Today’s notice: White House reporters defend their big dinner. Maine Democrats hope for some stability. The speaker has had it. Russia sanctions stall. And: Democrats readying to take on the “anti-woke jobs board.”
THE LATEST
To redo or not to redo? It’s Washington’s most glamorous — and most controversial — night. Again. Donald Trump, most of his Cabinet and White House journalists are making a second attempt at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner after a shooting halted April’s event.
This time, the dinner will be held at the Waldorf Astoria, formerly Trump International, even as the president derides reporters, sues news organizations and his White House keeps a list of “media offenders.” (The Justice Department dropped subpoenas against New York Times journalists yesterday, so they have that going for them.)
Trending
The perennial, and now more pertinent, question remains: Should journalists continue to host Nerd Prom? And what does it mean in the second age of Trump, when his administration is working harder than ever to find leakers and target reporters who break well-sourced stories?
Some 500 journalists and eight press organizations say the dinner should go. NOTUS’ Ben T.N. Mause and Manuela Silva surveyed White House reporters this week on whether there’s credibility to the argument that having the dinner is the same as honoring Trump. Many said canceling the event would be giving in.
“Some of the journalists he subpoenaed and has gone after verbally are going to be on stage with him receiving awards. I think that image, and celebrating a free press, will say more than boycotting the event would,” a White House reporter told us.
The contrary take: The dinners feed “into the narrative that D.C. journalists are elitist and out of touch with everyday Americans. ‘Look at them eating lobster, dressed in designer gowns and rubbing elbows with the very people they cover,’” another White House reporter said. That said, they added, don’t disinvite Trump — use the opportunity to call out his treatment of the media.
Open tabs: Number of U.S. troop deaths suddenly appears lower on Pentagon website (NYT); U.S. intelligence agency quietly cut about 200 jobs since June 1 (WaPo); Trump administration drops demands for list of Jewish employees at UPenn (Politico); Mortgage rates hit highest levels in nearly a year (WSJ); Oil surges to $100 per barrel after Red Sea attacks (NBC); Key Republican senator says he will support Trump’s pick for C.D.C director (NYT)
From the campaign trail
Southern swing: Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, is headed south this weekend, campaigning for Senate candidate Annie Andrews in South Carolina and Sen. Jon Ossoff in Georgia, Murphy’s team shared exclusively with NOTUS’ Igor Bobic. His message? Democrats need to become a “big tent” party.
Hat trick: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is on a 3x losing streak with high-profile losses that are causing House Democrats to question the campaign arm’s primary strategy.
Democrats want the DCCC to improve how it communicates with members and takes feedback, NOTUS’ Oriana González reports.
The Maine question: Democrats think they’ve stopped the bleeding in Maine’s Senate race with Troy Jackson as their heir apparent. “I think it’s going to be hotly contested, but I think it’s very much back in play,” said Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico).
Jackson, the former state Senate president, has no federal political experience and only three months to assemble a campaign against a 30-year Republican incumbent, Sen. Susan Collins. But as his nomination becomes formal on Saturday, Democrats tell NOTUS’ Alex Roarty, Igor Bobic and Christa Dutton they think Jackson might be in a better position than Graham Platner was even before the sexual assault allegations.
From the Hill
Mike Johnson’s doom loop: After months of dealing with rebellions from members of his own party, the normally even-keeled speaker of the House had finally had enough and snapped, “I’m sick of this shit,” at Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Florida).
It was just one of a slew of daily crises Johnson has dealt with this year as members of his own conference threaten to derail their party’s agenda, NOTUS’ Reese Gorman reports. And rank-and-file Republicans are increasingly upset that a few of their colleagues hold so much power. Some are thinking of ways to actually hold the rebels to account.
“The Republican conference is a diverse gathering of people, some of whom are really effective at getting things done and others who are more interested in knocking things down,” Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-South Dakota) told Reese.
Still stalled: The long-championed (and long-stalled) bill by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham to enact more sanctions on Russia was poised to finally pass, boosted by the politician’s unexpected death. Instead, the measure is at risk of stalling out — again, NOTUS’ Igor Bobic and Joe Gould report.
“We’re going to screw around here and lose this bill if we don’t go vote,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) told our reporters. “We just pissed away two weeks. Now we got a week and a half left, and I don’t know if a vote is scheduled.”
From the White House
Thune v. Leavitt: Senate Majority Leader John Thune and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt exchanged not-so-friendly fire yesterday over the SAVE America Act, the voter-ID bill Trump considers his top priority, NOTUS’ Al Weaver writes. Leavitt told reporters at a briefing that the president’s “patience was running out.” In turn, Thune shot back that “she or somebody else ought to get on the phone and get the votes, right?”
THE BIG ONE
The opposite of woke: A firm called RedBalloon, which claims to be the “anti-woke jobs board,” received a $1 million no-bid contract to help the State Department recruit candidates after the department laid off 20% of its workforce last year, NOTUS’ Eric Katz reports.
“A lot of the recruiting was focused on DEI. It was trying to get in the guy with a PhD in Black dance, rather than people who can do the best job,” Andrew Crapuchettes, the firm’s owner, said in a podcast interview recently. “I would love to see a lot of Christians applying, taking the test, doing the hard work, becoming a foreign service officer.”
Democrats, who say they want to help employees booted under a reduction in force get their jobs back, are planning to investigate if they retake power in Congress.
“We’re going to beef up our counsel staff so that we’re ready, because I can’t let folks get away with this,” Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-New York) told Eric.
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Sports desk: The Mystics Are Officially a Problem for the Rest of the WNBA, by Dave Sheinin
NEW ON NOTUS
McConnell’s absence impact: Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) has not voted since being hospitalized June 14, and his absence has complicated the math on some key Republican priorities, NOTUS’ Avani Kalra and Al Weaver report.
One example: The Senate Appropriations Committees is made up of 15 Republicans and 14 Democrats. Without McConnell, the committee cannot move any legislation forward that does not have bipartisan support.
More: House Republicans Focus on Democrats’ Plans, Not Their Own Wins, by Kadia Goba
Trump Expands His Ratepayer Pledge With Republican Governors, Utilities, by Mara Hoplamazian
Three Airports Opt Into Trump Administration’s New Private Airport Security Model, by Jenna Monnin
Trump Sidesteps SCOTUS With New Tariffs, by Violet Jira
NOT US
- Marco Rubio Takes Aim at Globalists and the Left, by Ishaan Tharoor for The New Yorker
- How Trump Is Getting Richer in Office, by Andrea Fuller, Daniel Wood and Ben Protess for The New York Times
- Metro tried to make bus service better. Somehow, ridership and speeds are both down. By Rachel Weiner for The 51st
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The newsletter was produced by Thomas Burr, Brett Bachman and Andrew Burton. Photo by Jason Dick/AP.
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