All NOTUS Stories

Oil on Troubled Waters

Kelly Poe — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 21:05:43 GMT

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 21:05:43 GMT https://www.notus.org/final-notus-newsletter/oil-on-troubled-waters

Hapag-Lloyd employees monitor the status of cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz on a screen, in Hamburg, Germany, Wednesday, April 15, 2026. Ebrahim Noroozi/AP

Good afternoon. This is the Final NOTUS newsletter for April 16, 2026. You can get it in your inbox every day by signing up here — it’s free!

THE LATEST

The Strait of Hormuz is open to commercial ships, but the U.S. blockade on Iranian-linked ships “WILL REMAIN IN FULL FORCE AND EFFECT AS IT PERTAINS TO IRAN, ONLY, UNTIL SUCH TIME AS OUR TRANSACTION WITH IRAN IS 100% COMPLETE,” Donald Trump announced on Truth Social this morning. The two countries are removing sea mines, he wrote in another post.

The price of oil dropped significantly after the news was announced — though still about 25% more per barrel compared to pre-conflict — but it’s not clear how much oil will actually get through the strait. Iranian authorities said vessels must go through a “coordinated route,” and the mines the country has laid still pose a threat.

The two-week ceasefire is set to expire on Tuesday. Trump has said there will be a deal “soon,” but has also indicated that the ceasefire could be extended.

The nations are negotiating Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, among other items, Axios reports. In exchange, the U.S. would release $20 billion in frozen Iranian funds, the report said. Trump has said negotiators would meet again this weekend for another round of talks, likely on Sunday.

THE HILL

The Senate unanimously passed a short-term FISA extension this morning after House Republicans couldn’t reach a deal last night for a longer extension. Majority Leader John Thune told reporters it “kind of looks like” the Senate will take the lead on a longer-term reauthorization of the surveillance law, which the president has pressured Congress for.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s skepticism of the scientific establishment showed itself today at his third in a series of hearings on Capitol Hill, NOTUS’ Paige Winfield Cunningham reports. He criticized a study that found no link between autism and use of Tylenol during pregnancy, after he and Trump last year said there’s likely a connection between the two and warned pregnant women not to take Tylenol.

“The study is a garbage study and should be retracted,” the health secretary said in response to a question from Rep. Virginia Foxx.

Kennedy again defended himself against accusations that his changes to vaccine recommendations fueled recent measles outbreaks. He cited an HHS initiative studying cancer vaccines and insisted that he just wants more research: “What I’ve said is vaccines should be adequately safety-tested.”

THE ADMINISTRATION

The DOJ removed a career prosecutor from leading the probe into John Brennan, the former CIA director and Trump critic, CNN reported. There was frustration within the department with how long the investigation was taking, a DOJ source told Reuters.

The removal comes after Pam Bondi was replaced as attorney general in part due to Trump’s frustration with the lack of movement on cases against his enemies, NOTUS reported earlier this month.

THE COURTS

Big Oil scored a victory today as the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of Chevron in a fight over a $745 million state court judgment. The court ruled that the environmental damage lawsuit can proceed in federal court, where judges are less likely to favor the local interests in Louisiana. The ruling could have implications for a handful of suits around the country that seek to hold oil companies accountable for environmental harm, The Washington Post reports.

AWKWARD TIMING

https://x.com/AlexCTaliadoros/status/2044975036797174059

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Health Care Is Dead on the Hill but Very Alive in Democratic Campaigns

Avani Kalra — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 17:00:01 GMT

Sen. Elizabeth Warren says Democrats will keep talking about rising health care costs, while she argues Republicans have largely ignored the issue. Jose Luis Magana/AP

While Democrats spotlight health care as part of their party-wide focus on affordability ahead of the midterms, the legislative push to address drug prices and the costs of medical insurance and treatments remains at a standstill in Washington.

After Senate Democrats shut down the majority of the federal government for 43 days in the fall to demand an extension of expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies, a group of moderates teamed up with select Republicans to negotiate a continuation of the tax credits paired with reforms. Those conversations came to a sudden halt in early February, and negotiators couldn’t even agree on why conversations ended.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, one of the key negotiators through the fall and winter, acknowledged that those conversations are over, but she told NOTUS that Democrats are weighing ways to bring the topic back up in Congress.

Shaheen said Democrats might have an opportunity to inject some energy into the health care conversation in the coming week as Republicans prepare to pass a party-line spending bill, a process that could allow Democrats to force a vote on health-care-related issues.

“I think you will hear it come up at the hearing next week,” Shaheen said, referring to the scheduled hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “We have reconciliation coming up next week, that will be an opportunity … I haven't talked to leadership, but I think that's something we should do.”

While Democrats continue to champion lower health care costs on the campaign trail and prepare to hammer Kennedy on the issue, there is still little appetite among both Democrats and Republicans to team up and overcome the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster and achieve much of anything on health care –– whether it’s extending the ACA tax credits, codifying drug-pricing caps or something else.

As Sen. Brian Schatz, the Senate Democratic chief deputy whip, told NOTUS about Republicans: “Not while they’re in charge.”

President Donald Trump has called on Congress to implement his health care agenda, which takes a different approach than the one bipartisan talks considered. At his State of the Union address, he asked lawmakers to codify health care policies like his “Most-Favored-Nation Drug Pricing” –– a demand that received a cool reception on Capitol Hill.

Sen. Andy Kim, a Democrat who serves on the HELP Committee, told NOTUS that Democrats are not open to working on legislation like “TrumpRx” to lower drug prices. He said his caucus is still squarely focused on renewing the expired ACA subsidies.

“We’re continuing to push when it comes to the Affordable Care Act,” he said.

Kim said that as the midterms approach, Democrats are focused on criticizing Republicans and the Trump administration over the increased costs of health care.

“We’re showing the trade-offs here, which is that for the amount of money that this president is pushing with this war, we could have so much of this effort to be able to lower health care costs,” he said. “That's a trade-off that the American people need to see.”

Sen. Tim Kaine, one of the Democrats who voted to end the record-breaking shutdown in the fall, echoed Kim. He told NOTUS that although health care may not be center stage on Capitol Hill right now, it would be a defining issue in the midterms.

“It’s going to be center stage in the elections,” Kaine said. “I think health care, both the ACA subsidies and the Medicaid cuts, are going to be dominating issues in the Virginia elections.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren maintains that the health care broadly remains one of Democrats’ strongest talking points –– and one of Republicans' weakest –– as her party lobbies for control of both chambers of Congress.

“15 million people lost their health care coverage,” Warren said. “This is an issue that the Republicans cannot mention, because people are suffering in every state.”

About one in 10 of the 24 million people enrolled in ACA plans last year dropped their health insurance in 2026, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health-policy research group. And about 17% of returning enrollees said they weren’t sure if they would be able to afford the premiums, the same study found. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that total enrollment in the program is expected to fall to 12.5 million by 2028.

Sen. Martin Heinrich told NOTUS that although gas prices and utility costs are soaring and Democrats have turned their attention to Trump’s war with Iran, those topics haven’t distracted them from discussing health care.

“A lot of people are talking about how we can afford a billion dollars a day on the war in Iran and we can't afford to help people with their health care costs,” Heinrich said.

But most Senate Democrats admitted there’s not much point engaging with Republicans on trying to lower health care costs.

“Medical research remains a bipartisan space, and telehealth, which is something I've done since I got here, is bipartisan,” Schatz said. “So there's still room for us to work together on a bipartisan basis. But we shouldn't have any illusions about anything on costs.”

Sen. Bernie Moreno, a Republican who led the bipartisan working group focused on extending the ACA subsidies, told NOTUS that Democrats’ focus on health care throughout the shutdown in the fall was an overreaction.

“They exaggerated the scale of it. They were just wrong,” Moreno said. “They massively oversold what the effects were going to be. The reality is, because of what we're doing with policy, a lot of people are shifting to private insurance. So I think it's one of those things where they shut the government down for no reason.”

While it’s clear that the legislative prospects for a bipartisan bill to deal with spiking health care costs have dimmed, the spotlight on the issue has shifted from the back rooms of the Senate to the campaign trail.

Trump Says Hormuz Is Open, but the Iran Blockade Is Staying in Place

Hamed Ahmadi — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:36:51 GMT

President Donald Trump speaks during a breakfast with the National Governors Association at the White House, Feb. 20. Evan Vucci/AP

President Donald Trump on Friday said that the Strait of Hormuz is open to shipping again, while the United States maintains a blockade on Iranian-linked vessels during ongoing negotiations over ending the war.

“THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ IS COMPLETELY OPEN AND READY FOR BUSINESS AND FULL PASSAGE, BUT THE NAVAL BLOCKADE WILL REMAIN IN FULL FORCE AND EFFECT AS IT PERTAINS TO IRAN, ONLY, UNTIL SUCH TIME AS OUR TRANSACTION WITH IRAN IS 100% COMPLETE.” Trump wrote on Truth Social, in one of a series of posts about the strait.

“Iran, with the help of the U.S.A., has removed, or is removing, all sea mines!” Trump wrote in another post.

The statement came after Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, announced that commercial vessels would be allowed to pass through the waterway during the current ceasefire period, following Lebanon’s truce with Israel. However, vessels must transit through a “coordinated route” announced by Iran’s maritime authorities, Araghchi said.

Meanwhile, Trump posted that the deal is not “in any way” tied to Lebanon.

Israel and Lebanon agreed Thursday to a 10-day ceasefire, removing one of the main obstacles in U.S.-Iran diplomacy. Israel’s offensive against Hezbollah, one of Tehran’s closest regional allies, had become a sticking point in talks between Washington and Tehran.

The strait’s reopening, even for now, calmed energy markets. Oil prices fell more than 10% on Friday to below $90 a barrel after days of swings tied to the conflict. Before the war, about one-fifth of the world’s crude moved through the waterway, making its closure a major shock to global supply.

Trump agreed to a two-week ceasefire on April 7, set to expire on Tuesday, which was contingent upon Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz. But the deal quickly ran into trouble, with Iran accusing the U.S. of violating the terms by allowing Israel to continue strikes in Lebanon.

The strait has stayed mostly shut during the ceasefire as both sides argued over what the agreement required. Only a small number of commercial vessels have continued to pass through.

Talks last weekend in Pakistan between Vice President JD Vance and Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf did not produce a broader deal to end the war. Trump has said negotiators could meet again this weekend.

Trump said he believes there will be a deal “soon” and that “most of the points are already negotiated.” At the same time, his messaging left open multiple paths forward. He indicated the ceasefire could be extended if talks continue, but also suggested fighting could resume if negotiations break down.

In a separate post, Trump said the United States would secure all nuclear material resulting from recent strikes and emphasized that no financial concessions would be part of any agreement. He also said the situation in Lebanon would be handled separately, adding that Israel would not carry out further strikes in the country.

Congress Temporarily Extends Spy Powers Program

Helen Huiskes — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 11:12:24 GMT

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Lawmakers will have another 10 days to negotiate reforms to a key intelligence-gathering authority after the Senate passed a short-term extension unanimously by a voice vote on Friday.

After a contentious and long night of failed negotiations over a longer extension among House Republicans, lawmakers settled for the stopgap to continue their conversations. Some conservative hardliners are looking to add privacy guardrails, as other Republicans, including leadership, look for a cleaner extension.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters on Friday that while Senate leadership has “some openness” to reforming Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, it "kind of looks like" the Senate will take the lead on a longer-term reauthorization. Thune moved to put a three-year extension on the Senate's calendar.

“We’re open to suggestions, but I don't think we can afford to, we can't wait around for long,” Thune said. “We gotta pivot, and figure out what can pass, and we're in the process of figuring out how to do that here.”

In the House, it took boxes of pizza and crates of Celsius for House Republicans to eke out the 10-day extension on FISA overnight. The law authorizes intelligence agencies to spy on foreign threats abroad.

The extension was approved in the House shortly after 2 a.m. ET by voice vote to allow members to continue negotiating reforms that would prevent warrantless searches of Americans’ data caught up in intelligence gathering.

“There’s this forever balance between, you know, you want to make sure we’re understanding what the bad guys overseas are doing but wanna do it in a way that always protects American liberties,” Rep. Jim Jordan, who once wanted to add privacy protections but now backs the clean extension sought by Republican leadership and the White House, said during the negotiations late Thursday.

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The dinner and energy drinks were wheeled into Speaker Mike Johnson’s office Thursday night, where leaders huddled with the House Freedom Caucus and intelligence committee members as other lawmakers waited, uncertain about their vote schedule.

The 10-day extension in the House was approved after two failed floor votes: One on a 5-year extension with minor reforms, and another on a clean 18-month extension President Donald Trump supported.

“Many people don’t realize quite the range of ideas and talents that we have in the Republican conference, and it does sometimes take us a while to consider all of the ideas that members have,” Rep. Virginia Foxx said during the floor debate before the first of those votes.

Even with this temporary salve to avoid hitting the April 20 expiration date, Johnson will still face protest from members of his party. A handful of conservatives are continuing to push to make changes to the final bill, despite Trump’s preference. Nearly all Republicans and many Democrats support extending FISA, but the holdouts want more protections for Americans’ communications with foreign persons.

“Nobody’s asking that you abolish 702,” Rep. Andy Biggs, who supports additional privacy guardrails, told reporters this week. “We’re perfectly content if you’re looking at foreign persons without a warrant. The question is, what do you do about U.S. citizens?”

Reauthorizing 702, which happens every few years, is usually controversial, and a rare bipartisan coalition has brokered reforms in the past. In this instance, members of the intelligence community teamed up with Republican leaders to push back on a group of conservative hardliners, complicating a solution despite the fact that Republicans have a majority in both chambers. The floor drama had been months in the making.

“We do love and trust this president, but that doesn’t mean we can step away from our obligations to make obvious constitutional corrections to a pretty major piece of legislation that’s up for reauthorization,” Rep. Clay Higgins, who has been driving a warrant requirement and other reforms for weeks, told NOTUS in recent weeks. “We’re trying to strengthen this thing, not kill it.”

Trump and White House officials pressed holdouts all week. Trump summoned a handful of members to the White House late Tuesday night to push holdouts to extend, but many of the most staunch reformers did not attend. CIA Director John Ratcliffe at one point traveled to Capitol Hill to make the case to the entire conference about the importance of keeping FISA active.

In the end, Johnson and Republican leaders proposed a 5-year extension that added some reforms, including requiring agents to seek a warrant and present probable cause to look into Americans’ data with 702. That failed, and so did the second vote on a clean 18-month extension.

—
Avani Kalra contributed to this report.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated with additional reporting from the Senate.

Before They Were Stars

Evan McMorris-Santoro, Jasmine Wright — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 10:03:11 GMT

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 10:03:11 GMT https://www.notus.org/newsletters/before-they-were-stars

Susan Walsh/AP

Today’s notice: The potential, and reality, of the House class of 2012. Josh Shapiro vs. energy prices. Progressives’ new affordability tour. Hiring at the Hirshhorn. Plus: A quiet vote in the Senate that could have massive implications for public lands.

P.S. Exciting news! In June, we’re getting a new name: The Star. You can read more about our big plans here.

THE LATEST

From the ‘where are they now?’ file: This morning, NOTUS’ Paul Kane published a text from Eric Swalwell he received shortly before The Recent Unpleasantness: “If I promise to win the CA governor race, do you promise to write that book I’ve long wanted on the Class of 2012?”

That first promise is not going to be kept. Swalwell is out of the gubernatorial primary, out of Congress and out of friends willing to publicly back him. But Paul’s given the second promise a shot. Swalwell’s right, there really could be a book about the House members first elected in 2012. But what kind of book would it be?

Cautionary tale? Among Swalwell’s fellow freshmen that year were Beto O’Rourke and John Delaney — two Democrats who tried and failed to be president — and Ron DeSantis, a onetime Republican presidential hopeful who may try again. Also on the list is Joe Kennedy III, who lost a bid to unseat Ed Markey in a Democratic Senate primary.

Tragedy? Many fervent backers of Tulsi Gabbard and Kyrsten Sinema, Democrats elected in 2012, came to regret their support. Both women say they remained consistent, but Sinema became an independent partway through her sole Senate term and Gabbard’s roller-coaster ride of a career has landed her in Donald Trump’s Cabinet.

First volume in a series? Class of 2012 members Hakeem Jeffries and Suzan DelBene are the future of Democratic leadership: Jeffries could soon become speaker if his party retakes the House in November and DelBene, as chair of the DCCC, could be the face of that victory. Her Republican counterpart at the NRCC, Richard Hudson, was also elected in 2012. So was the newly minted homeland security secretary, Markwayne Mullin, who may find himself with a number of political options if he successfully rights the ship at DHS.

Open tabs: Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons resigns (CBS); Trump to Pick Ousted FEMA Head to Lead Agency Again (NYT); Trump Administration Ends Funding Freeze for NYC’s Second Avenue Subway (NOTUS); Progressive Democrat Analilia Mejia wins New Jersey special election for US House (Guardian)

From the Hill

Republicans kicked the FISA can down the road, extending the deadline to reauthorize the surveillance law for 10 days. Even after a huddle stretching into early this morning, two attempts to pass more substantial extensions failed.

Speaker Mike Johnson faces pressure from privacy hawk Republicans to add changes to section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows the government to collect information of foreigners abroad without a warrant – including their interactions with Americans. Some Republicans want protections added to prevent Americans' data from being swept up in searches.

Trump urged Republicans to pass a clean extension. “The fact is, whether you like FISA or not, it is extremely important to our Military,” he wrote on Truth Social this week.

The short-term extension goes to the Senate, where most members have already left for the weekend. It would likely need a unanimous consent to pass without a formal vote before the measure would expire on Monday. The House also cancelled Friday votes.

From Pennsylvania

Exclusive: Shapiro’s war with the power grid. “Pennsylvania is no longer going to be held captive to PJM,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, told NOTUS’ Anna Kramer yesterday. PJM Interconnection is a key component of the Eastern Seaboard’s energy infrastructure, serving 13 states including the commonwealth. Shapiro has threatened to pull Pennsylvania out of it unless changes are made at PJM he says will curb skyrocketing energy prices.

“I’ve been very clear that they’re either going to adopt them or they’re going to lose Pennsylvania,” he told Anna. This is one of those stories you don’t hear a lot about that could end up being a really big deal.

Bonus: They’re laughing at you, D.C. Shapiro spoke at a bipartisan energy-themed event hosted by the National Governors Association. The panel was asked if this is finally the year that Congress gets permitting reform done.

There was a pause, Anna reports. And then the entire room, including the assembled governors, burst out laughing. “D.C. is not coming up with solutions,” Kevin Stitt, the NGA chair and Oklahoma’s Republican governor, said.

From the campaign trail

First on NOTUS: The Congressional Progressive Caucus is launching a multistate “Affordability Listening Tour” in Las Vegas tomorrow, NOTUS’ Daniella Diaz has learned. Reps. Yassamin Ansari and Steven Horsford are set to meet with around 100 voters to discuss household-finance struggles. Future stops with other representatives are set for Houston and Phoenix.

From the Treasury

A well-timed investment: The assistant secretary for terrorist financing, Jonathan Burke, purchased $15,001 to $50,000 worth of shares on Feb. 20 in three exchange-traded funds focused on nuclear energy, domestic fossil-fuel development and cybersecurity companies — just eight days before the war with Iran began. NOTUS’ Mark Alfred reports that after a month of conflict, that fossil-fuel ETF alone had risen 20% in value.

Treasury spox: “These transactions were reviewed and approved by career ethics officials.”

From the National Mall

Smithsonian brain drain: “Historically, people want to be directors, but it’s a scary time to be working with the federal government,” a Smithsonian museum employee told NOTUS’ Torrence Banks recently. The nation’s most famous museum brand currently has high-level gigs open at the National Portrait Gallery, the National Museum of African American History and Culture and, now, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. That museum’s director recently left for the Guggenheim.

In theory, that opening leaves a plum gig for the taking. But employees say ongoing scrutiny from the White House could put the Hirshhorn’s next director in an uncomfortable spotlight. “Contemporary art is inherently boundary-pushing, so I’m sure we’ll be targeted again at some point,” one Hirshhorn employee told Torrence.

NEW ON NOTUS

Republicans upend congressional oversight of public lands: The GOP-controlled Senate passed a law yesterday to allow mining on hundreds of thousands of acres of previously protected land near Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Critics of the measure, including a few Republicans, told NOTUS’ Em Luetkemeyer and Igor Bobic that the precedent could come back to haunt Republicans if a future Democratic administration uses the same process to block mining and fossil-fuel exploration across the country.

“An activist, liberal administration could ride roughshod through a lot of our states, particularly more rural states that have large parcels of land and land agreements in place,” Sen. Thom Tillis told NOTUS.

North Carolina Democrats in the most competitive races outraised their Republican opponents and now have more money on hand, according to new FEC reports reviewed by NOTUS’ Christa Dutton. That gap is largest in the state’s marquee race: the Senate contest between Roy Cooper, the former Democratic governor, and Michael Whatley, the former RNC chair.

More: Moderate Democratic Group Backs New Candidates in Key Congressional Races, by Tyler Spence

FEMA Official Defends Cuts to Disaster-Response Staff at Agency, by Torrence Banks

Fiscal Hawks Prep for Battle Against Mammoth Pentagon Budget Request, by Joe Gould, Hamed Ahmadi and Reese Gorman

NOT US

How Newsom Boosted His Book Sales With $1.5 Million From His PAC, by Shane Goldmacher for The New York Times
What I Saw Inside the Kennedy Center, by Josef Palermo for The Atlantic
Democrats want the full 2024 election autopsy released — no matter the findings, by Natasha Korecki and Jonathan Allen for NBC News

BE SOCIAL

https://x.com/hswift/status/2044853143826042929?s=46&t=kea2yN2TRudyLlidwLigmw

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Progressive Lawmakers Launch Affordability Listening Tour in Battleground States

Daniella Diaz — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 10:00:00 GMT

Democratic U.S. House candidate Yassamin Ansari speaks during a watch party on election night Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

A number of progressive lawmakers are heading out on a multistate listening tour focused on affordability and voters’ concerns about the rising cost of living.

Way to Win, a Democratic donor network and strategy organization, is launching its "Affordability Listening Tour" in partnership with members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. The tour will hold events in battleground states, including Nevada, Texas and Arizona, with the first stop set for Saturday in Las Vegas.

Reps. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona and Steven Horsford of Nevada will lead the Las Vegas kickoff, holding discussions with roughly 100 voters about the financial pressures bearing down on their households. Additional sessions in May are planned in Houston and Phoenix, with other CPC members expected to participate.

The sessions will focus on the cost of essentials — housing, food, health care, gas and utilities — and solicit input on what attendees want Congress to do about it.

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Economic anxiety has become a dominant force in American politics, with each party trying to figure out its message to voters. After President Donald Trump and Republicans’ success in the November 2024 elections, Democrats have reckoned with their messaging issues in the hopes of being able to win in the 2026 midterms.

“The cost of things, everything from housing to health care to child care to utilities to groceries, are going up after this administration promised that on day one, they were going to pass policies to bring them down,” Horsford told NOTUS. “This is not about one party or partisanship. This is about the pocketbook issues that matter to the people that we represent.”

But now with the unpopular Iran war, rising gas and grocery prices, and other issues Trump’s administration is grappling with, Republicans too are struggling with how they talk about the economy.

Ansari, whose district covers parts of the Phoenix metro area, pointed to health care, child care and housing as costs that have become increasingly out of reach for her constituents, alongside everyday expenses like gas and groceries.

“At the end of the day, it’s really about making sure that government works for people. So I think it is really important that we’re hearing from a diversity of perspectives and a diversity of cities, but also rural communities,” Ansari told NOTUS. “It’s helpful to understand which pieces in particular are weighing the heaviest on people’s everyday lives.”

Trump campaigned on the cost-of-living backlash toward then-President Joe Biden’s administration among voters who had watched grocery bills, rent and gas prices surge post-pandemic. Trump had a simple, relentless message: that he had presided over cheaper prices during his first term, and Vice President Kamala Harris would not bring costs down.

Jenifer Fernandez Ancona, co-founder and chief strategy officer of Way to Win, said that with the midterms around the corner and the next presidential election in 2028, Democrats need to find their own message to drill down on.

“It’s a process to go talk to people and listen and take the feedback, and then use that to work with policy experts to then say, ‘OK, we’ve talked to people, we’ve heard them, and this is what we actually want to accomplish,’” she told NOTUS.

Following the three-city tour, Way to Win plans to publish a report outlining policy recommendations for lawmakers to address the affordability crisis.

“The goal is really to build the progressive affordability agenda,” Ansari said. “Determine what are the bills, and also the big-picture policies that we want, we would potentially want a 2028 presidential contender to run on that we think would be the most impactful to address the affordability crisis.”

Fiscal Hawks Prep for Battle Against Mammoth Pentagon Budget Request

Joe Gould, Hamed Ahmadi, Reese Gorman — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 10:00:00 GMT

Carolyn Kaster/AP

Trump administration officials are holding closed-door meetings with top lawmakers to push a record-high $1.5 trillion Department of Defense budget through Congress. But a clash is looming with members of the president’s own party: fiscal hawks.

The dynamic, given House Speaker Mike Johnson’s razor-thin majority, threatens to scramble a defense budget aimed at ramping up munitions and ship production while raising troop pay — all key parts of President Donald Trump’s agenda.

Questioning the proposal are some of the president’s most hardcore supporters: fiscal conservatives, a small slice of the Hill Republicans who are the most vocal about the exploding national deficit.

Multiple Republican lawmakers told NOTUS that they’re wary of increases in the president’s defense budget unless they’re offset by cuts on the non-defense side. The $1.5 trillion Pentagon budget request for fiscal year 2027 — up from roughly $1 trillion for this year — is divided between more than $1 trillion in regular appropriations and $350 billion in the planned party-line reconciliation process. That’s in addition to a supplemental spending request for military operations against Iran that’s still a question mark.

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White House budget chief Russell Vought told lawmakers that officials were “working through that review process” for the supplemental spending request and couldn’t ballpark a cost. “These costs would fluctuate given the day,” he told lawmakers Thursday.

Some of the increase for defense is offset. The budget proposal includes a $73 billion reduction in non-defense discretionary funding — cuts to health research, heating assistance and scores of other domestic programs. The spending plan also carries over $150 billion dedicated to defense from last year’s reconciliation bill.

The budget request does not include deficit and debt projections.

The fiscally hawkish Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, however, projects it would add $6.9 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the annual U.S. budget deficit was projected to hold steady at $1.9 trillion this year, while the national debt reached a record $39 trillion last month.

This week, the International Monetary Fund warned that the world may be headed for a global recession if energy and supply disruptions continue, as the Iran war drives up oil prices and disrupts trade flows. As the fiscal stimulus from the “one big, beautiful bill” wears off, U.S. economic growth is expected to fall to 2% this year from 2.4%, the IMF predicts.

Fiscal hawks are watching those numbers.

“We need to not grow deficits,” Rep. Chip Roy said when asked about the defense request. “So if we have to prioritize defense, then we need to, you know, de-prioritize other things.”Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other lead Pentagon officials met with Sens. Mitch McConnell and Chris Coons, the chair and ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, on Tuesday and their House counterparts, Reps. Ken Calvert and Betty McCollum, on Wednesday.

Those lawmakers, who have some concerns of their own, are pressing for weedy budget details that aren’t expected to be made public for at least another week. Last year, the Trump administration divided Pentagon spending between the base budget and reconciliation, pushing a large share of defense money outside of the normal appropriation process. That frustrated Coons and McConnell because it relied on short-term reconciliation funding for long-term defense investments. Now, with another major request taking shape, appropriators are watching for signs that the same dynamic could return.

Vought, for the administration’s part, has said the budget is a “seize-the-moment,” one-shot “paradigm-shifting” investment to expand arms production and strengthen the industrial base for the future.“It’s needed for the Department of War,” he told the Senate Budget Committee on Thursday. “It’s necessary to keep us safe. I’ve never been more confident that the administration is doing what it can to be efficient at the Department of War, but there are bills that need to be paid with regard to drones and munitions and planes.”

Rep. Mike Rogers, the chair of the House Armed Services Committee and a longtime defense hawk, said he will lead the next National Defense Authorization Act to lock in a higher defense baseline, treating the administration's request as a starting point rather than a ceiling. While that policy bill doesn’t supply appropriations, Rogers said he hopes that it will pass on a bipartisan basis — which would be a marker of what has the broadest political support.

“If you're increasing spending, are you increasing revenue — if you’re increasing spending in defense, are you cutting somewhere else?” Rep. Warren Davidson, one of two Republicans who voted against Trump’s reconciliation bill last year, told NOTUS. “If you've got an idea to spend more money, what's your pay-for?”

Some fiscal hawks have nuanced views about defense. Rep. Michael Cloud, a senior appropriator and a member of the Delivering on Government Efficiency Subcommittee, said he was open to the request and that offsets for the defense budget should be part of the conversation.

“Defense is certainly our No. 1 priority, constitutionally, to fund in Congress, and so it's worth the conversation,” he said. “I am concerned about $39 trillion in debt, so we’ve got to figure out how to fund these things as well.”

With last year’s party-line megabill, Republican conservatives and centrists clashed over cuts to Medicaid and clean-energy tax credits. Some in the middle have warned that further safety-net cuts will be painful to find and likely turn off voters ahead of this November’s midterm election.

Democrats already see an opening and are citing the $73 billion package of cuts as reason to oppose the budget request.

“The president is proposing that we cut over $73 billion in our domestic funding for things like education and health care that are critical for our economy, for our families, for the future of our country to help pay for a truly jaw-dropping half-a-trillion-dollar increase in defense spending,” Sen. Patty Murray, the vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, told Vought on Thursday.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the House Appropriations Committee’s ranking member, who in 2026 budget talks hammered out a bipartisan deal to derail spending cuts for the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, signaled she would hold firm again this time. “We are not going to do that, I just will tell you that right now,” DeLauro said at a hearing into proposed NIH reductions for the next fiscal year.

This week, Davidson acknowledged that fiscal hawks have an uphill fight against fellow Republicans. He recalled how a $9 billion bill that slashed federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — eliminating over $1.1 billion for PBS, NPR and local stations — barely squeaked through the House last year. That vote was 216-213.

“It doesn't really matter what you want to cut,” Davidson said. “There's usually 70 or so Republicans who don't want to cut anything.”

Moderate Democratic Group Backs New Candidates in Key Congressional Races

Tyler Spence — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 10:00:00 GMT

Bill Clark/AP

The New Democrat Coalition is backing a slate of congressional candidates that it believes are primed to win in some of the most difficult races across the country in November’s midterms.

On Friday, the coalition of moderates announced a slate of six new endorsements for candidates whom it says are critical to Democrats winning a majority in the House of Representatives. They are running for seats from Colorado’s 5th Congressional District to North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District.

That brings the total number of House endorsements the coalition has made this cycle to 21.

“We are the candidates that can win in the most competitive seats in the country. We’re the candidates that win in the Trump districts. That’s what wins the majority,” Arizona Rep. Greg Stanton, a leader of the New Democrat Coalition, told NOTUS.

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Stanton said the caucus is looking for trusted community leaders regardless of whether they have political experience, which means they end up with candidates who have a diverse set of experiences. Some are doctors, armed service members, sheriffs, ministers or former TV broadcasters.

“We want the right candidate for the right race at the right time,” Stanton said.

The New Democrat Coalition looked for candidates in districts that expand the map for Democrats. According to a list shared with NOTUS, the new candidates getting endorsements are Chaz Molder, Sean McCann, Jamie Ager, Jessica Killin, Donna Miller and Johnny Garcia.

“It was not an easy decision,” Molder, a Democrat running in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District who received one of the new endorsements, told NOTUS of his decision to run. “We need to put forward leaders who are willing to be solutions-oriented and pragmatic and bring people together and build coalitions instead of drive people apart.”

A common refrain among New Democrats is the desire to turn down the political temperature, something McCann, who’s running in Michigan’s 4th Congressional District, said is necessary for anyone who wants to represent a purple district.

“I think that what people want out of you is that kind of bipartisan representation that works on solutions and doesn’t get caught up in the arguing and the bickering that seems to really be what draws the attention of a lot of people in politics,” McCann said.

All Powerful or Cursed: The Ambitious House Class of 2012

Paul Kane — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 09:20:00 GMT

Speaker of the House John Boehner swears-in the 113th Congress on the House floor. (Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)

One by one the presidential candidates bounded on stage in June 2019 hoping to impress at the Democratic cattle call in South Carolina, including four who had first been elected to the House barely six years earlier.

“Our candidates are part of the Avengers, we’re here to save America. The Republicans, that’s the Hunger Games,” Eric Swalwell, 38 at the time, told the crowd.

Swalwell, Beto O’Rourke, John Delaney and Tulsi Gabbard gave pitches that night that brimmed with the ambition of relative youth and believed their House class, elected in 2012, signaled the future of a Democratic Party that was still wedded to leaders from the Silent Generation.

They wanted to take charge, in a hurry. And their GOP counterparts from the 2012 class had just as much desire for power as the young Democrats.

As they sized one another up at congressional orientation that year, ambition oozed out of the meetings. The group was massive, nearly 85 new members, with more than 45 Democrats and almost three dozen Republicans.

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Looking around the rooms, the newly elected House members could see a half-dozen future senators, three future Cabinet members, a White House chief of staff, two governors and the first Black leader of a congressional caucus, who might become House speaker next year.

No one understood their potential power as well as Swalwell, the Bay Area Democrat who ousted a 40-year incumbent Democrat and regularly talked about how a political reporter should write a collective biography of them.

“If I promise to win the CA governor race,” he texted me in mid-February, “do you promise to write that book I've long wanted on the Class of 2012?"

Well, maybe that book isn’t quite the one that Swalwell has been dreaming of for the past decade. His flameout in the California governor’s race, amid allegations of sexual assault and other misconduct, punctuated the falls that some other members of his class faced in recent years.

Their urgent rush up the political ladder, misreading certain moments that ended in defeat, have left the group’s record as mixed, at best, for now.

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Several notable players have seen their careers essentially flame out (think O’Rourke’s presidential bid and 2022 Texas governor race). Others who seemed to have sky’s-the-limit futures crossed their party’s leaders and ended up prematurely sent to the private sector (Kyrsten Sinema is now working on artificial intelligence issues for a lobbying firm, Mark Meadows runs a think tank).

For every Ron DeSantis who won the Florida governor’s mansion in 2018, there’s a Ron DeSantis whose 2024 GOP presidential campaign ended in tatters, without an obvious political future when he leaves office in January.

Still, those who lived those early years look at the collective body of work with fondness.

“Great class. We had a couple cabinet secretaries,” said Rep. Richard Hudson, the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee who defeated a two-term Democrat in 2012. “I’m an underachiever in my class.”

He said plenty of other congressional classes have had their share of overly ambitious types. “Probably a lot of them that made other career decisions, some successful, some not,” he said. “But I think it’s a pretty extraordinary class.”

A dozen or so years ago, many members of the class began with early-morning workouts in the House gym led by freshman Rep. Markwayne Mullin. The Oklahoma Republican had honed his regime through years of amateur wrestling and mixed martial arts training.

Regular participants included Gabbard, who was 31 when she was elected as a Hawaii Democrat in 2012; Sinema (38 in 2012); and Joe Kennedy III (32).

Jason Smith joined those workouts after he won a special election in 2013 to succeed a Missouri Republican who had died, becoming a de facto member of the 2012 group. Now chair of the Ways and Means Committee, Smith, 45, lost 60 pounds in a few months courtesy of the future senator and secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

O’Rourke, who won in 2012 by ousting an eight-term Democratic incumbent, launched as the class’s first breakout star when he challenged Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018. Once considered the deepest of longshots, he galvanized liberal activists across the nation, raised record sums and came within 2.6 percentage points of defeating the arch conservative.

That same year, DeSantis and Sinema rocketed from the backbench of the House to, respectively, winning highly contested races for Florida governor and Arizona senator.

He became the face of what might have been a post-Trump era for Republicans, someone tough and pugnacious without the personal scandals. She became one of the most important dealmaking senators, with strong ties across the aisle that produced legislation on everything from infrastructure to same-sex marriage.

But the luck started to shift for some in 2020, when O’Rourke jumped into the presidential race and fell flat. Gabbard stuck in the race long enough to win two total delegates out of roughly 4,000, which was two more than Delaney, O’Rourke and Swalwell combined.

Kennedy ran a generational primary challenge against Sen. Ed Markey, who had won his first race for Congress several years before the young heir to the Massachusetts dynasty was born.

Untitled

Yet the party was still enthralled with older leaders, nominating Joe Biden and watching Rep. Nancy Pelosi turn 80 that year as House speaker. Markey, 74 at the time, defeated Kennedy by almost 11 points.

Meadows, after more than seven years as a leader of the far-right faction, quit the House in March 2020 to become Donald Trump’s last chief of staff in his first term – only to see Trump’s reelection campaign end in defeat amid a global pandemic.

Meadows’ text messages, particularly from Jan. 6, 2021, inside the West Wing, became the road map for investigators into the Capitol riot. He has not been invited back into Trump’s inner circle and runs a conservative think tank a few blocks from the Capitol.

By early 2024, the rising star status had fallen off of DeSantis and Sinema.

The Florida governor got crushed by Trump in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, getting mocked in typically Trumpian personal ways. These days, Trump succession whispers start with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with some mentions of Cruz. Few talk about DeSantis’s national ambition anymore.

Sinema ended up leaving the Democratic Party and dropping out of her 2024 re-election campaign, considered such an ideological outcast. She admitted last month to having an affair with a security staffer during her final year in office, in legal proceedings that the aide’s wife brought in North Carolina.

Gabbard is now Trump’s director of national intelligence, but she’s seen as an outsider given her opposition in recent years to war in Iran.

Mullin, after ascending to the Senate in 2022, won the confirmation vote last month to become homeland secretary. But a bruising confirmation hearing revealed he had been exaggerating past overseas work that some took to mean he was in the special forces.

Each individual rise and fall has unique characteristics, and Swalwell’s might be the most dramatic: from an embarrassing 2020 presidential bid that flamed out by early July 2019, to his work as a Trump impeachment manager in 2021, to a gubernatorial bid that, if he had made it through the June primary, could’ve put him on the precipice of leading the biggest state in the union.

He’s 45 now, and two terms running the Golden State would have put him on plenty of presidential candidate lists for 2032 or beyond.

Instead, he’s now a nationally disgraced politician under criminal investigation.

As NRCC chair, Hudson’s own future is a direct challenge to two of his 2012 classmates: Jeffries, the House minority leader, and Rep. Suzan DelBene, the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

In January 2023, Jeffries made history as the first Black leader of a congressional caucus. He chose DelBene to lead Democrats’ effort to win back the majority, but they came up three seats short in 2024 against Hudson.

Hudson knows that campaign chairs who win reap the fruits of victory — promotions to bigger jobs in Congress. So his own future probably depends on defeating his classmates again.

“I want to keep him as minority leader,” he said of Jeffries.

If not, Hudson’s career could end up in the private sector with so many other members of the 2012 class.

“I may have peaked,” he joked.

Trump Administration Ends Funding Freeze for NYC’s Second Avenue Subway

Torrie Herrington — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 00:35:52 GMT

Rainmaker Photo/MediaPunch/IPx

The Trump administration said Thursday that it will release almost $60 million in withheld funding for the Second Avenue subway extension in New York City.

Previously, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority sued the Trump administration to unlock the money, and warned that the withholding of funds would cause “a domino effect” of delays and inflated costs.

However, shortly before a federal judge was set to hear oral arguments in the lawsuit, the Department of Transportation released a letter to the MTA’s chair and CEO, Janno Lieber, saying that a deal had been reached to release the funds.

The letter detailed how the Trump administration originally found “troubling” information that MTA contractors took race and sex into consideration as part of its bidding-and-contract process. Since then, the transit agency has agreed to make changes.

“In light of MTA’s agreement to take corrective actions, DOT has completed its review and is resuming the processing of reimbursement requests pursuant to normal procedures,” the DOT said in the letter.

The project is a $7 billion expansion of the Second Avenue subway line into East Harlem, and $3.4 billion of the funding is expected to come from the federal government.

“We took the Trump Administration to court after they illegally froze funding for the Second Avenue Subway,” Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York said on X. “Today, they backed down. The freeze is over.”

Last month, Spectrum News reported that President Donald Trump seemed unaware of the legal battle over the funding, as he indicated the project should be completed.

“I haven’t heard about the Second Avenue subway in 20 years,” Trump told the outlet. "I guess they got to get it finished. They spent trillions of dollars, practically. I know they spent more money on that than on anything, I think, in the history of our city in New York City. And it’s been under construction for a long time. It’s very sad, actually.”

The Trump administration also froze $16 billion in funds for the Gateway train tunnel being built between New York and New Jersey, at the start of the government shutdown last year.

New York and New Jersey sued to release the Gateway funds, and in February, a federal judge ordered the administration to release the money, which it did.

The case has been tied up in appeals for months, which have threatened a stop-start crisis that local officials have warned could imperil the project.

“The real challenge here is that with any of these megaprojects, time is always a really big factor in the costs,” Thomas Wright, the president and CEO of the Regional Plan Association, told amNewYork for a piece published Thursday. “And the longer they take, the more expensive they’re going to be. And funding delays and challenges about getting them done don’t help, and can really actually potentially damage these projects. It certainly raises the costs.”

Trump’s Handpicked Arts Commission Unanimously Approves Early D.C. Arch Design

Torrie Herrington — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 22:09:34 GMT

Alex Brandon/AP

The Commission of Fine Arts, a federal panel that vets monument designs and other major projects in Washington, on Thursday unanimously approved President Donald Trump’s plans for a massive arch.

While the panel does not give final approval for projects, it did give Nicolas Charbonneau, the architect leading the arch project, revisions on the project for him to present at a later meeting.

“This was an impressive display,” the commission’s chair, Rodney Mims Cook Jr., said Thursday. “This is personal to everyone in the room, and the president wants to do something that in his heart he feels is good.”

Trump wants to place a 250-foot, gold-adorned arch at Memorial Circle, near the Arlington National Cemetery, on a site controlled by the National Park Service. The plans are opposed by veterans, including several who have sued Trump, arguing that the structure would obstruct the view of the cemetery. Democrats have also argued that Trump must get congressional approval to proceed with construction.

During the panel meeting Thursday, members of the public showed up to testify in opposition to the arch, with many making the case that the arch would interrupt the intentional corridor between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.

During the public comment period, the panel received almost 1,000 responses, which were all against the arch, according to Thomas Luebke, the commission’s secretary.

Despite public comments, the panel supports Trump’s design. All of its current members were appointed by Trump after he fired the entire commission in October.

James McCrery II, a commissioner who was also the original architect for Trump’s ballroom, suggested that the design remove three golden statues atop the arch, making the structure 166 feet instead of 250 feet. He suggested this change would make it a “more Washingtonian design.”

McCrery also suggested that Charbonneau replace four lions on the arch, since lions are not native to North America.

In response to a public comment about the arch disrupting the city skyline, Chamberlain Harris, a commissioner, argued that the current design would “honor the original vision” of city designers.

And Cook, who has long yearned for there to be an arch in the capital, took several opportunities to praise Charbonneau for the design presentation.

In an interview with The Washington Post published Thursday, Cook also suggested that Trump “should do three” arches — and named two more locations in the southeast quadrant of the city as potential sites.

Doug Burgum, the secretary of the interior, was also in attendance at the hearing and presented the proposed design as a manifestation of several past efforts to implement an arch. He said the lack of an arch at Memorial Circle “directly contradicts the original vision,” which would be for Columbia Island, a public park between the District of Columbia and Arlington, to have a "beautiful" structure.

Construction of the arch could come soon, officials have said.

“Beginning construction this year on the architectural arc is a fitting way to commemorate the 250th anniversary of American independence,” Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, told reporters Wednesday at a press briefing.

FEMA Official Defends Cuts to Disaster-Response Staff at Agency

Torrence Banks — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 21:55:02 GMT

Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via AP

A top official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency defended the decision to terminate hundreds of employees critical to disaster-recovery-and-response operations.

FEMA’s acting administrator, Karen Evans, who took the role in December, said at a House Appropriations hearing Thursday on the Department of Homeland Security’s budget that she signed off on the terminations because other supervisors at the agency determined the work was not needed.

“I’m saying that their functions and their work were reviewed and there was a determination made by the supervisor or program office head that the work wasn’t needed,” Evans said when asked about the terminations by Democratic Rep. Lauren Underwood. “And therefore the contract wasn’t renewed.”

Evans later added that she “approved the final nonrenewal” of those employees and that the decision was “based on function and whether the work is still there for them to do.”

Underwood said in the hearing that more than 1,000 Cadre of On-Call Response/Recovery, or CORE, employees across the agency had been eliminated under the Trump administration.

The employees started receiving emails toward the end of last year saying their positions wouldn’t be “renewed.”

CORE employees, who at one point made up 40% of the agency’s workforce and often traveled across the country to handle disaster-recovery efforts, were the main targets of these cuts. These employees’ responsibilities include providing advice to FEMA leadership on approving funds and working on the technology states rely on after a disaster.

Ahead of January’s winter storms, FEMA staff were told that the terminations would be halted in preparation for the severe weather. The storms left more than 600,000 without power, and left some Southern lawmakers unsure whether they could dependably rely on the agency to provide additional assistance. There was also concern that fewer points of contact would be left on the ground for affected communities after a disaster.

News outlets reported in February that the reductions would resume following the winter storm.

At the hearing, Underwood brought up previous testimony that Evans and her attorney gave in a federal court case in which the Trump administration was sued over making cuts to CORE.

“Ms. Evans, you and the DOJ attorney in the case have offered contradictory stories to the court about who authorized the findings,” Underwood said. “Under questioning, he was unable to provide an explanation for the discrepancy that did not involve you committing perjury. Ms. Evans, did you perjure yourself?”

Evans responded by saying that she didn’t perjure herself at the testimony. Underwood called for additional clarity.

“We have to be very clear. If these are term employees, that should be really straight, straightforward for us to understand,” Underwood said. “And there seems to be some uncertainty, some lack of clarity in your testimony here and certainly in your disposition to the court. And obviously, we just want to know who made the decisions around the firings.”

The partial DHS shutdown has now hit 60 days, and funding for the department is still uncertain. However, thousands of federal employees started receiving backpay in March following a memorandum by President Donald Trump.

During the hearing, Evans said that the agency was requesting $38.5 billion from Congress for the coming fiscal year to help communities respond to and prepare for disasters.

Underwood said that the administration’s handling of the agency was unacceptable.

“President Trump was clear he wanted to destroy FEMA, so you gave him some made-up concepts of a plan on how to do it,” Underwood said. “That's not trimming the fat. That's a death blow. And so while disasters are becoming more frequent and more severe, you're cutting staff at FEMA, creating confusion and operating without a plan. This will put lives and livelihoods at risk in the next emergency.”

More Senate Democrats Are Breaking With Israel, in a Major Party Shift

Daniella Diaz, Igor Bobic — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 21:26:28 GMT

Sen. Bernie Sanders pushed two resolutions in the Senate blocking arms sales to Israel. A record number of Democrats voted for them, showing a shift in the party. Francis Chung/POLITICO/AP

Democratic lawmakers are going on record in increasing numbers to show opposition to Israel’s government. Progressives say it took way too long.

The Senate voted Wednesday evening to reject two resolutions that would have blocked arms sales to Israel, but the size of the Democratic opposition marked an unmistakable turning point in the party's decades-long relationship with the Jewish state.

“What is beginning to happen is Congress is catching up with the American people,” Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats and a longtime champion of the effort, told NOTUS. “I think you’re seeing more and more Democrats seeing the light on this issue, understanding that what we’re trying to do is right, and it’s good politics as well.”

The two resolutions, which targeted arms sales to Israel, were opposed by all Republicans, the first 40-59 and the second 36-63. The support from a majority of Senate Democrats revealed a major shift in the party's relationship with Israel and the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a leader who’s long had strong support from Democratic leaders despite outrage from progressives over the war in Gaza.

The number of Democrats voting with Sanders, who sponsored the resolutions has more than doubled in less than two years amid Israeli wars with Hamas, Iran and Lebanon. By contrast, in April 2025, only 15 senators voted to block arms sales. By July of that year, the number had grown to 27 on a vote involving small arms to the Israeli police.

But Wednesday’s vote, with potential 2028 hopefuls including Sens. Ruben Gallego, Mark Kelly, Elissa Slotkin, Chris Murphy and Cory Booker voting for the measure alongside more moderate Democrats, shattered that record.

The political stakes are high for lawmakers trying to make an impression before the midterms. With the elections approaching and a 2028 primary field taking shape, the vote represents where Democrats are specifically on Israel's government, led by Netanyahu.

“Netanyahu has made some decisions inconsistent with our values,” Kelly, a veteran and national-security-minded Democrat, said in an interview with NOTUS. “As a good ally of theirs, I think we’ve got to make decisions that are also in their best interest.”

“It’s unfortunate,” he added. “We want Israel to be strong and prosperous. I’m always going to support Israel.”

Only seven Democrats voted against both resolutions: Sens. Chuck Schumer, Chris Coons, Catherine Cortez Masto, Kirsten Gillibrand, Richard Blumenthal, John Fetterman and Jacky Rosen.

Schumer, a staunch supporter of Israel and the first Jewish Senate leader in U.S. history, has been critical of Netanyahu, calling him an “obstacle to peace” in the Middle East. In an interview this week, the New York Democrat noted that many of his family members were killed during the Holocaust and argued it was important for the U.S. to stand with Israel.

“We can love Israel, even when you disagree strongly with Netanyahu,” Schumer told NOTUS. “And that's the message I am doing everything I can to convey to the country.”

The Biden and Trump administrations have provided Israel with more than $21 billion in military aid since October 2023, according to a 2025 report. The two arms sales Democrats sought to block on Wednesday amounted to approximately $446 million, per Sanders’ office.

Rep. Delia Ramirez of Illinois, a progressive who’s a vocal critic of U.S. policy on Israel's military actions in Gaza, praised the Senate Democrats for getting behind Sanders’ resolution.

“Would you have imagined a year ago that this number of senators would be voting for an arms embargo to Israel?” Ramirez said. “I think that politically, people are feeling it.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez praised the senators who supported the measure on Wednesday, saying she was “deeply encouraged” by the support.

“I think them seeing that this is changing is an affirmation to the power of all of those communities that felt powerless to stop this not so long ago,” she added. “I think it’s very encouraging.”

Sen. Elissa Slotkin, who calls herself a staunch supporter of Israel and has received questions about her Jewish donors on the campaign trail, explained her decision to support the measure.

“I voted to block the provision of U.S. military assistance to Israel: 1,000-pound so-called ‘dumb’ bombs and military bulldozers,” she said in a statement about her vote. “My entire life, I have been — and continue to be — a strong supporter of a Jewish and democratic State of Israel.”

She added: “But being pro-Israel today is not about simply supporting the political or military agenda of Prime Minister Netanyahu, just like being pro-American should not be equated with loyalty to President Trump.”

J Street, a liberal Jewish American advocacy organization, found that 70% of American Jews oppose unconditional military and financial assistance to Israel, 60% oppose “the US military action against Iran” and 77% do not believe “President Trump has a clear plan and mission for the war in Iran.” The group also called for the U.S. government to end its special treatment of Israel with unconditional military aid.

“It’s encouraging to see a growing number of senators recognize that unconditional US military support for Israel is no longer tenable in light of the Netanyahu government’s policies,” J Street’s president, Jeremy Ben-Ami, said in a statement. “The work now is to translate that shift into action: alleviating the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, stopping violence on the West Bank and pursuing paths to end the ongoing fighting across the region.”

RFK Jr. Is Having a Normal One

Brett Bachman — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 20:39:38 GMT

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 20:39:38 GMT https://www.notus.org/final-notus-newsletter/rfk-jr-is-having-a-normal-one

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies during a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, on April 16, 2026. Francis Chung/POLITICO

Good afternoon. This is the Final NOTUS newsletter for April 16, 2026. You can get it in your inbox every day by signing up here — it’s free!

THE LATEST

Donald Trump announced a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon today after leaders from the two countries met in Washington. He added that he plans to host formal peace talks at the White House between Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the president of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun.

“Both sides want to see PEACE, and I believe that will happen, quickly!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

Over on Capitol Hill, the House rejected yet another resolution to curb Trump’s authority over the Iran war today by the narrowest of margins, 214-213, with one present vote from Rep. Warren Davidson, a Republican from Ohio who had recently voted in favor of asserting Congress’ war powers.

The Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the sexual assault allegations levied against Eric Swalwell, a source with knowledge of the matter told NOTUS’ Reese Gorman. The disgraced former congressman is also facing local probes in both New York and Los Angeles.

THE HILL

Lawmakers wouldn’t let Robert F. Kennedy Jr. avoid his most controversial issue — vaccines — at his first appearance in Congress since he pared back childhood vaccine recommendations. Kennedy attempted to focus on his more popular policies, like lower drug prices and discouraging processed foods.

“One thing I find incredible is that you suspended this pro-vaccine messaging campaign, but somehow you’re spending taxpayer dollars to drink milk shirtless in a hot tub with Kid Rock,” Rep. Linda Sánchez said. “And somehow you think that’s a better public health message.”

House Republican leadership canceled yet another vote this afternoon to set up a clean extension of FISA Section 702, a law with a controversial provision that allows U.S. intelligence to perform warrantless surveillance on noncitizens.

Mike Johnson is trying to reach a deal before the law expires on Monday with conservative privacy hawks who want to reform the law in order to extend it.

THE ADMINISTRATION

The president announced a new, more conventional nominee to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Erica Schwartz, who served as deputy surgeon general during Trump’s first term.

He also tapped ex-Walmart executive Sean Slovenski and Texas health commissioner Jennifer Shuford as CDC deputy directors, and senior FDA official Sara Brenner as a senior counselor for public health.

The Commission of Fine Arts, a federal agency formally tasked with overseeing the “design and aesthetics” of construction within Washington, unanimously approved the designs for Trump’s massive, gold-trimmed triumphal arch at the foot of the Arlington Memorial Bridge.

But one of the commission’s members, Rodney Mims Cook Jr., isn’t happy with just one arch. “I think the president should do three,” he told The Washington Post, citing two other locations in southeast Washington.

THE STATES

An ICE agent was charged with assault for allegedly pointing a gun at a pair of motorists he was attempting to pass on the shoulder of a highway in Minneapolis, local prosecutors announced. Hennepin County attorney Mary Moriarty said at a press conference that she believes the criminal case against 35-year-old Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr. is the first one brought against an immigration agent involved in Trump’s aggressive mass-deportation campaign.

The case sets up a test of Stephen Miller’s assertion that federal agents have “federal immunity” for any crimes committed while carrying out their official duties.

THE BOBBIT OF ROADKILL

Now here’s a sentence you’ve probably never read before.

https://x.com/TMZ/status/2044804605322625243?s=20

Thank you for reading! Today’s newsletter was produced by Andrew Burton and Kate Nocera. If you liked it, please forward it to a friend. If someone shared it with you, please subscribe — it’s free! Got a tip or comments to share? Email us at finalnotus@notus.com.]]>

Minnesota Prosecutors Charge an ICE Agent With Assault

Manuela Silva — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 20:25:11 GMT

Mark Vancleave/AP

Minnesota prosecutors announced second-degree assault charges against an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agent on Thursday, in what they said is the first criminal case against a federal immigration officer involved in President Donald Trump’s immigration campaign in the Twin Cities.

Prosecutors said the federal immigration agent was on duty at the time of the alleged assault. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said at a press conference announcing the charges that she believes it is the first case of its kind across the country.

“Today’s charges reflect an important milestone in our efforts to seek accountability for the harms inflicted on our community during Operation Metro Surge,” Moriarty said. “Our community is still navigating the effects of the federal occupation.”

The agent, Gregory Donnell Morgan, has been charged with two felony counts of second-degree assault after he allegedly pointed his gun at two drivers while driving an unmarked SUV on Feb. 5. Moriarty said at the press conference that the victims called 911 following the encounter, after which an investigation was opened.

Morgan could face up to 36 months in prison.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Moriarty said that a nationwide warrant has been issued for the officer, who is not currently in custody. Morgan was part of the Trump administration’s Operation Metro Surge, a deportation campaign in the Twin Cities, during which federal immigration agents detained more than 3,700 people, according to the Deportation Data Project.

It was one of DHS’s most fraught immigration campaigns to date. Widespread protests erupted across the nation following the killings of U.S. citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal immigration agents

The Justice Department is currently conducting a civil rights investigation into the death of Pretti. DHS has also said it is conducting internal investigations into the death of Good and into the shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis. Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan immigrant, was shot in the leg by ICE agents during a traffic stop. DHS acknowledged in February that federal agents had made “untruthful statements” in relation to the shooting.

Moriarty said at the press conference Thursday that her office is still weighing charges against officers involved in the Pretti, Good, and Sosa-Celis incidents.

In March, Moriarty and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison sued the Trump administration for access to evidence in the three shootings, which they have said the federal government is withholding.

“Our work continues on all fronts, from the killings of Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti to the shooting of Mr. Sosa-Celis, to the incidents being investigated by our transparency and accountability project,” Moriarty said. “We will not rest until we get the answers we seek about federal agent conduct across Hennepin County, and accountability is delivered wherever appropriate.”

Republicans Overturned a Biden-Era Mining Ban. It Could Come Back to Bite Them.

Em Luetkemeyer, Igor Bobic — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 20:05:34 GMT

In this undated image provided by Minnesota Public Radio, Sept. 2, 2016, canoeists navigate the Pocket River in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness near Ely, Minn. The Senate approved a measure to reverse a 20-year ban on mining near the area. Nathaniel Minor/AP

Republicans passed a bill Thursday to allow mining on hundreds of thousands of acres of previously protected wilderness in Minnesota, in a move that could forever alter congressional oversight over government rulemaking and public lands.

The Senate voted 50-49 to send the measure, recently approved by the House, to the president’s desk. It reverses a 20-year mining moratorium enacted by the Biden administration in 2023, covering over roughly 350 square miles near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Only two Republicans voted against the bill, despite bipartisan concerns about the precedent it set for a future Democratic administration to block mining and fossil fuel exploration across the country.

“An activist, liberal administration could ride roughshod through a lot of our states, particularly more rural states that have large parcels of land and land agreements in place,” Sen. Thom Tillis, one of those Republicans, told NOTUS.

The vote marked a major expansion of the Congressional Review Act, a process Congress has used since the 1990s to overturn certain rules promulgated by government agencies by passing a joint resolution of disapproval. Previously, mineral withdrawals like the one in Minnesota were not considered “rules” subject to review by Congress. But now, fossil fuel leases, permits, land orders and mineral rights could all be fair game, giving Congress, rather than the executive branch of the federal government, more power to micromanage states’ land use.

“It’s an unprecedented procedural move that’s going to come back to haunt the Republicans,” Democratic Sen. Tina Smith warned in an interview Thursday. “It’s a huge mistake on their part. I had lots of Republicans tell me that they knew it was a mistake, but they voted this way anyway.”

Smith, a main player opposing the effort to open the wilderness areas in her home state to mining, held the Senate floor on Wednesday night in protest of the bill’s passage, which postponed the vote. The senator had been working for months to sway enough Republican colleagues to help defeat the bill, counting Republican Sens. Dave McCormick, Todd Young and Lisa Murkowski as swing votes. In the end, all three voted in support of the resolution after the White House weighed in on its behalf Wednesday, according to Smith’s office.

“It was sort of like the Eye of Sauron spotting the hobbits as they were kind of approaching Mount Doom,” Smith said about those Republicans, referring to the main antagonist in J.R.R. Tolkien's “The Lord of the Rings.”

Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico called the bill “a stain on what the Senate used to be” and declared “this is a dark day for this body” on the floor before the vote.

“Public lands are the one thing when I go home that unites my constituents from left to right, whether you’re a bow hunter or a bunny hugger — it doesn’t matter. They love our public lands. They care about our public lands. There are many places that we can mine and do it right,” Heinrich continued.

Murkowski, a moderate Republican from Alaska, where mining is a major industry, voted for the bill but conceded the precedent it sets is problematic.

“I agree with this policy, the policy that we’re talking about here,” Murkowski told NOTUS. “But I think that we may have set a precedent here on process that’s not going to be helpful.”

The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness near the U.S.-Canada border contains a vast, interconnected network of freshwater lakes, rivers and streams, and it’s home to threatened species like the Canadian lynx. Wild rice that grows in the area is sacred to many Native American tribes that reside there. There is not a mining project planned within the Boundary Waters themselves, but advocates have been concerned about toxic pollution flowing into that area.

At least seven Native American tribes — from Minnesota, Kansas, Wisconsin, South Dakota and Wyoming — wrote letters to senators and urged them to vote against the bill, citing concerns it would violate trust and treaty obligations the federal government has to the tribes and would be detrimental to the ecosystem. The National Congress of American Indians requested a hearing with the Senate Indian Affairs Committee on the issue.

Michael Fairbanks, chairman of the White Earth Nation in Minnesota, said in a news conference Thursday after the bill passed that this is an example of why holding Congress accountable and “up to date on treaty rights” is important.

“I'm going to pray again, you know, not to be so mad and try to figure out how we're going to combat this and in a good way,” he continued. Fairbanks said he’s speaking with other tribal leaders across the country, as well as legal teams.

Twin Metals, a subsidiary of a large mining company based in Chile, wants to acquire leases to mine metal sulfides in the area.

“Any proposed project in this region, including Twin Metals, must undergo a yearslong, multi-agency regulatory review before earning permits to begin construction of a mine. The CRA restores this process, and projects must prove they can meet the stringent environmental standards that have long been in place in Minnesota before moving forward,” Kathy Graul, communications director for Twin Metals, said in a statement to NOTUS.

Gov. Josh Shapiro Doubles Down on His Fight Against Rising Electricity Prices

Anna Kramer — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 19:52:10 GMT

Gov. Josh Shapiro announced a major utility company in Pennsylvania would voluntarily retract its price hike. Matt Slocum/AP

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is picking fights with the country’s largest power grid operator and the state’s biggest utility company over rising costs — and he's already notched some wins.

In an exclusive interview with NOTUS, Shapiro doubled down on his threat to pull Pennsylvania out of PJM Interconnection, which currently serves 13 states including Pennsylvania.

“Pennsylvania is no longer going to be held captive to PJM,” Shapiro said. “We put forth some very specific proposals I wanted to see them do to reform themselves. They have not yet adopted those, and I’ve been very clear that they’re either going to adopt them or they’re going to lose Pennsylvania.”

Shapiro, who was at a bipartisan energy-focused meeting with other governors Thursday, declined to provide a specific deadline on his ultimatum, but said “the ball is in their court.”

PJM is facing extensive criticism from state leaders and power developers, who say that the organization has failed to properly plan for rapidly increasing electricity demand. Shapiro’s tactics show how grid operators and utility companies have become increasingly appealing targets for politicians looking for someone to blame in the developing electricity price crisis.

"The states will play a critical role in this process, particularly as it relates to the costs associated with data centers joining the grid, as PJM has no ability to allocate costs to specific customer classes," a spokesperson for PJM told NOTUS in a statement. "PJM is a proud Pennsylvania business and we will continue our efforts to work constructively with the Governor and his staff on these important issues on behalf of the state and its residents."

Utility companies are also facing heat. On Thursday, just after the meeting, Shapiro’s office announced that the governor convinced Pennsylvania's largest utility to voluntarily withdraw a large planned rate hike — an exceptionally rare occurrence.

PECO, the state’s largest natural gas and electric company that serves Philadelphia and most of the surrounding counties, requested a 12.5% hike in electricity rates last week, which Shapiro called “pure greed.”

On Thursday, just eight days after it announced the rate hike request, PECO withdrew its plans for the increase, citing “conversations with Governor Josh Shapiro” as part of the reason for changing course.

“I demanded that their CEO put customers first and withdraw their rate hike request. PECO listened,” Shapiro said in a statement announcing the withdrawal.

Shapiro also recently secured a significant political win over PJM, getting the grid operator to accept a multiple-year upper limit cap on certain power prices. On Thursday, he made clear that victory wasn’t enough to get him to ease pressure on the grid operator.

Overall wholesale electricity costs within PJM’s district climbed about 56% in the last year.

“I don’t think that they’re built as an organization to be able to do the kind of generation we need,” Shapiro told NOTUS.

Across the board, the Republican and Democratic governors at Thursday’s gathering were more in lockstep on electricity price issues than members of Congress have been in D.C.

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill took multiple opportunities to bash PJM, calling them “a very bad grid operator” and “asleep at the wheel.”

And Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, the Republican chair of the National Governors’ Association, repeatedly emphasized his agreement with Shapiro and other Democrats about the importance of permitting reform, which they say would accelerate construction of new sources of power generation and transmission. He said that the reform should apply to all sources of energy, including renewables.

“I know that Shapiro wants it. I know that the governors want it. So boom, get it done,” Stitt said to NOTUS after the event.

But bipartisan agreement at the state level doesn’t go far in D.C. It’s been nearly impossible to get permitting reform done in Congress, where negotiations in the Senate have started and stopped repeatedly. Democrats returned to the permitting negotiation table last month after securing public support from Republicans that previously approved projects shouldn’t be canceled or delayed.

The fate of those negotiations will eventually rest with President Donald Trump, whose administration continues to stall the permitting process for wind and solar projects.

Trump Nominates Former Deputy Surgeon General Erica Schwartz to Run CDC

Margaret Manto, Paige Winfield Cunningham — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 19:42:29 GMT

David Goldman/AP

President Donald Trump has nominated Erica Schwartz, the former deputy U.S. surgeon general, to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, eight months after its director was ousted for refusing to bypass career scientists and rubber-stamp changes to federal vaccine recommendations.

Trump announced Schwartz’s nomination on Thursday on Truth Social. He also announced three more nominations to the agency: Sean Slovenski, a former Walmart executive, for CDC deputy director and chief operating officer; Dr. Jennifer Shuford, Texas’ health commissioner, for CDC deputy director and chief medical officer; and Dr. Sara Brenner, a senior FDA official, as a senior counselor for public health.

“These Highly Respected Doctors of Medicine have the knowledge, experience, and TOP degrees to restore the GOLD STANDARD OF SCIENCE at the CDC, which was an absolute disaster focused on “mandates” under Sleepy Joe,” Trump posted.

Schwartz's nomination will need to be confirmed by the Senate.

Schwartz’s public health credentials may lend some much-needed credibility to an embattled CDC, which has been marked by high leadership turnover, sweeping personnel cuts and a shooting at the agency’s Atlanta headquarters last summer.

She served as deputy surgeon general during the first Trump administration. She also spent 24 years in the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, which the surgeon general leads.

She has a medical degree from Brown University and a law degree from the University of Maryland.

Her selection comes months after the administration’s last CDC director, Susan Monarez, was fired by Trump in August after refusing to comply with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s insistence that she approve changes to vaccine policies. Several other top CDC officials, including the CDC’s chief medical officer, submitted their resignations after Monarez’s dismissal.

Jim O’Neill, the acting CDC director who followed Monarez, departed the agency in February after signing off on major cuts to the childhood vaccine schedule. The director of the National Institutes of Health, Jay Bhattacharya, has filled in since O’Neill’s departure but his capabilities have been limited since the role must be confirmed by the Senate.

High-Ranking Treasury Official Personally Invested in Oil, Nuclear Funds Days Before Iran War Began

Mark Alfred — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 19:11:02 GMT

Assistant Treasury Secretary Jonathan Burke during his confirmation hearing. Screenshot courtesy of C-SPAN

In the days before the U.S. carried out the first strikes of the Iran war, a high-ranking Treasury Department official leading the agency’s terrorist financing prevention efforts personally purchased tens of thousands of dollars worth of shares in oil and gas, nuclear energy and cybersecurity funds, according to a new financial disclosure.

The disclosure indicates that Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing Jonathan Burke purchased from $15,001 to $50,000 worth of shares in three different exchange-traded funds with narrow investment strategies: the U.S. Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF, VanEck Uranium and Nuclear Energy ETF and First Trust NASDAQ Cybersecurity ETF.

Burke made the purchases on Feb. 20 — eight days before President Donald Trump ordered attacks on Iran.

The purchases appear to be part of a process wherein the government requires officials such as Burke to unload existing investments that may pose a conflict of interest to their duties — in this case, stock in Citigroup — but allows them to avoid capital gains taxes on the mandated sale so long as they reinvest in financial funds or bonds that do not run a foul of ethics rules, according to a certificate of divestiture issued by the Office of Government Ethics in January.

“All senior Treasury officials undergo a rigorous ethics review led by career officials to ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and policies,” a Treasury spokesperson told NOTUS in a statement. “As part of this process, officials may enter into ethics agreements requiring the divestment of certain holdings.”

Although approved by ethics officials, the purchases represent yet another instance of Trump administration officials owning a financial stake in fields impacted by their departments’ work. Per the terms of his signed ethics agreement, Burke only needs to recuse himself from matters related to his investments if the value of his investment in any one sector is greater than $50,000, unless he receives a written waiver.

Burke had 90 days from the Feb. 4 sale of his existing Citigroup Inc. holdings, worth between $250,000 and $500,000, to choose and execute his reinvestments.

Within about two weeks, he had landed on seven exchange-traded funds, cumulatively worth between $210,000 and $500,000 — among them, the oil and gas, nuclear energy and cybersecurity funds.

“These transactions were reviewed and approved by career ethics officials,” the Treasury spokesperson said. “Assistant Secretary Burke followed all steps from the August 2025 ethics agreement, in close coordination with Treasury’s ethics team.”

In his role, Burke “is responsible for formulating and coordinating the counter terrorist financing and anti-money laundering efforts of the Department of the Treasury.” Last year, he told the Senate Banking Committee he would work to “develop and implement sanctions that are appropriately targeted, meaningful, and effective in supporting U.S. policy objectives.” NOTUS’ request for the Treasury Department to clarify Burke’s responsibilities and the extent to which he works on sanctions went unanswered.

The Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, which Burke leads, operates under the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, as does the Office of Foreign Assets Control, which directly administers sanctions.

The day before the trades, President Donald Trump had given his strongest signal to date that strikes on Iran could be imminent. A number of American warships, aircraft carriers and other military firepower had already been deployed in the Middle East.

The war and subsequent chaos in the global oil market have prompted the Treasury to use the levers at its disposal to stabilize supply and take further action against the sale of petroleum as a means of funding for Iran and its terrorist proxies. The Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz spiked the price of oil in the weeks after the war began.

The oil and gas ETF Burke purchased immediately became several percentage points more valuable after the United States began combat operations, and in little more than a month, it had ticked up 20 percent, a high from which it has retreated somewhat in recent days.

Less than two weeks after Burke invested in the oil and gas fund, the Treasury Department issued a 30-day waiver allowing refiners in India access to sanctioned Russian oil to help stabilize the global oil market and with the expectation that “New Delhi will ramp up purchases of U.S. oil.”

That sanctions action precipitated others the Treasury Department explored in order to boost supply in the oil and gas market.

“There are hundreds of millions of sanctioned, barrels of sanctioned crude on the water, and in essence, by unsanctioning them, Treasury can create supply,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a March 6 interview. “We're going to keep a cadence of announcing measures to bring relief to the market during this conflict.”

Bessent went so far as to give investment advice in his interview.

“Larry I’m sure you agree with me,” Bessent told Fox News host Larry Kudlow, “that in our investment careers, the best investments you made was looking to the other side. And the other side here is that, once this is over, then oil prices are going to be sustainably lower and in a safer position for years, if not decades to come. So I would encourage people to look to the other side of this.”

The Department of Justice Is Investigating Sexual Assault Allegations Against Eric Swalwell

Reese Gorman — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 18:52:44 GMT

Former Rep. Eric Swalwell (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) Rich Pedroncelli/AP

The Department of Justice is investigating allegations of sexual assault against former Rep. Eric Swalwell, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.

Swalwell has been accused by at least five women of sexual assault and harassment and is already under investigation in both Los Angeles and New York those respective district attorneys.

On Tuesday, Swalwell resigned in disgrace following the allegations.

NOTUS spoke with women who alleged that Swalwell had an inappropriate relationship with them. One was a former staffer who said that Swalwell sexually assaulted her when she was a staffer, and years later after she had left the office. NOTUS also spoke with a former intern who said Swalwell approached her early in her career and asked for her Snapchat, only to later begin sending her sexual messages and even invited her to his hotel room.

Swalwell and the Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.

The Army Secretary and Members of Congress Embrace a Military Leader Hegseth Pushed Out

Joe Gould — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 18:09:21 GMT

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Randy George shake hands during the POW/MIA National Recognition Day Ceremony at the Pentagon, Sept. 19, 2025. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and lawmakers in both parties on Thursday rallied around former Army chief of staff Gen. Randy George, who Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth abruptly forced to retire this month.

Driscoll, during a House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee hearing, told lawmakers he was on vacation with his family when he learned George was told to step down.

“When we drove back from North Carolina, I drove straight to Gen. George’s house,” Driscoll said in an exchange with Rep. Ed Case. “We walked right in, and we all gave him a hug. There is no person who has more respect for Gen. George and his 42 years of service, his Purple Heart, his wife Patty, their grandkids, their kids. I adore them, and he was an amazing, transformational leader. I, too, loved Gen. George.”

Hegseth hasn’t shared the rationale for George’s removal, or for removing Maj. Gen. William Green Jr., the Army’s top chaplain, and Gen. David Hodne, the head of Army Transformation and Training Command. George and Driscoll had reportedly clashed with Hegseth over the secretary’s decision to block the promotion of four Army officers to be one-star generals.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers at the hearing praised George, who was replaced by Gen. Christopher LaNeve, promoted from Army vice chief of staff. Driscoll stopped short of mentioning or criticizing Hegseth.

“The civilian leadership, the design of our system is that they get to pick the leaders that they want, and we execute on those orders,” Driscoll said. “And what I can say about Gen. LaNeve, sitting beside me, is his family is — his kids are in [the military], serving now. He served 35 years. And my commitment to you is, as you get to know Gen. LaNeve, you will find him to be a patriotic American too, whose family is multigenerational service.”

House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole, among the lawmakers who praised George, called the former general “a great patriot” and “an outstanding general officer, outstanding chief of staff.” Cole, whose Oklahoma district is home to Fort Sill and its artillery school, had close interactions with George.

“I just want the record to reflect how much we regret, I personally regret at least, he’s no longer in active service,” Cole said. “He’s a real loss to us, in my opinion.”

Case, a Democrat, was more blunt, ripping into Driscoll, President Donald Trump and Hegseth for firing George “publicly, overtly, and I would even say, humiliatingly and cruelly, without any offer, apparently, of a graceful exit.

“You at least owe Congress, the public, and I think, most importantly, the soldiers, some explanation, which you did not do, and you consciously chose not to,” Case told Driscoll. “And in doing so, you created and compounded numerous issues, including morale, uncertainty and distrust.”

Rep. Steve Womack, a senior Republican appropriator, stopped short of criticizing Hegseth directly but said, “I, too, regret the fact of the conditions that he left the service, and I think our country will regret that circumstance.”

House Rejects Latest Effort to Curb Trump’s War in Iran

Hamed Ahmadi — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 17:32:22 GMT

A woman walks past a billboard that shows a graphic depicting a military personnel's hand holding the Strait of Hormuz in his fist with signs which read in Farsi: "In Iran's hands forever," "Trump couldn't do a damn thing," " The control of Strait of Hormuz will be Iran's forever," in Vanak Square, in northern Tehran, Iran. Vahid Salemi/AP

The House narrowly defeated a Democratic measure Thursday aimed at curbing President Donald Trump’s authority to keep up military operations against Iran.

The resolution, filed by Rep. Gregory Meeks, failed 214-213 with one present vote. Rep. Thomas Massie was the only Republican who supported the measure.

Rep. Warren Davidson, a Republican from Ohio who supported the measure last time, voted present, effectively helping his leadership block the resolution. He said earlier this week that a war powers vote at this point would be “a bad idea” because it could undercut ceasefire talks and suggested that Congress revisit the issue after the 90-day mark.

Rep. Jared Golden was the sole Democrat who joined the Republicans opposing the measure. He was among the four Democrats who voted against a similar measure in early March. The three others — Reps. Greg Landsman, Henry Cuellar and Juan Vargas — flipped this time.

Cuellar told NOTUS ahead of the vote that he would support the measure this time because the war now has passed the 30-day mark.

Thursday’s House vote adds to a growing list of failed efforts to force Congress to weigh in on the conflict, even as the war enters a more volatile phase and lawmakers face increasing pressure to define its limits. On Wednesday, Senate Democrats also failed in their fourth attempt to pass a similar measure.

Still, Democrats say they will continue bringing measures to the floor to put Republicans on the record and keep the debate alive.

Republicans have largely stayed behind Trump, even as polls show the war remains deeply unpopular with Americans, though some have begun to signal unease if the conflict drags on beyond what they can defend.

Meeks told reporters after the vote that several Republicans are “very wary” of continuing the operation and said he plans to work on the holdouts, including those Republicans — and Golden — to try to secure passage in the future.

Now in its seventh week, the Iran war looks very different from when it began. What was initially described as a limited campaign of targeted U.S. and Israeli strikes to degrade Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities has evolved into a broader, more volatile conflict that the Trump administration is scrambling to contain. With a shaky ceasefire ending this week and a U.S. naval blockade in effect, lawmakers are increasingly worried the war could be entering a more dangerous phase.

The Trump administration cited a national emergency as grounds for launching the operation without seeking war authorization from Congress. But the 60-day deadline for the White House to come to Congress to approve of the Iran war is approaching at the end of the month. It’s unclear whether a bipartisan resolution could pass in both chambers.

North Carolina Democrats Are Outraising Republicans in Key Races to Start the Year

Christa Dutton — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 16:16:58 GMT

Roy Cooper raked in roughly $13.8 million in the first quarter. Stephanie Scarbrough/AP

Democrats in North Carolina’s most competitive races raised more money to start this year than their Republican opponents and now have more money on hand, according to new FEC reports.

That gap is largest in the state’s marquee race: the Senate contest between former Democratic governor Roy Cooper and former Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley. Cooper ended the first quarter of the year with more than $18.4 million on hand across his affiliated PACs. Whatley finished with more than $6.3 million across affiliated PACs.

“This fundraising reflects the campaign’s growing momentum and as the most competitive race in the country, our team will work to earn every vote and make sure North Carolina has a senator who will fight for them,” Jeff Allen, Cooper’s campaign manager, said in a press release.

Cooper raked in roughly $13.8 million in the first quarter across his affiliated PACs, his campaign said, compared to Whatley’s $5 million, the Republican’s campaign said.

“For decades, North Carolina Democrats have been setting fundraising records just to lose in the general election,” DJ Griffin, a spokesperson for Whatley’s campaign, told the Carolina Journal. “We look forward to history repeating itself this November.”

In North Carolina’s 1st District, vulnerable Democrat Rep. Don Davis finished the quarter with more than $2.8 million cash on hand. His opponent, Republican Laurie Buckhout, has more than $1.4 million.

“Congressman Davis, an eastern North Carolina native, prioritizes listening to communities and delivering commonsense solutions that cut costs, create jobs, and improve rural healthcare outcomes across our region,” said spokesperson Hannah Spengler. “Our record speaks for itself, causing voters to rally around our campaign.”

The seat is one of Republicans’ best flip opportunities after the state legislature redrew the district to be more conservative.

Davis raised more than $772,000 this quarter compared to Buckhout’s nearly $392,000. Transfers from other committees bring Davis’s total contributions to $1.1 million, and Buckhout’s to nearly $600,000. Buckhout’s campaign has been largely self-financed: She loaned her campaign roughly $3.5 million this quarter.

A spokesperson for the Buckhout campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

On the western side of the state, Democrat Jamie Ager ended the quarter with $1.1 million on hand compared to Rep. Chuck Edwards’ $487,217.

Cook Political Report rates the district — North Carolina’s 11th — “Likely Republican,” and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee considers it in play this midterm.

Ager raised nearly $955,952 this quarter compared to Edwards’ $192,475.

“I’m proud of the strong grassroots campaign we’re running,” Ager said. “We’ve had thousands of people who are stepping up and helping shape this movement.”

Paul Shumaker, a consultant and spokesperson for Edwards’ campaign, said that the congressman “has been focused on doing his job and as the year progresses we shift a greater workload to the campaign.”

This story has been updated to include money the Davis and Buckhout campaigns had transferred into their accounts.

The Trump Administration’s Clashes With Smithsonian Institute Could Complicate the Hirshhorn’s Future

Torrence Banks — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 15:53:55 GMT

Francis Chung/POLITICO/AP

The Trump administration’s attacks on art institutions could complicate the search for a candidate to fill a high-profile opening at the Hirshhorn Museum.

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, one of a constellation of museums under the Smithsonian Institution, has a vacancy after its current director announced she would step down for a leadership role at New York City’s Guggenheim Museum. But several sources acquainted with the museum world said that as the Hirshhorn looks for its next leader, the recent attacks by the Trump administration on art institutions could frighten away candidates.

“There are a lot of open director positions at SI, that’s the biggest concern,” an employee at another Smithsonian museum told NOTUS, pointing to director openings at the National Portrait Gallery and the National Museum of African American History and Culture, among others. “Historically people want to be directors, but it’s a scary time to be working with the federal government.”

The Trump administration's history of butting heads with Smithsonian leadership has added pressure to people in those positions, raising questions about how they should navigate leading one of the country’s most popular sets of museums.

“I think time will tell,” a source familiar with the Smithsonian told NOTUS on if the administration’s actions would create hiring issues for the new director. “We've got an election coming up. We're getting close to the halfway mark of the second term. So I think people will also be looking to the future.”

“The next person that comes in is gonna be looking at, what does the trajectory look like here for the next five or 10 years?” added the source. “Not just the next two years.”

Have tips? You can reach Torrence on Signal at BanksReports37.40

In 2025, the Hirshhorn had nearly 500,000 visits, according to the Smithsonian’s website. The highly anticipated reopening of the museum's sculpture garden this fall is expected to drive in more traffic. Despite this, one Hirshhorn employee expects getting future funding from the government will be a challenge.

“Contemporary art is inherently boundary-pushing, so I’m sure we’ll be targeted again at some point,” one current Hirshhorn Museum employee told NOTUS. “We’ve always depended on external funding — grants, donations — for about a third of our budget. But we’ve been threatened several times with having our already low federal funding cut.”

“They’re distracted by the war at the moment, but I’m sure we’ll have to fight for our FY 27 budget allocation, and that Trump will want to do as he’s publicly threatened: slash funding for the new Latino and Women’s museums, close down the Anacostia museum, etc,” the Hirshhorn employee added.

The vacancy at Hirshhorn came up after Melissa Chiu, the current director of the Hirshhorn, announced last week that she would step down from her position in August to take a leadership role at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, a position that she said was “a dream job.” Chiu told The New York Times that the pressure of working in D.C. did not factor into her decision to leave.

“Under any circumstances I would have taken this job, and I feel confident in the legacy that I’m leaving behind at the Hirshhorn,” Chiu told the outlet.

Kate Gibbs, communications director for the museum, declined to address questions about the museum’s pending search for a director.

“The Hirshhorn has momentum. We will cut the ribbon for the revitalized Sculpture Garden in October and present commissioned performances starting next spring,” Gibbs said in a statement to NOTUS. “We have checklists for upcoming exhibitions and plans to expand the art education inside Hirshhorn Art School. Our work is exciting and it continues.”

In August, White House officials sent a letter to the Smithsonian secretary Lonnie Bunch, calling for a “comprehensive internal review” of eight Smithsonian Museums, including the Hirshhorn.

“This initiative aims to ensure alignment with the President's directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions,” the letter said.

The review process entailed interviewing curators and senior staff members, examining current and future exhibitions and reviewing museums’ social media content. Museum staff were told to submit documentation to the administration, including catalogs for ongoing exhibitions, “preliminary budgets for upcoming exhibitions” and student and teacher resources related to the displays.

In December, the White House told Bunch that the institution failed to meet the deadline to turn over materials and demanded that the remaining documentation be sent in January. He sent over additional documentation later that month following threats to Smithsonian’s funding.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Donald Russell, a curator and professor at George Mason University, told NOTUS that the administration’s actions are reminiscent of the 1990s, when politicians tried to interfere with federal funding for art exhibitions.

“Certainly this is an extremely unusual political moment. It’s not like the arts were not familiar with this from the culture wars in the ’90s,” Russell said when asked about how the museum’s director search could be affected. “But the level is just so much higher, the level of tension.”

RFK Jr. Couldn’t Sidestep Vaccine Landmines in First of Many Congressional Hearings

Paige Winfield Cunningham, Margaret Manto — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 15:43:58 GMT

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. John McDonnell/AP

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. couldn’t avoid heated exchanges with Democrats over vaccines and the administration’s health fraud investigations Thursday, despite an apparent effort to stay on message.

The Ways and Means Committee hearing Thursday kicked off a marathon of Kennedy appearances in Congress over the next week – the first since the administration significantly pared back federal childhood vaccine recommendations.

The hearing was a test of how disciplined Kennedy can stay as the White House seeks to quiet his more controversial stances ahead of the midterm elections and highlight his agency’s more popular efforts to clean up the nation’s food supply and lower drug prices.

On several occasions, Kennedy tried to speak over Democrats drilling him over the recent rise in measles cases and his reluctance to fully endorse vaccines.

When Rep. Linda Sánchez, a Democrat from California, pressed Kennedy on whether President Donald Trump had approved his decision last year to end a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pro-vaccine public messaging campaign, Kennedy told the congresswoman, “You’ve got a lot of misinformation there.”

“One thing I find incredible is that you suspended this pro-vaccine messaging campaign, but somehow you’re spending taxpayer dollars to drink milk shirtless in a hot tub with Kid Rock,” Sánchez retorted. “And somehow you think that’s a better public health message.”

But in a sign of how Kennedy has been pushed to temper his vaccine rhetoric, Kennedy admitted “it’s possible, certainly,” when Sánchez asked if he thought it was possible the measles vaccine would have been able to save the life of an unvaccinated Texas child who died last year.

Three measles-related deaths occurred last year. There have been no deaths confirmed this year, but 96 patients have been hospitalized, nearly all of them unvaccinated, according to the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.

Kennedy last appeared before Congress in September, in a highly contentious hearing where even some Republicans expressed concerns about his plans to change vaccine recommendations.

The White House, which has installed Medicare director Chris Klomp as Kennedy’s de facto chief of staff, views Kennedy’s vaccine moves as a political liability, as polling shows broad support for reforming the food industry and cutting down on chemicals but far less support for rolling back vaccine access. Kennedy has largely stayed on message about his work on chronic disease and food as he tours swing states on his “Make America Healthy Again” tour.

But his agency has taken unprecedented steps to narrow childhood vaccine recommendations and undermine public confidence in vaccine safety. Earlier this year the CDC trimmed the number of routine vaccines recommended for all children from 17 to 11, a move that has been temporarily blocked by the courts and raised alarms among medical experts.

Last year a group of vaccine advisers to the CDC voted to strike a universal recommendation for all infants to get a birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine. The agency also edited its website to say research hasn’t ruled out a link between infant vaccines and autism.

Reps. Mike Thompson and John Larson, both Democrats, confronted Kennedy during the hearing over his reluctance to endorse vaccines, calling attention to the measles outbreak that has threatened the U.S.’s disease elimination status.

“Mr. Secretary, kids have died because measles is running rampant under your watch,” Thompson said. “We have you and this president elevating misinformation and undermining basic public health.”

The administration’s efforts to root out fraud in the Affordable Care Act, Medicare and Medicaid also took center stage on Thursday. Democrats say they’re all for rooting out fraud but accuse Republicans of overly focusing on fraud committed by individuals instead of providers and using fraud to justify sweeping health care cuts in Trump’s tax bill.

Top Democrat Rep. Richard Neal noted that fraud in Medicare and Medicaid is overwhelmingly committed by providers, not individuals, and pointed to Trump’s pardons of some of them.

“If we’re gonna pursue fraud, Mr. Secretary, it has to be across the board,” Neal said. “We want an even-handed approach.”

Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a Democrat from Texas, grilled Kennedy over fraud in the ACA marketplaces. The administration reinstated hundreds of marketplace agents and brokers suspected of fraud even as it touted fraud as a reason to cut spending

“Have there been guardrails that have been put in place to ensure those 850 agents don’t continue to commit fraud?” Doggett asked.

Kennedy said he “would have to check on that” and added he wasn’t sure why they were reinstated.

Kennedy told lawmakers he is “ending the era of federal policies that fueled this chronic disease epidemic — and replacing them with policies that put the health of the American people first.”

The health secretary pointed to deals negotiated with drugmakers to lower prices and insurers to ease up on prior authorization practices that can make it cumbersome for patients to get drugs or services. He also touted new dietary guidelines which stress whole foods, full-fat dairy and protein and discourage processed foods.

“We flipped the food pyramid upside down — and sent a clear message to the American

people: Eat real food,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy will appear before the House Appropriations Health Subcommittee later Thursday and before several other committees next week, including the Senate Committee for Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

When thanked by Rep. Michelle Fischbach for taking the time to testify before Ways and Means, Kennedy responded, “My staff did not tell me I had a choice.”

Eric Swalwell’s Old Congressional Campaign Continued to Spend Big On Child Care

Reese Gorman, Taylor Giorno — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 15:26:07 GMT

Former Rep. Eric Swalwell. Gage Skidmore/Creative Commons

Former Rep. Eric Swalwell spent thousands of his federal campaign dollars on child care expenses in the first quarter of the year, despite not running for re-election to Congress.

Swalwell, a Democrat who has historically been one of the biggest proponents of using campaign funds for child care, spent more than $2,500 on child care in the first three months of the year, according to his old House campaign’s latest report filed Wednesday evening with the Federal Election Commission.

That money went directly to Swalwell himself for “child care reimbursement” for childcare provided by Amanda Barbosa, who is currently at the center of an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security for illegally working in the country.

Swalwell did not respond to a request for comment.

“The FEC permits campaign funds to be used for child care but only if the candidate has to hire child care because he or she is running for office — in other words if there would be no need to hire child care if the candidate is not a candidate,” Richard Briffault, a professor at Columbia University Law School who specializes in campaign finance, told NOTUS.

Erin Chlopak, senior director of campaign finance at the nonprofit watchdog Campaign Legal Center, told NOTUS in an email that the FEC “doesn’t apply a bright-line rule when it comes to determining whether campaign funds can be used for a federal candidate or officeholder’s childcare expenses.”

“Instead, it assesses whether the childcare costs would exist ‘irrespective’ of the candidate or officeholder’s campaign or officeholder duties,” Chlopak added. “If they would not — i.e., if the costs are incurred as a result of the person engaging in official campaign or officeholder activities (and assuming they are reasonable), then the Commission would likely deem them a permissible use of campaign funds.”

In 2025, Swalwell’s congressional campaign spent nearly $72,000 on child care expenses, according to a NOTUS analysis of his campaign’s FEC reports. Most of that total went to Swalwell himself for “child care” and “child care reimbursement” for payments to Barbosa and Bambini Play & Learn Child Development Center.

Swalwell’s campaign committee and leadership PAC, Remedy PAC, remained flush with cash entering April, NOTUS reported.

Steve Roberts, partner and co-chair of the political law practice at Lex Politica, told NOTUS that the FEC’s rules on using campaign funds to cover child care are “crystal clear.”

“Campaign funds can’t subsidize child care that exists independent of a candidate’s congressional campaign. In fact, the FEC issued a direct advisory opinion in 2022 to Eric Swalwell and his campaign denying express permission to travel ‘for other entities,’ even in his capacity as a member of Congress,” Roberts told NOTUS.

Swalwell, who was first elected to the House in 2012, launched his California gubernatorial campaign in November 2025. His campaign and leadership PAC’s child care spending dropped off significantly after the announcement but not entirely.

Swalwell’s leadership PAC also spent nearly $2,000 on child care between April 2025 and January 2026. Swalwell’s campaign reimbursed him nearly $1,000 for Barbosa’s childcare cost in April 2025 and gave him nearly $1,000 directly for child care in January as well.

“Ironically, it is quite possible and perhaps even likely that the leadership PAC payment is a personal use, since the FEC has found it permissible to use leadership PAC funds for personal use (but payments by the leadership PAC for official campaign expenses would constitute a campaign contribution),” Chlopak told NOTUS.

But Roberts told NOTUS that it “may be time for an investigation into whether Swalwell converted hundreds of thousands of campaign dollars into his own family budget.”

“Every child care expense after [Swalwell launched his California governor campaign] — and potentially before, if tied to out-of-district travel or ‘testing the waters’ — needs to be examined for personal use or in-kind support for his gubernatorial bid,” Roberts wrote in a message to NOTUS.

Swalwell is facing an investigation in Los Angeles over allegations of sexual assault and misiconduct, the county’s district attorney announced earlier this week.

On Tuesday, Swalwell resigned in disgrace after multiple women, including former staffers, came forward and accused him of sexual assault.

NOTUS spoke with one woman who said that Swalwell sexually assaulted her when she was a staffer and years later after she had left the office. NOTUS also spoke with an intern who said Swalwell approached her and asked for her Snapchat, only to later begin sending her sexual messages and even invited her to his hotel room.

Swalwell has denied the sexual assault allegations.

Former Virginia Lt. Gov and Wife Found Dead In Apparent Murder-Suicide

Manuela Silva — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 15:00:01 GMT

(AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

Justin Fairfax, the former lieutenant governor of Virginia, and his wife, Cerina Fairfax, were found dead in their Annandale home on Thursday morning in what is being investigated as a murder-suicide, the Fairfax County Police confirmed on Thursday.

Fairfax, once a rising star in Virginia Democratic politics, was a former federal prosecutor who was elected lieutenant governor of Virginia in 2017. In 2019, he was accused of sexual assault at the same time Virginia’s then-Gov.Ralph Northam faced calls to resign over his past use of blackface. Fairfax denied the allegations. He ran for governor of Virginia in 2021, but came fourth in the Democratic primary.

Fairfax left the lieutenant governor’s office in 2022 to begin his own law firm.

“It’s high-profile in nature, it’s tragic in nature, certainly a fall from grace for a relatively high-profile family that seemingly had a lot of things going in their favor,” Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said at a press conference.

Shortly after midnight on Thursday morning, the Fairfax County Police Department responded to a 911 call from the Fairfax’s Annandale home, where Davis said Fairfax appeared to have “shot and killed his wife inside of their home and then shot and killed himself.”

Both were found dead at the scene, Davis said.

Both of Fairfax’s teenage children were in the home when the shooting occurred, according to the police chief, adding that Fairfax’s son called 911.

Davis told reporters on Thursday that the couple was in an ongoing dispute over divorce proceedings, in which the former lieutenant governor had recently been served paperwork. Davis said that Fairfax’s wife had set up cameras inside the home, and he believed they were on at the time of the shootings.

Fairfax called 911 in January, alleging that his wife had assaulted him, but Davis said police were able to determine the allegation was false after watching video from the home.

Pete Hegseth Uses Religion to Declare American Press ‘Unpatriotic’

Joe Gould — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 13:52:50 GMT

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon, June 22, 2025. Alex Brandon/AP

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday doubled down on the Trump administration’s use of religious imagery, using a biblical analogy to attack U.S. press coverage of the Iran war. It follows controversy over an image President Donald Trump posted and later deleted depicting himself as Jesus Christ.

Speaking at a Pentagon briefing, Hegseth compared members of the press to Pharisees described in the Gospel of Mark, accusing journalists of downplaying U.S. military achievements against Iran.“Even though they witnessed a literal miracle, it didn't matter,” he said, recounting a recent church sermon he attended. “They were only there to explain away the goodness in pursuit of their agenda.”

Despite U.S. and Israeli battlefield successes in their war against Iran, the Trump administration hasn’t achieved its stated aim of regime change, there’s been vast international economic damage, the war is polling poorly, and U.S.-Iran peace talks remain stuck on the question of Tehran’s pursuit of a nuclear weapon.

Hegseth, in his remarks, cast some of the coverage as “incredibly unpatriotic,” without being specific, telling reporters in the room, “It’s hard to figure out what side some of you are actually on.”

"Our press are just like these Pharisees," he said. "Your politically motivated animus for President Trump nearly completely blinds you from the brilliance of our American warriors."

The remarks come after Trump faced criticism from religious leaders and members of his own party after he posted — and later deleted — imagery portraying himself as Christ-like. Trump later said he thought the image showed him “as a doctor.”

Hegseth did not mention that episode but leaned heavily into similar religious framing, suggesting the media’s scrutiny of Trump mirrors biblical figures who, by his telling, sought to undermine Jesus Christ.

It’s just the latest episode in Hegseth’s adversarial relationship with reporters, whose work in the Pentagon he’s gone to great lengths to hamper.

A federal judge just dealt those efforts a setback last week when he ruled that the Defense Department is violating an earlier order to restore access for reporters. The judge, siding with The New York Times, had earlier said the Pentagon’s new credential policy violated journalists’ constitutional rights to free speech and due process.

The U.S. and Israeli war with Iran, an Islamic theocracy, has created a deeper subtext for the Trump administration’s repeated mentions of prayer and biblical themes in their messaging. Hegseth has a track record of bringing conservative evangelism into the Pentagon, and his Christian rhetoric has drawn repeated scrutiny.

Pope Leo XIV and Trump have traded public criticism over the last week. Trump called out the pope last week in a post defending his war with Iran, and on Thursday morning, the pontiff decried “tyrants” in public remarks.

"Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth," the pope said during his four-country tour of Africa. "It is a world turned upside down, an exploitation of God’s creation that must be denounced and rejected by every honest conscience."

This month Hegseth compared a rescued U.S. pilot downed in Iran on Good Friday and rescued on Easter to the resurrection of Jesus Christ as portrayed in the New Testament.

“You see, shot down on a Friday, Good Friday, hidden in a cave, a crevice — all of Saturday and rescued on Sunday,” he said at an earlier press briefing. “Flown out of Iran as the sun was rising on Easter Sunday, a pilot reborn. All home and accounted for. A nation rejoicing. God is good.”

Democrats Want Answers on Russell Vought’s Plan to Cut CFPB’s Workforce in Half

Jade Lozada — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMT

Lillian Bautista/NOTUS

Senate Democrats are still looking for answers on what the Trump administration is doing to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee sent a letter Thursday to Russell Vought, who in addition to running the Office of Management and Budget is the acting director of the CFPB, demanding to know how the administration’s latest proposal to cut the agency’s staff by half would impact its statutorily mandated work.

“The most recent filing is yet another step in the Trump Administration’s chaotic, consistently illegal quest to destroy the only federal agency tasked specifically with protecting consumers in dealings with financial products and institutions,” the senators wrote in the letter, which was exclusively shared with NOTUS.

The administration’s plan to reduce CFPB staff by 53% was revealed in a court filing earlier this month. The plan would leave 556 employees at the CFPB, which enforces consumer-finance laws, supervises banks and monitors market risks.

The CFPB is currently operating with more than 1,100 employees, though much of its work has been stalled under Vought’s leadership. The agency had 1,700 employees before President Donald Trump retook office.

The senators requested responses from Vought within 30 days to a series of questions, including ones on the potential effects of workforce cuts to enforcement investigations, lawsuits and redress to consumers.

The fate of the CFPB has been tied up in the courts. Vought requested that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit modify a previous ruling pausing widespread layoffs so that the CFPB could immediately implement its new plan to reduce the agency’s workforce. Vought said the change would still fulfill the agency’s statutory obligations.

Senate Banking Democrats aren’t buying it.

Of particular concern to the senators is Vought’s plan to remove 87 workers from the Office of Enforcement, which investigates and litigates deceptive and fraudulent business practices and returns money to consumers.

“It is hard to understand how the CFPB could meet its statutory requirements, which include enforcing at least 21 consumer financial protection laws, while firing 80% of the workers responsible for doing so,” the senators wrote in their letter.

The letter was led by Sens. Angela Alsobrooks and Elizabeth Warren, a key architect of the agency.

The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents CFPB employees, sued Vought in February 2025 to halt the reduction in force at the agency and reverse the stop-work orders. The union said the stop-work orders amounted to closing the agency — an argument it won in a U.S. district court.

The appeals court vacated the lower court’s preliminary injunction blocking reductions in force before the union petitioned for a rehearing before the court’s full bench, which took place in February.

The appeals court has not yet handed down a decision.

Money, Money, Money (Money)

Evan McMorris-Santoro, Jasmine Wright — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 10:01:00 GMT

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 10:01:00 GMT https://www.notus.org/newsletters/money-money-money-money

Brenda Bazán/AP

Today’s notice: Democrats had a good fundraising quarter. What RFK Jr. is going to tell Congress this morning. Republicans send mixed messages to labor. And: Abortion opponents want to be a part of the next GOP reconciliation bill.

THE LATEST

Big night for Democrats, with a big asterisk: The Q1 FEC reports are in, and the early take is it’s not just the polls and the prognosticators — Democrats have fundraising momentum, too. NOTUS’ Alex Roarty and the newsroom pored over the numbers and found Democrats’ top candidates reported gargantuan fundraising totals.

In Texas, James Talarico raised a truly staggering $27 million for his Senate run.
Roy Cooper, the Senate nominee in North Carolina, raised nearly $14 million, similar to the totals for other prominent Senate hopefuls like Sherrod Brown in Ohio ($12.5 million) and Mary Peltola in Alaska ($9 million).

It was a similar story in the House, with top Democratic candidates outraising the Republicans they’re running against.

But fret not, Republicans, money is not your problem. Outside groups supporting GOP candidates have a seemingly limitless pile of cash to spend — routinely much, much more than groups allied with Democrats do. Plus there’s that unprecedented stack Donald Trump has amassed for the midterms, reportedly set to be unleashed starting next month.

Other fundraising notes: Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales departed Congress with plenty of cash in their campaign funds, NOTUS’ Taylor Giorno and Torrie Herrington found. Save America PAC, which Trump has used to pay legal bills in the past, is $500K in debt while owing $1.6 million to a roster of law firms, NOTUS’ Em Luetkemeyer reports. And D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto vastly outraised her opponents in the nasty race to replace retiring Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Taylor writes.

Open tabs: Pentagon Approaches Automakers, Manufacturers to Boost Weapons Production (WSJ); A Progressive Group Rolls Out a Campus Competitor to Turning Point (NYT); Democratic Senators Overwhelmingly Reject Arms Sales to Israel (The Intercept); FDA to weigh easing limits on unproven peptides favored by RFK Jr. (AP)

From the Hill

Must-watch congressional action today: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will testify before the House Ways and Means Committee at 9 a.m. It will be lawmakers’ first chance to publicly question the health secretary since HHS significantly amended the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule, revised a federal website to contradict the scientific consensus that vaccines don’t cause autism, revamped federal nutrition guidance and cut funding to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Kennedy’s opening remarks, reviewed by NOTUS’ Paige Cunningham, tout a laundry list of efforts to lower drug prices, update nutrition guidelines and root out fraud, but avoid the far more controversial changes his agency has made. Kennedy plans to say that he is “ending the era of federal policies that fueled this chronic disease epidemic — and replacing them with policies that put the health of the American people first.”

Can Republicans embrace organized labor? Republican Sen. Josh Hawley is trying to sell his conference on a bill which, among other things, would require employers to start negotiations for a first contract within 10 days of a union’s certification. It’s part of his populist agenda he thinks the GOP needs to embrace to secure its place as the party of America’s working class. The Teamsters have endorsed it, Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno has signed on and … well, that’s close to about it, NOTUS’ Jade Lozada reports.

“With the language of the bill, the way that it’s written, unions can be unreasonable and win,” David Cleary, a former Republican staff director of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, told her, saying basically all that needs to be said about the bill’s chances.

From the NLRB

The Trump board is near: This week Trump nominated James Macy, currently the Department of Labor’s director of workers’ compensation programs, to join the National Labor Relations Board. If confirmed, he would bring the Republican majority to 3-1 on the five-member board (Trump fired Democratic member Gwynne Wilcox last January).

The shift would allow Republican members to roll back policies passed under Joe Biden, Jade writes, including a 2022 decision requiring employers to compensate workers who were victims of unfair labor practices for “direct or foreseeable” financial harms resulting from those practices.

From the Interior Department

First on NOTUS: Ignoring Congress? During budget negotiations in 2025, Republicans and Democrats worked out a deal for the Department of the Interior to provide reports every 60 days on the status of federal energy projects. Democrats wanted information on what they feared was intentional slow-walking of green-energy projects, and Republicans said they’d agree to it only if all energy projects were included. Democrats say two reports due March 24 haven’t arrived yet, NOTUS’ Anna Kramer reports. The department did not respond to a request for comment.

What comes next: Secretary Doug Burgum is set to testify next week before the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees Interior. Expect Democrats to grill him about this.

From the campaign trail

Bonus fundraising numbers: Who’s ahead in Pennsylvania’s 7th District? That would be Ryan Crosswell, a former federal prosecutor who quit after refusing to drop the case against then-New York Mayor Eric Adams. He outraised the other Democrats running in the primary, including Bob Brooks, the candidate endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders and the commonwealth’s governor, Josh Shapiro.

THE BIG ONE

Anti-abortion leaders want in on reconciliation: The next Republican-only funding bill is aimed at providing money for immigration enforcement, but one of social conservatism’s most powerful movements sees an opportunity to effectively defund Planned Parenthood, NOTUS’ Oriana González and Al Weaver report. The last reconciliation bill included a one-year suspension of federal funding to the health-care provider, leading to multiple facility closures. But the suspension expires in July, and abortion opponents don’t want to miss out on an opportunity to finish off what the CEO of Americans United for Life called “a wounded dog.”

The challenge: Republican leaders are eager to keep the reconciliation bill as tightly focused on immigration as possible. But the anti-abortion movement warns that ignoring it in an election year is hazardous. “You don’t see the people who want to see more military spending or support a flat tax out there door knocking,” Kristi Hamrick of Students for Life Action said. “The social conservatives really are the ground game of the Republican Party.”

Democrats are watching all this closely. NOTUS’ Igor Bobic reports that the party out of power is warning Republicans it will also use reconciliation to its benefit when it gets the chance. “Once you have established a precedent, the other side is going to take a careful look and see if it benefits them,” Dick Durbin, veteran Democratic senator and experienced appropriator, said of the shift toward reconciliation to get funding passed.

Caveat: Democrats have to win in 2028 and remain as unified as Republicans have been under Trump 2.0 to make good on this threat.

NEW ON NOTUS

Pretty please: Senate Republicans are pleading with Trump to lay off Fed Chair Jerome Powell and end a criminal investigation into his congressional testimony about a renovation project at the central bank’s headquarters, Al and Jasmine report.

“I don’t think there should be one second of time between the end of Jay Powell’s term and the beginning of Kevin Warsh’s,” Sen. Kevin Cramer, a Banking Committee member and longtime critic of the Fed chair, said. “Anything that doesn’t have that as its goal is an unnecessary distraction. It seems like a lot of resources on something that doesn’t seem all that big of a deal.”

More: Army Shuts Down Social Media Accounts After They Praised Tammy Duckworth’s Service, by Torrie Herrington

NOT US

How Eric Swalwell rose to the top of Democratic politics as rumors followed him, by Liz Goodwin for The Washington Post
Inside Pakistan’s turnaround with Trump, by Daniella Cheslow and Sophia Cai for Politico
Jared Kushner’s Mysterious Role in the Trump Administration, by Andrea Bernstein for The Atlantic
Audio: US Congress members targets of increasing violent threats, by Tal Kopan and Jim Puzzanghera for The Boston Globe

BE SOCIAL

This isn’t what they meant when they said “drain the swamp.”

https://x.com/AndrewSolender/status/2044522241543573532?s=20