Today’s notice: Republicans try to figure out health care (still). Out with the old, in with the new investigation of a Trump enemy. A resurgent left tries to figure it out. And: Can’t sleep? Mike Huckabee has a rec.
THE LATEST
ACA TBD: Yesterday was reportedly set to be a big day in the Republican health care debate. The White House was said to be preparing to release a policy framework to guide Congress through the expiration of the Affordable Care Act subsidies.
The announcement never came. “There was never a health care announcement on the guidance today,” a White House official told Jasmine, not denying that whatever shadow plan existed is now on hold.
Does this feel familiar? “We are gutless because we haven’t put anything forward ever,” Rep. Tim Burchett texted NOTUS’ Riley Rogerson. He seemed to appreciate the reports of the announcement that never happened, though. “It gets us talking,” he texted.
The talking hasn’t gotten easier. The reported vague outlines of a White House plan pissed off conservatives who said they were not consulted.
“You can throw any meaningful reform out the window the moment you extend the Obamacare enhanced subsidies,” one Republican lawmaker told NOTUS’ Reese Gorman. They said they’d favor what Donald Trump has been posting on social media about: a sort of turbocharged health savings account.
“Not bold and not thought out with Congress,” another conservative lawmaker told Reese.
Who is this for? “Trump’s now putting forward a proposal that basically looks like what he just ripped Marjorie Taylor Greene a new asshole over — like, it’s something that all of these moderate Democrats can vote for,” a conservative strategist told NOTUS’ Emily Kennard.
Trying to cool the waters, press secretary Karoline Leavitt cautioned reporters that reports coming out of the White House may not always be accurate. “I’ll let the president speak for himself.”
So, where does this end? Riley asked Burchett: “Wringing of hands, clutching of pearls and a strong letter to someone I’m sure,” he texted.
Open tabs: Doug Jones Announces Governor Bid (NOTUS); Trump Ends TPS for Myanmar Immigrants (NOTUS); U.S. Peace Plan for Ukraine Slims Down (NYT)
From the White House
Pick yourself up and try again: Seemingly moments after a federal judge dismissed the DOJ cases against James Comey and Letitia James — declaring Lindsey Halligan’s appointment unconstitutional and calling the prosecutions unlawful in part due to Trump ordering them to happen on social media — the Trump administration doubled down on prosecuting political opponents the president has called out on Truth Social.
The next target is Sen. Mark Kelly, one of the Democratic veterans Trump recently posted were possibly engaging in “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH,” after they called on service members not to obey “unlawful orders.” The Pentagon on Monday said Kelly was under investigation for his appearance in the vets video, and that could result in a recall to active duty in the Navy and court martial.
As for the DOJ prosecutions, the dismissals will be appealed, Leavitt told reporters.
From the Hill
New security options for House lawmakers include a monthly $20,000 fund that can be used for personal security, $350 a month for home security system monitoring and a new app that lets lawmakers “signal duress in a discreet manner,” alerting local law enforcement and Capitol Police, the sergeant-at-arms told members in an email obtained by NOTUS.
NOTUS’ Hill team has closely followed the growing sense of dread among many lawmakers who fear their jobs now put them and their families at risk of being targeted.
From the campaign trail
To primary or not to primary? That is the question dividing progressives, as some in the Democratic grassroots consider challenging incumbent lawmakers. The calculus is shifting for some post-Zohran Mamdani’s win, NOTUS’ Shifra Dayak reports.
Team don’t primary: “The value to New Yorkers and to the entire progressive movement nationally is so much higher when it comes to Zohran getting his agenda passed confidently when the spotlight is on him than the value of picking up one more congressional seat,” Adam Green from the Progressive Change Campaign Committee said.
Team primary: “As much as we have a duty to build on Zohran’s momentum, to ensure that it goes past City Hall all the way to Washington, D.C., I don’t think this is simply about Zohran,” said Usamah Andrabi, a Justice Democrats spokesperson. The group is supporting community organizer Darializa Avila Chevalier’s bid against Rep. Adriano Espaillat.
NOTUS INVESTIGATION
Relaxium, don’t worry… Shortly after NOTUS’ Dave Levinthal contacted the American Behavioral Research Institute last week asking questions about why Mike Huckabee is still appearing as a pitchman for the supplement known as Relaxium while also serving as ambassador to Israel, Huckabee’s voice disappeared from the recording callers heard when they dialed the 1-800 number listed on TV ads. Those ads still feature Huckabee shilling what’s billed as a sleep aid.
The company paid $414,683 for Huckabee’s services a year before he was nominated for his post. He has “no legal right” to ask for the company to stop using his image in Relaxium ads, U.S. Embassy Jerusalem told Dave.
Asked whether he still backs the product, the embassy told Dave in an official statement that Huckabee “used the product every night and has for several years that pre-dated his being a spokesperson by at least two years.”
“Oh, for f*ck’s sake,” a former director of the Office of Government Ethics, Walter Shaub, said.
NEW ON NOTUS
Investing in data centers: “It’s possible [that we’re overdeveloping] ... Things sometimes feel a little bubbly,” Sen. Bernie Moreno told NOTUS’ Samuel Larreal of the boom in data center investments.
There’s a lot of TBD when it comes to these investments. Take Moreno’s Ohio, one of the states with the most data centers in the country. Officials can’t reliably say whether the state’s tax incentives will pay off in the long term.
“That’s a very fair question,” Democratic state Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney told Sam when asked if Ohio is overinvesting in the data centers. “Probably no, if you’re talking holistically. But local communities? Maybe.”
More: Democrats Are Leaning Into Ohio in 2026, by Tyler Spence
NOT US
- Why Is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. So Convinced He’s Right? By Michael Scherer for The Atlantic
- How D.C. developers made big money on a taxpayer-funded housing project, by Steve Thompson for The Washington Post
- The Gun Industry’s Digital Tricks to Make Buying Guns a Habit, by Mike Spies for Rolling Stone
MEET US
Welcome to “Meet Us,” where we introduce you to a member of the NOTUS team. Christa Dutton is a NOTUS reporter and Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow covering campaigns and North Carolina politics.
Hometown: Knightdale, North Carolina
Past work: I was a reporter at The Chronicle of Higher Education, covering conservative’s efforts to reshape higher education. I’ve also written for the Triad Business Journal and Wake Forest University’s student newspaper.
Why journalism: Because seeking the truth is the one of the most meaningful things a person can do.
NOTUS + AJI highlight so far: Learning from the best in the business.
Thing you can’t live without: A good book.
Best advice you’ve ever been given: To be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger.
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