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Good afternoon. This is the Final NOTUS newsletter for July 22, 2026. You can get it in your inbox every day by signing up here — it’s free!

THE LATEST

The House just passed the National Defense Authorization Act, with six Democrats voting in favor and seven Republicans voting against the measure. They will soon take up Reconciliation 3.0, which includes billions in Iran war funding and farm aid — and faces opposition from a handful of Republican holdouts.

• A majority of Democrats opposed both measures over a slate of conservative amendments and tacked-on SAVE America Act language.
• John Thune said it’s possible the Senate will “hold” the House’s budget framework if needed as a backup vehicle to avoid a government shutdown in September.

Lawmakers also approved the Stop Insider Trading Act, which would prevent Congress members and their families from buying individual stocks, but the measure is likely DOA in the Senate.

THE HILL

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming) released new CLARITY Act text today. It would ban all elected officials — including the president and members of Congress — from issuing digital assets in a White House-approved ethics agreement that sunsets in January 2029.

• As written, Trump’s existing crypto businesses — central to Democrats’ concerns — would be grandfathered in.

• “It’s a non-starter over here,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the Banking Committee’s top Democrat, told NOTUS’ Avani Kalra. “Someone can call it an ethics provision, but if it doesn’t stop the president from profiting off crypto and using it as a way to take bribes right out in public, then it’s not really an ethics provision.”

Sen. Mitch McConnell’s absence from the Agriculture Committee has put farm bill negotiations into a standstill.

Election deniers swept Arizona’s Republican primaries last night. Trump says he’s pleased.

THE ADMINISTRATION

Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz sets a “dangerous precedent” for other parts of the world, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said today during a summit in the Philippines.

• Trump attended four deceased soldiers’ dignified transfers in Dover, Delaware, today: “All of them said, very strongly, that we can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon, so we’re going to honor them.”

America’s trade strategy will continue to include import taxes, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told Congress today — foreshadowing a barrage of new tariffs the White House plans to introduce.

The EPA must fund the Biden-era Environmental and Climate Justice Grants it illegally canceled last year, a federal judge ruled today.

The administration has moved to stop collecting workplace demographic data.

THE COURTS

Nicolás Maduro’s criminal trial will start next June, a judge announced Wednesday, a timeline that reflects the mountain of classified evidence involved.

MONEY TALKS

Thank you for reading! Today’s newsletter was produced by Kelly Poe and Erik Schutz. If you liked it, please forward it to a friend. If someone shared it with you, please sign up — it’s free! Got a tip or comments to share? Email us at finalnotus@notus.com.