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Aaron Blake: “Including the period before the ceasefire, he’s done it at least 37 times. That’s the number of times he’s said directly — in social media posts, public appearances and phone calls with the media — that a deal was nigh or claimed Iran was desperate to cut one.”
“There’s no indication that’s any more true today than it was back on April 7. But Trump keeps saying it, either because he’s delusional, trying to calm the financial markets or thinking he can will it into existence.”
Politico: “NASA has begun quietly lobbying Congress for a major cash infusion — perhaps as much as several billion dollars — as the agency pushes to meet President Donald Trump’s ambitious order to land astronauts on the moon in 2028.”
“The exact details of the request are in flux and the discussions are still preliminary, according to two congressional staffers and one industry representative. But the agency needs the money to pay for redesigning a moon landing spacecraft, and after a disastrous explosion on Blue Origin’s launchpad in Cape Canaveral jeopardized key lunar missions.”
“Top Senate Republicans and the Trump administration are aiming to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general by the end of the summer,” Punchbowl News reports.
“That’s the quickest timeline possible for Blanche, the acting attorney general and President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer. It also means the fight over Blanche’s nomination is a battle Senate Republicans will have to fight — and soon.”
Punchbowl News: “After President Donald Trump derailed congressional efforts to reauthorize FISA Section 702 by appointing an inexperienced political ally as his acting intelligence chief, Republican leaders are making clear that it’s up to the White House to resolve a crisis of its own making.”
“If that sounds familiar, it’s exactly how GOP leaders reacted when the Justice Department’s creation of an “anti-weaponization” fund delayed Senate passage of an ICE-and-CBP reconciliation bill for more than two weeks — and forced vulnerable Republican senators to take tough votes.”
“Now we’re once again just days away from the expiration of Section 702 authority, a controversial warrantless surveillance program targeting foreigners abroad. House and Senate GOP leaders appear completely in the dark about what the White House plans to do to get the bipartisan three-year 702 reauthorization back on track.”
New York Times: “It would have seemed hard to imagine a few months ago that residents of Ashton-in-Makerfield, a former coal mining town in the north of England, might play a central role in toppling Britain’s prime minister.”
“Yet that possibility was on just about everyone’s mind last week at the town’s main coffee shop, down the road from a sports club where Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, had set up campaign headquarters for his shot at a seat in Parliament.”
“If he wins a June 18 special election, Mr. Burnham is expected to challenge Prime Minister Keir Starmer for the leadership of the governing Labour Party and the country. Mr. Starmer is so unpopular that many of the town’s residents believe Mr. Burnham would have little trouble defeating him in an intraparty contest, which would also transfer control of Downing Street.”
Washington Post: “The Defense Department on Monday edited its new list of religious ‘codes’ for service members so that no group is labeled ‘Christian’ — drawing praise from Mormon lawmakers who were angered last week when their faith was categorized as outside of Christianity.”
Politico: “The Republican Study Committee convened a meeting Monday evening with CBO Director Phillip Swagel and Tom Barthold, chief of staff for the Joint Committee on Taxation, to discuss the process for estimating program costs and savings as part of a possible third budget reconciliation bill.”
New York Times: “President Trump has defined his career in politics with displays of dominance and control. But in the Middle East, he faces a rolling crisis that keeps thwarting those impulses.”
“One hundred days after starting the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran on Feb. 28, Mr. Trump is grappling with his own version of the sort of Middle East military quagmire that beset his predecessors — and that he promised to avoid.”
Wall Street Journal: “The government of Lebanon is barely able to manage the basic requirements of statehood. It can provide electricity for only a few hours a day, and people avoid its flattened currency in favor of dollars. Its military is only the second-most-powerful force in the country after Hezbollah—or the third counting Israel, which has been expanding its monthslong occupation.”
“But it is now being pressed by the U.S., Israel and many of its own people toward a confrontation with Hezbollah that risks tilting the country into a new civil war.”
“If you were making a list of 1,000 adjectives to describe this guy, ‘masculine’ would not be one of them. I mean, if a stiff breeze came by it would blow him over like a feather.”
— Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), on Fox News, talking about U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico (D).
NOTUS: “Democrat Al Franken is sitting on a small political fortune — and he’s preparing to use it.”
“Franken, who federal records indicate has more than $1.4 million in leftover cash sitting in his old U.S. Senate campaign account, is ‘likely to convert’ that committee into a political action committee ‘in the near future,’ Al Franken for Senate Treasurer Thomas Borman wrote in a letter to federal regulators this week.”
Bloomberg: “President Donald Trump renewed his claims of momentum toward ending the conflict with Iran, after brokering a halt to hostilities between Israel and the Islamic Republic and easing tensions that had threatened to derail broader peace efforts.”
Said Trump: “We’re in the final throes of what will be a very, very good deal. We could have at least an idea one or two days from now.”
“A report on alcohol’s health effects, commissioned by the federal government but unreleased under President Trump, came out Tuesday — in a scientific journal,” Stat reports.
“The study finds even low levels of drinking may increase the risk of various diseases or even death.”
“The Alcohol Intake and Health Study began in 2023 and was run by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration as part of an update to the United States’ dietary guidelines. However, the panel’s work was quickly embroiled in controversy, with some members of Congress and alcohol industry trade groups alleging scientists on the project held an anti-alcohol bent.”
Axios: “Democrats are taking the fight over future House maps down ballot, with the super PAC Forward Majority planning to spend $30 million on two dozen state legislative races this year.”
“They’re betting that as few as eight statehouse races could help determine who controls redistricting for six U.S. House seats ahead of 2028.”
New York Times: “A U.S. Army Apache helicopter gunship went down near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, and the two crew members were safely rescued.”
“It was not immediately clear whether the Apache was shot down by Iranian fire, experienced mechanical failure or encountered some other problem”
“A lawyer who represented Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for nearly a decade over accusations of corruption and securities fraud is supporting Democrat James Talarico — and not his former client — in one of the biggest U.S. Senate races,” the Associated Press reports.
“Vice President JD Vance, who leads the White House anti-fraud task force, has referred allegations of complicity surrounding fraud in Minnesota, including against Democratic Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison, to the Department of Justice for criminal investigation,” CNN reports.
Rolling Stone: “New York was having a little too much fun celebrating the Knicks’ first NBA Finals appearance since 1999 — so Donald Trump had to crash the party.”
“The president threw Midtown Manhattan and Madison Square Garden into logistical chaos on Monday after announcing last week that he would be attending Game 3 of the Finals in person. During the singing of the National Anthem, Trump was loudly booed out by the fans in attendance.”
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.
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