Democrats vs The ‘Red Scare’

Today’s notice: How potent is the word “communism”? A strange waiver at the SEC. Trump purges the Election Assistance Commission. CFPB’s ultimatum. And: Paul Kane recalls the highs and lows of Senate nominee replacements.

THE LATEST

Democrats are the new communists — at least that’s what Republicans are saying. During his Fourth of July speech, Donald Trump used the words “communist” or “communism” 11 times. And there’s no sign of stopping: As Republicans test out their midterms approach, you could be hearing a lot more about “communists.”

“Elevating the most radical and extreme elements of the Democratic Party is a net positive for Republicans,” Republican strategist Matt Gorman told NOTUS’ Manuela Silva, adding he believes there’s no stretch in referring to some Democrats as communists: “These people have socialist and borderline communist views, and they’re running under that label.”

Ain’t gonna work, respond Democrats.

“It is their attempt at trying to revitalize the Red Scare that many people lived through decades ago, and we are not living in the same world anymore,” says Usamah Andrabi, communications director for Justice Democrats.

Anti-communist messaging could still resonate with Latinos who have a generational distrust of the political ideologies, said Steve Schale, a Florida-based Democratic strategist who ran Obama’s campaigns there. But, it’s nothing new. “Republicans calling Democrats communists and socialists is a story as old as time,” Schale said.

Democratic strategist Rodell Mollineau called the GOP messaging “laughable.”

“It’s going to be very hard for Republicans to get into a philosophical debate and/or throw mud at Democrats, when they’re the ones in power and people are really upset and fed up at the state of the economy,” Mollineau said. Democrats’ counter? How are those Trump promises about fuel costs and grocery bills?

Open tabs: Inside Trump’s Oval Office Decision to Ditch the Iran Ceasefire (WSJ); Grocery Stores Race to Cut Prices (NYT); The renaming of Palm Beach’s airport after Trump (Palm Beach Post); The hidden costs of low-tax states (Axios); Erika Kirk Secures Release of More Evidence From Her Husband’s Killing (NOTUS)

From the SEC

Scoop: The strange case of the anonymous conflict of interest waiver. Securities and Exchange Commission HR director David Reinhold granted a waiver in May to an unnamed official holding stocks in Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft despite that official’s work on an investigation that could involve the companies, NOTUS’ Taylor Giorno reports.

Very unusual stuff: The Trump administration has granted more than 250 conflict-of-interest waivers in his second term. But this is the only one that redacts the name and position of the official, Taylor writes.

“[C]ertain information may be redacted if it would otherwise be exempt from disclosure under FOIA,” Danae Serrano, the ethics counsel copied on the conflict of interest waiver, told NOTUS. The SEC declined to comment.

From the Election Assistance Commission

A new mass firing. “All three EAC commissioners were relieved of their positions as of 4pm ET today,” reads an email from Amy Cohen, executive director of the National Association of State Election Directors, to her membership last night. Jasmine snagged a copy of the message.

What the EAC is: NOTUS’ government bureaucracy knower, Eric Katz, explains: EAC is a small federal agency Congress created after the tightly contested 2000 election to write election management guidelines, provide best practices to state and municipal election officials and develop specifications for testing and certifying voting systems. EAC guidance is voluntary and the agency holds no enforcement authority. Republicans have tried, unsuccessfully, to eliminate it, though Joe Biden doubled its size during his term. After Trump cuts, it now has just 65 employees.

What administrators are saying: “Irresponsible and dangerous,” Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, wrote in a statement posted online.

More on this from NOTUS’ Marissa Martinez.

From the CFPB

Move to D.C. — or else. Acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Russ Vought (a man with a couple of administration hats) signed warnings in June to employees of the department: Move to the District to work in the HQ at least two days a week by September, or lose your job. Employees have been given until July 21 to decide, NOTUS’ Jade Lozada reports.

This is not the traditional RTO demand. Many of the roughly 450 CFPB employees spread around the country are in roles designed to be outside Washington, Jade writes. The White House has said over and over it hopes to eliminate the agency entirely, but courts have blocked mass layoffs. The CFPB union sees Vought’s order as an attempt to force workers to quit and further diminish the agency. Vought says he’s carrying out RTO orders laid down by the president in an early executive order.

From the campaign trail

Alan Keyes, Arne Carlson, Frank Lautenberg: NOTUS’ Paul Kane reminds us of some of the highlights and lowlights of Senate nominee replacements in the wake of Graham Platner’s meltdown in the Maine Democratic primary. The good news for Democrats: Some of these people won. The bad news: While the Maine party has promised an open process, Paul writes that replacing a nominee usually requires a back-room deal, an idea that is very out of favor with voters in both parties right now.

NEW ON NOTUS

Who’s got the power? Data centers, artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency mining and manufacturing, according to the 2026 draft of the National Transmission Needs Study, published every three years by the Department of Energy. NOTUS’ Mara Hoplamazian reports that this year’s report says those Trump administration priorities are straining the grid, requiring more transmission infrastructure to handle the demand.

That’s a shift in focus from three years ago, when a Biden-era report cited a clean energy transition as the biggest challenge for the grid.

More: Chuck Grassley Joins Democrats in Demanding Info on Kash Patel’s Spending, by Jose Pagliery

DOJ Sues Maryland Over New Sanctuary Law, by Marissa Martinez

Former Olympian Pleads Not Guilty to Reflecting Pool Vandalism Charge, by Angie Orellana Hernandez

Mexico Seeks Charges Over Deaths of Mexicans in ICE Custody, by Torrie Herrington

Appeals Court Keeps Block on Texas In-State Tuition for Undocumented Students, by Jackie Llanos

NOT US

• Rubio tries to enlist other nations in antifa fight, but some allies recoil, by Ellen Nakashima, John Hudson and Adam Taylor for The Washington Post
• Trump seeks do-overs at a Supreme Court that rarely grants them, by John Fritze for CNN
• Meet the Man Who Could Cost Candace Owens Millions, by Will Sommer for The Bulwark

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The newsletter was produced by Thomas Burr, Brett Bachman and Erik Schutz. Photo by Seth Wenig/AP.