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Welcome to the online version of Political officeAn evening newsletter that brings you the latest report and analysis of the NBC News Policy team from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign campaign.
In today’s edition, we examine how President Donald Trump keeps the legislators from the GOP from the state -of -scale GOP to protect most of the house. In addition, Andrea Mitchell breaks down the last chapter of the Trump administration attempts to divert attention from Epstein files.
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– Adam Wollner
How Trump shapes the card halfway through
A trio of Republican members of the Congress has refused in recent days to seek a higher office, developments that could not only help their party to avoid the primaries in disorder of the state, but also to consecrate the districts of the battlefield when they aim to protect their fragile majority in the Chamber in 2026.
And in the three cases, President Donald Trump played a key role.
new York: After playing with an offer from governor for months, the GOP representative Mike Lawler announced today that he would not challenge The New York Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul and presents himself to re -election.
The decision is a relief for the Republicans, who feared the district of Lawler Hudson Valley – one of the three that they represent that Kamala Harris won in the 2024 – would be even more in danger without a holder on the ballot. The leaders of Trump and the GOP had been Try to direct Lawler From the governor’s race, the president even approved it to be re -elected in May before he was decided.
Lawler said on “Meet the press now“That he met Trump, who” offered his point of view according to which he believes that the good thing to do is to present himself to the re -election. »»
“But in the end, it was my decision,” added Lawler.
Lawler’s decision could also pave the way for representative Elise Stefanik, an ally of Trump who weighed a government race after her appointment to be an American ambassador to the United Nations was withdrawn earlier this year. Stefanik said today that she would announce her plans after this fall elections.
Michigan: Republican The representative Bill Huizenga also announced today that he would not run for the SenateAvoiding a primary confrontation with the former representative Mike Rogers in the swing state.
Huizenga said he had made the decision “in consultation with President Trump”. But in particular, he did not say if he had run for another mandate in his district of southwest Michigan, that the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter Prices as “probable republican”.
However, the announcement is the good news for Rogers and the leaders of the GOP of the Senate who support him while he is looking for the Democratic Senator Gary Peters who makes the post. Trump has not yet approved a candidate in the race, although he was soon supposed to support Rogers, two republican sources told NBC News.
Iowa: Earlier this month, the GOP Zach Nunn representative adopted an offer for the governor of Iowa after Speak with Trump. Nunn, whom Trump congratulated as a “team player”, takes place rather in his southwest district of Iowa, which he won by 4 points last year and should be among the best objectives of the Democrats next year.
Governor Kim Reynolds’ decision not to ask for his re -election could lead to a crowded republican field. One of Nunn’s colleagues, representative Randy Feenstra, who represents a safer neighborhood, explores an offer.
In the future: Many challenges are still waiting for Republican leaders and Trump, who has regularly deployed the endorsements throughout the year, while the mid-term card takes shape. Before the recreation of the summer congress, they will work to ensure that operators operators in the states and key districts present themselves to re -election. And they are still looking for candidates in critical races in the Senate in Georgia and North Carolina.
North Carolina: Speaking of the state of Tar Heel, the Democrats are about to mark a precious recruit for the seat held by the retirement of the senator of GOP Thom Tillis. Former Governor Roy Cooper is set to enter the raceAccording to two sources familiar with his plans.
The last chapter of Trump’s distraction strategy
President Donald Trump and his cabinet were occupied this week to declass the reports and make a burst of controversial accusations.
The moment has aroused suspicion of a broader strategy. Example: The appearance of today by the chief of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, in the Information Salle of the White House to amplify the unfounded accusation of Trump according to which former president Obama committed a “betrayal” to rig the elections in 2016 and 2020.
Betrayal is defined as trying to overthrow the government by putting war against the state, or by materially helping its enemies. Trump bases his charge on an intelligence report from the largely discredited republican chamber of 2020 which excluded the members of the Democratic Committee, differing from a previous, bipartite and unanimous report of the Senate led by the President of the Intelligence Security Committee of the time, Marco Rubio – now, of course, the Secretary of State and the Trump National Security Advisor.
However, Gabbard referred Obama for possible criminal prosecution, creating the big titles despite any indication of an error in intelligence assessments or reprehensible acts. Even if there were, Obama would probably have immunity based on the decision of the Supreme Court of last year according to which the presidents cannot be prosecuted for power offenses. In addition, Trump’s special prosecutor found no reason to file a complaint after a three -year investigation.
The sudden release of secret files on Martin Luther King Jr. The files were also under a seal ordered by the court since 1977, but Trump signed an order in January to take action to make them public. Monday, thousands of pages were released without notice – while King’s family still read them, hoping to explain the notes that were not based on MLK’s personal life. The criticisms said that the White House resuscitated old conspiracy theories to distract fury on Trump’s failure to publish Epstein files.
Adding to the cacophony was the exhumation of the president’s social media of a dispute established on the name of the Washington NFL team. Known for almost a century as the “Redskins”, in 2022, the team was renamed the “commanders” to satisfy many Native American tribes.
But now Trump threatens to block the team’s return to Washington from the suburbs if he does not recover his old name. It would be a non -start with local officials who must approve the move of the team – and barely a distraction of the DC pure and hard football fans.
🗞️ The other best stories today
- ⚖️ Epstein Fallout, part 1: A federal judge in Florida judged that the “hands of the court are linked” to publish federal transcriptions of the Grand Jury of 2005 and 2007 as part of an investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. Learn more →
- 📃 Epstein Fallout, part 2: The Chamber’s supervisory committee assigned Ghislaine Maxwell so that a deposition occurs from prison to Tallahassee on August 11. Learn more →
- ☑️ Epstein Fallout, part 3: A chamber surveillance subcommittee voted to assign the Ministry of Justice for its complete Epstein files, with the names of the victims included. Learn more →
- ⚖️ Scotus watch: The Supreme Court has enabled Trump to dismiss members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, a federal agency created by the Congress to be independent of political pressures. Learn more →
- 🇯🇵 We have an agreement: Trump said his administration had entered into an agreement with Japan, one of the largest American trade partners, to reduce his rate of 15% as part of a trade agreement. Learn more →
- 🔎 New probe: The State Department said it launched an investigation into the compliance of Harvard University with the government’s visa program for international students. This is the last effort of the Trump administration to prevent the University from registering international students. Learn more →
- 🗽 New borders: The calls of certain Republicans to go beyond the citizenship of Zohran Mamdani cause an alarm about the denaturalization of Trump. Learn more →
- 🗳️ 2025 Watch: This year’s governors’ races in Virginia and New Jersey will provide a first test of the way “Big, Beautiful Bill” of Trump plays on the campaign track. Learn more →
- 🇺🇦 Protests in Ukraine: The Ukrainians went down to the street for a law signed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy which limits the two main anti-corruption agencies of the country. Learn more →
- 👁️ Big Brother looks: The Greg Casar representative, D-TEXAS, presents a bill to prohibit the use of the prices based on surveillance, which certain companies make to set different prices for different people. Learn more →
- Follow the political coverage live →
It’s all of the political bureau for the moment. Today’s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner and Dylan EBS.
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