“Ukraine’s military will organize a new force tasked with making incursions deep in Russian territory to degrade Moscow’s fighting capabilities, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Friday night,” Politico reports.
”The unit will have a ‘long-range, effectively global, impact on Russia,’ the Ukrainian leader said in his nightly address.”
New York Post: Sen. Lindsey Graham toured top secret Ukrainian “Skyfall” drone factory days before his death.
“Lindsey Graham’s death is poised to upend the Senate, where the GOP majority was already tight and the four-term South Carolina Republican loomed large in several immediate policy fights ahead of the midterms — putting the fate of multiple legislative priorities into question,” Politico reports.
“Graham — who died of a ‘brief and sudden illness’ Saturday, according to his office — chaired the Budget Committee, which has been facing pressure from President Donald Trump to advance a new party-line spending package including a major boost in defense funding. He was also a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, which has been working to land a deal to avert a government shutdown at the end of September.”
“Just five days before his death, late Sen. Lindsey Graham defiantly scoffed at images of Iranians parading around with a poster of a bullseye on his head,” the New York Post reports.
“Soon after troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Western leaders expelled hundreds of Russian spies from their capitals and blacklisted companies with ties to the Kremlin,” the New York Times reports.
“The coordinated effort was intended to make it harder for the Kremlin to collect intelligence and buy equipment like microchips, transmitters and the machinery used to make weapons.”
“Since then, officials say, dozens of those banished spies have turned up in an unexpected place: Japan.”
“The country’s weak espionage laws and flourishing high-tech industry have made it a crucial piece of the Russian war effort. Ninety percent of Russian missiles and drones contain Japanese components, according to Ukrainian government estimates.”
“Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) is the first in what could be a crowded field of candidates expressing interest in the now-open Senate seat after Sen Lindsey Graham died suddenly over the weekend,” CNBC reports.
“Graham was seeking reelection at the time of his death and was due to square off against Democrat Annie Andrews in the general election this November, in a race the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter had labeled ‘Solid R.'”
“A person familiar with Mace’s thinking, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said she is ‘strongly considering’ running for the seat and would be out with polling on Monday.”
Axios: Nancy Mace eyes run for Lindsey Graham’s Senate seat.
New York Times: “There are a multitude of reasons for the Democratic Socialists of America’s expanding reach in blue states like New York: dissatisfaction with the status quo, anger over Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, concern about the growing affordability crisis.”
“But what became clear during the June primaries is that those sources of friction have weighed heaviest among the younger voters driving the D.S.A.’s success at the polls.”
“The striking prominence of red flags — a Shiite Muslim symbol for vengeance — among the sea of mourners attending the weeklong funeral of Iran’s late supreme leader was considered a none-too-subtle statement that the country should continue the war with the United States,” the New York Times reports.
“That is a demand of the ultra-hard-liners in the Islamic Republic, who want to maintain its 47-year confrontation with Washington. Analysts saw the flags as a telling example of the jockeying for position amid the newly fluid politics in Iran, ever since the war launched by the United States and Israel in February ushered in political uncertainty in Tehran by decapitating the leadership.”
“President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he had ‘just finished’ a physical at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, referring to the medical examination he underwent in late May after which the White House said he was in excellent health,” Reuters reports.
Said Trump: “I just finished a perfect physical at Walter Reed, I do it every six months, and I requested another Cognitive Test, the only President to do so, three times, and I aced them all — Got every question right.”
“Key U.S. weapons stockpiles remain significantly depleted and will come under even more intense pressure if strikes against Iran continue at the current rate, as President Donald Trump reiterated Friday that the ceasefire in the conflict is ‘over,'” CNN reports.
“The situation with armaments could impact the American military’s ability to fight a potential future war with China or even North Korea.”
“President Donald Trump marked the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding on July Fourth with a speech touting a roaring stock market, urging election reforms, and hailing military interventions in Venezuela and Iran,” CNN reports.
“But another anniversary went conspicuously unmarked: the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law by Trump exactly one year earlier.”
President Trump’s statement:
“Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known, is dead! He was always working, and was a true American Patriot. Lindsey will be greatly missed!!! DETAILS AND ARRANGEMENTS TO FOLLOW. So sad!”
“President Vladimir V. Putin is in his fifth year of trying to bomb a smaller country into submission. President Trump tried to pull the plug after six weeks, only to be drawn back in,” the New York Times reports.
“Neither man has come close to achieving his goals. But the contrast between the relentless killing by Mr. Putin’s Russia in Ukraine and Mr. Trump’s on-and-off bombing in Iran is the story of two leaders of major powers struggling to find their ways out of wars of choice.”
“Mr. Putin’s ground invasion of a neighboring democracy and Mr. Trump’s air war on a Middle East theocracy are difficult to compare, and each leader appears convinced that his war is just while the other’s is wrong. But the two conflicts intersect in numerous ways in global geopolitics, from energy markets and air-defense supplies to the diplomatic bandwidth of White House envoys.”
“Fighting between the U.S. and Iran intensified overnight, with the American military hitting a wide range of new targets and Tehran claiming it had launched attacks on several of Washington’s allies in the region,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The skirmishes represented a higher level of military activity between the two foes since a ceasefire went into effect last month and raised hopes of a lasting peace deal. President Trump declared the ceasefire over last week after Iran fired on ships heading through the Strait of Hormuz.”
“Now the two sides are locked in a stalemate over the strait, a waterway through which 20% of the world’s oil flowed before Iran effectively shut it down during the war. Trump administration officials have grown pessimistic about ongoing negotiations with Tehran and frustrated about Iran’s continued attacks on Hormuz shipping.”
Wall Street Journal: “Emergency personnel responded to a medical emergency for a person suffering from cardiac arrest at Graham’s address on Capitol Hill on Saturday evening, according to a recording of police scanner traffic.”
Punchbowl News: “South Carolina law mandates that GOP Gov. Henry McMaster name a replacement senator who can serve out the rest of Graham’s current term this year.”
“But Graham was also up for reelection in November. Republicans will have to hold a primary at some point later this summer to replace Graham on the ballot. Graham was set to face Democrat Annie Andrews in the general election, where he was overwhelmingly favored to win in deep-red South Carolina.”
“Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), 78, and the longest serving Republican in the state, is interested in the interim appointment and would run for a full term. His son, Alan Wilson, is on a path to become governor this November.”
“In truth, the competition for Graham’s seat will be vibrant. South Carolina is a state that gave Trump 58% of the vote. Any Republican who wins the primary can win a full term in the Senate in a very short race.”
“Lindsey Graham, a longtime Republican senator from South Carolina, died suddenly on Saturday night,” the Washington Post reports.
”Graham, a leading GOP foreign policy voice, was running for reelection this year. He had been a staunch ally of President Donald Trump on most matters but had broken with the president on some issues.”
”Graham’s death narrows Republicans’ majority in the Senate, where they had held a 53-47 edge. Under South Carolina law, the state’s Republican governor can make an immediate appointment to fill Graham’s seat for the remainder of his term, which expires in January.”
Mediaite: “Lindsey Graham… is dead!” Trump marks death of Republican senator.
“The U.S. military on Saturday said it had launched strikes on Iran after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps hit a ship attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz,” the Washington Post reports.
”The announcement came as Tehran declared the vital waterway closed once again and claimed that it had fired a warning shot on a vessel attempting to cross what it deemed to be an unapproved route.”
Bloomberg: Iran declares Strait of Hormuz closed until further notice.
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.
