“Senate Republicans who are returning to Washington on Monday say they won’t have the votes to pass the Homeland Security spending bill until the White House works with them to place parameters on a new $1.776 billion settlement fund designed to compensate Trump’s allies. But Trump has shown little interest in doing so, even after a judge temporarily halted any payouts.”

“It’s unclear how they will settle the dispute.”

CNBC: “Tehran will also move to fully block the Strait of Hormuz.”

Key finding: The poll found 71% of Pennsylvanians believing that Trump’s tariffs are hurting them, an 11-point increase from April. Only 9% of Pennsylvania voters now believe the President’s signature economic policy is helping them.

“I don’t have a convenient moral to the story here. It’s not like the answer is just for the parties to keep running the same old colorless senior-citizen career politicians. Voters don’t like them, and they shouldn’t. If Maine Gov. Janet Mills hadn’t been such an uninspiring establishment Senate candidate, Platner would never have found a populist wave to catch in the first place.”

“But I do worry that the path we’re on is one that makes it easier and easier for Democrats to follow Republicans into just abandoning character-related assessments of their candidates altogether. We’re currently in the midst of a long, painful education in how badly that can go on the GOP side of the aisle. Once you decide moral fiber in your leaders is a luxury your party can no longer afford, it’s amazing how quickly things can get out of hand.”

“The work, which appears to be in the research stage, is ripped out of dystopian science fiction, offering a glimpse of a world in which an authoritarian state is able to move against its citizens before they begin any public dissent.”

“The release resurfaces a saga that has weakened and embarrassed Starmer over the nine months since Bloomberg News exposed the extent of Mandelson’s ties with the late pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.”

“Once seen as a bellwether, the Midwestern state of 3.2 million people has over the past decade served as a microcosm for national politics, lurching to the right as President Donald Trump solidified his grasp on White and rural voters. But Democrats see an opportunity to reverse those trends, buoyed by broad dissatisfaction with the economy and a group of well-liked, centrist candidates expected to prevail in Tuesday’s party primaries.”

“Trump’s aggressive tariff agenda has turbocharged voter frustrations with the state’s heavily agricultural economy, squeezing the fertilizer supply chain. The Iran war has driven up fuel prices. The president’s recent trip to China didn’t yield specific guarantees of new row crop purchases. Sweeping policy changes in education and healthcare alienated some Iowans, while longtime Republican incumbents are retiring.”

“The Secret Service, which says it has protections all around the building—some visible, some not—has a division that over the past year has been studying the rise in violent rhetoric and action to get at the question: What is driving the attacks—and can they be headed off in advance?”

“To add to Trump’s woes, he is 20 points underwater in polls — far more unpopular than Joe Biden at this point in his term — and a judge struck down his move to put his own name on the Kennedy Center, saying Congress must be consulted.”

“Trump has also angered Republicans by undermining establishment favorites in recent primaries, creating a “wounded bear caucus” of outgoing congresspeople,”

“Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) and his allies view state Rep. Josh Turek as the party’s best shot at flipping Iowa in November and helping Democrats recapture the Senate.”

“Meanwhile, state Sen. Zach Wahls, who is running against Turek in Tuesday’s primary, sees Schumer as part of the problem.”

“Then, last year, partisan redistricting wars ignited across the country. After Texas legislators redrew their state’s congressional districts to favor Republicans, Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed for voters to approve a plan that would allow California Democrats to do the same. They did, by a wide margin.”

“As a result, there are just four competitive congressional districts in the state and just four seats considered safe for Republicans. The rest of the state’s 52 members of Congress are all but certain to be Democrats.”

— Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), at a campaign speech.

“But the similarities mostly end there. In New York, an inspiring young leftist competed against a boorish, but experienced, former governor to replace a corrupt mayor. In Los Angeles, the leftist insurgent isn’t inspiring, and the boorish challenger—the former reality-TV villain Spencer Pratt—is inexperienced. The incumbent isn’t corrupt, just feckless. Despite their overwhelming weaknesses, two of these candidates will advance from Tuesday’s nonpartisan primary, and one will win in the November general election. Los Angeles is unlikely to be better off.”

“Powell, now a Fed governor, accepted an award recognizing political courage from the family of former President John F. Kennedy at a ceremony in Boston. Speaking in generalities about institutions, the rule of law and the inheritance of American democracy, he named no president and aired no specific grievance.”

“But on the structure that keeps monetary policy out of a president’s hands, he was exact.”