Today’s notice: A day to burn the C-SPAN logo into your screen of choice. The late Lindsey Graham’s sanctions bill picks up steam. Who’s getting jobs at the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division. And: DJT Airport complaints.
THE LATEST
Congress will be yelling today. Does it matter? It’s a big day for Hill theatrics — a slew of hearings are scheduled for high-profile Donald Trump nominees that will no doubt turn into the televised grillings many lawmakers live for. Or, at least, the staff in charge of immediately clipping their boss’s C-SPAN breakout moment and posting it live for.
The nominee to oversee national intelligence, Jay Clayton, appears today before the Senate Intelligence Committee, just as Trump is spooling up a big address about declassified intelligence findings and election integrity. The nominee for next director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Erica Schwartz, will appear before the Senate HELP Committee as the populace asks their various chatbots of choice, How can I eat a salad without something, er, explosive happening afterwards?
Trending
The main event begins at 9 a.m.: The first of two days of hearings where acting Attorney General Todd Blanche hopes to show he can get rid of the acting part of the title.
Previously, we could be reasonably sure as to how these would go: Republicans laud the nominee; Democrats take some jabs; then the nominee gets confirmed. There’s no expectation that Clayton or Schwartz have much to worry about.
But the Blanche hearing could be revelatory. Has Trump’s power to force his nominees through waned? Many senators, including Republicans, have been frustrated with the way Trump has remade the DOJ into an arm of executive action, and they have expressed concern that Blanche is largely going along with it. NOTUS’ Derek Hawkins has our walk-up to the hearings, which includes a deep exploration of what has the senators concerned.
Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), no longer Trump fans necessarily, sit on the Judiciary Committee. Cornyn said Blanche’s path through Judiciary “got narrower” after the sudden passing of Trump’s upper chamber ally Lindsey Graham, Derek writes.
He’s gonna get yelled at, that we can guarantee. But what happens after that is not clear. We’ll have our popcorn at the ready all day — but absolutely not any bagged salads.
Open tabs: ICE Orders Agents to Halt Car Stops After Request From Susan Collins (NOTUS); House Votes for Permanent Daylight Saving Time (NYT); E. Jean Carroll is paid $5.6M in Trump sex abuse and defamation case (AP); Kevin Warsh vows Fed will be ‘resolute’ in inflation fight (FT); Marco Rubio’s Disappearing Signal Chat (Atlantic)
From the Hill
Lindsey gets his moment: A bipartisan band of senators trying to complete the late South Carolina Republican’s final mission — expanding Russia sanctions — has unveiled the bill that finally earned Trump’s approval. Supporters say they have the votes, NOTUS’ Joe Gould tells us. “This is Lindsey Graham’s greatest achievement,” said Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi).
What’s in the new bill? The original proposal threatened to impact as many as 63 countries. The final version targets only the five largest buyers of Russian oil and natural gas, and with some overlap, the five biggest facilitators of Russian oil-sanctions evasion. The U.S. trade representative could impose tariffs of up to 100% on goods imported from those countries.
What’s next: Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) said senators need to strike a time agreement to bring up the bill. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) said Majority Leader John Thune had committed to take it up when supporters can show they have the votes, which Blumenthal insists they do. He hopes it can pass before the August recess, with Trump’s signature to follow.
Reconciliation blues: The circle of trust on the third party-line bill Trump is pondering with Speaker Mike Johnson is getting so tight that Republicans on the extremely-important-to-this-process House Budget Committee were left out of a planning session at Camp David on Monday, NOTUS’ Reese Gorman reports. “I don’t care if the meeting was held at IHOP, the entire Budget Committee should have been included,” Rep. Erin Houchin (R-Indiana), a committee member and Republicans’ conference secretary, told members at a closed-door GOP meeting.
From the DOJ
The MAGAfied Civil Rights Division: “Now it just seems like you need to not be a Democrat to get hired and you can fall into the job and fumble around,” an attorney working at the division told NOTUS’ Eric Katz. “They got rid of everyone they wanted to get rid of and now filling with sycophants.” Eric reports on gut renovation of the division led by the assistant attorney general Harmeet Dhillon. Veteran attorneys have been fired or pushed out, and more than 100 new attorneys and staff were announced last week.
NOTUS METRO
Sign up for our local newsletter. NOTUS has some of the best reporters covering D.C.-area news, sports and culture. Sign up for all the latest, launching July 20!
Local news: D.C. Council Approves Bill Capping Prices on Resale Tickets, by Shamira Muhammad
Sports desk: Five Things We Learned About Jayden Daniels in Netflix’s ‘Quarterback,’ by Martenzie Johnson
ON NOTUS PODCAST
From your favorite podcast app: Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) says lawmakers must be transparent with the public over health issues. “HIPAA is in place for a reason, but I do think when you’re in elected office, particularly as a member of Congress, there is that sort of responsibility as part of that public service to communicate a little bit more,” Padilla told NOTUS’ Igor Bobic on today’s episode of On NOTUS.
NEW ON NOTUS
People really care about what their airport is called: Florida’s Palm Beach International has officially been renamed President Donald J. Trump International, even if flyers are not happy about it. NOTUS’ Dave Levinthal sifted through public comments he obtained through a FOIA request since the name change.
“I am writing to assure you that as long as you are calling this airport anything closely related to ‘TRUMP’ I will NEVER FLY INTO THERE. NEVER! You have 100% lost all my family’s business. Despicable move!” one person who said they had family local to the airport wrote in.
“President Trump is focused on saving our country — not garnering recognition,” a White House spokesperson told Dave in response to the general tone of the messages.
More: Elon Musk’s $1 Million Voter Checks Likely Illegal, Wisconsin Board Says, by Torrie Herrington
The National Guard Is Staying in D.C. Until January 2029, by Torrie Herrington
Amy Coney Barrett Details Anonymous Packages, Swatting Incident in Congressional Hearing, by Angie Orellana Hernandez
Congress Pushes to Move Department of Energy Into Education Department’s HQ, by Manuela Silva
NOT US
- DOGE Used AI for Housing Policy. The Government Won’t Say How. By Vittoria Elliott for Wired
- Jeffries to Oppose Cutting Off Aid to Israel but Calls for a ‘Major Reset,’ by Annie Karni for The New York Times
- The push to bypass Hormuz, by Emily Peck for Axios
- Nearly a Million People Have Left the SAVE Student-Loan Program. Here’s Where They Went. By Oyin Adedoyin for The Wall Street Journal
BE SOCIAL
Sage advice.
Put DOWN the salad. Pick UP the cheeseburger. It's for your health <3 https://t.co/laHEiXK4K5
— Maggie (@maggiemoda) July 14, 2026
Thank you for reading! If you liked this edition of the NOTUS Newsletter, please forward it to a friend. If this newsletter was shared with you, please sign up — it’s free! Have a tip? Email us at tips@notus.com. And as always, we’d love to hear your thoughts at newsletters@notus.com.
The newsletter was produced by Thomas Burr, Brett Bachman and Andrew Burton. Photo by Tom Williams/AP.
Authors
