Today’s notice: The U.S. death toll rises in the Iran war. Maine’s Troy Jackson heads to the Democratic nomination. The U.S. Senate’s focus isn’t legislation. And: How Republicans are campaigning on the housing bill Trump called a “big yawn.”
THE LATEST
Three U.S. service members engaged in the Iran war were killed in action in two separate incidents over the weekend, and U.S. Central Command is trying to verify whether remains discovered near the site of one attack, in Jordan, match a fourth service member who was considered missing.
A total of 17 U.S. service members have died and dozens have been injured since the start of the war. As the escalation continues — last night marked nine consecutive days of U.S. strikes on Iran — it remains unclear how the rise in the death toll may sway public sentiment and congressional support. Most Americans already disapprove of the war.
Trending
Top congressional leaders offered their condolences, but delivered mixed messages on what should happen with the ongoing war. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) said President Donald Trump “is right to unleash hell on [the service members’] killers” while Sen. Mark Warner (D-Virginia) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called for de‑escalation.
“No more American heroes need to die because of this reckless war of choice,” Jeffries said on X.
Trump, on his way back to the White House from attending the World Cup final in New Jersey, said the U.S. strikes against Iran on Sunday night would be in honor of those fallen service members.
“We feel very badly but you know those great people, those great patriots were out there fighting that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Trump told reporters on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews. “We hit them very hard again tonight.”
Open tabs: Federal Agents Were Told F.B.I. Will No Longer Investigate ICE Confrontations (NYT); Trump immigration officials seek to mend frayed ties with business as arrests spike (WaPo); Trump praises Burnham over plans to fast-track North Sea oil (Telegraph); Russia pounds Kyiv in major ballistic missile attack (Reuters); ‘Happy and healthy': JD and Usha Vance welcome fourth child (USA Today)
From the campaign trail
The Democratic field in Maine dramatically thinned out over the weekend, as Troy Jackson effectively clinched the nomination for U.S. Senate. As counties chose their delegates for this Saturday’s official nominating convention, more than half of those selected said they backed Jackson, Jenna reports.
Before Jackson became the presumptive nominee, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said she was exiting the race to focus on her role as the state’s chief election officer amid Trump’s attacks on ballot integrity. Later Sunday, former state CDC Director Nirav Shah and former Capitol Hill staffer Jordan Wood also dropped out and immediately endorsed Jackson. Shah said he stepped aside because “the Democratic Party must be unified” to beat Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine).
Advice for Republicans campaigning on the big housing bill: “You could talk about the policy. You don’t have to talk about how it became law,” a GOP strategist told NOTUS’ Raymond Fernández. Raymond dives into the emerging awkward situation for purple-district Republicans: They have a big, bipartisan bill on a topic Americans care about, but the head of their party called it a “big yawn” and refused to sign it.
“I don’t speak for the president,” Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R- Pennsylvania) told Raymond. “I know my voters, my constituents. My electors are super excited about the package.”
From the Hill
How the Senate stopped being the Senate, in charts. The numbers don’t lie: Nomination confirmations made up less than 20% of total roll-call votes prior to 2013 — the year then-Majority Leader Harry Reid nuked the filibuster for most nominations. By the end of 2024, nominations topped 60% of roll-call votes. NOTUS’ Avani Kalra crunched the numbers on how the World’s Greatest Deliberative Body has morphed into the world’s additional arena for partisan squabbles. The bottom line: More and more legislation is done through party-line reconciliation votes, and more and more floor time is devoted to confirmations.
NOTUS METRO
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Local news. Will Free Buses Ever Arrive in D.C.? By Zara Norman
Sports desk. Josiah Gray Still Wants to Help the Nats. Maybe Even This Year. By Jesse Dougherty
NOTUS PERSPECTIVES
Is Pennsylvania governor (and likely 2028 Democratic presidential candidate) Josh Shapiro actually good at governing? At NOTUS Perspectives, two local reporters chronicle his setbacks in Pennsylvania. Plus: The Reflecting Pool may have turned green, and the state fair may have been a dud, but Trump’s Garden of American Heroes is a great idea, argues Ben Jacobs.
NEW ON NOTUS
Clocking the daylight saving time effort in the Senate. “It’s got a lot of opposition,” Majority Leader John Thune told NOTUS’ Al Weaver. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) has pledged to stand in the way of this idea for as long as time itself.
That’s a stark outlook compared to the House. Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-Tennessee) played the Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun” as he presided over the floor during the chamber’s vote to make daylight saving time permanent last week. The bill passed 308-117.
But the cynicism in the House is palpable when it comes to the Senate. Members have seen their colleagues on the other side of the Capitol squash too many of their legislative dreams to predict when Americans won’t have to change their clocks twice a year. “They’ve all gone to the Sizzler for the early-bird special. They wanted to get to the fondue bar. So I don’t know,” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tennessee) told Manuela of when a bill could pass.
More: Trump’s Election-Tampering Claims Fall Flat, Including With Republicans, by Angie Orellana Hernandez
Ralph Norman Announces Campaign to Fill Lindsey Graham’s Vacant Seat, by Angie Orellana Hernandez
NOT US
- Inside Trump’s Rush Job to Build His Arch, by Janay Kingsberry for The Atlantic
- The U.S. Saw an Investment Boom in Venezuela. Now It’s a $37 Billion Problem. By Kejal Vyas and Ryan Dubé for The Wall Street Journal
- Judges Ask Congress for Power to Fix Crumbling Courthouses, by Mattathias Schwartz for The New York Times
WEEK AHEAD
Today
Andy Burnham is expected to take over as U.K. prime minister.
Tuesday
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair John Caine and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins appear at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on the reconciliation budget plan.
House Oversight subcommittee hearing on the Smithsonian’s presentation of American history.
Filing opens for the South Carolina special Republican primary.
Wednesday
House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on Delaney Hall ICE detention facility.
U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Thursday
House’s scheduled final day in session before August recess.
Trump hosts the LA Dodgers, last year’s World Series champions.
Brian Johnson’s confirmation hearing to be chair of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau before the Senate Banking Committee.
Candidates vying to replace Graham Platner in Maine participate in a televised debate.
Friday
Trump’s 10% global tariffs are due to expire.
Rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Saturday
Maine Democratic Party hosts a nominating convention to replace Platner on the ballot.
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The newsletter was produced by Thomas Burr and Nikie Johnson. Photo by Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP.
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