Oriana González

Republicans Try to Craft Their Midterm Pitch Despite Conflicting Iran War Messages House Republicans want to tout tax cuts, but the president’s most recent speech focused on the war in Iran and a voter ID bill.

NEW: Trump and Republicans are not in lockstep on what their 2026 midterm messaging should be

House Rs want to focus on the economy and lowering costs

But Trump is focused on Iran and a voter ID bill

w/ @daniellamicaela.bsky.social @emluetkemeyer.bsky.social
www.notus.org/congress/rep...

RFK Jr.'s MAHA Allies Call to Eliminate All Childhood Vaccine Recommendations Inside the MAHA movement’s Washington meetup.

“The childhood vaccination schedule needs to be eliminated."

“The flu shot has given 1,900,000 Americans Alzheimer’s."

“Vaccines are causing autism."

Inside an afternoon with the MAHA Institute:

The National Security Crisis No One in D.C. Is Talking About When the Potomac Interceptor sewer line collapsed, the nation’s capital narrowly avoided a drinking water crisis — again.

NEW: DC has narrowly avoided a national security crisis 3 times in 6 years.

The Pentagon, the White House, the Capitol building: They’re all screwed if something happens to Potomac. It’s an obvious vulnerability.

With no plan to fix it.

‘My Last Chance’: Perennial Candidate Ammar Campa-Najjar Believes He Can Finally Win an Election The California Democrat has strong support in Washington, including from his partner, Rep. Sara Jacobs. But local Democrats have accused him of having “a lack of clear principles.”

NEW: Ammar Campa-Najjar has lost every election he's run in

In 2026, he’s the top Democrat in the #CA48 race, yet one congressman unendorsed him and CA delegates stopped him from getting the Democratic Party endorsement

An inside look at his 4th run for office:
www.notus.org/2026-electio...

Presidential Libraries Are Black Boxes — And Not Just Trump’s Funding disclosure for these institutions is sometimes inconsistent, incomplete or inaccurate, leaving the public in the dark.

Some corporate donors didn’t actually donate. Others did, but didn’t disclose as lobbying law required. The law, one government watchdog said, is “inadequate to the task.”

@notus.com cracks open the black boxes that are presidential libraries: www.notus.org/money/presid...

Scoop: Democrats face threat of primary challenges over Iran war powers vote "They're already preparing," one House Democrat said.

NEW: Progressive groups readying to primary Dems who break ranks on the Iran war powers vote.

"If the filing deadline has passed, they'll do it in '28," one House Dem told @axios.com.

Justice Dems, MoveOn & OurRevolution all firing shots across the bow.
www.axios.com/2026/03/04/d...

Americans Stranded in the Middle East Aren’t Getting Help from the State Department “Please do not rely on the U.S. government for assisted departure or evacuation,” a State department hotline said when NOTUS called Tuesday afternoon.

NEWS: Americans were told to evacuate the Middle East — but the State Dept is not helping them do it.

We called the State hotline. First thing you hear is an automated message: "Do not rely on the U.S. government for assisted departure or evacuation."

NEW: @axios.com crunched the numbers. 30 (!) House Dems are facing at least one primary challenger who raised $100,000+ last yr.

Roughly a dozen have been out-raised.

In all, these races have a price tag of $64 million.

House Dems are not happy about it: www.axios.com/2026/03/03/d...

He commended the Trump administration for reaching out to the Gang of Eight, calling it "a return to what previous administrations have done."

👀 Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman tells me he will not support Khanna's war powers resolution, explaining that it "would require us to completely abandon our allies. It calls for the immediate removal of defensive weapons in the region."

Lawmakers Seek Emergency War Powers Vote After Trump Launches Iran Operation Democrats said lawmakers need to go on the record about whether they back the strikes.

Tension in Congress has been building over the Trump administration's failure to keep Congress informed over its interventions abroad

The administration did brief the Gang of 8 ahead of the Iran strikes, but some lawmakers say that's not enough

www.notus.org/congress/law...

Trans People Have Had Enough of Democrats’ Waffling on LGBTQ+ Issues “I can get the politics of it, I just think it’s B.S. You’re there to represent your constituents and not to get reelected,” the mom of a 9-year-old trans girl told NOTUS.

NEW: When a group of trans people went to Marie Gluesenkamp Perez's office to lobby for trans rights, an aide told them she's from a moderate district and has to carefully navigate the issue

Dozens of trans people lobbied in Congress this month — here's what happened:
www.notus.org/congress/dem...

Trans People Have Had Enough of Democrats’ Waffling on LGBTQ+ Issues “I can get the politics of it, I just think it’s B.S. You’re there to represent your constituents and not to get reelected,” the mom of a 9-year-old trans girl told NOTUS.

“I can get the politics of it, I just think it’s B.S. You’re there to represent your constituents and not to get reelected,” the mom of a 9-year-old trans girl told NOTUS.
https://www.notus.org/congress/democrats-lgbtq-issues-transgender-rights-advocacy

Trans People Have Had Enough of Democrats’ Waffling on LGBTQ+ Issues “I can get the politics of it, I just think it’s B.S. You’re there to represent your constituents and not to get reelected,” the mom of a 9-year-old trans girl told NOTUS.

NEW: When a group of trans people went to Marie Gluesenkamp Perez's office to lobby for trans rights, an aide told them she's from a moderate district and has to carefully navigate the issue

Dozens of trans people lobbied in Congress this month — here's what happened:
www.notus.org/congress/dem...

👀 The six leading candidates in #IL09 were asked in a candidate forum if they "support Hakeem Jeffries' continued leadership of the House Democrats?"

Abughazaleh immediately answered "nope," followed by Amiwala

Biss & Andrews indicated maybe/undecided

Fine & Simmons said yes

tune in! ✨✨✨

Scoop: Democrats are eyeing protests at Trump's State of the Union address "I want to find a way to resist, because he needs to know that this is not normal."

NEW: Jeffries told his members not to disrupt Trump's State of the Union, but some still plan to protest from inside the chamber.

Rep. Thanedar told @axios.com he would "love to show some resistance to what is going on."

Others plan to walk out mid-speech. www.axios.com/2026/02/12/t...

Trump Appointees Used Their Personal Emails for Government Business New records show that at least three political appointees at the Department of Energy repeatedly used their personal emails to discuss a controversial climate-change report.

NEWS: At least 3 Trump appointees at DOE used their personal emails to discuss government business.

Here's one quote from those personal emails: "Please keep in mind that my DOE emails (and your replies) will be easily discoverable by outside parties.”

Dozens of Kids Entered Foster Care After Immigration Agents Detained Their Parents States are taking custody of kids separated from their parents in Trump's push for mass deportations. No one knows exactly how many.

At least 32 kids entered foster care in 2025 after immigration agents detained their parents.

That includes four toddlers ages 1-3 in Vermont.

Here’s my story on the patchy tracking of family separations through the foster care system.
www.notus.org/immigration/...

Republicans Want Nothing to Do With Conservative Efforts to Ban Gay Marriage Trump has moved the Republican Party away from its decades-old opposition to same-sex marriage, and public support remains high.

NEW: Prominent conservative groups created a campaign to overturn Obergefell, the SCOTUS ruling that legalized gay marriage

Republicans don’t want anything to do with it

“I don’t think it’s a viable effort, legally, politically or otherwise,” one House R said
www.notus.org/republicans/...

'Not Reliable': HHS Keeps Citing Unreviewed Vaccine Trial Proposals in Its Call for 'Better Science' Leading vaccine researchers tell NOTUS that the proposed vaccine trials could lead to unreliable conclusions on already-approved vaccines.

HHS keeps citing an unreviewed paper that proposes some... interesting ways to re-test vaccines. We asked scientists to review it: www.notus.org/health-scien...

Federal Data Is Disappearing The Trump administration has disrupted data collection on everything from homeland security, maternal mortality, hunger, drug use, education, disaster preparation and the economy.

We found so many examples of missing federal government data that we couldn’t put them all in this story.

“The status quo was, the federal government is going to collect and disseminate data. That is no longer a reasonable assumption.”

Republicans Aren’t Rushing to Defend Stephen Miller One Republican senator said he has “no confidence” in Miller, while others demurred.

NEW: Trump's immigration agenda is under scrutiny — and so is Stephen Miller

"I have no confidence in Mr. Miller," Sen. Thom Tillis said

Other Senate Republicans demurred when I asked them about him

Meanwhile, a WH official said Miller won't be fired
www.notus.org/immigration/...

Scoop: House Democrats told by leadership not to go to Minnesota "Visiting the state right now, although well intentioned, puts a burden on local resources," a staffer warned.

NEW: Jeffries' office has advised House Democrats NOT to fly to Minnesota, per an email obtained by @axios.com

"Visiting the state right now, although well intentioned, puts a burden on local resources."

Several Dem politicians have already made the trek. www.axios.com/2026/01/29/m...

This is what FEMA’s hazard mitigation spending looks like for the last two years. That sudden drop into the red is when Noem’s personal review process began.

If you’ve got tips about Noem, Corey Lewandowski, DHS, and FEMA, my Signal is annakramer.54

Hearing many rumors about what happens when people try to get money released from DHS. I would love to know if there’s any truth to them

MORE DHS NEWS: Kristi Noem is holding up over *$1 BILLION* in disaster prevention funding

This means that hundreds of projects designed to reduce death and destruction caused by natural disasters are not getting completed

Great reporting by @annackramer.bsky.social and Torrence Banks

Kristi Noem Is Holding Up More Than $1 Billion in Hazard Mitigation Funds Only three states have gotten through Noem’s logjam, according to data obtained by NOTUS.

scoop: Kristi Noem has more than $1 billion in disaster prevention projects piling up on her desk.

Somehow, three states w/ powerful GOP politicians have escaped the logjam — Georgia, North Carolina, and Oklahoma.

Everyone else left begging for help.

Senate Republicans’ Confidence in Kristi Noem Is Fading Quickly “She should go,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

NEW: Senate Republicans' trust in Kristi Noem is fading quickly

Some, like Murkowski and Tillis, want her removed as head of DHS

Others who previously supported Noem would not say if they still do so

"That’s the president’s judgement call," Thune said
www.notus.org/congress/sen...

‘Shocking, Unusual Times’: Federal Judge Weighs Constitutionality of Trump’s Surge in Minnesota Minnesota state officials pleaded that the court step in to stop Trump’s immigration enforcement operations and “retaliation” against the state.

I cannot stress enough how the tone of this hearing radically changed at the end, with the judge feeling the full weight of what this could mean.

@notus.com:

www.notus.org/courts/feder...