‘I Have Nothing to Hide’

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

The Latest

Howard Lutnick told senators that he took his wife and kids to Jeffrey Epstein’s island years after he previously said he cut off ties with Epstein.

• Lutnick said he had “nothing to hide,” but during a Senate hearing today, Chris Van Hollen accused him of misrepresenting the extent of his relationship with Epstein. “You made a very big point of saying that you sensed that this was a bad person in 2005, and then, of course, in 2008 he was convicted of soliciting prostitution of a minor, and yet you went and had this trip and other interactions.”
• Karoline Leavitt said Donald Trump “fully supports” his commerce secretary.
• Mike Johnson said he doesn’t know “anything about” Lutnick’s relationship with Epstein, except that it would be “absurd” for him to resign over it.

The heads of ICE and the Border Patrol refused to tell Congress how many federal agents have been investigated or disciplined in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

• At a hearing before the House Homeland Security Committee, LaMonica McIver, who was charged after a confrontation with ICE at a detention center in New Jersey, asked the acting director of ICE, Todd Lyons, if he thinks he’s going to hell. He declined to answer that question, too.

Peter Navarro said Americans have to lower their expectations on jobs. Setting a low bar for tomorrow’s jobs report, the White House trade adviser says the country only needs about 50,000 new jobs a month now that it’s deporting so many immigrants.

The Hill

Congress has three days to avoid a DHS shutdown, and the word of the day is “stalemated.”

• John Thune said Republicans are preparing a new proposal for Democrats but seemed resigned to missing Friday’s deadline.
• Some Democrats, including Rosa DeLauro, are urging their colleagues to exempt the Secret Service, the Coast Guard and other less-controversial agencies when they’re trying to shut off funding for the Border Patrol and ICE.

The House will likely take a procedural vote tonight on whether to ban members from trying to overturn Trump’s tariffs. Johnson can lose only one Republican. Several Republicans suggested that he’s already lost them.

Susan Collins announced that she’s running for reelection in an unboxing video.

The Administration

JD Vance acknowledged the Armenian genocide in a post on X, and then he deleted the post. Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: The White House blamed an unnamed staffer.

The National Governors Association is canceling its meeting with Trump after he decided to exclude Democratic governors from the traditionally bipartisan event.

• The Democratic Governors Association said its members would boycott a separate bipartisan dinner at the White House after Trump excluded Democratic Govs. Wes Moore and Jared Polis.
• Leavitt said the White House is “the people’s house,” but “it’s also the president’s home, so he can invite whomever he wants to dinners and events” there.

The administration is sending 200 U.S. troops to Nigeria to provide “training and technical guidance” to the Nigerian military as it fights Islamist militants, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The American Medical Association doesn’t like the guidance coming out of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s hand-picked vaccine committee, so it’s creating one of its own.

The National Park Service took down the pride flag that flew over Stonewall. New York officials say they’re going to put it back up.

‘We’re Not Waiting For The Police’

A Republican candidate for governor in Florida said he’ll shoot anyone who threatens his campaign.

Thank you for reading! Today’s newsletter was produced by Kate Nocera and Andrew Burton. 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.