New from me @notus.com: We just revealed the White House has been brainstorming with prosecutors and even *the postmaster general himself* on how to restrict mail-in ballots and enforce federal voter lists. The government hasn't admitted to that in court. www.notus.org/trump-white-...
The White House Is Meeting With DOJ, DHS and USPS About Creating Voter Lists
The timing of these discussions has the potential to affect two ongoing lawsuits brought by elections-rights advocates.
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Trump posted a fake quote from Sen. John Kennedy last night, which claimed that former President Obama was part of an illegal scheme to siphon off Obamacare money. “I didn't say that. I don't know the basis of it,” Kennedy told NOTUS. www.notus.org/donald-trump...
Trump Posted a Fake Quote Attributed to Sen. John Kennedy
“I didn't say that. I don't know the basis of it,” Kennedy told NOTUS of Trump’s Truth Social post.
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New: RFK Jr. has encouraged the CDC to study whether antidepressants “contribute to mass violence.” At an event hosted by the MAHA Institute, he unveiled a plan to reduce how often they’re prescribed. www.notus.org/health-scien...
RFK Jr. Unveils His Plan to Reduce Americans’ Reliance on Antidepressants
The department is encouraging clinicians to “de-prescribe” Medicare patients.
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Every election cycle, dozens of rich Americans spend millions trying to get themselves elected. They have an abysmal track record — but the candidates I spoke to insist it’s worth it to try. “This is God testing me, saying, ‘Put your money where your mouth is.’” www.notus.org/2026-electio...
They Can Buy a Superyacht. Can They Afford a Seat in Congress?
Some rich Americans spend millions trying to get themselves elected. Most of them fail.
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The Trump administration views DACA recipients as deportable as any undocumented immigrant. For my latest, I talked to immigrants without permanent legal status who entered the country as children and spent months in ICE detention. www.notus.org/immigration/...
ICE Is Detaining DACA Recipients. It's Growing Harder for Them to Get Out.
The Trump administration views DACA recipients as deportable as any undocumented immigrant.
notus.org
SCOOP: The Pentagon failed to warn ships carrying supplies for the US military before starting the war in Iran. The ships got stuck in the Persian Gulf. They’re still stuck. And for a month, they were stuck w/ a group of college students — merchant marine cadets.
U.S. Cadets Were Stuck in the Persian Gulf After Trump Bombed Iran
The Trump administration failed to warn vessels with close ties to the U.S. military ahead of the strikes, leaving them trapped in the region.
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Shocking news: This year's World Vaccine Congress had a Weird Vibe www.notus.org/health-scien...
The Vaccine Industry Is Troubleshooting Its Future Existence
Pharmaceutical executives are asking each other: How do they survive MAHA?
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DC’s hottest club among young politicos might not be where, or when, you’d expect They go to Scarlet Oak on Wednesday nights. And it’s not just the half-off wine that brings them there www.notus.org/republicans/...
Butterworth's Is for Bosses. MAGA's Next Generation Is Hanging Out at Scarlet Oak.
“If you want to feel like you're seen, and you're pushing the needle and you're ‘somebody,’ people go there to feel like that," said one Republican.
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“On the vaccine issue, I know we see things differently. I’m totally fine with putting that on the shelf and working on this together.’” New from me on how medical societies are collaborating (or not) with MAHA: www.notus.org/health-scien...
To Sue or to Woo? The Medical Establishment Is Divided on MAHA
Major medical societies are trying to figure out how to respond to Trump’s health agenda promoting healthy living alongside vaccine misinformation.
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scoop: The Trump administration gave ICE $465 million to buy ten planes for its deportation flights, including two gulfstream G650s more commonly used as private jets
ICE Plans to Expand Deportation Fleet With 10 New Airplanes
The Trump administration has given ICE $464.5 million to purchase eight Boeing 737s and two Gulfstream G650s, which are often used as private jets.
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Former North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn is attempting a political comeback — this time in an open House seat in Florida — but he shouldn’t expect any help from those in President Donald Trump’s orbit. www.notus.org/2026-electio...
‘No Way’: Trumpworld Won’t Help Madison Cawthorn Attempt a Political Comeback
The scandal-ridden former North Carolina lawmaker has launched a run for a House seat in Florida.
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Former national security officials and constitutional law experts warn that President Donald Trump’s directive on “domestic terrorism and organized political violence” could lead to government surveillance of people who simply disagree with him www.notus.org/policy/trump...
Trump’s Directive on ‘Organized Political Violence’ Could Lead to Increased Surveillance of His Critics
The president issued a directive that could make dissent riskier for people and nonprofits.
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To town hall or not at all is the question for Republicans this recess. As strategists urge caution, some are going ahead. Rep. Rich McCormick told me that since his earlier this year "got ambushed," his future ones will have "strict rules" and ID checks. www.notus.org/republicans/...
Republicans Try Work-Arounds to In-Person Town Halls
Back home, many of their constituents are eager to look lawmakers “in the face, eye to eye.”
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The 2 reporters did a short Q&A on their RFK/MAHA story, and it’s great! (Via a @notusreports.bsky.social email, h/t @ddiamond.bsky.social)
Some Republican lawmakers don't agree with Health Secretary RFK Jr.'s calls for states to stop fluoridating water. I talked to GOP former medical professionals in Congress — including four dentists, all of whom are House Republicans — about fluoride. www.notus.org/congress/con...
Three Out of Four of Congress’ Dentists Agree: Fluoride Should Stay in Drinking Water
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has called for states to remove fluoride from their water, claiming it’s dangerous despite evidence that it improves oral health outcomes. Some Republican medica...
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CDC officials “have been told very clearly to curtail some of their communications,” one state epidemiologist told me. “But in the meantime, us states aren’t going to just sit back and be at the mercy of this. We’re going to take it into our own hands.” www.notus.org/policy/bird-...
The Fight Against Bird Flu Is Bumping Up Against the Hazy Reality of the New CDC
State health departments are giving mixed signals on what they’ve heard from the Trump administration on H5N1, with some officials and experts concerned about a lack of communication.
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GOP leadership has repeatedly shot down proposals to let new parents in Congress vote remotely, but multiple House Republicans told us they see lawmakers vote on one another's behalf — which is, according to the House rules, still proxy voting w/ @byrdinator.bsky.social www.notus.org/house/republ...
House Republicans' Big Open Secret: They're Voting by 'Proxy' All the Time
GOP lawmakers told NOTUS it’s common for colleagues to hand each other their voting cards for convenience. "That's voting by proxy," Rep. Anna Paulina Luna said.
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Republican lawmakers are excited about Trump's prospects in his war against the "deep state," and they told me he's already making significant headway by firing career public servants. www.notus.org/house/house-...
House Republicans Celebrate Trump Firing Public Servants as a Win Against the ‘Deep State’
GOP lawmakers told NOTUS the president faces opposition within his own branch. But they are cheering on his success in forcing public servants out.
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WH press secretary Karoline Leavitt revealed in new campaign filings she hasn’t refunded business donations she wasn’t supposed to accept during her failed 2022 congressional campaign. The FEC has questioned the campaign at least 8 times about illegal donations. www.notus.org/whitehouse/w...
White House Press Secretary’s Campaign Took Illegal Donations From Businesses — And Hasn’t Returned the Money
“This stuff is campaign finance 101. You don’t take freebies,” one campaign finance expert told NOTUS.
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The Trump administration's OMB just said never mind about that Monday night memo, which could have frozen an unclear amount of federal fund disbursements and was temporarily blocked by a federal judge just minutes before taking effect Tuesday. www.notus.org/whitehouse/t...
Trump Administration Rescinds Freeze on Federal Aid
The temporary pause on federal grants and loans, which was halted by a federal judge before going into effect on Tuesday, caused widespread confusion across the country.
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As the White House spent Tuesday trying to walk back the scope of its memo freezing federal aid, many Republican senators said the panic was overblown — even ones representing states with budgets heavily reliant on federal funds. www.notus.org/policy/repub...
Republicans From States Reliant on Federal Funding Are Lining Up Behind Trump Aid Freeze
As states struggled to figure out the scale of the anticipated federal aid freeze, Republicans in Congress supported the Trump administration’s efforts to review federal aid disbursements.
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Yes, headlights are brighter. No, Congress isn’t doing anything about it. www.notus.org/congress/hea...
Yes, Headlights Are Brighter. No, Congress Isn’t Doing Anything About It.
An online organizing effort has raised overly bright headlights to members of Congress. But their advocacy hasn’t gained much momentum on Capitol Hill.
notus.org
NEW: Trump says he doesn’t want to sign a national abortion ban into law, but his cabinet picks are expected to get rid of several federal policies aimed at protecting abortion rights. Here is how the Trump administration will be restricting access: www.notus.org/trump-transi...
Trump Says He Won’t Sign a Federal Abortion Ban. His Administration Has Ways to Restrict Abortion Anyway.
Cabinet secretaries at practically every agency can change rules and policies that will have broad implications for abortion access.
notus.org
NEW: Republicans say they found their winning electoral issue: Anti-trans attacks. And the attacks have left Democrats flat-footed. “It just simply could be the case that it’s a losing issue for Democrats,” one House Democrat said. w/ @alexroarty.bsky.social www.notus.org/2026-electio...
Republicans’ Anti-Trans Attacks Have Left Democrats Flat-Footed
“It’s like when Republicans were on abortion in 2022, they don’t want to talk about it because they look at it as a losing issue," one conservative advocate said.
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What might hold back USPS privatization? Some Republicans’ rural constituencies, which rely on the Postal Service. www.notus.org/congress/rep...
Republicans Are Skeptical of Trump’s Idea to Privatize the Postal Service
Trump said last week that privatizing the U.S. Postal Service is “not the worst idea” he’s heard, but some Republican lawmakers told NOTUS that it’s not that simple for their rural constituents.
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Exclusive: Democratic lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee are seeking information from the Department of the Health and Human Services about its efforts to engage agricultural workers in containing and monitoring the bird flu outbreak. www.notus.org/house/democr...
Democrats Want HHS to ‘Double Down’ on Preventing the Spread of Bird Flu in Ag Workers
A letter from Democratic lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee signals a more aggressive posture from Capitol Hill in stopping the spread of bird flu, especially among undocumented agricultural w...
notus.org
Some Democratic strategists "grumble that the party has only recruited candidates who neatly align with the views of the party’s socially liberal college-educated voter bloc." with @evanmcs.bsky.social, on Ds re-examining what kind of candidates they recruit www.notus.org/democrats/fu...
Democrats’ Next Debate: What Makes a Good Democrat Now?
Arguments about the future of the party will eventually result in money being thrown at real human beings who Democrats will need to actually win elections.
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“If we can’t protect those people, we’re all fucked,” Elizabeth Strater, a United Farm Workers spokesperson, said about dairy workers. “If they get tested, they are gambling. And because they are afraid to get tested, the rest of us are gambling right now.” www.notus.org/policy/trump...
Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Could Make It Harder to Contain the Bird Flu Outbreak
Threats of mass deportation might further discourage farmworkers from seeking testing and care for the current bird flu outbreak.
notus.org
NEW from @caseyrmurray.bsky.social on what Trump's "mass deportation" actually looks like if Republicans don't agree on who should be targeted, have very little to say on how they would fund it, and local law enforcement says it can't do more than it's already doing. www.notus.org/trump-transi...
One Major Obstacle to Trump’s Mass Deportation Promise: Local Law Enforcement
“I’m not gonna let the government tell me what to do in my job,” one Trump-supporting sheriff told NOTUS.
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