Live updates: Trump says Bondi should release 'whatever she thinks is credible' on Epstein

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered the removal of 2,000 National Guard troops who were mobilized in response to protests in Los Angeles last month over immigration raids, a Pentagon official said today.

“Thanks to our troops who stepped up to answer the call, the lawlessness in Los Angeles is subsiding,” chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.

The deployment of 4,000 National Guard troops came after a series of raids by immigration authorities in Los Angeles prompted sometimes-violent protests in parts of the city that were quelled with arrests and the use of “less lethal” weapons.

The Trump administration’s decision to deploy the troops drew fierce criticism from California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who called it an “assault” on Democracy and invoked “authoritarian regimes” who “begin by targeting people who are least able to defend themselves.”

Read the full story here.

The Texas House Democratic Caucus criticized the state's redistricting plans as an effort by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to "grab political power" in the wake of devastating floods that killed at least 132 people in Central Texas.

“Greg Abbott is trying to use a Texas flooding tragedy to grab political power instead of answering questions about how his management failed," the caucus said in a statement today.

"Greg Abbott is choosing this special session to put lines on a map over the lives that were on the line in Kerr County. Abbott and the Texas GOP are doing this because they want to send more Trump Allies to Washington who will create more chaos that no Republican, Democrat, or Independent voted for last year. Texas House Democrats are going to fight this and use whatever means necessaries to do so," the caucus added.

Trump told reporters earlier today that he’s aiming for Republicans to pick up five House seats in Texas as state lawmakers look into redistricting during a special session this summer.

Trump said during remarks at an artificial intelligence summit in Pennsylvania today that his uncle, John Trump, who was a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, taught the “Unambomber” Ted Kaczynski when he was a student.

Kaczynski, who was sentenced to life in prison for staging a series of bombings across the U.S., did not attend MIT. He received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard in 1962 and later earned master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Michigan.

“My uncle was at MIT, one of the great professors, 51 years whatever, longest serving professor in the history of MIT, three degrees in nuclear, chemical and math. That’s a smart man. Kaczynski was one of his students. Do you know who Kaczynski was? There’s very little difference between a mad man and a genius,” Trump said, adding that he asked his uncle what kind of student Kaczynski was.

“He said, ‘Seriously, good. He said, ‘He’d correct— He’d go around correcting everybody.’ But it didn’t work out too well for him,” Trump said.

The ACLU filed a legal objection today to a new Department of Health and Human Services policy that removes thousands of unauthorized immigrant children from Head Start.

Last week HHS announced that effective immediately Head Start would be “reserved for American citizens.” A department analysis of the change estimated the number of children who would be removed ranged from 12,000 to 115,000.

The ACLU objected to the policy in a new amended complaint in its ongoing lawsuit related to HHS changes at Head Start.

Head Start does not check the immigration status of participants, who are mostly 4-year-olds, and it’s not known how many undocumented children currently participate in the program.

The Minnesota man accused of fatally shooting the state’s former house speaker in what authorities have described as a politically motivated assassination claimed that the state’s governor wanted him to kill two U.S. senators, officials said today.

Vance Boelter, 57, made the claims in a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel that was found in Boelter’s car after the shootings last month at two lawmakers’ homes, said acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson, who called the letter part of an effort by Boelter to excuse his crimes.

Thompson said there was no evidence Boelter targeted U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar or Tina Smith. Thompson said the letter, which also included claims that Boelter had carried out missions for the military in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, would be made public in an unsealed search warrant.

Read the full story here.

Senate Republicans are making changes to a $9.4 billion package of spending cuts proposed by Trump as they race to pass the measure by a Friday deadline.

After a lunch meeting today with White House budget director Russell Vought, they agreed on one significant change: removing about $400 million in cuts to PEPFAR, the Bush-era foreign aid program to combat HIV/AIDS, which has been credited with saving millions of lives.

It was done with the aim of securing the simple-majority needed to pass the rescissions package through the Senate, after several Republicans expressed opposition to those cuts.

Read the full story here.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said that he spoke to Zohran Mamdani on the phone last night and that he plans to meet with the mayoral hopeful in New York City sometime soon.

Schumer was also asked if Mamdani has to do more to assure Jewish New Yorkers who are concerned about his refusal to condemn the "globalize the intifada" slogan.

"What the 'globalize the intifada' means is really wrong and should be condemned and I look forward to my discussions with Mr. Mamdani," he said.

Neither of the top two Democrats in Congress — Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both New Yorkers— have endorsed Mamdani in the race.

The White House and Senate Republicans have agreed to spare the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) from legislation working its way through Congress this week that would claw back billions in previously approved government funding.

Following Senate Republicans’ closed-door policy lunch with Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters that cuts to PEPFAR will be removed from the package via substitute amendment. Thune reiterated that the Senate will “hopefully” take the first procedural votes on rescissions today.

“There was a lot of interest among our members in doing something on the PEPFAR issue, and so that’s reflected in the substitute. And we hope that if we can get this across the finish line in the Senate that the House would accept that one small modification that ends up making the package still about a $9 billion rescissions package,” Thune said.

Vought told reporters after the lunch that the White House is “fine with adjustments,” calling the package — now $9 billion as opposed to the original $9.4 billion — “substantially the same.”

Asked about the frustration from the MAGA base about the Epstein investigation, Bondi said, "We’re going to fight to keep America safe again."

"We're fighting together as a team. That's what's so important right now. We’ve got a war on drugs. We've got a war on human trafficking, we've got cartels in this country ... we have got foreign adversaries around this world as well, and we're all going to work together as a team," she told NBC News' Kelly O'Donnell.

Asked about Trump's remarks that she should release whatever files she thinks are "credible," Bondi said, "Today, our memo speaks for itself. We'll get back to you on anything else. I haven't seen all of his statements today."

Trump has implored people to stop talking about Jeffrey Epstein. The internet isn’t listening.

Trump and many in his administration are now facing the wrath of the more conspiracy theory-minded people who they counted among their most ardent supporters, sparked by the Justice Department and Trump’s own pleas for people to stop asking questions about Epstein, a convicted sex offender whose name has become synonymous with a broader distrust of the government and the media.

Read the full story here.

The AG refused to answer questions about Jeffrey Epstein at a press conference on recent drug seizures.

"Today is about fentanyl overdoses throughout our country and people who have lost loved ones to fentanyl. That's the message that we're here to send today. Not Epstein. Not going to talk about Epstein," Bondi told reporters.

She also wouldn't answer a question about Dan Bongino, and whether he should stay in his role. NBC News reported the deputy FBI director had a heated confrontation with her after her office publicly released a memo saying no one else would be charged in the Epstein probe and that no other information about the case was expected to be released.

"I‘m not going to discuss personnel matters. I think we all are committed to working together now to make America safe again," she said.

The AG, who's faced calls to resign from some conservatives because of the memo, also said she has no plans to leave. "I'm going to be here as long as the president wants me here," she said.

Thirteen House Republicans voted with all Democrats to defeat a procedural rule that would have allowed a series of crypto bills lawmakers are considering this week to come to the floor. The vote was 196-223. 

Rules are part of the regular order and set up debate on bills for the week. With the defeat of this rule, the House cannot bring up any other legislation this week. 

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., quickly offered a motion that would allow the rule to come back up for a vote later. But for now the House is in a period of recess until further notice. 

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced a bill to reverse some of the key Medicaid provisions in the party's megabill that he voted for and Trump signed into law earlier this month.

Hawley wants to double the fund to rural hospitals, from $50 billion to $100 billion, and “repeal the provider tax moratorium and the future reduction of provider tax authority in the reconciliation bill,” according to the text of his proposed legislation.

The funding generated from those cuts helps to pay for the extension of Trump's 2017 tax cuts in the megabill. Asked by NBC News last week how he plans to make up for those funds, Hawley said: “Here’s the way, if you want to save money on health care, don’t cut Medicaid. Don’t cut hospital funding. Cap the amount of money we pay for prescription drugs. That’s what we should do.”

Trump told reporters that he hopes Republicans can pick up five House seats in Texas through the redistricting process, which state lawmakers plan to tackle in a special session this summer.

"A very simple redrawing, we pick up five seats," Trump said.

Trump also held a call with Texas House Republicans this morning, during which he talked up Gov. Greg Abbott’s redistricting plans, according to a GOP source on the call.

Trump again criticized Brazil's case against its former president, Jair Bolsonaro, who was accused of an attempted coup. Trump has used the case as part of his reasoning for upcoming steep tariffs on imports from Brazil.

"President Bolsonaro is not a dishonest man," Trump said. "He loves the people of Brazil. He fought hard for the people of Brazil."

Trump claimed that the case against Bolsonaro was a "witch hunt," using the same term he used to criticize prior criminal and civil charges against himself.

Trump was asked about his administration's transparency on the Jeffrey Epstein case, which has fractured his base over whether the Justice Department has been forthcoming enough.

"The attorney general has handled that very well," Trump said of Pam Bondi. "She has really done a very good job."

Asked whether Bondi had told him if his name appeared in a file related to Epstein, Trump said "no," adding that Bondi has "given us just a very quick briefing."

Trump claimed that the files were "made up" by his predecessors, though previously he had discussed the files, and his allies have called for their release.

"She's handled it very well, and it's going to be up to her," Trump said. "Whatever she thinks is credible, she should release."

Trump and Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., will announce $90 billion in AI and energy investments at an energy and AI summit at Carnegie Mellon University this afternoon, according to a senior White House official and a news release from McCormick's office.

Trump will reveal details of the new initiatives at the event, near Pittsburgh, where McCormick is hosting the summit. One AI project is set to target the city of Aliquippa, which was once a steelmaking center, the official said.

McCormick said the inaugural summit aims to ignite “Pennsylvania’s incredible potential to power the AI revolution.”

Dozens of industry leaders are expected to attend, including heads of ExxonMobil, BlackRock, Palantir and Google. Also expected are senior members of Trump’s Cabinet, including his Energy, Interior and Treasury secretaries, as well as Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. 

Asked for his reaction to former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo staying in the New York City mayoral race as a third party candidate, Trump told reporters at the White House, "I think he should stay."

"I think he has a shot," Trump added.

Asked whether he'd prefer Cuomo to win, Trump said he did not want to say, before asserting that Cuomo would have a "good shot at winning" and calling the Democratic nominee for mayor, state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, who is a Democratic socialist, a "communist."

Trump was asked by a reporter at the White House whether he thinks Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy should target Moscow after the Financial Times reported that Trump asked whether Ukraine could hit the Russian capital.

"No, he shouldn’t target Moscow," Trump said.

When asked whether he would send long-range missiles to Ukraine, Trump said, “No, we’re not looking to do that.”

Asked whether he was on Ukraine's side, Trump said he was on nobody's side, before adding that he was on the side of humanity in his efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

A super PAC supporting GOP Sen. John Cornyn's re-election bid is making its first major television ad buys of the Senate race, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact, as he prepares for a primary challenge.

The full extent of the buy from Texans for a Conservative Majority, the pro-Cornyn group, is not yet clear, with AdImpact tracking at least a few hundred thousand dollars worth of buys so far across the state's major media markets starting tomorrow. That number will go up as more data is gathered.

It's a sign that the primary race between Cornyn and state Attorney General Ken Paxton is heating up.

Some conservative Republicans in Congress are breaking with Trump’s handling of the case involving the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the latest development in a rare MAGA revolt against the administration.

After the Justice Department and FBI said it would not release any further information related to the case and Trump sought to downplay it, his allies on Capitol Hill kept up their calls for the government to release the “Epstein files,” which has consumed right-wing circles for years.

Read the full story here.

A House Education and Workforce Committee hearing today on antisemitism in higher education was repeatedly disrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters.

Much of what the protesters yelled was inaudible, but shouts of "Free Palestine" and "Gaza" could be heard while they were escorted out. The hearing, which is still going on, has been disrupted three times.

Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., told one of the protesters, "Get out of here, you loser," before blaming the witnesses who were testifying — officials from the University of California, Berkeley, the City University of New York and Georgetown University — for the outbursts.

“I hold you all responsible for this. It is the attitude that you have allowed on your college campuses that make people think that this is OK,” Fine said.

A bipartisan duo is teaming up in the House to introduce a bill that would provide legal status for certain undocumented immigrants amid Trump’s broader mass deportation efforts.

Under the legislation from Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., and Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, called the Dignity Act of 2025, undocumented immigrants who have been in the United States since before 2021 would be able to apply for up to seven years of legal status with work authorization. They would have to pay restitution and check in regularly with the Department of Homeland Security, and the legal status would not allow for any federal benefits or a path to citizenship.

Read the full story here.

The Trump administration took another step yesterday to make it harder to find major, legally mandated scientific assessments of how climate change is endangering the nation and its people.

Earlier this month, the official government websites that hosted the authoritative, peer-reviewed national climate assessments went dark. Such sites tell state and local governments and the public what to expect in their backyards from a warming world and how best to adapt to it. At the time, the White House said NASA would house the reports to comply with a 1990 law that requires the reports, which the space agency said it planned to do.

But yesterday, NASA announced that it aborted those plans.

Read the full story here.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Waltz's nomination to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has concluded.

Two other ambassadorial nominees also testified during the hearing — John Arrigo, Trump's nominee for ambassador to Portugal, and Christine Toretti, the nominee to be ambassador to Sweden, although the vast majority of the questions were directed at Waltz.

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., chastised Waltz for his handling of the scrutiny over the Signal chat leak, saying that people expect leaders to “stand up and just take responsibility, take accountability.”

Booker alleged Waltz showed "profound cowardice" in his response, going on to criticize divisive rhetoric that he argued was championed by the administration, which he said Waltz seemed to "fall in line with."

“I have no questions for you, sir,” Booker said. “I have nothing but deep disappointment in what I consider a failure of leadership on your part.”

Booker said he would not support Waltz's nomination.

Waltz confirmed under questioning that Signal is not allowed to be used to share classified material, and he has maintained in his testimony that classified information was not shared in the chat in March that accidentally included a journalist — an issue that critics dispute.

"I see nothing in the reporting about your situation to suggest that you shared classified information," Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said to Waltz. "I do see the question of why did your office add The Atlantic reporter, that was an amateurish move, and I'm sure you've learned something from that."

Kaine pointed to continuing investigations into whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared classified information. Waltz declined to comment on the ongoing investigations, but he echoed Hegseth's prior testimony that names, targets and other information was not shared in the chat.

In the Signal chat details published by The Atlantic, Hegseth shares exact timing and weapons deployments before a pending strike.

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino returned to work yesterday and is expected at the office today, a federal law enforcement source confirmed, days after he had threatened to quit over a Justice Department memo that effectively closed the book on the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.

The source said Bongino is expected to stay on as deputy director, but that tensions are still high, and the FBI, Justice Department and White House are attempting to weather the storm in hopes the controversy dies down over the coming days.

A source told NBC News last week that Bongino was "out-of-control furious" after the memo was made public and had gotten into a heated confrontation with Attorney General Pam Bondi over his frustration with how the Justice Department had handled the case.

He did not show up at the office Friday and had threatened to quit unless Bondi was fired, NBC News reported.

Waltz said that the use of a Signal chat was driven by recommendations stemming from Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency guidance that existed during the Biden administration.

Waltz pointed to CISA recommendations for end-to-end encryptions and went on to claim that there was no classified information shared in the Signal chat, a fact that critics have disputed.

Waltz said that the White House investigated the incident and the Defense Department was continuing to look into it.

More than an hour into senators' questions at Waltz's confirmation hearing, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., asked the first question about his role in a Signal chat in which military strike information was accidentally shared with a reporter.

This is the first question on the Signal scandal. Most questions so far have been focused on relations with China and Israel.

Waltz said he would veto United Nations resolutions on Israel and also noted that he believed the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, or UNRWA, should be "defunded" and "dismantled."

"We can have a conversation on who and what can take up those humanitarian roles, but it certainly should not be UNRWA," Waltz said.

Critics have alleged that UNRWA has had ties to Hamas.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said he was concerned that while Waltz served in the White House, he helped oversee U.S. "dismantling of many of our most important smart-power tools."

Murphy pointed to the administration's push to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development and global media operations like Voice of America.

"We were already having circles run around us by Russia and by China predominantly even before the administration went forward with this essential destruction of our existing information and counterpropaganda capacity," Murphy said.

Waltz said the two men were in agreement over the need to win an "information war," adding that the U.S. was not seeing results from what he called "expensive" and "bloated" entities. He said the best way to counter adversaries was through the private sector and innovation.

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., asked Waltz whether he would be willing to work with other nations to pursue laws similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, a U.S. law that aims to prevent imports of goods from China made with forced labor.

The act was spearheaded by a bipartisan group of senators, including Merkley and then-Sen. Marco Rubio.

Waltz called the issue of Uyghur forced labor "incredibly difficult" and "heartbreaking," adding that he could work on it.

Waltz said in testimony that he considered countering China's influence at the U.N. to be a central responsibility and argued that "malicious behavior" of the Chinese Communist Party would be at the top of his mind if he is confirmed as ambassador.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., followed up to say the administration did not have a "coherent strategy" on China. She pointed to China capitalizing off of the U.S.' decision to ramp down the U.S. Agency for International Development, noting the country framed messaging around the U.S. move and worked to fill the gap in foreign assistance.

In his opening remarks, Waltz criticized the United Nations' approach to China, treating it as a developing nation, and what he described as pervasive antisemitism at the world body, urging reforms. He argued that the U.N. has drifted from its original peacemaking goals and should return to its founding principles.

"Countering China, absolutely, Sen. Shaheen, is critical," Waltz said, addressing Shaheen's opening remarks. He said that if confirmed, he would work with Secretary of State Marco Rubio to challenge China's influence at the U.N.

Waltz also pointed to a high number of U.N. resolutions against Israel compared to other countries.

Trump was "not encouraging further killing" when he asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy whether his forces could hit Moscow, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

Trump is "working tirelessly to stop the killing and end this war,” Leavitt said when asked about an article today in the Financial Times which reported, citing two people familiar with the conversation, that Trump had privately encouraged Ukraine to step up attacks on Russian territory. NBC News has not independently confirmed the Financial Times' reporting.

Citing people briefed on the discussion, the newspaper said Trump had asked Zelenskyy during a July 4 call if he could strike Moscow if the U.S. provided long-range weapons.

Leavitt accused the Financial Times of "taking words wildly out of context" and added that the president "was merely asking a question, not encouraging further killing.”

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., focused her opening remarks at Waltz's confirmation hearing on criticizing the shrinking U.S. role on the global stage, pointing to the administration cutting budget and staff related to international relations.

Shaheen, the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, argued that when the U.S. pulls back, China benefits.

"They continue making long-term investments at the United Nations and international organizations, not only through contributions, but by placing more Chinese nationals in key roles. Mr. Waltz, I urge you to take this threat seriously," she said, adding, "I know you do."

Trump may have expected a Russian shudder of fear to greet his threat of “very severe tariffs” on the country if it didn’t agree a ceasefire in Ukraine. Instead, his comments appear to have prompted a collective public shrug.

Calling Trump’s statements “very serious,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today that Russia needs “time to analyze” them.

But investors in the Russian capital who had been gearing up for tougher measures instead embraced a 50-day grace period on tariffs set by Trump yesterday and the Moscow Stock Exchange was up 2.7% after it opened this morning.

Read the full story here.

For months, Trump’s main message about the sweeping bill he pushed through Congress was that it was “big” and “beautiful.”

Now that it’s also law, the White House together with outside allies are pivoting to a more concrete, detailed description in the hopes that voters will have a clearer idea of what it means for their day-to-day lives.

Democrats are poised to contest the Republican talking points at every turn, as the parties jockey for advantage over a tax cut and spending package that could swing the midterm elections next year.

“There’s going to be a battle royal for the hearts and minds of the American people from now until November 2026,” said Terry Holt, a former senior adviser to the Republican National Committee.

Read the full story here.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., addressed a potential 2028 presidential run in a recent interview, framing a bid as increasingly compelling because of Trump’s actions.

Asked by podcast host Shawn Ryan whether he was gearing up for a 2028 presidential bid, Newsom said he was preparing for 2026, "because from my humble perspective, I think it’s existential if my party’s not successful next year.”

Newsom, who recently visited early primary state South Carolina, pointed to his travel as being midterm-related.

“That’s why I was out there on the stump, nine different events, just making the case, don’t look for the guy or gal on the white horse to come save the day in 2028,” he said.

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are seeking another hearing on Emil Bove’s nomination to be a circuit judge to call a whistleblower to testify.

Democrats want to hear from Erez Reuveni, a former Justice Department lawyer who alleged in a whistleblower disclosure that Bove, a senior official at the department, expressed interest in ignoring court orders related to controversial deportations.

"Mr. Reuveni has made credible allegations against Mr. Bove, which, if true, clearly disqualify him for a lifetime appointment to the federal bench," Democrats on the judiciary committee wrote in a letter to Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. "Thus, it is imperative that the Committee hear from Mr. Reuveni, under oath, before we vote on Mr. Bove’s nomination."

The Democratic National Committee announced it would invest $1.5 million in Virginia elections, where Democratic former Rep. Abigail Spanberger will face off against Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears in the high-profile governor's race.

The funds will go toward hiring organizers, testing " new tactics" for messaging, and expanding "our reach to key constituencies that we lost ground with in the November 2024 elections — such as Black, Latino and AANHPI voters," the DNC's news release said, referring to voters of Asian, Pacific islander and Hawaiian descent.

"Now, Democrats are giving Virginians an alternative to extreme Republican candidates with real Democratic leadership to make the state more affordable for working families," DNC chair Ken Martin said in a statement.

House Democrats have been publicly grappling with the issue of impeaching Trump, with grassroots activists pressuring lawmakers to more aggressively confront Trump and centrist members of the party dismissing the push as futile.

During a six-week stretch this year, House Democrats twice were confronted with impeachment votes — forced by their own rank-and-file members — that had zero chance of passing, given that Republicans control the chamber.

In May, Democratic leaders convinced Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich., to back off his impeachment push at the last minute. But the following month, Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, forced a failed vote to impeach Trump, exposing stark divisions among Democrats and putting the party’s vulnerable members in a difficult position ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

Before the 119th Congress is over, it’s likely there will be other pushes to impeach Trump, who survived two such efforts during his first term, even as many Democrats grow frustrated by them.

Read the full story here.

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., has been leading the probe into Joe Biden’s cognitive state during his presidency, with Republicans alleging that Biden’s occasional use of an “autopen” to sign documents — a practice other presidents have done as well — demonstrated that he wasn’t fully in control or aware of what his administration was doing.

But documents show that some of the letters and subpoena notices Comer has sent out in connection with his investigation have been signed using a digital signature — not written by the congressman himself.

Read the full story here.

Arizonans will head to the polls today to for the primary election for the state's 7th Congressional District, which is open after Rep. Raúl Grijalva died in office.

There are five Democrats vying to be the party nominee in the heavily blue border district.

Grijalva's daughter, former Pima County Supervisor Adelita Grijalva, is considered to be a leading candidate. Eyes are on 25-year-old Deja Foxx, who has a large social media following and is pushing for generational change. Former state Rep. Daniel Hernandez is also among the top candidates and has been the largest fundraiser.

A former lawyer for the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot announced today that he is running for Congress in Florida as a Democrat, challenging Republican Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar.

Robin Peguero, 39, said in an interview ahead of his announcement that he is running because Salazar has not “stood up” to Trump on issues like his deportation program and sweeping tax and spending cuts law.

“It’s been six months into this administration, and Congresswoman Salazar has not stood up to the president in any meaningful way,” Peguero said.

Peguero was a homicide prosecutor in Miami from 2014 until September 2021, when he took a job on the Jan. 6 committee as an investigative counsel. He continued in that position until the committee dissolved in 2021, after which he became chief of staff for Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., until January 2024. He has taught law in Miami since.

Read the full story here.

Trump heads to Pittsburgh today, where he will participate in an energy event at Carnegie Mellon University. The event was brought together by Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa. 

McCormick said in a post on X that the event will be attended by leaders from EQT Corporation, a natural gas producer; Anthropic, an artificial intelligence company; and Westinghouse Electric Company, a nuclear energy company. Additional members of Congress will also attend, he said. 

“Together, we’ll announce well over $70 billion in energy infrastructure and AI investments — the largest in our state’s history,” McCormick said in the post. “This is just the beginning of PA leading the way.”

The university's president, Farnam Jahanian, also said in a message on the school's website that Gov. Josh Shapiro will attend the event.

Former national security adviser Mike Waltz is scheduled to have his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this morning, giving lawmakers their first opportunity to publicly pose questions to him following the Signalgate controversy.

Trump removed Waltz from his role as national security adviser in May, weeks after Waltz inadvertently shared military plans with a journalist Waltz added to a private chat with other top officials on the messaging app Signal. He was nominated to the position of United Nations ambassador after Trump unceremoniously withdrew Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., as his pick for that post.

Waltz, who has been meeting with senators on Capitol Hill in recent days, will appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today alongside John Arrigo and Christine Toretti, two other Trump nominees for ambassadorships. He is largely expected to be confirmed barring any major changes, revelations or hiccups.

The top Democrat on the committee, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said she is “sure” the Signal controversy will come up, “but what I want to know from Mr. Waltz is whether he supports the U.N., continued American presence at the United Nations, how he intends to make that case, and what he sees as the role of our U.N. ambassador.”

The Democratic National Committee announced it is investing an initial $1.5 million in Virginia to help flip the state’s governorship and to maintain control of the state Legislature this November.

The DNC said the effort will help in “laying the groundwork” to boost the party's nominees for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general, as well as for state legislative races.

Specifically, the DNC said the money would be used for Virginia Democrats' coordinated campaign to hire organizers and staff and fund voter outreach programs. The party said the investment is part of its previously announced “Organizing Summer” effort.