“National Republicans are asking the Federal Election Commission to probe Dan J. Sullivan and an Alaska political operative over Sullivan’s run against Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, R-Alaska, according to a complaint first shared with Semafor.”

“The National Republican Senatorial Committee alleges that Amber Lee, who runs a “consulting firm with an exclusively progressive client roster” and worked for a pro-Mary Peltola super PAC, hasn’t been paid for her work helping launch Dan J. Sullivan’s campaign.”

“Industry officials say they are doing everything they can to sound an alarm that prices are about to soar as the commercial and government inventories that have mitigated price rises so far are rapidly depleting… Some inventories could be wiped out within weeks.”

“Clues are emerging in the mystery of the missing three million barrels—the oil that China would normally be importing but isn’t now. Chinese people are driving fewer gasoline-powered cars and taking trains instead of planes. The country is dialing back operations at the plants that turn crude oil into feedstock for materials such as plastics. And Beijing is beginning to draw down reserves.”

“The question is how long the import cuts can last—and what would happen if China needs to start buying more again.”

He also called this “the most violated ceasefire in the history of the world.”

“President Donald Trump appears to have set a new bar: 22 medical specialists assessed him as part of his latest checkup.”

“That figure is nearly double the number of specialists who assessed Trump for his past medical checkups as president, according to a review of publicly available statements by Trump’s doctors.”

“For years, Democratic state officials saw little urgency in hurrying the process, prioritizing accuracy and voter participation over speed in determining results. But this conspiracist political era, when the country’s loudest election denier happens to be its president, has started to change that mindset.”

“U.S. military forces were striking air defenses and radar sites near the Strait of Hormuz, according to a senior U.S. official.”

“The Pentagon cast the attacks as an act of coercive diplomacy that were designed to force Iranian concessions at the negotiating table.”

“In a New York Times Magazine excerpt, posted today ahead of the book’s publication on June 23, the two Times reporters describe in cinematic detail how top Trump officials, including Vice President JD Vance and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, gathered in the Situation Room last summer to debate how to manage the growing scandal.”

“The White House is now abuzz over the leak about leak control.”

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“The best Mr Trump can hope for is a makeshift pact to reopen the strait in exchange for an extended ceasefire that may, with luck, become permanent. Economic sweeteners will be necessary. The threat of force will remain. Haggling over Iran’s nuclear program will have to come later.”

“Such a deal would be unstable and humiliating for the superpower. Yet it would be less bad than any plausible alternative. For all Mr Trump’s plans to erect a triumphal arch in Washington, his war on Iran has cost America dearly.”

“The amount was roughly equal to tariffs taken in during the month, according to a Treasury Department statement Wednesday, meaning that refunds essentially cancelled out the government’s duties revenue.”

“That’s upping the ante on the importance of the midterm races this November. With the Senate’s six-year terms, whoever wins this fall will be in office when the fund is depleted. Regardless of which party controls Congress, the next crop of politicians will have to decide whether to hike taxes to cover Americans’ Social Security checks, or slash benefits by an estimated 22%.”

— President Trump, talking in the Oval Office about Maine U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner.

“Following a wave of firings and resignations over the last four months, about half of the positions listed on the leadership pages for the CDC, the FDA and the National Institutes of Health are filled by temporary appointees or simply remain vacant.”

“Two-thirds ‌of party-aligned respondents said they sometimes have to vote for a candidate they don’t like just to stop the other party from winning power.”

“The subpoenas from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., headed by Jeanine Pirro, escalate a campaign by President Trump to root out evidence that banks allegedly discriminated against conservatives and politically controversial industries, including his own family.”

Said Trump: “The numbers were great. You know what I really love? I love the inflation. You know why? Because as soon as this war is over. You know, I can say it now, something you didn’t know. Did you know we’ve been taking out millions of barrels of oil? Nobody knows it. You know who doesn’t know about it? Iran, until right now. We took out the other night, 22 ships. Late at night, with no lights. Because they don’t have any radar because we blasted the crap out of it. We took out. That’s why oil’s $85 a barrel.”

“Unless lawmakers act by midnight on Friday, the law, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, will sunset. It is the legal underpinning for what is widely considered to be the most powerful surveillance tool the federal government has at its disposal, credited with generating intelligence that thwarts terror plots, defangs foreign hackers, curtails drug trafficking and gleans key insights for policymakers about chief rivals like China and Russia.”

“The strikes on Tuesday evening were intended to restore some leverage, but be calibrated such that no one would be killed and the possibility of a deal would not be foreclosed.”

“These aren’t open to the public, but at least two services have been presided over by ministers of the Defense secretary’s own ultra-conservative, neo-Calvinist Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches denomination, which was founded by the very controversial Rev. Doug Wilson of ‘men should have the vote for their families’ fame.”

“At least attendance at those services is voluntary. But now Hegseth’s religious views are impacting how chaplains are assigned to men and women in the military.”