Today’s notice: Everybody’s working for the weekend, or more accurately, the Thursday before the weekend when they can leave for a month. New developments in the MoonPay crypto story we uncovered. The DNC’s new rural hospital messaging. And: What it sounded like in government geography circles when Trump first floated “Gulf of America.”
The Latest
You don’t have to stir the pot at home, but you can’t stay here: On the one hand, there’s going home for a month and letting Capitol Hill become a distant memory as you dial for reelection dollars.
On the other: “This is about whether there’s an elite and powerful group of people who are above the law or whether they answer to the law,” Rep. Thomas Massie told our Hill team Monday.
This week is all about whether House lawmakers can skedaddle before an awkward vote on the whole Epstein thing, and what it means politically when they inevitably do.
With the exception of a few conservatives, Republicans are ready to leave Washington for August recess without voting on a bill to pressure Donald Trump’s administration to release Jeffrey Epstein case documents. But Democrats are pushing right alongside the angry conservatives, leading to a showdown last night where the House Rules Committee adjourned with no plans to come back due to a vow by the unlikely coalition to force embarrassing Epstein votes before any rule can pass.
The question for the next 48 hours: What price do Republicans pay back home for sidestepping this issue on their way out the door? GOP leadership only has to make it to Wednesday night before recess begins. Republicans not standing with Massie told NOTUS they were not worried about going home without taking any of these Epstein votes this week.
“The average American doesn’t give a rat’s behind about the Epstein files. They want to see something done for their way of life. That’s me,” Rep. Paul Gosar said.
Guess he hasn’t seen a poll or opened a social media app this week. But who can blame him? It’s almost recess!
Open Tabs: Judge who drew calls for impeachment over DOGE ruling assigned to Maxwell transcript case (Reuters); The U.S. Economy Is Regaining Its Swagger (WSJ); The FAA Is Investigating a Close Call Between a Military Plane and Passenger Flight (NOTUS); Judge keeps Kilmar Abrego Garcia in jail over deportation fears (AP)
From the Hill
August and Everything Before: Trump says he wants senators to give up their August recess, and senators really want to respond @*%! right off, Mr. President. But is it that simple? NOTUS’ Helen Huiskes and Ursula Perano report on a chamber with one foot out the door.
The Republican plan: Get Democrats to agree to mass confirm a bunch of Trump’s outstanding nominees — the issue that is leading to Trump’s Truth Social posts calling for no recess.
The Democratic response: They could slow down every nomination even more than they already have and basically dare Republicans to defy Trump and go on recess anyway. Or, they could go along with the GOP plan and go home to commence their anti-reconciliation bill messaging.
- Sen. Dick Durbin said he hadn’t heard any “specific strategy” on delaying yet.
From the DOJ
Eclipse of the MoonPay: An interesting thing happened after NOTUS’ Claire Heddles reported on a Justice Department cryptocurrency case that appeared to be about two prominent crypto executives with ties to MAGA who were allegedly scammed: On Monday the case was sealed entirely from public view.
Claire and NOTUS’ Jose Pagliery report on a cryptic turn in this crypto case, which is being run by the U.S. attorney’s office in D.C. “I think what they’re trying to say is, ‘We made a mistake and we don’t want anybody knowing about the mistake,’” a former prosecutor in the office told NOTUS.
The DOJ declined to answer NOTUS’ questions and MoonPay did not respond to a request for comment.
NOTUS Investigation
The ‘Gulf of America’ gag order: Trump in the weeks before he took office announced his plan to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Inundated with media requests about the idea in the waning days of the Biden administration, the U.S. Geological Survey instituted a de facto media blackout on the topic.
Trump’s announcement sparked immediate turmoil: “Where’s that ‘it has begun’ meme from Lord of the Rings...?” an unidentified USGS employee wrote on Jan. 7 to several government officials, including those at the State Department and Library of Congress, according to emails and internal communications Dave Levinthal obtained through FOIA requests for NOTUS.
The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names considered telling reporters the world would not go along with the change. “Should the US President proceed without following a proper consultative process,” a draft statement from early January reads, “then the international community would likely continue using Gulf of Mexico.”
The statement was never released to reporters.
Trump’s EO caused confusion: “Does this definition constitute the entire Gulf? Or are we going to splitting the feature into two — Gulf of Mexico in the southern portion and Gulf of America in the northern portion?” Michael Tischler, USGS’s National Geospatial Program director, wrote in an email to a State Department official. Who that official was and their response is redacted from the records released under FOIA.
The president offered a public answer soon after. The new name for the Gulf would apply to all of it.
NEW ON NOTUS
Exclusive: DNC takes its message on the road: Anti-Trump billboards will be popping up outside rural hospitals in the coming days to highlight “how Trump’s policies are hurting the people who voted for him the most,” the DNC tells NOTUS’ Nuha Dolby. Example of the messaging from Missoula, Montana: “Under Trump’s Watch, Providence St. Patrick Hospital Is Closing Its Maternity Center.” Other versions of this will appear in Silex, Missouri; Columbus, Indiana; and Stilwell, Oklahoma.
The future of FEMA… is uncertain. Republicans at the state level are largely toeing the president’s new line of wanting to reform FEMA. But they’re also making it clear there needs to be a federal response to disasters. “I think at some level, you’re going to need to still have an agency that’s going to respond to disasters and do the bulk of the top-level coordination,” Louisiana state Rep. Brian Glorioso, a Republican, told NOTUS’ Torrence Banks.
Zohran-mentum: Everyone seems to want a piece of Zohran Mamdani’s playbook, whether it’s the substance of his message (which is reinvigorating young progressives) or the style of his buzzy online campaign (which centrists are interested in, too).
- One progressive’s caution: “If just having good ads, or slick ads, and being young won you elections, then you’d have a bunch of 33-year-old mayors all over America,” Rep. Greg Casar told NOTUS. “Mamdani won because he had a bold, anti-establishment, clear message and he was able to communicate it very effectively online and authentically.”
More: After Passing SNAP Cuts, Republicans Look to Their States to Handle the Rest; Hunter Biden Says Ambien Contributed to Dad’s Poor Debate Performance; White House Removes WSJ From Reporting Pool Over Epstein Story; Pentagon to Withdraw U.S. Marines From Los Angeles
NOT US
- Trump officials accused of defying 1 in 3 judges who ruled against him, by Justin Jouvenal for The Washington Post
- Can the World’s Largest Zipper Manufacturer Survive Trump’s Tariffs? By Joshua Hunt for Bloomberg Businessweek
- New Federal Tax Credit Boosts School Choice—but Blue States Face Big Decision, by Matt Barnum for The Wall Street Journal
- How Trump’s game-planning for the 2026 midterms, by Alex Isenstadt for Axios
Thank you for reading! If you like this edition of the NOTUS newsletter, please forward it to a friend. Have a tip? Email us at tips@notus.org. And as always, we’d love to hear your thoughts on our newsletter at newsletters@notus.org.