trade between Utah and Washington — allowing the Jazz to select Dybantsa first overall and the Wizards to receive additional trade compensation to move back one spot and select Peterson.

The 6-foot-6 Peterson was the favorite to be the No. 1 pick in the fall. An elite shooter with the ability to play either guard position, Peterson averaged 20.2 points per game while making 38.2% of his three-point attempts during his freshman season at Kansas. But he missed 11 games and was limited in others due to mysterious full-body cramping. Peterson recently told ESPN the condition was caused by high doses of creatine. (Several medical professionals interviewed by the Deseret News suggested that explanation raises more questions than answers.)

“There’s a lot of things that go into this, outside of the bounds of what we know, and I think that’s particularly the case this year with some of the medical stuff for Darryn Peterson,” Bontemps said.

Bontemps said the “highest upside play would probably be to take Peterson,” and pointed to the duo’s head-to-head matchup in January. Peterson outplayed Dybantsa in the first half of Kansas’s 90-82 win before exiting the game shortly after halftime.

“When Peterson is right, he is just a special three-level scorer,” Bontemps said. “I think there’s a higher ceiling with him.”

NBA draft analyst Jonathan Givony, who has watched Dybantsa and Peterson play on the same floor several times dating back to their high school days, said on “The Zach Lowe Show” that Peterson is “on another level talent-wise” and should be the pick.

Turn Heads With Another Option

Duke forward Cam Boozer and North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson are widely considered the third- and fourth-best prospects available, and not everyone is convinced it’s a two-horse race for No. 1.

The Athletic’s John Hollinger has Boozer atop his ranking of the draft’s top prospects and described the national player of the year as “basically ‘college basketball Nikola Jokić’’’ last season.

“The Wizards are a young, developing team with a versatile young core, so I think an argument could be made for any of the four,” Babcock wrote.

Giannis Antetokounmpo AP - 26068199146545 (8168x5445, AR: 1.50)

Trade for a Star

Beyond the prospect debate, veteran NBA reporter Marc J. Spears recently suggested that Washington would “explore their options” ahead of the draft, including a potential trade for Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. Notably, Spears didn’t report that the Wizards had expressed interest in acquiring Antetokounmpo, or that the “Greek Freak,” who will turn 32 this year, would want to play in Washington.

Neither Robbins nor Monumental Sports Network’s Chase Hughes see a blockbuster deal for Antetokounmpo as likely, and Hughes added he doesn’t see any scenario in which Washington would include this year’s No. 1 pick in a trade package to acquire the superstar. Still, the fact that the Wizards have amassed enough young talent and draft capital to put together an attractive offer is a sign that they’re headed in the right direction.

Robbins, a DMV native, has also noticed an uptick in excitement about the team he has covered for The Athletic since 2021.

“I’ve always believed that the Wizards have been sitting atop a powder keg of interest — albeit a powder keg that was dampened by 45-some years of false starts” since the franchise’s last NBA Finals appearance in 1979, he wrote in an email. “That interest needed a spark, and it appears that winning the lottery is that spark.”

The largest year-over-year improvement in Wizards franchise history came in 1968-69, when rookie center Wes Unseld, the No. 2 overall pick in the draft behind Elvin Hayes, led the Baltimore Bullets to 57 wins on the heels of a 36-win campaign. In a deep Eastern Conference, it will likely take a similar jump for Washington, which won 17 games last season, to end its five-year playoff drought.

“It would be a huge step forward just to make the play-in [tournament],” Hughes said. “But they now have the talent to do it.”

Platner Won. Democrats Are Scared.

Igor Bobic, Christa Dutton, Alex Roarty — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 01:59:38 GMT

Graham Platner has faced a string of controversies that could be setting up a dream scenario for Republicans in the general election. Michael Kleinfeld for NOTUS

BLUE HILL, Maine — Democrats are projecting public confidence about the Maine Senate race in the wake of Graham Platner’s primary victory on Tuesday, insisting they can defeat incumbent Sen. Susan Collins in November.

Privately, however, many in the party are despondent about his chances, believing that his personal baggage has put a winnable race at risk and upended their path to securing a Senate majority next year. Some have written the contest off entirely, choosing to focus on other Senate races that are even more difficult for Democrats, like Iowa and Texas.

Everything, from deciding how to spend their money in the general election to how they navigate what members of their own party said about Platner during the primary, is now going to have an outsized role.

“Broadly speaking, donors, operatives and everybody else is taking a pretty close look at this and wondering if it’s worth it, or if there's going to be another shoe that drops either next week or in October,” said one Democratic strategist, granted anonymity to speak candidly. “It just doesn’t feel worth the investment when this guy has proven to be so untrustworthy.”

Platner spoke at his election night party Tuesday behind a podium bearing a poster reading “They Don’t Know Maine.” It’s a message that encapsulates the campaign’s argument that voters in the state will prove the naysayers wrong. But Platner’s speech was largely conciliatory, at least toward the Democratic voters who’ve been openly anxious about his viability.

"If you believe as I do that we can change our politics and change our country, then you must also believe that people can change,” Platner said early in his victory speech. “And the reason I believe that is because I have lived it."

He acknowledged he had made “mistakes,” that he is “still far from perfect.” But, he said, “every day, I wake up and I try to be a little bit better and a little bit kinder than I was the day before."

Still, he picked his targets.

"Now the national pundits, the political establishment, they keep looking for that one story, that one headline, that one moment in my life that they can define the campaign by,” Platner said. “But in trying so hard to understand me, they fail to understand that this is not about me at all. This is a movement about us."

Platner is looking like a dream scenario for Republicans in November. Last week, The New York Times reported on the accounts of several women who dated the oyster farmer and combat veteran, alleging past intimidating behavior toward them. His campaign also recently confirmed that he had exchanged sexually explicit texts with multiple women who weren’t his wife early in their marriage. That’s on top of the many inflammatory online comments he made in the past, which he’s apologized for, and a tattoo that looked like a Nazi symbol, which he’s since covered up.

Those controversies have generated speculation about the party moving to replace Platner as their nominee. State election law allows a swap as long as the primary winner drops out by July 13.

“If there’s a way to replace him on the ballot, I’d be all for it,” Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Illinois) told CNN on Monday, even before the primary contest that pitted Platner against Maine Gov. Janet Mills, who remained on the ballot despite suspending her campaign, had played out.

Now that he’s secured the Democratic nomination, there’s no indication that Platner is considering stepping aside. With his win on Tuesday, most Democrats are looking ahead to the general election.

That included Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Kirsten Gillibrand, who said Collins has “never been more vulnerable.”

“In November, Maine voters will elect Graham Platner, and we will win a Senate majority,” the two New York Democrats said in a statement that made only a passing reference to the Maine Senate candidate.

Ahead of polls closing, party leaders were coming to terms with the idea that it wasn’t a question of whether Platner would win Tuesday, but by how much.

“I think there's sort of a bit of a parlor game in Washington about, like, what if this happened, and that next thing happened. But at the end of the day, Maine voters are pretty clear about what they think,” Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minnesota), who met with Platner last week, told NOTUS. “I'm sure it'll be an interesting general election, but I think he can win.”

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) said the choice for Maine voters is clear between a candidate “fighting every day for working people in Maine” and the incumbent senator who “works to defend a lawless Trump administration and a president who says he doesn't care about Americans’ finances.”

Still, Platner faces plenty of skeptics in his party who are concerned by the wave of controversies he’s faced.

“I'm troubled by it, and that's why I'm focused on other races where I know the candidates and we can win, and we’ve got to flip the Senate,” said Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nevada), who endorsed Mills in the primary.

Democrats need to gain a net of four seats to win majority control of the Senate this year, a feat party operatives have considered increasingly possible amid a deteriorating political environment for Republicans.

Maine, the only 2024 blue state with a Senate seat held by a Republican running for re-election this year, had been widely considered one of the party’s best pickup opportunities, alongside races in North Carolina, Ohio and Alaska.

If Democrats don’t win in Maine, the party would likely need to win an additional seat in either of the deep red states of Texas or Iowa to have a chance at the majority.

Voters in Maine are feeling the weight of the party’s chances on their shoulders.

“I think the pressure is immense,” Scott Sell, a 43-year-old multimedia producer in Rockland who voted for Platner, told NOTUS outside a voting site in the city.

“Conversations with people, especially my age, are hopeful and energetic, but I think underneath it all is like, there's a lot riding on this,” Sell said. “Flipping this Senate seat is crucial. It's a once-in-our-lifetime situation. It feels like it, anyway.”

Sell said he would not discount the strength of Maine’s older, conservative voters.

Another voter, Ken, who declined to give his last name, cast a ballot for Mills in “protest,” he said. He bemoaned that Platner emerged as the front-runner.

“The Republican attack machine is pretty strong, and I think they've got a lot of ammo against him, just based on everything that's come in,” Ken said.

Still, several voters said they were confident in Platner’s chances of beating Collins. “If someone told me I had to bet money, I would bet twice on Platner,” said Eric Vos, an independent, after casting a ballot for him.

Vos said he thinks most people in the state aren’t viewing this election in terms of which party tips the scales of power in D.C. “That’s for talking heads in D.C.,” he said.

Even strategists skeptical of Platner’s campaign maintain he can win in November, if the political environment continues to worsen for the Republican Party. But they say that, at minimum, he’s made the seat much more difficult to win than it would have been had Mills or another Democrat been the nominee.

Meanwhile, Collins’ path to keeping her seat depends on maintaining support from a cohort of mostly older moderate and independent women, many of whom vote for Democratic presidential candidates but have also been drawn to the incumbent’s more moderate brand of politics, say party strategists.

Platner’s recent controversies, they fear, will likely repel many of those voters.

“It’s the 60-year-old white ladies, who are impervious to paid communication, who have voted for Susan Collins for decades, who are going to decide this election,” said a second Democratic strategist, reflecting a broadly held view among many Democrats who work in Maine.

Maria Chase, a Platner voter in Blue Hill, arrived at a similar assessment. It almost hurt his chances of winning her vote in the primary, she said.

“I've never had to make that kind of choice before of ‘Well, do I believe this woman? Do I believe she could be lying? Would I not vote for him if I knew exactly that it was true?’” she said. “Those are questions that I haven't really had to ask myself too much.”

South Carolina Governor’s Race Heads to a Runoff

Adora Brown — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 01:20:43 GMT

President Donald Trump endorsed Evette late last month. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)

The Republican primary for South Carolina governor is headed to a runoff between Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and attorney general Alan Wilson, the Associated Press projects.

Because no candidate in Tuesday’s crowded primary garnered a majority of votes, the two remaining candidates will face off again on June 23 to become the Republican nominee to succeed Republican Gov. Henry McMaster, who is term-limited, in a state that hasn’t elected a Democratic governor in more than two decades.

President Donald Trump endorsed Evette late last month, calling her “an American Patriot” in a social media post and noting the lieutenant governor had endorsed him as soon as he announced his 2024 presidential bid. The crowded race included two House Republicans: Reps. Ralph Norman and Nancy Mace.

Mace said ahead of Tuesday’s primary that she believes she lost any chance at a presidential endorsement when she pushed for the release of the Epstein files.

“I put the likelihood of an endorsement on the line when I demanded transparency on the Epstein files. I demanded it because you deserved the truth - ALL OF IT - and as a survivor, I had to get justice for these women,” Mace said in a statement on Monday.

While Trump-backed opponents defeated several Republican lawmakers in recent primaries, including Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and John Cornyn of Texas, his endorsements haven’t always yielded victories at the ballot box in recent weeks. Zach Lahn scored a surprising upset win over Trump-endorsed Rep. Randy Feenstra in last week’s Republican primary in Iowa’s gubernatorial race.

Along with Trump’s endorsement, Evette also was backed by McMaster and former governor Nikki Haley.

The runoff winner will face the winner of the Democratic primary, state Rep. Jermaine Johnson, on November 3.

Ex-Fox News Host Steve Hilton to Face Xavier Becerra in California Governor’s Race

Manuela Silva — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 00:10:25 GMT

Hilton is vying to become California’s first Republican governor since Arnold Schwarzenegger, who served two terms. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

California’s quest to find Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s successor has truly been a race of fits and starts: Some of the state’s biggest political names opted against running, a front-runner dropped out amid allegations of sexual assault, and the batch of remaining candidates struggled to find traction with voters.

But the voters have spoken following almost a week of vote counting after last Tuesday’s nonpartisan primary: Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton will advance to November’s general election, according to Associated Press projections.

Becerra finished with almost 28% of the total vote, and the Associated Press called his advancement to the November general election on Friday night. The race then turned to who would finish in the number two slot, with Hilton slowly edging out billionaire Tom Steyer with roughly 25% of the vote.

He faces long odds in the deep-blue state. California has not seen a Republican governor since Arnold Schwarzenegger left office in 2011 after serving two terms.

President Donald Trump endorsed Hilton, a former Fox News host, in early April. A day before the Associated Press called the race, the president posted to Truth Social celebrating Hilton’s advancement.

The top-two finish by Becerra and Hilton caps a primary campaign that was equally notable for the names who weren’t on the ballot.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris and Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) decided not to run. Multiple allegations of sexual assault and misconduct spurred the race’s front-runner, Eric Swallwell, to suspend his gubernatorial campaign in April, as well as resign his House seat.

What was left was a field of candidates that struggled to set themselves apart.

Becerra, who served as health secretary during the Biden administration and as California attorney general before that, pulled ahead in polling ahead of the primary following Swalwell’s exit, after months of languishing in the single digits. Steyer, the billionaire progressive who largely self-funded his campaign, blanketed the state in ads. Former congresswoman Katie Porter’s campaign stagnated in the polls after videos surfaced of her yelling at a former staffer and threatening to walk out of a TV interview. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan made a splash with housing and affordability proposals when he jumped in the race in January.

And then there were the two Republicans: Riverside sheriff Chad Bianco and Hilton, who for a time seemed like they might lock out Democrats in a jungle primary where the top two, regardless of party, would move on to November.

Republicans Say New Intelligence Pick is Way to Pass FISA

Avani Kalra, Hamed Ahmadi — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 22:13:46 GMT

Federal Housing Finance Agency Bill Pulte was an unusual choice for director of national intelligence. (Evan Vucci/AP)

Republicans are encouraging the White House to name a permanent director of national intelligence to succeed Tulsi Gabbard and prevent critical spy powers from going dark after Friday.

Legislation to reauthorize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, has been held up since Friday after the Trump administration announced that Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, would take over as interim director next month. Pulte was criticized by both parties as a highly partisan pick with no intelligence background.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Tuesday that he encouraged the White House to name a long-term director of national intelligence to allow FISA to be reauthorized, a consideration he said the White House is “weighing seriously.”

“We’re encouraging it –– at least I am,” Thune said. “Getting some certainty and closure on that issue about who that might be will certainly play an important role in unlocking the support that we need to get FISA done.”

Trump so far has not taken the advice, saying in a Truth Social post on Tuesday evening that Pulte would add the intelligence job to his portfolio on June 19.

Republicans have largely left the White House to negotiate a way forward with Senate Democrats after they voted not to move forward on the bill on Friday.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Pulte has “no obvious qualifications,” adding that he sees naming a permanent director of national intelligence as the only path forward for getting Democrats to support the program’s reauthorization. It would require 60 votes.

“The president’s got a choice,” Cornyn said. “If he wants the FISA reauthorization passed, that sounds like the price that they’re going to demand … By going dark, it makes this more dangerous for the country.”

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, told NOTUS on Tuesday that a new selection process is underway.

“They’re interviewing people now,” Grassley said. “They’re going to get a permanent person in.”

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), the Democratic chief deputy whip, told NOTUS he believes naming a permanent director would be enough to move Democrats to vote for reauthorization.

“That sounds pretty good to me,” Schatz said.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Virginia), the top Democrat on Senate Intelligence, said negotiations are still “ongoing,” adding that he “remains hopeful” about a path forward.

House Speaker Mike Johnson went to the White House on Tuesday to meet with President Donald Trump. Johnson told reporters that he had a “productive meeting” with the president and discussed the naming a permanent director of national intelligence, but declined to share details.

“We cannot allow FISA to go dark; it'd be a dangerous prospect,” Johnson said.

House Republicans are also discussing a 45-day stopgap funding bill in case Democrats continue to oppose a more permanent extension of the program, two sources told NOTUS.

Warner did not answer questions about whether Senate Democrats would be open to a short-term extension, but the prospect didn’t garner much support in the House.

“That’s so messy,” Rep. Jim Himes (D-Connecticut), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said of the short-term extension.

“The right thing to do is to take the Bill Pulte appointment off the table,” Himes added. He said leadership has not reached out to him about negotiations yet as they’re waiting on the Senate.

The fight over Pulte follows months of negotiations over the program itself.

FISA allows the U.S. to spy on its adversaries and is essential to U.S. surveillance, but its renewal is controversial. Privacy hawks argue that Americans’ communications can be accidentally swept up and later searched without a warrant, and are pushing for more safeguards. Most Senate Democrats remain ardently opposed to voting for a program that would be overseen by Pulte.

Congress voted in April to extend FISA temporarily to give lawmakers more time to negotiate changes to put in surveillance safeguards. Grassley and Senate Intelligence Chair Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) worked with Warner to draft a reauthorization measure that could garner some Democratic support.

The negotiated reauthorization measure includes revisions like a three-year ban on the Federal Reserve issuing a digital currency as well as a narrowing of the definition of an “electronic communications service provider,” two issues that delayed the April vote on the measure.

Senate Republicans Shut Down House Talk About Third Party-Line Bill

Al Weaver, Joe Gould, Reese Gorman — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 22:05:27 GMT

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) sees no prospects for a third reconciliation.( Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

Top Senate Republicans believe the chances of a third reconciliation bill are bleak despite the plans of House leaders, who are already crafting one, even before the party’s slim border package finally limped across the finish line on Tuesday.

House Republicans for weeks have stoked chatter about passing a third single-party measure this summer. However, those discussions hit a dose of reality on Tuesday as a pair of leading Senate Republicans publicly declared they believe a third bill ain’t happening — a decision that has scores of political and national security ramifications.

"I think it's safe to conclude there will not be another reconciliation bill,” Sen. Mitch McConnell, chair of the Appropriations defense subcommittee, said during a hearing Tuesday, pointing to the Pentagon’s call to pass $350 billion of President Donald Trump’s $1.5 trillion defense budget using the process to get around a Democratic filibuster..

“So it's not an option,” the Kentucky Republican said.

Adding insult to injury for the proponents of a third bill, Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) concurred.

Republican leaders have long floated a third bill as a potential item in the toolkit in order to pass priorities that didn’t make it into earlier packages, especially ahead of the November midterms, when Democrats could seize control of one or both chambers.

Talk about a third proposal kicked off in earnest last week when House Speaker Mike Johnson said that he expected to start moving on it “in the coming weeks,” with the priority issues being “fraud, waste and abuse in government.”

Republican lawmakers believe there are a number of other issues that could garner inclusion if plans move ahead, including funds for the Iran war and other tax-related items.

However, after a push to approve a narrow second bill to provide funds for border protection turned into a hellish and complicated process, members have been left with a sour taste in their mouths. This is giving them little hope that another package has enough support — especially those who have been most vocal in pushing leaders to move one.

“I want to do a third reconciliation package,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) recently told reporters. “When people boldly declare we’re going to do a third reconciliation package, I generally tell them, ‘I hope you’re right.’ But in the meantime, back off the crank. It’s not looking real good.”

“We’ve had a lot of trouble with number two,” Kennedy continued. “I see the world as it is, not as I want it to be.”

Allies of leadership agree.

“I think we should do it. … I also think it’s going to be a heavy lift,” said Sen. Steve Daines (R-Montana), a top backer of Senate Majority Leader John Thune.

Republican lawmakers had hoped for a pain-free process to pass the border and ICE package, with Thune reiterating early on a plan to keep the bill targeted just to immigration enforcement funding. That went sideways after the White House demanded money to secure Trump’s planned ballroom and the $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund was announced, blowing up Thune’s plans.

The final bill Congress finally approved was almost identical to the initial measure Republican leaders laid out at the start of the process, but it came after weeks of divisions inside the conference about how to handle the president’s requests.

Republican senators are already citing the potential hurdles for a third bill. Daines noted there’s no clear consensus about what the bill would tackle, which only compounds the difficulty for leadership.

“There would be a pretty long list of items, and that creates probably one of the challenges of getting it done,” Daines continued, citing an old adage from former Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee).

“The more rocks in the backpack, the harder to get to the top of the mountain,” he added.

The timing would also generate more headaches since Congress is just five months out from the midterm elections and Republicans are reeling as the public increasingly disagrees with Trump’s handling of the Iran war and the economy.

That was on display in the upper chamber last week as Sens. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), John Husted (R-Ohio) and Collins — all of whom face difficult reelection bids in November — , voted for a number of Democratic amendments going after the “anti-weaponization” fund and the ballroom security dollars.

Even Thune cast doubt on the chances of a third bill, telling reporters on Monday that last week’s tumult made it “evident … that's going to be hard" to get 50 votes for one.

The possible collapse of a third bill would also have a major impact on the U.S. military and the defense industry.

Hawkish Senate Republicans have publicly griped for weeks about the White House’s defense funding request. That frustration boiled over in an Air Force budget hearing when McConnell — one of the administration’s chief critics on the issue — made his grim assessment.

McConnell has been arguing that the $350 billion chunk includes core defense priorities that deserve to be in a regular budget, which sets priorities for multiple years, and not reconciliation, which is a single-year funding package. He called the administration’s strategy “a recipe for major disruptions in the very possible event that party-line reconciliation fails.”

Among them is $17 billion for the Golden Dome missile defense system, a marquee program spearheaded by Trump himself. There’s also billions for multiyear munitions purchases, part of a giant effort from Pentagon leaders that promises to restock the military’s dwindling arsenal to boost defense jobs and balance sheets.

“This is especially mystifying for multiyear procurement contracts. I mean, the need to budget for them annually is right there in the name,” McConnell said. “The administration’s choice to structure an ambitious $1.5 trillion dollar request in this way is yet another missed opportunity to put key aspects of our common defense on a stronger and more enduring fiscal footing.”

Collins, at Tuesday’s hearing, ripped the Trump administration’s bifurcation of F-35 fighter jet purchases along similar lines. She noted that Pratt & Whitney’s facility in Maine had invested in a new engine factory that employs 2,300 people, but the regular budget request included only $10 million for engine upgrades and put the remaining $144 million for the project into reconciliation.

“Here’s my concern: The administration is proposing that a significant portion of funding for both of these modernization programs be done through a third reconciliation bill, a bill that may never happen,” she said. “What is the impact on these programs if they are not fully funded in fiscal 2027, and what are the impacts on the defense industrial base?”

Over in the House however, Johnson keeps talking up the idea of a third bill.

At an elected leadership meeting on Monday, House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Maryland) pitched using reconciliation to pass the hyper-partisan portions of appropriations bills, a source told NOTUS.

Harris — who is an appropriator — proposed the third party-line bill as the way to get funding priorities through without having to go through the appropriations process. Johnson appeared open to the idea, one source said, but it was unclear if he actually grasped the magnitude of what was being floated.

Other Republicans believe Johnson is serious about trying to pass a third reconciliation bill, but say it is a fool's errand.

“Where's the jelly in the middle of the donut? What's the enticement for me? Every one of the ideas that's put forward is something that is punitive to the states that all the front liners are in,” one House Republican told NOTUS of a third reconciliation bill.”

Republicans Pass Bill Boosting Immigration Enforcement

Stephen Neukam — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 21:29:43 GMT

Congress passed funding for the Customs and Border Control, which patrols the U.S. border wall in Nogales, AZ. Charlie Riedel/AP

House Republicans on Tuesday narrowly passed a party-line bill that provides $70 billion for immigration and border agencies, despite lingering concerns over not blocking President Donald Trump’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund.

“The bill we have in the House does not have any funding for a weaponization fund,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said Tuesday. The bill, however, does not explicitly ban the fund’s creation as some lawmakers had hoped.

The spending legislation passed through the budget reconciliation process, which allowed it to move without the threat of a filibuster. House Republicans voted, 214-212, to send the bill to Trump, who is expected to sign it.

The House action comes after the immigration funding package was derailed in the Senate last month after the Justice Department announced a settlement between Trump and the IRS over a leak of his tax documents.

The proposed deal would have created an “anti-weaponization” fund that Trump could use to make direct payouts to victims of political weaponization, an idea that drew opposition from both parties and criticism that it was a “slush fund.” Republican senators raised concerns that the fund could be used to compensate Jan. 6 Capitol rioters.

Amid those worries, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said last week that the DOJ would not create the fund. With that promise Senate Republicans were able to beat back multiple floor amendments that would have limited or blocked the fund through the reconciliation package.

Trump himself has contradicted Blanche, saying on Meet the Press on Sunday that the “anti-weaponization” fund remains a “great idea” and he would be disappointed if it did not move ahead. His comments did not weaken support for the fund in the House.

But House moderates are still working to prevent such a fund. Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pennsylvania) and Tom Suozzi (D-New York) are collecting signatures for a discharge petition to force a vote on a bill that would ban the “anti-weaponization” fund. If a majority of House lawmakers signed onto the petition, the chamber would have to vote on the proposal.

The reconciliation accord funds Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, both of which were left out of a deal with Democrats in April to fund the Department of Homeland Security.

Senate Democrats have refused to fund ICE and other agencies without reforms from the administration. That stalemate left DHS closed for over two months earlier this year. The GOP circumvented that opposition by moving the funding through reconciliation, and those dollars will be enough to cover the agencies through the end of Trump’s term.

The final bill did not include public funding for the construction of Trump’s White House ballroom, after it initially proposed $1 billion for the project. The push to include federal funding for the ballroom was also met with bipartisan pushback, after Trump first said he planned to pay for the East Wing addition with private donations.

Social Security Is in Worse Shape Than Previously Projected: Report

Torrie Herrington — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 21:25:55 GMT

George Walker IV/AP

A new report compiled by the trustees who oversee Social Security projects that the program, which issues payments to millions of retired and disabled Americans, will run out of money to issue full benefit payments by 2032 — a year earlier than previously projected.

The trustees, which include Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling, suggested that fewer immigrants and low fertility rates would exacerbate Social Security’s financial issues over the next decade. Both would shrink the number of working-aged people paying into the program.

The report also states that as a result of the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” Trump’s tax legislation last year, less income tax will be paid on Social Security benefits. Therefore, the program’s trust fund will “receive lower levels of revenue in the future from income taxation of Social Security benefits.”

While the analysis estimates that Social Security payments will exceed the sum of its reserve funds by 2032, it will not be completely bankrupt as money will continue to flow into the program’s trust fund via payroll taxes. The trustees, all close allies of President Donald Trump, predicted in their report that the government would need to cut monthly Social Security benefits by 22% beginning in 2032 to keep the program running.

Social Security benefits go out to 70 million Americans. And, according to the left-leaning think tank the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Social Security keeps more Americans out of poverty than any other program in the country.

Myechia Minter-Jordan, the CEO of AARP, said in a statement that the latest report “should be a wake-up call” and that “Congress needs to act."

“Americans have worked hard and paid into Social Security their entire lives, and they deserve to count on it when they retire,” she said. “No family should see any cuts to what they’ve earned in Social Security. ”

The trustees also called for legislative action, but did not suggest specific remedies that lawmakers should pursue.

“Lawmakers have many options for changes that would reduce or eliminate the long-term financing shortfalls,” the report reads. “Taking action sooner rather than later will allow consideration of a broader range of solutions and provide more time to phase in changes so that the public has adequate time to prepare.”

Reconciliation Three Point No

Marissa Martinez — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 20:18:39 GMT

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 20:18:39 GMT https://www.notus.org/final-notus-newsletter/reconciliation-three-point-no

Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) is seen in an elevator as she departs a vote at the U.S. Capitol on the 20th day of a government shutdown, Oct. 20, 2025. Francis Chung/POLITICO/AP

Good afternoon. This is the Final NOTUS newsletter for June 9, 2026. You can get it in your inbox every day by signing up here — it’s free!

THE LATEST

Is Reconciliation 3.0 dead? Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who chairs the Appropriations Committee, and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) said as much during an Air Force appropriations hearing today — comments that have scores of political and defense-related ramifications.

“I think it’s safe to conclude there will not be another reconciliation bill, so it’s not really an option,” McConnell said.
House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Missouri) said today he’d also be a “no” if tax provisions aren’t included, though he’d “love for the speaker to say tax is going to be a part of it.”

The Republican Study Committee met last night to discuss targets for a new package — which could increase military and defense funding and target government “fraud” — and Speaker Mike Johnson says JD Vance is directly involved. But House Republicans already face a tight afternoon vote on the Senate’s reconciliation bill that would fund ICE and Customs and Border Protection.

Donald Trump indicated he is not inclined to replace Bill Pulte as the director of national intelligence, Politico reports. The president made his comments during a private afternoon meeting with Johnson about Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act holdups — contradicting Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s comments this morning that the administration is “weighing seriously a long-term pick.”

House Democrats have said they will not vote with Republicans to extend a key FISA provision this week because of Pulte’s appointment.

Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso said earlier today that the White House has been “consistent” in saying Pulte would not be a full-time nominee.

THE ADMINISTRATION

Trump said there will be a military response following a U.S. helicopter crashing yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz, which the military says was caused by an Iranian drone. Both pilots had been rescued and were “fine,” the president said today.

Hundreds of millions of dollars in National Park Service funding is sitting in limbo at the Department of the Interior as staff work through a backlog of 1,400 active grants.

The Trump administration has warned more than 500 hospitals in letters that they are failing to provide the public with basic pricing information, saying it keeps health care costs higher than they should be. Failure to comply comes with penalties as high as $2 million annually.

THE HILL

Black Democratic candidates are coordinating to defeat Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida), who is running in a historically Black district after Florida redrew its congressional maps to bolster Republicans’ chances.

The Government Accountability Office found serious oversight problems at the country’s largest immigration detention center, including unsanitary conditions and inadequate health assessments.

Some lawmakers are threatening to withhold their DCCC dues after the House campaign arm spent $135,000 on what appears to be a failed effort to boost a preferred California candidate in last week’s primary.

The NRSC presented senators with polling today that found tight races for Republicans in Nebraska, Alaska, Maine, Ohio and Iowa, two sources told NOTUS’ Reese Gorman.

THE PRESIDENT’S TEAM

https://x.com/GusSaltonstall/status/2064410935100371270

Thank you for reading! Today’s newsletter was produced by Kelly Poe and Andrew Burton. If you liked it, please forward it to a friend. If someone shared it with you, please sign up — it’s free! Got a tip or comments to share? Email us at finalnotus@notus.com.
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Political Reviews Are Causing a Huge Grant Backlog at the National Park Service

Eric Katz, Anna Kramer — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 18:57:58 GMT

The Interior Department has consolidated grants management into Secretary Doug Burgum’s office. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

Hundreds of millions of dollars in National Park Service funding is sitting in limbo at the Department of Interior, awaiting a political review that longtime agency staff say has put a stranglehold on the agency’s work.

The park service is currently experiencing a backlog of 1,400 active grants pending approval as of early June, according to information from an internal database provided to NOTUS.

Those awards are worth $362 million and include projects such as deploying nonprofit youth programs to clear trails, sending groups to prevent washouts in parks during persistent rain and surveying wildlife. Interior employees and grant recipients cautioned that prescribed burns and fuels reduction ahead of wildfire season could also get stuck in the backlog. An NPS grants employee said there were fewer than 10 active grants backlogged in the system two years ago.

The grants are being held up in a process that resembles the widely panned approval system at the Department of Homeland Security under former Secretary Kristi Noem’s leadership, which required her signature on all grants worth more than $100,000. Noem’s replacement, Secretary Markwayne Mullin, undid that policy when he assumed the role.

The Interior Department, however, has only reinforced its political review process, according to documents obtained by NOTUS and several employees familiar with the matter, three of whom said the issue has become worse in recent months.

At NPS, all grants valued at least at $50,000 must go through two political appointees — the assistant secretary for policy, management and budget and the assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks — for approval before the agency awards them. That process follows an internal review by NPS leadership.

In an early June email to grants management staff, one official described the process as adding new layers that “explains why reviews have been taking longer.” Another official described the process as “updates” to and reminders of the current Interior review process.

The Department of Government Efficiency first set up a $50,000 review threshold last year for all grants and for cooperative agreements, which are legal partnerships between the park service and states, tribes and nonprofits. Some version of that review has remained in place since DOGE officials departed Interior last year, three employees and two NPS grant recipients told NOTUS.

But one staffer described the recent mandatory inclusion of two assistant secretaries for all approvals at that level as “a big step up” from previous policy.

As a result, the backlog of grants has built up under President Donald Trump and accelerated in recent weeks. One park service official told NOTUS that over the past year, several organizations that depend on agency funding have warned that they are at risk of layoffs and possible closure when grants are delayed.

An official at a nonprofit organization that relies on NPS grants also said it experienced no delays in receiving funds under past administrations, but the wait times have jumped because of the added layers of review.

That person said the changes affected groups selected to work on projects across Interior's purview, such trail maintenance, boardwalk repairs at Fish and Wildlife Service refuges, specialized masonry and woodworking for historic preservation, invasive species removal and even preparations for wildfire season.

“It can make the lead time very short, or make it so you can’t do the project,” the nonprofit official said.

A U.S. Geological Survey employee said the reviews at their agency, which have been in place since last year, have bogged down processing so significantly that there are concerns that funds will expire and be returned to the U.S. Treasury before they’re spent. Congress appropriated some money to USGS in fiscal year 2025 on a two-year basis, meaning it is set to expire this September.

The guidance from earlier this month instructed employees to describe “tangible benefits to parks” when making a request and to describe links to applicable presidential and secretarial priorities to justify the spending. Employees can submit their requests for awards up the chain once a week and were instructed to spell out all acronyms.

Trump signed an executive order last year requiring more political oversight of the grant-making process across government. Last month, the Office of Management and Budget proposed codifying the mandate that senior political appointees review any potential award for compliance with "the president's policy priorities" and that they avoid any diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

While that rule is for now still a proposal, OMB has already been forcing the park service to explain how grant programs align with Trump administration priorities in order to get funding, according to the federal apportionments database.

Jeff Mow, who spent more than two decades as an NPS superintendent, most recently leading Glacier National Park, said large, congressionally funded projects in parks often require groundwork and consultations with partners to help the agency carry them out. He said the political reviews would likely slow that type of work to a crawl.

“It will bog the system down, to have a pile of these on someone’s desk to just sit there,” Mow said.

Interior is managing its grants backlog with a significantly reduced staff. The agency shed 13,000 employees last year, or 20% of its workforce, including 4,000 workers at NPS. The department has also consolidated grants management and several other back-end functions away from individual bureaus and into Secretary Doug Burgum’s office.

In a statement, an Interior spokesperson said Trump was elected with a mandate to bring accountability to the federal government and the department’s changes would “streamline internal processes” and “reduce unnecessary bureaucracy."

“Reviewing significant expenditures before funds are obligated is a common-sense stewardship measure that taxpayers expect from their government,” the spokesperson said. “The real question isn't why Interior is reviewing taxpayer-funded expenditures. The real question is why anyone would object to making sure taxpayer dollars are spent responsibly.”

DHS drew significant bipartisan pushback when Noem required her signoff for any spending above $100,000. The review process caused significant delays in releasing much-needed disaster aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and other major natural disasters, frustrating federal employees and infuriating lawmakers from the affected congressional districts, NOTUS previously reported. Sometimes critical Federal Emergency Management Agency contracts, lost in the review process, expired before they could be renewed.

Mullin quickly limited his reviews of spending to contracts worth more than $25 million.

U.S. Launches Strikes on Iran Following Attack on Military Helicopter

Jenna Monnin, Joe Gould — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 18:23:45 GMT

“There were two pilots involved, both are safe and uninjured. Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack,” President Donald Trump wrote on social media. Mark Schiefelbein/AP

The U.S. launched strikes against Iran on Tuesday, just hours after President Donald Trump promised to “respond” to the Monday night attack that brought down an Army Apache helicopter that was patrolling the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. Central Command said the “self-defense strikes” were initiated at 5 p.m. ET under Trump’s direction, in direct response to the attack.

“The mission is a proportional response to unjustified Iranian aggression,” U.S. Central Command wrote in a statement on X.

The White House did not respond to requests for additional details about the strikes. It remains unclear whether there were any casualties.

Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran's Parliament, appeared to defend his country’s decision to shoot down the helicopter, citing broken U.S. “commitments.”

“We prefer the language of diplomacy, but we speak other languages far more fluently. Break your commitments, and we'll switch to what we speak best. You ride the horse you saddled!” Ghalibaf wrote in a post on X just minutes before Trump said the U.S. was planning a response.

The president’s promise of retaliation followed comments he made to reporters early Tuesday that the helicopter pilots had been rescued and were “fine.”

U.S. Central Command also said Tuesday that American forces rescued the crew members of the Army AH-64 Apache after the aircraft went down near the coast of Oman. Central Command said the soldiers, who were picked up within two hours of the downing, were in stable condition.

The helicopter was struck by an Iranian Shahed drone, which is what brought it down, CNN reported.

The rescue marked the first operational use of an uncrewed surface vessel to recover U.S. personnel at sea. A Navy drone vessel rescued the pilots and transported them to a separate location on the water, where they were picked up by a helicopter.

"The surface drone that assisted in last night's rescue of the Apache crew off the coast of Oman was a U.S. Navy Corsair unmanned surface vessel operated by U.S. 5th Fleet's Task Force 59. The Task Force began fielding these drones in theater in late March," Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, a Central Command spokesperson, said in a statement.

Trump demanded Monday that Israel and Iran “immediately stop ‘shooting,’” as the nations traded long-range missile strikes for the first time since the U.S. agreed to a ceasefire with Tehran in April.

“Both sides, Israel and Iran, are looking to do an immediate CEASEFIRE!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Though Iran and Israel paused attacks, both sides cautioned that fighting could resume if there are further ceasefire violations.

Trump has reportedly said he would consider ending the ceasefire with Iran if Tehran kills American troops, suggesting a willingness to tolerate smaller skirmishes for weeks or months to avoid a broader war in the Middle East.But there’s increasing political pressure for the White House to end the war.

On Wednesday, the House passed a measure that seeks to halt Trump from taking further military action in Iran.Public opinion remains against the conflict. Nearly 60% of Americans say the U.S. made the wrong decision in using military force against Iran, according to a Pew Research Center survey published Tuesday.

Among Republicans and independents who lean toward the Republican Party, 70% said the U.S. made the right decision in attacking Iran. Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, 90% say it was the wrong decision.A group of 38 Senate Democrats is refuting the Trump administration’s assertion that the Iran war has “terminated” and demanded more information about the legal argument behind the administration’s claim.

The lawmakers, led by Sens. Adam Schiff of California, Tim Kaine of Virginia and Chuck Schumer of New York, pointed to the ongoing naval operations, bombings, blockades and strike campaigns that have been ongoing since Feb. 28 to argue the war never stopped in a letter Monday.

Black Democrats Are Scrambling to Find Someone to Run Against Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Oriana González — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 18:09:04 GMT

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz angered Black Democrats in Florida and Washington when she decided to run for reelection in a newly drawn district previously represented by Black lawmakers. Susan Walsh/AP

Black Democrats in Florida and Washington are infuriated with Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Two weeks after Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida) announced she will be seeking reelection in Florida’s new 20th Congressional District, four Black Democratic candidates competing in the race are hoping to stop her from winning the nomination in a district that has historically been represented by a Black lawmaker.

Democrats were surprised by the senior Democrat’s move, which followed Gov. Ron DeSantis signing legislation that redrew the state’s congressional maps in an effort to bolster Republicans’ chances to pick up seats in the 2026 midterms. Wasserman Schultz’s current district was effectively eliminated.

In a four-hour meeting on Monday in Pompano Beach, the four candidates — former Broward County Mayor Dale Holness, rapper Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell, former Rep. Sheila Cherfilus McCormick and activist Elijah Manley — voted 3-1 to consolidate behind one candidate to defeat Wasserman Schultz.

“It was a long conversation,” Manley — who declined to say who voted against consolidating — told NOTUS. “We had to get real, egos had to be put aside.”

“We had to be honest with ourselves, you know, maybe the math is not mathing with all of us in the race,” Manley added. He told NOTUS that the candidates cross-examined each other during the meeting, with each having to explain what their strengths and weaknesses were.

The candidates did not decide who they would back in the Aug. 18 primary, but Holness said he expects candidates to make a decision by “no later than Wednesday morning” because some candidates are considering filing for different congressional races or potentially for statewide offices, and they might need a few days “to get our paperwork to Tallahassee to finalize what we’re doing.” He did not name which candidates are considering those options.

The filing deadline in Florida is on Friday.

The backlash against Wasserman Schultz started shortly after she announced her reelection bid last month: The Florida Legislative Black Caucus denounced her candidacy; Congressional Black Caucus Chair Yvette Clarke said she did not encourage Wasserman Schultz to run in the district, despite Wasserman Schultz’s suggestions to the contrary; and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has twice declined to endorse her in the race.

Clarke told NOTUS the CBC has not yet made a decision on whether its political operation will back Wasserman Schultz. Rep. Nikema Williams, a member of the CBC PAC’s board, said they are waiting to see which candidate will be selected to run against Wasserman Schultz and will then consult with Florida members “to make sure that we discuss what their preference is.”

But, she added, “I also know that right now, Black representation has been under attack.”

“At a time when we are fighting for Black voices and Black representation, I think that it is important that we look at this as the big picture, making sure that we are not giving up spaces where we need Black representation because it's being erased across the country,” Williams continued, referring to the Supreme Court decision that gutted the Voting Rights Act and decided that race-based redistricting is unconstitutional.

When asked on Monday if he had made a decision on whether to back Wasserman Schultz, Jeffries told reporters, “Debbie Wasserman Schultz has been a highly productive, hard working, conscientious member of the House Democratic Caucus for more than 20 years and is now a very important member of the leadership team.”

“I’ll leave it at that,” he continued.

Last week, Jeffries said that candidates have “the right to run where they see fit,” but he added that “we all recognize the sensitivities of the moment in terms of an unprecedented Jim Crow white assault on Black political representation that has been unleashed by the Supreme Court's outrageous decision to gut the Voting Rights Act.”

Wasserman Schultz told NOTUS that she has had “tremendous response across the district” and “very positive support” since she announced her candidacy.

“My seniority, my service on the Appropriations Committee, my being in a leadership role on the Appropriations Committee, as well as on Leader Jeffries’ leadership team, that's something that will enable me to be the best candidate that we'll be able to deliver on Day 1,” Wasserman Schultz added.

CBC members are privately frustrated about Wasserman Schultz’s decision to run in the district. Three members, who were granted anonymity to speak candidly, told NOTUS they find it unlikely that CBC PAC will back Wasserman Schultz in the race.

One member said the CBC “will probably just stay neutral” instead of backing anyone in the race.

“Usually in stuff like that, especially when we’re dealing with an incumbent, that’s usually the case,” the lawmaker added. “I can’t imagine we’ll want to get involved in it.”

Another CBC member described Wasserman Schultz’s decision to run as a “clusterfuck that didn’t have to happen.”

DeSantis’ office told Florida state legislators that he targeted the old 20th district — which was formerly represented by Cherfilus McCormick, who resigned due to an Ethics investigation but is still running for reelection — because it previously was an example of “racial predominance.” The new congressional map, DeSantis’ office said, “does not take race into consideration at all.”

Still, Florida’s newly redrawn 20th Congressional District remains a majority minority district, with a 42% Black population. For that reason, some Black Democrats question Wasserman Schultz’s candidacy in the race.

The Black candidates in the race argued the district should be represented by a Black Democrat.

“The understanding is this: that this district being a majority minority seat, 76% that is, that the person representing the district should have the lived experience of the majority of the people in the district,” Holness told NOTUS.

Holness said that he had given Wasserman Schultz data that showed she could win in Florida’s new 22nd Congressional District, where he said the congresswoman’s home is located. He told NOTUS that the two of them spoke last Monday and he told her he was “disappointed” in her decision to run in Florida’s 20th District.

“She followed me a little bit and says, ‘Look, this is not personal. I want to preserve seniority.’ I said, ‘But you could win 22,’” Holness recalled. He added that ultimately Wasserman Schultz told him, “Well, I made my decision.”

Wasserman Schultz, who confirmed that she spoke with Holness last Monday, told NOTUS Holness did not provide an “accurate” description of the conversation.

“I didn't say I wanted to preserve my seniority, that doesn't make any sense,” Wasserman Schultz said. She said that she told him “that it's imperative that our community have someone who has the clout and the seniority to be able to deliver for the district immediately, as opposed to any of the other candidates who would be freshmen and would be starting from the beginning.”

Polling for the FL-20 race has been limited. Wasserman Schultz’s campaign released a poll of 400 likely voters in late May that showed the congresswoman had 52% of the vote against others running, though the campaign did not release the names of the other candidates it tested. The campaign did not respond to NOTUS’ requests to see the number breakdown.

Manley told NOTUS he’s trying to convince the other candidates that “I have the best chance of beating Debbie.” He added that he will “be able to bring the resources to fight her in the primary.”

Manley leads the four candidates challenging Wasserman Schultz in fundraising, having raised over $779,000 between January and March, according to recent campaign finance data. Holness and Cherfilus McCormick have each raised over $300,000 in that time frame, and Campbell roughly $40,000. However, Wasserman Schultz leads her Democratic opponents in fundraising, having raised over $2 million this year.

Congress’ Watchdog Finds Major Lapses in Oversight at ICE Facility

Jackie Llanos — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 17:20:40 GMT

Three immigrants have died while detained at Camp East Montana. Morgan Lee/AP

Congress' watchdog identified serious oversight problems at the country’s largest immigration detention center, including unsanitary conditions and inadequate tuberculosis screenings and health assessments.

A new Government Accountability Office report follows an Immigration and Customs Enforcement inspection that found dozens of safety violations at Camp East Montana.

Three immigrants have died at the tent detention center near the Fort Bliss Army base in El Paso, Texas, since it opened in August. City officials also reported two cases of tuberculosis and 18 COVID-19 cases earlier this year, The Texas Tribune reported.

“ICE did not identify these issues because it did not inspect the facility prior to housing detained noncitizens there, as required by ICE policy,” the report states. “After the facility opened, ICE reported additional problems, including gaps in medical services, the loss of a loaded firearm, and unsanitary conditions, among other issues.”

In March, the Trump administration dumped the contractor it had hired to run the facility, Acquisition Logistics LLC, which didn’t have experience operating detention centers before landing the $1.3 billion contract.

ICE repeatedly warned the contractor about problems, including a document in February that said evidence associated with the homicide of Geraldo Lunas Campos was missing or destroyed, according to the GAO report. ICE’s investigation of Campos’ death is on hold because of an ongoing criminal investigation.

A security guard at the detention center also lost a loaded gun in January that hadn’t been found as of March. ICE documented the contractor’s inadequate weapon control.

Democratic lawmakers Sens. Jack Reed (Rhode Island), Gary Peters (Michigan), and Dick Durbin (Illinois) and Rep. Bennie Thompson (Mississippi) requested the report from GAO.

Durbin called the report damning.

“We now know even more details of how dangerous and irresponsible the Trump Administration’s mass deportation campaign truly is,” he said in a statement. “Not only is the Administration often wrongly detaining people, those detained are experiencing conditions that shock the conscience.”

ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.