— Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), quoted by Mediaite.

“Top Republican groups are pivoting quickly to launching a negative barrage at Platner as he seeks to defeat Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. It’s a mission that’s taking on an almost militaristic tone given Maine’s outsized importance in the battle for the Senate majority.”

“Under a 1973 law called the War Powers Resolution, the president is required to notify Congress within 48 hours of military action and withdraw U.S. troops 60 days later, unless lawmakers declare war or authorize the use of force. The expectation on Capitol Hill was that the 60-day deadline expires on Friday.”

“In testimony Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the current cease-fire with Iran, which began April 8, stopped the countdown.”

“While the vote failed, the shift signaled President Donald Trump could soon face far more resistance over the conflict. That’s especially true as he blows past a legal deadline this week for the U.S. to exit the war without congressional authorization.”

“A cellmate said he discovered the note in July 2019, after Mr. Epstein was found unresponsive with a strip of cloth around his neck. Mr. Epstein survived that incident but weeks later was found dead in the jail.”

“The note was eventually sealed by a federal judge as part of the cellmate’s own criminal case, according to documents and interviews. That means investigators scrutinizing Mr. Epstein’s high-profile death lacked what could have been a key piece of evidence.”

Said Trump: “I don’t think about it. If I did, I wouldn’t be here.”

“Following a two-month exploratory campaign, the founding pastor of the nation’s largest United Methodist church chose to take the leap and was poised to formally announce his highly anticipated decision at an event in Prairie Village on Thursday morning.”

He declined to go into details, citing the public nature of the hearing, but said: ”There’s definitely some action there.”

The sudden exit of Janet Mills from the U.S. Senate race in Maine is a flashing warning sign for Democrats.

Mills wasn’t just trailing — she was getting blown out. In poll after poll, political newcomer Graham Platner was beating her by double digits, a remarkable showing against a sitting governor.

“The voice vote after a brief debate brought to a close a bitter partisan fight spurred by President Trump’s immigration crackdown and the tactics of federal immigration officers who fatally shot two U.S. citizens during immigration roundups in Minneapolis earlier this year.”

“The move came amid rising concern about insider trading on prediction market platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket, and about event contracts that can involve death or violence.”

He warned that Democrats would do the same if they win the Senate majority in November.

“As far back as 1982, when he was a young lawyer in the Reagan administration, he worked to oppose the expansion of a part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which had initially covered only intentional discrimination, to address practices that had discriminatory results. Back then, his efforts failed.”

“That is exactly what Mr. Trump was seeking to avoid when he delayed his trip to China six weeks ago. And it vastly complicates a critical meeting with President Xi Jinping, forcing White House officials to rethink how Mr. Trump approaches the effort to engineer a rapprochement with China.”

Said Johnson: “I don’t think we have an active, kinetic military bombing, firing or anything like that. Right now, we are trying to broker a peace.”

He added: “I would be very reluctant to get in front of the administration in the midst of these very sensitive negotiations, so we’ll have to see how that plays out.”

— Rep. Cleo Fields (D-LA), quoted by Punchbowl News, on the Supreme Court’s evisceration of the Voting Rights Act.