Today’s notice: Pete in the hot seat. The Senate is still in town. New drama in Texas’ already quite dramatic Senate race. A twist in the Epstein saga you haven’t heard of.
THE LATEST
Is Pete running out of goodwill? Two sources close to the White House described a top administration aide as “pissed off” at Secretary Pete Hegseth’s tenure at the Department of Defense and feeling like it was “time for him to go,” NOTUS’ John T. Seward reports.
The latest Signalgate revelations that Hegseth was relaying classified information into an unclassified text string certainly don’t help matters.
The Pentagon defends: “As President Trump has said, Secretary Hegseth ‘is doing a great job,’” Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesperson, told John in a statement.
Hegseth’s problems may go deeper. John’s sources said the top aide is tired of Hegseth’s team catching the White House off guard like it did when the Pentagon seemingly unilaterally chose to pause weapons shipments to Ukraine.
And they may go wider than just the White House. Rep. Rich McCormick said Signalgate was Hegseth’s one mulligan. “I’m saying, live and learn,” he told John. “If you don’t learn, then go on.”
Still, there’s no indication yet that Republicans in Congress will shift from their current position of giving Hegseth as much of a learning curve as he needs.
“I do think it’s challenging for one branch to tell another branch that we are going to hold them accountable,” Sen. Mike Rounds said. “The entity that has to hold a secretary of defense accountable specifically is his boss, and that’s the president.”
Open Tabs: Boom fades for US clean energy (Reuters); Commanders reach deal on RFK site (WaPo); Waltz nomination moves ahead (Politico); Gabbard’s claims not supported by declassified docs (AP)
From the White House
Well, that was interesting. Donald Trump visited the Federal Reserve on Thursday, continuing his campaign of publicly trashing Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s judgement while also saying he probably won’t fire the central banker. There was also an argument about numbers on a piece of paper and matching hard hats.
It’s not exactly clear what Trump hoped to accomplish during the tour of the central bank’s construction site, but it seemed he was having fun playing real estate developer again.
From the Hill
The remainders: The Senate has already spent more time in session this year than normal, and now senators will have to scroll with envy through recess posts by their House colleagues wishing they, too, were on break.
They may not get one soon. With no deal on nominees in sight, NOTUS’ Helen Huiskes and Ursula Perano report, the Senate’s time in session could just drag on.
From the campaign trail: Rep. Wesley Hunt is trying to position himself as a potential alternative to Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton should Cornyn drop out of the Senate race. Except, Cornyn sure doesn’t seem interested in dropping out, and Hunt’s criticisms of the sitting senator are wearing his colleagues thin.
“There’s 25 of us in the delegation, and I’d say he is the least liked out of everybody,” one Texas Republican told NOTUS’ Reese Gorman of Hunt.
The annoyance is reaching the highest levels. “They’ve pissed off the White House because they’re so badgering,” a source said of Hunt’s team. “They’ve been told by multiple folks they need to pump the brakes.”
THE BIG ONE
Big, if true: Those wanting Ghislaine Maxwell to reveal more of what she knew about her late boyfriend may run headlong into an inconvenient truth: Maxwell’s legal team has a pending petition before the Supreme Court that would throw out her 2021 conviction entirely, NOTUS’ Jose Pagliery reports.
Not as crazy as it sounds: Maxwell’s petition has the backing of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. The whole thing stems from all the legal weirdness at the start of the Jeffrey Epstein saga, when federal prosecutors in the aughts gave his close associates what appears to be broad immunity from prosecution. It’s unclear whether the Supreme Court will take up Maxwell’s case. But in his deep dive into her legal odyssey, Jose finds that there’s reason to believe the court just might.
What comes next in the saga: Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche posted on X Thursday evening that he met with Maxwell in prison and will interview her again today. More will be shared “at the appropriate time,” he wrote.
NEW ON NOTUS
When DOGE came to USDA, a 25-year-old DOGE staffer named Gavin Kliger had access to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins right away, as well as the most senior members of her team. They signed on to Kliger’s plan to pull back funding for any climate science-related work and hastily make $120 million in cuts to department spending, NOTUS’ Mark Alfred reports.
A new Gaza consensus? Sen. Lindsey Graham and Rep. Seth Moulton are among a bipartisan chorus pressuring Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into devastated regions of Gaza. NOTUS’ Haley Byrd Wilt reports that some Republicans are also pressuring Trump to join the cause. “The president has a very good relationship with [Benjamin] Netanyahu. He should leverage that relationship to try to make sure that there’s no blockages there,” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis said.
Speaking of consensus, the response to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s White House presentation and subsequent conversation about charging Barack Obama with treason has been pretty muted on Capitol Hill, Haley reports. “We are in danger of setting precedents here that I think people could regret,” Sen. Thom Tillis said.
More: DOJ Moves to Keep Alina Habba in Her Role, by Nuha Dolby; Trump Signs Order on Homelessness, by Amelia Benavides-Colón; Republicans Advance Jeanine Pirro’s Nomination, by Amelia Benavides-Colón
NOT US
Two Democrats Are Bolting From a Bipartisan Governors’ Group, by Michael Scherer and Ashley Parker for The Atlantic
New Eric Adams ‘Donors’ Say They Never Gave to His Reelection Campaign, by Greg B. Smith and Haidee Chu for The City
Ken Paxton is handing more of his office’s work to costly private lawyers, by Zach Despart for The Texas Tribune
Trump anoints a new power elite on K Street, by Caitlin Oprysko for Politico
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