Today’s notice: What we learned last night. Where the money came from in Thomas Massie’s Kentucky primary. War powers drama on the Hill. America is low on nuclear waste cleanup workers. The first applicant to Trump’s “anti-weaponization” fund. Plus: Who’s getting Dick Durbin’s leftover campaign cash?

THE LATEST

It’s good to have friends in high places: In politics, like so much of life, it can all come down to who you know. And if you know Donald Trump well enough to get an endorsement, you won or came in first in your primary last night. That’s how Rep. Thomas Massie lost, becoming just the latest Republican to learn that Republican voters like Trump more.

It was also pretty good to know the Democratic political establishment. The DCCC’s chosen candidates for House races in Pennsylvania won their primaries, too. Progressives celebrated a win in the deep-blue 3rd Congressional District, where state Rep. Chris Rabb received the nomination. Retired firefighter Bob Brooks was kind of a win for both sides; endorsed by Gov. Josh Shapiro, the DCCC and also Sen. Bernie Sanders, he sailed to victory and will face Republican Rep. Ryan Mackenzie in one of the most hotly contested midterm races in the country.

A real through line of the night was the establishment quieting skeptical opposition all over the place. And Trump proving once and for all that he alone defines what the establishment GOP is.

Establishment Democrats are desperate to not blow the party’s historic midterm advantage by elevating candidates they worry will distract voters from widespread antipathy toward the president. The establishment has taken some big losses so far this year, and there are opportunities for more. Last night was an intermission in an ongoing drama.

For Republicans, the story is pretty much over. The party goes forward in Trump’s image, with MAGA skeptics either pushed into retirement, defeated or silenced. “There’s going to be a chilling effect as a result of this race,” a Massie-supporting Republican state lawmaker in Kentucky told NOTUS’ Alex Roarty.

In Georgia, however, it’s a little more complicated. Republicans are headed for runoffs in two key races after candidates failed to exceed the 50% threshold of votes required. Trump-backed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones will go up against billionaire Rick Jackson to succeed Gov. Brian Kemp. But the president stayed out of the crowded Senate primary, where Rep. Mike Collins will face Kemp-backed former college football coach Derek Dooley in a runoff to challenge Sen. Jon Ossoff, NOTUS’ Christa Dutton reports.

Open tabs: Early War Goal Was to Install Hard Line Former President as Iran’s Leader (NYT); RFK Jr. Taps Haridopolos as Temporary Surgeon General (Bloomberg); Flurry of Suspicious Oil Trades Worth $800 Million Triggers Regulatory Probe (WSJ); Trump Gives Stamp of Approval to the House’s Tweaked Housing Bill (NOTUS)

From Kentucky

Out-of-state bankrollers win: Massie lost what was the most expensive primary race in history — with the bulk of the financial backing coming from outside Kentucky, NOTUS’ Violet Jira reports. Massie faced long odds after Trump’s allies launched the MAGA KY super PAC to prop up Ed Gallrein.

Massie, who’s been openly critical of Israel, also had to contend with millions of dollars in attack ads from pro-Israel groups including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

From the Hill

Sen. Bill Cassidy is already reflecting: “My kind of hierarchy is loyalty to the Constitution, loyalty to the people of the United States, loyalty to my state, loyalty to my country,” the Louisiana Republican told reporters yesterday, just a few days after his political defenestration at the hands of the president in last weekend’s primary.

You will note loyalty to Trump is not on that list. NOTUS’ Igor Bobic, Al Weaver and Torrence Banks report that Cassidy seems primed to join the ranks of Republicans that have been felled by MAGA and, like some kind of reverse Highlander, hit with a quickening that has turned them into skeptics of the president’s plans.

To wit, war powers: Last night, Cassidy voted for the first time to constrain Trump’s war powers in Iran, helping a long-stalled measure advance. “Until the administration provides clarity, no congressional authorization or extension can be justified,” he posted on X. It was a dramatic moment, but probably won’t result in lasting change — a few GOP senators were absent, and when they come back it’s expected the war powers bill will stall out again.

But more drama could be coming. House Democrats are hoping to pass their own war powers resolution today after narrowly losing a similar vote last week in a 212-212 tie, NOTUS’ Kadia Goba reports. Rep. Gregory Meeks introduced a privileged resolution last month “to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities with Iran.” That measure is finally up for a vote and Democrats appear to be fully united around it. Rep. Jared Golden split with his party and voted against the last Iran war powers act, but said last week he’d support a bill like Meeks’.

Republican pushback to Trump’s troop drawdown looks real: Closed-door discussions are underway to draft provisions in the next defense spending and policy bills that would potentially withhold funding for any troop changes, or direct the reversal of Trump’s recent moves to pull 5,000 U.S. service members out of Germany and cancel the deployment of 4,000 others to Europe.

NOTUS’ Joe Gould and Hamed Ahmadi report that Republican leaders on both chambers’ Armed Services committees are incensed by the moves. But not all Republicans are: “The commander-in-chief has the ability to make these decisions, and a lot of my colleagues like to play president a lot,” Sen. Eric Schmitt, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, told NOTUS.

From the Department of Energy

America is low on nuclear waste cleanup workers. As in, an over 50% vacancy rate for general engineers and nuclear engineers, who are responsible for managing and designing the safe disposal of nuclear waste, NOTUS’ Anna Kramer reports. The DOE’s Office of Environmental Management is in general operating with roughly half its normal workforce.

Why? The vast majority of those vacancies occurred because of the DOGE-style initiatives incentivizing federal workers to resign, Anna writes.

From the White House

First in line: Former Trump aide Michael Caputo is the first known applicant to the president’s massive $1.7 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, Jenna reports. He is seeking $2.7 million in damages, citing his inclusion in the FBI investigation into the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russia during the 2016 presidential race.

“Qui dormit, amittit,” Caputo posted on X, a Latin phrase that roughly translates to: “He who sleeps, loses.”

ON NOTUS PODCAST

From your favorite podcast app: Rep. Brad Schneider, the chair of the New Democrat Coalition, says Democrats shouldn’t give the left-wing podcaster Hasan Piker a platform, and that his views are not a reflection of the Democratic Party. “What Hasan Piker is promoting is division and hate,” Schneider told NOTUS’ Daniella Diaz on today’s episode of On NOTUS.

NEW ON NOTUS

Sen. Dick Durbin’s last act: In recent years, many former or soon-to-be-former members of Congress have donated surplus campaign cash to colleges for semi-self-serving purposes, such as funding scholarships, programs or facilities that bear their name. So when NOTUS’ Dave Levinthal spotted that Durbin’s campaign recently donated a cool $100,000 to Loyola University Chicago, he asked the Illinois Democrat, who isn’t seeking reelection, if the money had strings attached.

Durbin spokesperson Emily Hampsten acknowledged NOTUS’ emailed questions but didn’t answer them. Loyola University didn’t return requests for comment. (Durbin, for his part, spoke to Loyola law students earlier this year.)

There’s a lot more for Durbin to give away: As of March 31, his committee still had nearly $1 million in reserve, according to FEC records.

More: Democrats Are Bullish on Texas After Trump’s Move for Paxton, by Stephen Neukam, Elena Schneider and Daniella Diaz

NOT US

• The parable and paradox of Thomas Massie, by Matt Fuller for MS NOW
  
• How Zyn Became All the Rage Inside Trump World—Including With RFK Jr. By Liz Essley Whyte, Josh Dawsey and C. Ryan Barber for The Wall Street Journal
  
• A ship’s crew risked the Strait of Hormuz. They met with a hail of bullets. By Sammy Westfall for The Washington Post

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