The Trump administration and senators have reached a deal to rescind a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced.
Govs. Kevin Stitt, R-Okla., and Wes Moore, D-Md., on Friday blamed partisan primaries for making politics more extreme and called for bringing back “dignity” in politics and government.
Asked whether dignity is a quality that could win a presidential election, Stitt told “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker, “I would think so.” They were speaking during a moderated conversation with Moore and Tim Shriver at the National Governors Association summer meeting in Oklahoma City.
“I think the pendulum is swinging,” the Oklahoma governor added. “Of course, you get to the general election, it wins. But the problem is, you got to get through the primaries.”
Stitt argued that the most extreme candidate in a partisan primary is the one who tends to win, using himself and Moore as examples.
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Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte announced on X over the weekend that he will transition out of the office today, making room for newly confirmed intelligence chief Jay Clayton to take over.
“I have offered Jay my complete and total support as he transitions to take over this incredible agency!” Pulte wrote.
Pulte and Clayton attended last week’s Cabinet meeting at Camp David. Pulte was also listed on the Air Force One manifest for the president’s travel to Bedminster, New Jersey, on Friday.
Clayton was confirmed by the Senate last week.
Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., announced this morning that they will support Blanche’s nomination to be attorney general after Blanche announced he would formally scrap the administration’s proposed “anti-weaponization” fund.
The senators, who had held up Blanche’s nomination, said they had been clear with the administration that they needed a written document addressing their concerns about the fund and the scope of tax immunity granted to Trump and his family business as part of an IRS settlement over the leak of his tax records several years ago.
“We are pleased that the Department of Justice has issued a formal order terminating the anti-weaponization fund,” the senators’ joint statement said. “Additionally, the Department has acknowledged in a binding written order that the audit settlement is limited to the plaintiffs and the scope does not extend beyond the defendants in the lawsuit, the IRS and the Treasury, addressing concerns that multiple of our Republican colleagues share.”
“We want to express our gratitude to Mr. Blanche and his staff for working with us on this, and we look forward to voting to advance his nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee soon,” they added.
The panel is expected to vote at 9 a.m. tomorrow on advancing Blanche’s nomination. The Senate is expected to vote by the end of this week to confirm him.
Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, said yesterday on X that his former son-in-law Rep. Max Miller “needs to seek professional help” and should not serve in Congress following domestic abuse allegations made by Miller’s ex-wife, Emily Moreno, the senator’s daughter.
“Out of concern for the safety of my family, I hoped to keep this matter private but Max Miller’s increasingly erratic and dangerous behavior has made that impossible,” Moreno said in a lengthy post to X, the first time he has discussed his daughter’s divorce and the allegations against Miller in depth.
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Israel says it has shared concerns with the United States about the proposed disarmament deal with Hamas, raising new doubts about the agreement touted by Trump.
“Israel has conveyed its comments and concerns on the proposed framework to our American counterparts. The version that has been made public does not reflect Israel’s position,” Doron Spielman, a spokesperson for Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, said in comments the office sent to NBC News.
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Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries following a hit-and-run car crash yesterday morning, representatives for the Toledo Police Department and her congressional office confirmed to NBC News.
“This morning Congresswoman Kaptur was a passenger in a vehicle on her way to a church service when the car she was traveling in was struck. She is active, alert, and being treated for non-life threatening injuries,” Ben Kamens, a spokesperson for Kaptur, said in a statement.
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Senators have released the text of a stopgap spending bill that would keep the government funded at current levels through Dec. 11, which lawmakers hope to pass before funding runs out at the end of September.
The Senate plans to take up the bill this coming week before it leaves for a monthlong August recess, with the first procedural vote scheduled for Monday at 5:30 p.m. But even if the Senate passes the bill this week, the House is not set to return until Aug. 31, so this process won’t be over until September.
Both Republicans and Democrats lauded the bill’s release, with Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Susan Collins, R-Maine, calling the bill “straightforward.”
“This measure gives Congress the time we need to continue our work on bipartisan appropriations bills, which are always my strong preference for handling annual government funding,” Collins said in a statement, “I am grateful for the work of my colleagues; this CR is a major step toward averting a damaging shutdown that only harms vital programs and federal workers.”
Democrats say the stopgap measure would temporarily block a proposed Office of Management and Budget rule that would allow Trump officials to cancel grants for any reason, which they argue would politicize federal funding.
The Senate Appropriations Committee ranking member, Patty Murray, D-Wash., said Republicans prevented the proposed rule from being killed outright as a part of this bill. Murray said in a statement, “I’m going to keep fighting to put a stop to it once and for all, and I will keep pressing my Republican colleagues to do exactly that.”
In a new TV ad out today, Iowa state Auditor Rob Sand, the Democratic nominee for governor, is pitching himself as a “genuine” leader and centrist.
The ad features a lifelong Republican who is supporting Sand’s campaign and tells viewers, “I worked a county fair booth for the Republican committee. Those things that the Republican party talks about, yeah, I actually believe in all of them. But the extremes on the left and the right are just souring everybody’s attitude.”
The man, named Mace, adds that Sand “is going to rally this entire state,” and is as “genuine as the day is long.”
The TV ad is the latest salvo in a governor’s race viewed as one of Democrats’ top pick-up opportunities in this year’s midterm elections. Sand, Iowa’s lone statewide elected Democrat, is running against political operative and farmer Zach Lahn. Gov. Kim Reynolds, R-Iowa, decided not to seek another term.
Republican former Rep. Kay Granger of Texas has died, lawmakers announced Sunday.
Granger, who served on Capitol Hill for 28 years and chaired the House Appropriations Committee, was 83.
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After a weekslong standoff between senators and the Trump administration, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced last night that the parties had reached a deal and that had he issued an order “officially” rescinding a $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund.
“My team and I have met with committee members and Senators over the past several weeks and addressed any concerns or outstanding questions,” Blanche wrote on X. “We have enjoyed good faith discussions, and as a result issue the following order and update with regard to the May IRS settlement. The Department always welcomes and appreciates productive engagement with all members of Congress.”
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The United States and Iran will hold new talks this afternoon, Trump said, after announcing he called off intense new strikes to allow for a deal on the Strait of Hormuz and Tehran’s nuclear program.
Trump said earlier that he agreed to call off the attacks amid what he said were the “perimeters of a deal” that would include resuming shipping through the key global trade route.
Iran said today it was not currently holding talks with the U.S. but was in discussions with Oman over a temporary safe route through the strait.
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