God Bless América

Today’s notice: Who got outraged while watching TV this weekend. A ton of fresh reporting on the Texas Democratic Senate primary. Republicans reject a new conservative push to overturn Obergefell. Plus: New skepticism that a DHS funding deal can be cut.

THE LATEST

Weekend culture war. We got a contemporary political split-screen last night when more than five million people (if YouTube metrics are to be believed) tuned into Turning Point USA’s MAGA-inflected alternative Super Bowl halftime show. That includes a number of Republican lawmakers: “Patriots are taking the culture back in real time,” Rep. William Timmons posted, boasting TPUSA’s viewership.

Bad Bunny’s highly anticipated performance was notably light on political rhetoric. “God bless América,” he said to close a show long on Puerto Rican pride and short on lyrics in English.

Trump would have liked subtitles. “Nobody understands a word this guy is saying, and the dancing is disgusting,” he wrote on Truth Social. “This ‘Show’ is just a ‘slap in the face’ to our Country.”

At least one Republican approved: “Love the halftime show which celebrates the wonderful Latino culture,” former Ohio Gov. John Kasich wrote on X. “Great pick and great show. Bad Bunny hit a grand slam home run!”’

It was a fitting end to a deeply divisive weekend of sports. The U.S. delegation was booed at the Olympics. The crowd was particularly ready to jeer JD Vance when he popped up on the big screen in Italy. “An unmistakable sign of Europe’s rapidly dimming view on America,” the Wall Street Journal reported.

Trump also booed a U.S. Olympian. He singled out freestyle skier Hunter Hess, calling him “a real loser.”

What Hess said: “It brings up mixed emotions to represent the U.S. right now, I think. It’s a little hard. There’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of, and I think a lot of people aren’t.” He’s hardly the only Olympian expressing the sentiment.

Open tabs: For $1M, Donors to U.S.A. Birthday Group Offered Access to Trump (NYT); MAGA push to erase Dem House seat triggers accusations of fraud and violence in Utah (Politico); NSA detected foreign intelligence phone call about a person close to Trump (The Guardian); US agency investigating if ABC’s ‘The View’ violated equal time rules for political candidates (Reuters)

From the White House

At what point does it become the Trump economy? “I’d say we’re there now,” Trump said during his big Super Bowl interview with NBC News’ Tom Llamas. “I’m very proud of it.”

Other highlights: The president also suggested that he doesn’t believe most of what he he “re-Truths” on his social media platform, doubled down on his recommendation that Republicans should “nationalize” elections and said it was “terrible” that legendary coach Bill Belichick wasn’t inducted to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot.

P.S. Remember that guy? The infamous DOGE coder Edward Coristine, AKA “Big Balls,” built TrumpRx. Mehmet Oz told CNN yesterday that Coristine is a “wonderful engineer” who worked with Joe Gebbia, the cofounder of Airbnb, to “make it work perfectly the first time.”

From Texas

Political science experiment in Texas. That’s how one Democratic strategist described the first major Democratic primary test of the 2026 calendar, pitting Rep. Jasmine Crockett against state Rep. James Talarico.

Early voting in Texas begins next week (!) and NOTUS’ Alex Roarty has a lot of fresh reporting on how this primary enters the homestretch. Things you should know:

The campaign styles couldn’t be more different. Talarico earned establishment support from a viral Joe Rogan appearance and is raising and spending big money in the traditional fashion. Crockett was already viral and has not built out a traditional operation. She has still not put any TV ads on the air. “We reject the D.C. playbook of politics as usual,” Karrol Rimal, Crockett’s deputy campaign manager, said.

The homestretch dynamics are unexpected. Most observers thought Crockett’s entrance would effectively sideline Talarico. But that’s not what they’re seeing now: “I think there was an assumption that she was going to be this fundraising powerhouse and we haven’t seen any evidence to that effect,” an unaligned Democrat told Alex.

An eyebrow-raising number: Talarico’s campaign has spent almost $4.9 million this year on the primary. Crockett’s has spent $260,000.

It’s a battle of fame vs. strategy. If Crockett wins, it’s because she’s so famous she doesn’t need a normal campaign. “I don’t think she’s putting together a particularly strong effort,” one strategist said. “And I don’t think they’re particularly interested in taking any advice on how to make things better.”

If Talarico wins, it’s because normal campaigns still have some tricks up their sleeve.

From the campaign trail

Republicans say they want nothing to do with overturning Obergefell. “I don’t think it’s a viable effort, legally, politically or otherwise, to try to overturn that decision,” GOP Rep. Nick LaLota said of a new well-funded conservative push to overturn the Supreme Court’s marriage equality ruling. NOTUS’ Oriana González reports elected Republicans are giving the effort a wide berth because they are conscious of public polling supporting same-sex marriage and nervous about being distracted from the economy.

“I understand that it is politically costly for lawmakers. This is risky, but we’re going to do it first. We are going to make the case both in the culture and in the courtrooms,” Katy Faust, founder of the group leading the new effort, told Oriana.

Democrats are feeling good about their chances against two embattled House Republicans: Reps. Cory Mills and Andy Ogles. They’re emboldened by what they see as the pair’s twin vulnerabilities: weak fundraising and ethics issues, NOTUS’ Riley Rogerson and Oriana report.

Republicans say they aren’t concerned: “Those are pretty safe seats, so we’re not overly concerned, but [we’ll] keep an eye on it,” NRCC Chairman Richard Hudson told NOTUS. Neither Mills nor Ogles receive money from Mike Johnson’s fundraising committee, Grow The Majority, which fundraises for vulnerable Republicans.

From your favorite podcast app

Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro joins NOTUS’ Reese Gorman for a conversation about why he thinks ICE should be “disbanded” and his trip to a Texas detention center to bring 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos — the boy in the bunny hat — and his father home. He also discusses his thoughts on the upcoming Senate race in Texas and what it’s like being identical twins with another politician. Listen to the episode here.

NEW ON NOTUS

All signs point to a partial government shutdown, according to Sen. John Fetterman. “I absolutely would expect that it’s going to shut down,” the key moderate said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” adding that he does not know where Democrats’ red lines lie. Party leaders laid out 10 reforms for DHS last week, including restricting federal agents from wearing masks, mandating the use of body cameras and visible identification, as well as tightening warrant guidelines.

Hakeem Jeffries suggested yesterday that none of it is negotiable: “In our view, the ball is in the court right now of the Republicans,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

NOT US

• When the FBI Arrested Epstein, He Called Kathryn Ruemmler, by AnnaMaria Andriotis and Ben Glickman for The Wall Street Journal
  
• Ben Shapiro Is Waging Battle Inside the MAGA Movement, by David Remnick for The New Yorker
  
• Public Health Workers Are Quitting Over Assignments to Guantánamo, by Amy Maxmen for WIRED

WEEK AHEAD

Tuesday: Top officials at ICE, CBP and USCIS are set to testify at a House DHS Committee hearing.

Federal program fraud in Minnesota is the subject of a scheduled Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

Wednesday: Pam Bondi is scheduled to testify at a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee.

Thursday: Last year’s air crash at DCA is the subject of a hearing set for the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation.

The same top officials running the immigration enforcement surge from Tuesday’s hearing in the House are set to testify at a Senate DHS Committee hearing.

NOTUS LIVE EVENT

Join us this week at a NOTUS event, Path to Power: A NOTUS Forum on America’s Primaries, on Wednesday, February 11 in Washington, D.C. Featured speakers — Rep. Jake Auchincloss, Cook Political Report’s Carrie Dann, the Brookings Institution’s Elaine Kamarck, NOTUS reporter Alex Roarty, NOTUS White House correspondent Jasmine Wright, and more — to discuss big races and emerging candidates.

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