“Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that the U.S. is expecting a response on Friday from Iran on the proposal to end the war,” CNBC reports.
Said Rubio: “We should know something today… We’re expecting a response from them.”
He added: “We’ll see what the response entails. The hope is it’s something that can put us into a serious process in negotiation.”
Wall Street Journal: “The U.S. job market blew past expectations again in April, buoyed by gains across industries including retail, transportation and warehousing, and healthcare.”
“The U.S. added 115,000 jobs in April, the Labor Department said Friday, far exceeding expectations.”
President Trump spoke to reporters:
REPORTER: Have you been briefed on the hantavirus?
TRUMP: Yes I have.
REPORTER: What have you learned?
TRUMP: Ahhh — it’s very much we hope under control.
REPORTER: Should Americans be concerned it’s going to spread? TRUMP: I hope not. We’ll do the best we can.
Bloomberg: “The map of English councils was lighting up in a murky gray on Friday morning, as more and more town halls returned a divided composition that spells future budget paralysis.”
“Of the 46 councils already declared, half had no overall control — up six on the last time these areas were fought, and more than the number that declared for any single party.”
CNN: “California Democratic leaders have shifted their strategy to prevent their party from being locked out of the governor’s race: Instead of thinking about consolidating the field, they have turned to behind-the-scenes operations and political spending aimed at tamping down Republicans and building up Democratic turnout.”
“That is letting officials like term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi avoid picking from a field of off-and-on political allies while also saving them from embarrassment if their pick doesn’t win.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that he took responsibility for large Labour Party losses in early results from Thursday’s elections, saying that he would “not sugarcoat” voters’ scathing verdict on his 22 months in office, the New York Times reports.
“Rep. Thomas Massie’s lead in his primary later this month is slipping and he is in genuine danger of losing his Kentucky seat,” NOTUS reports.
“Massie — best known for his defiance of President Donald Trump and advocacy for the release of files associated with notorious sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein — is believed to still have a small edge in his race against military veteran Ed Gallrein… But his lead is shrinking under an onslaught of negative ads and steadfast opposition from a bloc of older Republicans who remain fiercely loyal to the president.”
“FBI Director Kash Patel ordered the polygraphing of more than two dozen former and current members of his security detail, as well as other staff, and has been described as being in panic mode to save his job and find leakers among his team,” MS NOW reports.
Playbook: “The White House is riding a high this week after President Donald Trump‘s retribution campaign in Indiana gave red-state lawmakers a bloody reminder of his iron grip on the party. But Republicans are publicly and privately fretting about their case for keeping power in November.”
“That’s raising questions like: Has traditional battleground barnstorming by the president been replaced by backroom arm-twisting for more favorable maps?”
“For as much as Trump appears focused at times on keeping the House and fending off a third impeachment and wave of subpoenas, it’s less clear how he plans to win that case outright at the ballot box. While he’s made a handful of trips to get in front of voters, including to Las Vegas last month to play up his ‘no tax on tips’ policy, such trips appear to have fallen off the schedule as the president’s attention shifts elsewhere.”
Punchbowl News: “The White House’s $1 billion request to secure President Donald Trump’s new ballroom is getting a very frosty reception on Capitol Hill, casting doubt on whether GOP leaders can keep it in the upcoming immigration reconciliation package.”
“Several House and Senate Republicans are privately raising alarms about the money and the political pitfalls of funding anything related to Trump’s controversial ballroom, even as the White House, administration officials and GOP leaders insist the $1 billion is only for security.”
“Some of these skeptical Republicans feel the ballroom project is just too politically toxic right now, especially when Trump said for so long that it would be paid for by private funds.”
“Republicans facing a grueling midterm outlook see passing a sweeping package of party priorities as their best chance to win over voters, but it won’t be easy,” Politico reports.
“In recent weeks momentum has grown for a third party-line bill Republicans can pass without Democratic support. Last year’s success enacting President Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ and progress this spring on immigration enforcement spending legislation has raised expectations that a third bite at the apple may be possible in the lead up to November.”
“Lawmakers are now assembling a grab-bag style wishlist for reconciliation 3.0, ranging from affordable housing measures to a fraud crackdown to Iran war funding. But intraparty debates could easily derail the delicate budget process, especially with razor-thin majorities in both chambers.”
NPR: “For this campaign staffer, the method was simple. First, they’d receive a tip on an unreleased poll and compare it with the odds on a prediction market, like PredictIt or Polymarket. If the poll reported their candidate had a better chance of winning than the prediction markets, they’d use this edge to buy low-cost odds on their candidate — known as event contracts — before the poll was released.”
“On prediction markets, the price of an event contract often mirrors the market’s estimation of the probability of a given outcome — in this case the chance a candidate will win. So a contract selling for 20 cents means the market is pricing a 20% chance of success.”
“Once the poll went public, the prediction market contracts shot up in value. The staffer would then sell their contracts at a higher price and make money.”
“President Donald Trump has said he will give the European Union until July 4 to ratify its trade agreement with the U.S.,’threatening to raise tariffs to ‘much higher” levels if the 27-nation bloc fails to do so,” CNBC reports.
“A federal judge ruled Thursday that the U.S. DOGE Service did not have the authority to cancel National Endowment for the Humanities grants, which made up more than $100 million in congressionally appropriated funds,” the Washington Post reports.
Washington Post: “The growing media buzz surrounding Rubio comes as Vance has sought to carve out his own higher-profile portfolio in recent weeks. He led the U.S. negotiations with Iran in Islamabad, Pakistan, last month — as Rubio kept his distance — that ultimately did not result in a deal. And he is leading a new task force to root out fraud in federal benefits.”
“Vance leads in early polls of the potential 2028 GOP field, but his overall approval ratings have fallen alongside Trump’s as most Americans disapprove of the president’s handling of the Iran war and the economy.”
New York Times: “The U.S. government learned last week that it may have reached an unfortunate milestone: The size of its debt surpassed the nation’s total economic output.”
“It was a striking imbalance, according to early estimates, one that the country has experienced only in rare circumstances — briefly during the pandemic, and in the aftermath of World War II. But the development barely seemed to register in the nation’s capital, where few policymakers bothered to acknowledge the latest warning sign about the government’s poor fiscal health.”
CNN: “Students attempting to access grades, study materials and quizzes were met instead with a message from a hacking group on Thursday.”
“Universities and school systems across the country, from local school districts to Georgetown University to the University of Oklahoma, reported a ransom note on the homepage of their schools’ Canvas sites. Canvas is a popular, cloud-based digital hub for classrooms.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.