Congress: The Senate & The House

[phkrause]

Senate panel advances Jay Clayton's nomination to lead US intelligence agencies

The Senate Intelligence Committee has advanced the nomination of Jay Clayton, President Donald Trump’s pick to head the nation’s intelligence agencies, along party lines. Read More.

[phkrause]

House Republicans adopt $95 billion package for the Iran war and Trump’s priorities

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House adopted a Republican-only $95 billion budget proposal Wednesday, a long-shot effort to fund the Iran war and other White House priorities over objections from Democrats and a few GOP holdouts in a final push before the midterm elections.

https://apnews.com/article/gop-95-billion-iran-war-trump-johnson-f9dea5ef800bfeb0e343256e841af38f?

😎 No-shutdown optimism

Senators on both sides of the aisle are quietly hopeful about avoiding a third government shutdown this year.

Why it matters: Time is short, patience is wearing thin and neither party wants to head into the campaign's final sprint under the cloud of a funding lapse.

• "People understand that it would be helpful to have a [continuing resolution] that extends beyond the election," Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) told us. "So it doesn't get all bound up in partisan discussions around the elections."
• "I just think everybody's trying to give ourselves room to find a bipartisan agreement, and we are not there yet," Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said.
• Asked whether the vibes were positive, Schatz replied: "Not negative."

💪 Republicans were even more optimistic about a bipartisan CR.

• "Perhaps we can get ours passed, and then when the House comes back the last week of August, they can pass it there," Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said.
• "I don't think there's going to be much controversy there, unless the Democrats change their minds."

State of play: The House passed a short-term spending bill late last night. Senate Majority Leader John Thune will essentially ignore it. For now.

• 🔮 The same fate likely awaits the budget resolution Speaker Mike Johnson narrowly pushed through this afternoon on a 216-214 vote.

🤔 The intrigue: House Republicans are still steaming over Thune's decision to declare, in advance, that he won't take up reconciliation until the government is funded.

• "He's the leader of the Senate. I think it's a mistake to hold up such an important piece of legislation," House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) told us.
• But his new Senate counterpart, Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), appears far more comfortable with Thune's timeline and sequencing.
• "With [Senate Appropriations Chair] Susan [Collins] apparently showing progress toward a CR — even talking about a defense supplemental in that agreement — that would, to a certain extent, negate having to do one," Johnson said, referring to a separate reconciliation package.

👀 What to watch: There's no guarantee a major news event won't derail bipartisan funding talks, just as Medicaid cuts and the ICE shootings did earlier this year.

• President Trump's escalation of the conflict with Iran is already complicating defense spending negotiations, with Democrats largely opposed and Republicans split over the scope of additional funding.
• Any effort to attach supplemental defense money tied to Iran to the CR could make the vote significantly more difficult.

The bottom line: Thune slyly suggested he was prepared to use a reconciliation package to fund the government along party lines — if needed.

• He may not have to act on that threat if the bipartisan Senate progress continues.

— Hans Nichols, Stef W. Kight and Kate Santaliz

[phkrause]

House votes for Department of War renaming as part of an annual defense bill

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House on Wednesday passed a defense policy bill that incorporates President Donald Trump’s request for a historic $1.15 trillion in spending for national security and that would designate the Department of Defense as the Department of War.

https://apnews.com/article/defense-pentagon-congress-iran-spending-trump-de65f6e0ee4f4d69699fb9f1f647083e?

House Republicans adopt $95 billion package for the Iran war and Trump’s priorities

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House adopted a Republican-only $95 billion budget proposal Wednesday, a long-shot effort to fund the Iran war and other White House priorities over objections from Democrats and a few GOP holdouts in a final push before the midterm elections.

https://apnews.com/article/gop-95-billion-iran-war-trump-johnson-f9dea5ef800bfeb0e343256e841af38f?

[phkrause]

Russia sanctions breakthrough

Democrats are indicating to their Republican counterparts that they are prepared to vote as early as next week on a Russia sanctions package that includes an 11th-hour demand from President Trump that the bill also include Iran, according to people familiar with the matter.

Why it matters: It would mark a rare bipartisan breakthrough on legislation to help end the war in Ukraine in a Senate that has spent much of the year engaged in partisan combat.

• 🤝 It also would show that Majority Leader John Thune and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer can work together weeks before Election Day — a dynamic that could prove critical as the Senate works to avoid a third government shutdown this year.

Tuesday's Capitol memorial for Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) will serve as an emotional backdrop to the Senate's consideration of the bill he spent his final days trying to shepherd across the finish line.

• 🚨 "I'm optimistic we'll be able to move forward soon," Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said.
• "Ukraine has the momentum on the battlefield, and the Kremlin's position is increasingly precarious. It is vital that we move as quickly as possible."

Zoom out: The bill, which has more than 60 cosponsors, has been revised twice since Graham's sudden passing on July 11.

• First, senators lowered the overall rate of secondary tariffs from 500% to 100% and narrowed the scope of the bill, allowing Trump to tariff no more than five countries.
• In one of his last acts, Graham secured the Trump administration's blessing for the deal, according to his Senate colleagues.

'This is a big effing deal," Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said, quoting Graham.

• Then, on July 19, Trump demanded that the legislation be expanded.
• "Republicans should add Iran to the Russian Sanctions Bill. That's what Lindsey wanted to do, and it was going to happen," he said on Truth Social.

🔎 Zoom in: At first, there was confusion about what Trump actually meant, but senators appear to have addressed his concerns by including noncontroversial sanctions on Iran that were set to expire at the end of the year.

• Thune indicated today that his conference was comfortable with the Iran additions.
• "I think everybody's fine with it, because we would do it anyway," Thune said.

The other side: Some Democrats oppose the overall notion of giving Trump another tool to impose tariffs. They may attempt to slow consideration of the bill, but they don't have the numbers to derail it.

• "The problem with the Russian sanction bill — because I very much support Ukraine — is that Trump is doing everything he can to just expand his reach into tariffs, and that's what he lives for," said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
• "I think Leader Thune is getting ready to start moving procedurally. People have asked me, and I said I'm not giving up any procedural rights right now."

⏰ The bottom line: Thune and Schumer still need to reach a time agreement on the sanctions legislation.

• But with Thune indicating that the crypto bill — the CLARITY Act — won't get finished this work period, the Senate may have more floor time to consider the legislation and pay tribute to their late colleague. 

— Hans Nichols and Stef W. Kight

[phkrause]

👉 House's Senate marching orders

House GOP leaders are turning up the heat on Senate Republicans, calling on them to move quickly on the House's $95 billion reconciliation package despite resistance from Thune.

Why it matters: Before they split town, House leaders left some instructions for their Senate colleagues.

• ⚡️ "The Senate needs to move on reconciliation before November, and I think the pressure from the American people is going to be unbearable if they refuse to act," NRCC Chair Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) told us today.
• "For the Senate to sit on their hands and do nothing, I think, will be unsustainable."

Driving the news: Thune poured cold water on the House's timeline, telling reporters this week that he plans to wait until government funding is resolved before taking up the budget resolution.

• The reconciliation measure would give billions for the war in Iran, farm assistance and include components of the SAVE America Act.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) told us in a pen-and-pad session today that he expects the White House to ramp up pressure on the Senate.

• ☄️ "They can say all day long, you know, 'It's going to be hard.' Everything's hard. Give me a lecture about how hard things are. That's what I do every day. They've got to figure out a way to get it done," Scalise told us of his colleagues in the Senate.
• Scalise said the reconciliation package — because it only requires a simple majority — means Senate Republicans won't have the "excuse of the filibuster" to avoid passing the stalled SAVE Act.

🔥 White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump's "patience is running out" with Thune during a press briefing today when asked about SAVE.

• "Well, maybe she or somebody else ought to get on the phone and get the votes," Thune told reporters when asked about the comments.

🎯 Between the lines: Thune has become a favorite target of House conservatives, who have spent months trying to shame him into taking up the SAVE Act.

• Thune has repeatedly said he doesn't have the votes.
• "He seems to be doing his best to try to pretend he's working on the SAVE America Act while not working on the SAVE America Act," Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas) told us. 

— Kate Santaliz

[phkrause]

🚐 GOP's August road show

House Republicans' strategy for keeping the speaker's gavel and their leadership suites next year hinges on being anywhere but Washington this summer.

Why it matters: The Senate is in for another two weeks, but Speaker Mike Johnson and his leadership team are crisscrossing the country during the House's five-week August recess like German or Norwegian World Cup fans: no town too small, no state too far away.

• The plan is to tout their legislative wins in person and convince voters that they are, individually, the exception to the widely held belief that Congress doesn't work.

🚗 Driving the news: Johnson is leading the charge.

• He'll hit more than 30 districts in 17 states (18, if you count his home state of Louisiana) over the August recess, campaigning alongside Republican incumbents and challengers.
• Don't expect any X posts worthy of "Freddy," but he'll be seeing the country: Maine, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Washington and Alaska, to name a few spots.

✈️ His Southern colleague, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), is heading north for a major event in New York with the state's Republican members.

• "It'll be a good next few weeks to go around the country talking about what we did, letting people know, a lot of good things to talk about. But there's more to come," Scalise said.
• Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) and National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) will make dozens of campaign stops across the country, their offices told us.

📢 Between the lines: Republicans have acknowledged they've struggled to sell their signature legislative achievement — originally known as the "One Big Beautiful Bill" before being rebranded as the Working Families' Tax Cut Act.

• "Do we communicate our ideas great all the time? That's been a fault of the Republican Party," Scalise told reporters yesterday. "I think we're getting better at it."

🖼️ The big picture: Republicans are increasingly arguing the election is a choice between their economic agenda and what they characterize as a Democratic shift to the left — a contrast they'll spend August trying to reinforce.

• Or in blunter terms: "It's going to be a hate election," a Republican tied to President Trump's political operation told Axios' Marc Caputo.

The bottom line: Public polling suggests Republicans still have work to do convincing voters their agenda is benefiting them.

• Democrats have an 11-point lead over Republicans on a generic congressional ballot, according to a new poll from Emerson College.

— Kate Santaliz and Hans Nichols

[phkrause]

🏛️ GOP obtains 1,100+-page Fauci diary

Screenshot: Office of Sen. Rand Paul Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), chair of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, obtained and posted more than 1,100 pages of diary-style contemporaneous notes by Dr. Anthony Fauci, a top government official during COVID who has become a villain of the right. "VERY INTENSE TIMES," Fauci wrote on March 7, 2020 — four days before the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic. Fauci, 85, who retired in 2022 from his 38-year post as the high-profile director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, will testify before the committee on Wednesday. Previewing the hearing's tone, the senator branded the entries, which include clippings and accounts of Fauci's many media appearances, "Tony's Diary: What He Wrote Privately vs. What He Said Publicly." Paul, long critical of Fauci's statements about the origins of the virus, wrote in posting the document: "Fauci's personal diary reveals that as early as January 31, 2020, he was told by top virologists that the virus's furin cleavage site raised real doubts about a natural origin, with about half the scientists on that initial call believing it looked 'constructed.' Despite this early private uncertainty, Fauci spent the following years publicly and confidently dismissing the lab leak theory while insisting the science was settled." Fauci wrote on Jan. 26, 2020: "GAME ON!!! Things are changing rapidly. ... Remember, early on the Chinese were saying that there is no human to human transmission and all the original 27 cases were from the market. Now we know the market was not the source, it was the amplifier." 🥊 A source close to Dr. Fauci pointed out to me that he used similar language with USA Today's editorial board in February 2020: "Almost certainly, somewhere, somehow a bat infected an intermediate host who infected a human. What epidemiologists feel is that the market was an amplifier of something that was already going on. So it didn't necessarily start in the market, but when people congregated in the market they got infected from each other as opposed to all of them getting infected from whatever animal there was in the market." 1,141-page PDF.

[phkrause]

⚡️Thune's force field

Senate Majority Leader John Thune is pulling off something today's Republicans rarely attempt: telling President Trump "no."

Why it matters: Pressure from Trump and the MAGA base is piling up on Thune, especially over a voter ID bill, but he has an important insurance policy: GOP senators have his back.

• 💪 "I think he's got strong support. I read all the stories, but I think mostly that's made up by reporters," Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) told us.
• "Leaders absorb some of the punishment, but I think he's doing great. No one could do a better job than he is right now," Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) told us.
• "His cred in the conference has never been stronger," Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) told us.

🔥 Catch up quick: Trump's frustration with Thune over the inability to pass the SAVE America Act or nuke the filibuster is, again, bubbling over.

• "Thune should not allow the United States Senate to 'leave town' until it passes The Save America Act or, far better still, TERMINATES THE FILIBUSTER," Trump demanded on Truth Social this morning.
• 🧮 Thune has snapped back, reiterating that it is a matter of math. There are not enough votes to pass SAVE, end the filibuster or justify canceling the August recess.
• "Give me a rationale or a path to getting success, staying here through the month of August," Thune told reporters today about the calls from Trump and a few GOP senators to cancel recess to pass SAVE. "You could stay here til Christmas."

👀 What to watch: Trump has not called for Thune's ouster. He even told reporters today that their relationship is "fine." But the building anger has fueled widespread speculation in D.C. that the president could eventually go there.

• Even if he does, it would not carry the same weight as a threat to Speaker Mike Johnson's leadership in the House.
• For one, Senate leadership elections are conducted by private ballot, giving more cover to senators who may not want to publicly cross Trump.

👂 What we're hearing: Many Republican senators are quick to share their support for Thune behind closed doors, even if not all are willing to publicly do so right now.

• Thune "is not in jeopardy," a GOP senator told us, requesting anonymity to speak candidly. "He is not the problem."

"We have a bunch of people across Capitol Hill that are obsessed with social media fame," another senator told us, referring to those questioning Thune's leadership.

• Senior GOP aides for other senators also tell us the problem is really "squeaky wheels" getting more attention and that the situation could ultimately benefit Thune within the conference.

The other side: A conservative corner of the conference is certainly growing frustrated with Thune.

• ⛱️ Seven senators are now calling to delay the August recess until SAVE is passed: Mike Lee (R-Utah), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Ashley Moody (R-Fla), Jim Banks (R-Ind.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) and Darline Graham (R-S.C.)
• But even some of them admit Thune's leadership is not at stake.
• "I wouldn't say that, because his job lies with us," Tuberville said when asked about any risk to Thune's position as leader. "But a lot of people are getting a little bit frustrated."

The bottom line: "I've been somewhat disappointed more Republican senators haven't been bold enough to speak out," Cramer said.

— Stef W. Kight

[phkrause]

Senate confirms Jay Clayton as nation’s intelligence director

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has confirmed Jay Clayton to become head of the nation’s intelligence agencies, putting a permanent director in place weeks after President Donald Trump sought to delay his nomination.

https://apnews.com/article/clayton-trump-pulte-intelligence-2020-election-7e080a06252a97c9afa8733d7876e887?

🤠 Party in Dallas

House and Senate Republican leaders are heading to Dallas to embrace the president who has done the most to shape — and complicate — their political fortunes.

Why it matters: Majority Leader John Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson don't have much of a choice about attending September's midterm convention. President Trump doesn't tolerate high-profile dissent, and both leaders know their best chance of staying in power is by staying united.

• But for Republicans in tight races, the two-day political extravaganza presents a difficult choice.
• 💪 They can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Trump, raise money from big-dollar donors and bask in the MAGA media glow.
• 🏠 Or they can stay home and create some separation from a president whose approval ratings are sinking.

🔎 Zoom in: Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and former GOP Rep. Mike Rogers, who is running for U.S. Senate in Michigan, are both planning to attend, according to people familiar with the matter. So is Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, another GOP Senate candidate.

• However, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the only Republican who represents a state that President Trump lost, is unlikely to make it and will be campaigning in her home state, according to a person familiar with the matter.
• Spokespeople for Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio), Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa), Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) and Michael Whatley, the GOP Senate nominee in North Carolina, declined to comment or didn't preview their boss' plans. Hinson and Collins are also seeking Senate seats.

In addition to Johnson, Majority Leader Scalise (R-La.) and Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) plan to attend.

• National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) are both scheduled to be in Dallas.

🌎 Zoom out: The Sept. 9-10 convention is still six weeks out, and senators and representatives have never been confronted with a mid-September, mid-cycle political convention.

• 💰 Party committees are starting to ask donors about attendance, but details — and programming — are sparse.
• "The upcoming Midterm Convention is an opportunity for Republicans across the country to rally behind President Trump's America First agenda that's brought lower drug prices, lower taxes, and a secure border," RNC national press secretary Natalie Baldassarre said.

What they're saying: "I'm proud that Dallas will host the RNC Midterm Convention this September," said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

• "Texas is leading the nation in defending freedom and advancing conservative principles, and I look forward to welcoming Republicans from across America as we celebrate the landmark victories achieved this Congress and work together to elect Republicans up and down the ballot in November."

🤔 The intrigue: For all the sniping between Trump and Thune this week, the majority leader recognizes that he and Senate Republicans stand a better chance of victory by presenting a united front.

• But he'll be in Dallas during a Senate recess that the president wants canceled until the SAVE Act is passed.

🏈 The bottom line: The convention is expected to be part pep rally, part "Friday Night Lights": Clear eyes, full hearts — and Republicans hope the last line writes itself.

— Hans Nichols and Kate Santaliz

[phkrause]

🫟 House Dems' Michigan mess

Sen. Elissa Slotkin has rankled some colleagues and fellow Michigan Democrats by boosting retired Navy SEAL Matt Maasdam in the state's 7th House District Democratic primary.

Why it matters: Slotkin's support for Maasdam has exacerbated infighting between establishment Democrats, some of whom prefer Bridget Brink, a career foreign service officer who resigned in protest as ambassador to Ukraine last year.

• ‼️ That potentially creates an opening for William Lawrence, a progressive who many Democratic strategists and lawmakers are skeptical can win the seat in November.
• The three Democrats are vying to take on Rep. Tom Barrett (R-Mich.) in a district that President Trump won by just over a single percentage point in 2024.

📺 Slotkin, who represented the seat before Barrett, recruited and endorsed Maasdam — and then cut an ad on his behalf last week.

• She also has lent her name to his fundraising texts and paid for internal polling on his behalf, according to emails and texts we viewed and multiple sources familiar with the matter.

💬 What they're saying: Several Michigan Democrats fumed that Slotkin's support for Maasdam risks eating into the lead that Brink has held for much of the campaign and creating an even larger opening for Lawrence.

• State Rep. Jennifer Conlin, who described Slotkin as a mentor, told us she "found it so perplexing" the senator endorsed Maasdam, given that Brink shares her background as a woman in national security.
• Another local elected official expressed confusion at Slotkin's support for Maasdam because, they told us, the senator has told local allies "very plainly" that any Democratic nominee in the district "has got to be a woman."

The other side: "Senator Slotkin is singularly focused on one thing: flipping her old seat from red back to blue. Her entire goal is to help win back the House and put a real check on President Trump," said Slotkin spokesperson Josh Stewart.

• Stewart added: "Matt Maasdam is the best candidate to do that."

— Andrew Solender

[phkrause]

Thune's next nightmare

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photo: Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Senate Majority Leader John Thune has one of Washington's toughest jobs. It could get even harder next year, Axios' Stef W. Kight writes. Why it matters: Thune is one of the few Republicans who's managed to say "no" to President Trump and keep his job. But the Senate leader could enter the next Congress with diminished power, leading a conference increasingly loyal to Trump. Republican control of Congress could weaken, or disappear. The Senate's MAGA flank is poised to grow. Trump — who has been relatively restrained in criticizing Thune despite his unmet demands to pass the SAVE America Act and kill the filibuster — will have nothing to lose in the last two years of his presidency. 🔎 Zoom in: The Senate Republican Conference itself is poised for a drastic power shift away from Thune's institutionalist wing. The moderate voices of Sens. John Cornyn (Texas), Thom Tillis (N.C.) and Bill Cassidy (La.) will be gone after Trump undercut them. Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) faces a tough reelection fight. 🔮 What's next: Hardline conservatives and MAGA voices are gaining power. Longtime thorns in leadership's side have ascended to committee chairmanships, including Sens. Rick Scott (Fla.), Ron Johnson (Wis.) and Rand Paul (Ky.). Sen. Mike Lee (Utah) is positioned to lead the powerful Judiciary Committee next year, putting the online MAGA favorite in charge of judicial nominations — including any to the Supreme Court. A surge of House-bred MAGA energy is also coming. Conservative members — including Reps. Barry Moore (Ala.), Kevin Hern (Okla.) and Harriet Hageman (Wyo.) — are all but certain to join the upper chamber.

[phkrause]

Fauci repeatedly invokes the Fifth Amendment in a contentious Senate committee hearing

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dr. Anthony Fauci on Wednesday repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment and declined to answer dozens of questions from senators in a Republican-led committee hearing about his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

https://apnews.com/article/fauci-covid19-pandemic-senate-rand-paul-a774a79e46824ebec9e8e270b9cb9825?

ps:I guess he had his reasons, and probably the right thing to do, but I'm disappointed!! I've said this about others if you have nothing to hide there's no reason to take the 5th!!!!!!!

[phkrause]

❌ Thune says no

Senate Majority Leader John Thune repeated to White House officials in private what he's been saying in public for weeks: We don't have the votes.

Why it matters: President Trump isn't buying it — and he's questioning whether Thune is the man for the job.

• "Well, we're gonna find out," Trump said today. "I'll let you know."
• ‼️ Asked this evening about Trump saying the votes were gettable, Thune told reporters, "That must be a different form of math."

Driving the news: Hours earlier, two of Trump's top aides met with Senate Republicans at their weekly lunch to press them to pass a three-part budget reconciliation bill before leaving town, we scooped earlier today.

• The goal is to move a House budget resolution to "pay our troops, help our farms and secure our elections," a White House official told us.
• The White House is also floating a separate reconciliation package (a fourth) to raise the debt ceiling during the lame-duck session.

📢 What we're hearing: Many of Thune's members simply don't want to endure another vote-a-rama, the marathon amendment process that comes with every reconciliation bill.

• The White House wants Thune to expand the number of committees that receive reconciliation instructions.
• Many in Thune's conference want to expand the bill in a different direction — and plus-up the $67 billion in defense spending that cleared the House.
• "There's clearly an interest among certain members of our conference for a higher level of military and defense," Thune said today.

The intrigue: During the meeting, Republicans pointed out that the election-law changes envisioned in the House version of the SAVE Act — including more money for states to enforce voter ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements — wouldn't take effect in time to affect this November's elections.

🌎 Zoom out: The public clash comes at an awkward moment for Republicans: Fourteen weeks before the midterms, the White House and Senate GOP leadership are openly sparring over the president's agenda instead of selling it.

• Trump is trying to increase pressure on Thune, but the majority leader still enjoys broad support within his conference.
• Thune, when asked about Trump questioning whether he's the best person for the job, told reporters this evening: "Well, that's nice of him. I guess. I don't know, what do you say on that? That's a decision that's made by my colleagues."
• 🥊 Even as the two are at odds over reconciliation, Thune is planning to fly to Dallas to join Trump at the president's midterm political convention in September.

— Hans Nichols and Stef W. Kight