CR Conundrum

Good afternoon. This is the Final NOTUS newsletter for July 21, 2026. You can get it in your inbox every day by signing up here — it’s free!

THE LATEST

The House will vote later this evening on a short-term measure to fund the government through after the midterms.

As with other GOP proposals on the table this week, the continuing resolution’s details put Democrats between a rock and a hard place on messaging: It’s technically free of policy riders, but many will likely block it over “unchecked” immigration enforcement funding language.

• “Drafting errors” and other exclusions are signs the bill is not “a serious proposal,” Pete Aguilar said during a news conference.

THE ADMINISTRATION

Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Dan Caine asked Senate appropriators for more Iran war funding today, in their first in-depth public comments about the conflict in months.

• Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) criticized the pair over dozens of female and Black officers being sidelined: “The U.S. military is one of the greatest meritocracies in the free world. We need to make sure that it stays that way.”

Until Iran is “ready to meet in a meaningful way, we have no interest in meeting,” Trump told reporters today. The president also threatened military action against Yemen’s Houthis if they disrupt Saudi shipping.

The administration will withhold more than $1 billion in Medicaid payments to California and Minnesota in a new round of fraud-related freezes.

THE STATES

Thousands of noncitizens were added to New Jersey’s voter rolls due to a software error, Gov. Mikie Sherill said. Fewer than 400 cast ballots in elections since 2023.

THE HILL

House Republicans grilled National Museum of American History director Anthea Hartig today, categorizing the Smithsonian museum as an “ideological” political organization.

Senate Intelligence advanced Jay Clayton’s nomination for director of national intelligence by a 9-8 party-line vote this afternoon.

THE COURTS

A federal appeals court unanimously upheld Trump adviser Peter Navarro’s criminal conviction, handed down after he refused to testify or provide documents in connection to a congressional Jan. 6 probe.

Another federal appeals court denied former President Joe Biden’s bid to block release of recordings and transcripts from interviews with a ghostwriter.

INNIT?

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