Become a member. Already a member? Log in.
“Gov. Janet Mills’ supporters publicly insist she can still win Maine’s Senate seat. But quietly, many of them in both Maine and Washington say she’s running out of time to defeat Graham Platner in the primary,” NOTUS reports.
Said one Democratic official: “In the last week, for a lot of people, the perception of her race has really changed. I just think her negative ads don’t feel like they’re working.”
“Elon Musk was ubiquitous in Washington last spring, wielding unprecedented power helping the Trump administration reshape and, in some cases, dismantle federal agencies across the government,” CNN reports.
“But now, his legal adversaries can’t find him to answer questions under oath about the role he played at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency in the first months of President Donald Trump’s administration.”
“The Trump administration’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency has referred allegations of Rep. Eric Swalwell illegally employing a Brazilian nanny several years ago to law enforcement officials at the Department of Homeland Security for investigation,” Politico reports.
A new Yale Youth Poll finds 57% of all voters disapprove of Donald Trump’s job performance as president, including 68% of voters aged 18-22 and 72% of voters aged 23-29.
Compared to the fall 2025 poll, Trump has lost the most ground with women under 35 and men under 30.
“Oil prices jumped over 7% to well over $100 per barrel when markets opened Sunday evening and remained high into Monday,” Axios reports.
“The latest surge shows that traders don’t see last week’s U.S.-Iran ceasefire deal reviving large-scale tanker transit through the Strait of Hormuz — and it undoes a large amount of the price drop that followed the pause in hostilities.”
“Pope Leo vowed to carry on speaking out against war after President Trump launched an extraordinary tirade against the pontiff on social media,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Said Leo: “I will not shy away from announcing the message of the gospel and inviting all people to look for ways of building bridges of peace and reconciliation. The message of the gospel is very clear: Blessed are the peacemakers.”
He added: “I have no fear of the Trump administration.”
“Iran said no port in the Persian Gulf or the Sea of Oman would be safe if its ports are threatened, after President Trump confirmed that a U.S. blockade on ships entering or exiting Iranian ports would take effect at 10 a.m. ET Monday,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Mary Peltola (D) “raked in nearly $9 million across her authorized committees over the first three months of the year, a staggering sum for Alaska that reflects how critical national Democrats believe the race is to their chances of retaking the Senate majority,” Politico reports.
“Peltola’s $8.9 million haul represents the largest first-quarter raise of any Senate candidate in the state’s history.”
Cook Political Report: “With an increasingly sour national environment for Republicans, the Senate battlefield is shifting in Democrats’ favor. But due to the difficulty of the map, winning back a majority still remains a tall order. The GOP remain the narrowing favorites to retain the upper chamber. However, that outlook could change in the coming months.”
“We are shifting four ratings, all in Democrats’ favor. Two seats move out of the Toss Up column to Lean Democrat — the open Republican seat in North Carolina, which represents a net pickup for Democrats, and Sen. Jon Ossoff’s seat in Georgia, where a messy GOP primary still reigns as the incumbent continues to stockpile cash.”
“Ohio, where even recent GOP polling has shown former Sen. Sherrod Brown in a statistical tie with appointed GOP Sen. Jon Husted, shifts from Lean Republican into the Toss Up column.”
“One seat moves from Solid Republican to the periphery of the battleground map into the Likely Republican column: Nebraska, where independent Dan Osborn is back again, this time challenging wealthy Sen. Pete Ricketts.”
President Trump lashed out at Pope Leo, calling him “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.”
“President Trump suggested on Sunday that elevated gasoline prices in the United States might not fall before the November midterm elections, a prediction that continued his mixed messaging and underscored potential political headwinds facing Republicans in the fall,” the New York Times reports.
“President Trump’s announcement that the U.S. military would blockade the Strait of Hormuz sets up a risky new showdown that could draw American forces into a prolonged struggle to control the strategic chokepoint while compounding the global economic damage caused by the conflict,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The blockade is set to begin Monday at 10 a.m. Eastern Time.”
CNBC: Oil prices surge above $100 as U.S. Navy to blockade Iran’s ports after peace talks fail.
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) is “suspending” his campaign for governor, he announced Sunday night.
Washington Post: “Swalwell’s abrupt exit from the California governor’s race marks a remarkable downfall for the longtime congressman, who was considered a leading candidate. The fallout from reports of sexual assault and misconduct continued Sunday, as pressure mounted for Swalwell to also vacate his congressional seat.”
Tucker Carlson told the BBC that President Trump’s Iran war “the single biggest mistake” by an American president in his lifetime.
“We want a full house cleaning. Get the garbage out of here. These jerks are destroying Congress, for the American people and for all of us who came here to do good work.”
— A House Democrat, quoted by Axios, exasperated with recent ethics and sex scandals by lawmakers of both parties.
“Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) is facing growing pressure to vacate his congressional seat — on top of calls to drop out of the California gubernatorial race — over reports that a former staffer accused him of sexual assault and multiple others alleged sexual misconduct,” the Washington Post reports.
Axios: Swalwell loses all 21 of his endorsements from Democratic colleagues.
“The UK will not take part in the proposed US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, setting up yet another point of contention between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Keir Starmer over the conflict in Iran,” Bloomberg reports.
“Venezuela’s main opposition coalition said on Sunday it is unified behind María Corina Machado as a candidate for the next presidential election and outlined conditions for a political transition in the country,” Bloomberg reports.
“The bloc, made up of all opposition parties and known as the Democratic Unitary Platform, presented a road map that includes the need for a negotiated process to enable free and competitive elections for a transfer of power.”
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.
“There are a lot of blogs and news sites claiming to understand politics, but only a few actually do. Political Wire is one of them.”
— Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press”
“Concise. Relevant. To the point. Political Wire is the first site I check when I’m looking for the latest political nugget. That pretty much says it all.”
— Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report
“Political Wire is one of only four or five sites that I check every day and sometimes several times a day, for the latest political news and developments.”
— Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report
“The big news, delicious tidbits, pearls of wisdom — nicely packaged, constantly updated… What political junkie could ask for more?”
— Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia
“Political Wire is a great, great site.”
— Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”
“Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don’t want to kick.”
— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post
“Political Wire is one of the absolute must-read sites in the blogosphere.”
— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit
“I rely on Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire for straight, fair political news, he gets right to the point. It’s an eagerly anticipated part of my news reading.”
— Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.