Today’s notice: Will Trump get into heaven? A top Democrat predicts what comes next. Shutdown pain is truly here – will that move the needle? What was said at the big, bipartisan NOTUS event last week. And: Inside the weekly MAHA check-in call.
THE LATEST
‘Dawn of a new Middle East’: That was how Donald Trump described the changed landscape in what can only be described as a victory speech Monday to Israel’s parliament. “Israel, with our help, has won all that they can by force of arms. You’ve won,” he told members of the country’s Knesset. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even gifted Trump a golden dove to commemorate the moment.
One concrete development: Earlier on Monday, Hamas released all 20 living Israeli hostages in exchange for more than 1,900 Palestinian political prisoners, the first step in Trump’s multi-stage peace deal.
The victory tour continues: Trump then flew to Egypt, where he met with President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and took press questions before convening a global summit to help determine the future of Gaza.
A moment for reflection: En route Trump was asked by Fox News’ Peter Doocy if he thought the peace deal would help him secure a place in heaven.
“I don’t think there’s anything that’s going to get me into heaven,” Trump replied. “I think I’m not heaven bound. I’m not sure I’m going to be able to make heaven.”
Open Tabs Senior prosecutor axed as Halligan reshapes key US attorney’s office (CNN); Trump Has Not Ruled Out Invoking Insurrection Act: Vance (NYT); Biden starts radiation therapy for prostate cancer (AP); Airports say they won’t air Kristi Noem shutdown video at TSA checkpoints (WaPo)
From the shutdown
Firing people is harder than it looks. With great fanfare Friday, the White House began its long-promised shutdown RIFs (this is a political tactic aimed at pressuring Democrats; the White House says it can RIF or not RIF whenever it wants for whatever reason it wants).
But a day later, some of the fired were being rehired at HHS, where the RIFs reportedly hit employees at the CDC.
Where do things go from here? According to Joe Morelle, the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee: Bet on more of the same. After spending last week in his New York district, Morelle will be in Washington this week where House Democrats convene for a caucus-wide meeting today. He spoke with NOTUS’ Riley Rogerson and Oriana González.
On back-pay, Morelle said that if the White House follows through on its threat not to repay federal workers, the move “will certainly be litigated.”
From the Hill
Acrimony continues. Morelle also had choice words for Mike Johnson, echoing Democrats’ frustration over the status of Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, who has not yet been sworn in. “It’s just, it’s awful,” Morelle said, “and, sorry, [Johnson’s] explanations are just without merit.”
The pain is here for everyone, and things will get worse. “When folks miss a paycheck, the intensity will go up. There’s no doubt,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito said. Federal employees are slated not to get the money they are owed for the first time this shutdown, starting tomorrow.
This could be the breaking point for Democratic unity, NOTUS’ Ursula Perano and Helen Huiskes report. Five more Senate Democrats would need to join the three members of their caucus who already voted for the House-passed CR in order to end the shutdown the way Republicans want to — with no publicly-negotiated settlement.
From the states
The first victims of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s new “physical fitness standards” appear to be Texas National Guard troops deployed to Illinois. A select number were pulled from duty last week, just days after a viral photo of the men arriving at a base near Chicago sparked comments about their weight, NOTUS’ Amelia Benavides-Colon reports.
“National Guard Soldiers and Airmen are required to meet service-specific height, weight and physical fitness standards at all times,” the National Guard Bureau said in a statement. “On the rare occasions when members are found not in compliance, they will not go on mission.”
Hegseth approves: “Standards are back,” he wrote in a post on X.
THE BIG ONE
Listening in on Trump 2.0’s wildest conference call. Every Wednesday, the calls open with a montage of vaccine mandate protesters, a gas-mask-clad worker spraying crops with an unidentified liquid, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. walking onstage at a Trump rally in slow motion. MAHA activist and R&B artist Jimmy Levy sings, “We will not comply / with the institution’s sick illusion … No it won’t be televised / welcome to the revolution.”
What is this? The weekly “MAHA Action Media Hub” call, hosted by top RFK ally and publisher Tony Lyons. His nonprofit is called MAHA Action and bills itself as “a vital resource for our core MAHA Warriors and grassroots activists.” Around 5,000 people logged in recently through an open registration portal. NOTUS’ Margaret Manto has been listening.
Who has shown up: Calls have regularly featured appearances by Mehmet Oz, senior White House advisor Calley Means and, at least once, RFK Jr.’s wife, Cheryl Hines. A shirtless Russell Brand showed up. A former member of The Pussycat Dolls claimed the COVID-19 vaccine destroyed her ability to dance. RFK Jr. has not appeared, Margaret reports.
What the calls are for: The calls seem to function as a space for MAHA followers and administration officials to promote their wins while explaining to the wider MAHA community why just starting a conversation about these issues is a big step.
What they sound like: “Fluoride disconnects one from God,” a listener with the username “Peter & Melissa BioHacking Stem Cells” wrote during one call.
NEW ON NOTUS
Wisconsin Democrats turn the page: The state’s new 33-year-old party chair, Devin Remiker, spoke with NOTUS’ Jade Lozada about his plan to win it all in 2026, when voters will elect a new governor, state legislators, a state Supreme Court justice, and potentially flip seats crucial to Democrats’ efforts to retake the House.
The job is “about building a bulwark against a hostile administration that seems intent on subverting democracy,” he said. “That really places in me an immense sense of responsibility to help make sure that we can be that bulwark ahead of 2028.”
‘We’d like our separation of powers back, please’ was the message from Reps. Don Bacon and Jason Crow and former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel at the Mapping The New Global Order event hosted by NOTUS last week.
“I do think we have an issue where Congress has abdicated a lot of its authorities under Article 1,” Bacon told our Daniella Diaz at the event. “It hasn’t just started with this president. I do think it’s escalated under this president.”
More: USDA Warns Shutdown Will Soon Threaten Funding For Food Benefits, by Raymond Fernández
NOT US
- Trump, Feeling Emboldened, Pushes Agenda Into Higher Gear, by Josh Dawsey for The Wall Street Journal
- Originalist ‘Bombshell’ Complicates Case on Trump’s Power to Fire Officials, by Adam Liptak for The New York Times
- Historic wave of retirements is putting huge strains on the government, by Meryl Kornfield and Hannah Natanson for The Washington Post
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