Today’s notice: What did we learn from the Todd Blanche saga? What to watch for in Michigan tonight. Trump gives Iran another one last chance. And: A deep dive into how politicians make money investing donor money.
THE LATEST
YOLO no mo’. Did we all overhype the vision of a swashbuckling crew of wronged Republican senators out for revenge against Donald Trump? Sens. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) finally agreed to advance acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s nomination for the permanent job on the wings of what NOTUS’ Derek Hawkins reports is an all-but-toothless promise to unwind the $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” deal Trump struck with the DOJ. It was less YOLO and more YOFET (You Only Fold Every Time).
That comes after Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), the chair of the Senate health committee Trump eagerly bumped from reelection, voted last week to advance the president’s nominees to run the CDC and HHS’s disaster and public-health-crisis response office despite expressing strong reservations about both. Like Tillis and Cornyn, Cassidy eventually said he trusted the nominees to do the right thing, and voted for them. “You can’t have perfection,” he said.
Trending
The key difference between how these senators treated controversial nominees before Trump squashed their careers and after is tone. The president got his nominees past the senators with some light grumbling before, and stronger grumbling after. But he got them through.
“I think we did the best we could,” Cornyn told NOTUS’ Igor Bobic when asked about the deal he cut with Blanche to earn his support. But not everyone seems to agree. NOTUS’ Al Weaver reports that a couple of Republicans who have voted against controversial Trump 2.0 nominees before — Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine — said they were still not totally ready to sign on to the Blanche confirmation vote. But there are also signs they might not stand in the way for long, either. Murkowski called the deal Tillis and Cornyn cut a “pretty good step.”
Open tabs: The 2026 Midterms: Primary Turnout Trends as of July (Bipartisan Policy Center); A federal judge lets DHS proceed with a border wall through a small Texas town’s levee system (AP); Author of Democrats’ 2024 Autopsy Releases ‘Missing’ Chapter (NOTUS); Manufacturing survey shows inflation worries ‘worse than pandemic era,’ adding to Fed pressure (CNBC)
From Michigan
Sound smart watching the Michigan Democratic Senate primary tonight. The thing to keep an eye on, from NOTUS’ Alex Roarty: turnout. One independent analysis of tonight’s vote, shared with Alex, predicted 1.6 million people would vote in the primary. If the number trends higher, that portends well for progressive Abdul El-Sayed, who polls best with people who don’t regularly vote. If fewer people turn out, however, that’s good news for establishment candidate Haley Stevens.
B-plot to watch: The 13th Congressional District, which includes a sizable chunk of Detroit and some of its suburbs. Rep. Shri Thanedar is the incumbent Democrat, and party-aligned groups that have wanted to dislodge him for some time now think they have the person to do it in democratic socialist state lawmaker Donavan McKinney. NOTUS’ Christa Dutton explores a side of this race that doesn’t get as much attention: the personality part. Many people in Washington see Thanedar as kind of an odd guy, and have not rallied to his cause like they have other Democrats under pressure from the left. Thanedar will tell you this is a real thing, but also shrugs it off. “It’s not like a high school,” he told Christa. “I’m not trying to be the most popular member of Congress.”
From South Carolina
The new Sen. Graham out-MAGAs the last one. That was the main takeaway from last night’s South Carolina Republican Senate primary debate, where Sen. Darline Graham faced four candidates hoping to take the seat she was appointed to after her brother passed. Graham mentioned Trump had endorsed her in her opening remarks, and proceeded to make it impossible for any candidate on stage to be closer to the president than she was.
“I am all for getting rid of the filibuster — this is where I differ from my brother — because eventually the Democrats are going to get rid of it anyway,” Graham said during a conversation about the SAVE America Act.
The only candidate offering any kind of alternative was Mark Sanford, the former governor and congressman. He offered the lone MAGA-skeptical commentary on stage, dinging the president on spending and the war in Iran, but said he also supports the SAVE Act and pointed out he voted with Trump “90% of the time” when he was in Congress.
From the White House
Yet another last chance for Iran. From an Oval Office Q&A yesterday:
Reporter: Mr. President, this is at least the fifth time you’ve called off airstrikes against Iran since April to negotiate. What is your message to the American people who are wondering what has changed this time? Why should it be any different?
Trump: Well, you don’t know. I don’t know. I think we’re maybe going to get something, but I want to give them every last chance before decapitation.
NOTUS PERSPECTIVES
With Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis agreeing to support Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general, Matt K. Lewis asks: What is wrong with Republicans?
NOTUS METRO
Sign up for our local newsletter, written by Martin Austermuhle and Zara Norman.
Local news: Montgomery County Approved New School Boundaries. Parents Won’t Let It End There. By Jeff Barker
What $800K Gets You in D.C., Maryland and Virginia Real Estate, by Torrie Herrington
NEW ON NOTUS
Following the money: campaign cash investments. Former House Speaker Tom Foley died in 2013 but his campaign account remains active, yielding a small profit this year from investments. Many campaigns invest funds and earn returns, which is legal and nets large fees for investment advisers. But the process is opaque, and it can be difficult to discern exactly what’s going on. NOTUS’ Mark Alfred takes a dive into the records for a detailed read on how this works, what kind of money these campaigns are making and the potential questions about conflicts of interest the practice raises.
More: Trump Says Jeanine Pirro ‘Choked’ in Dropping Reflecting Pool Prosecution, by Jenna Monnin
States Warn Supreme Court That Trump’s Mail-In Voting Order Would Create Chaos, by Adora Brown
Ethics Committee Recommends Censure for Rep. Chuck Edwards Over ‘Inappropriate Conduct,’ by Jenna Monnin
NOT US
- This GOP lawmaker has defied Trump 3 times — but the president doesn’t seem to mind, by Annie Grayer for CNN
- How Democratic Socialists Are Wrestling With Their Next Moves, by Kellen Browning for The New York Times
- Republicans want to talk about James Talarico’s manhood. Talarico says let them. By Calen Razor for Politico
- How Does the Qatar-Donated Air Force One Compare With Other Presidential Jets? By Marcus Weisgerber, Andrew Tangel and Jemal R. Brinson for The Wall Street Journal
BE SOCIAL
Not us.
https://x.com/swlittauer/status/2084285984015798498
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The newsletter was produced by Thomas Burr, Brett Bachman and Andrew Burton. Photo by Allison Robbert/AP.
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