Trump’s $1.8bn ‘anti-weaponization’ fund scrapped, acting attorney general Todd Blanche confirms – as it happened

Donald Trump is demanding that Iran put specific nuclear concessions down in writing as part of a preliminary agreement aimed at pushing through the drawn-out deadlock in talks to end his war, ABC News is reporting citing US officials and another source familiar with the matter.

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According to ABC News’s sources, Iranian negotiators previously gave verbal assurances that the regime would agree to certain terms related to Tehran’s nuclear program, but Trump determined on Friday that those commitments weren’t strong enough.

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As we reported earlier, Marco Rubio told the Senate foreign relations committee today: “[Iran] have to commit to very specific negotiations on … the highly enriched uranium that still is buried deep in a mountain somewhere. They have to agree on negotiating severe and long-term limitations and/or cancellation of enrichment activity in their country.”

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He went on: “For example, they have to commit to say ‘we will dispose of the enriched uranium. And the question now is ‘What are the mechanisms by which we do so?’ That can be negotiated.”

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It’s been a busy day, so here’s a quick rundown of the main headlines:

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  Acting attorney general Todd Blanche confirmed that the Trump administration has abandoned plans to create a $1.8bn “anti-weaponization” fund meant to compensate the president’s allies after fierce political backlash and setbacks in the courts. “We are not moving forward with the fund, period,” Blanche said, adding that this will remain true even after a federal court’s order to block the fund expires on 12 June. It followed swirling reports from GOP leadership that the fund was indeed dead and “off the table”.

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  However, Blanche later added that the DOJ would continue granting immunity to Trump, his family members and his businesses from IRS investigations. “Nothing has changed with that,” Blanche said, denying representative Rosa DeLauro’s statement that the tax order would give “blanket immunity” to Trump and his associates from future investigations on tax matters (the measure could save Trump over $100m, according to a New York Times analysis). My colleague Sam Levine has this report.

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  Meanwhile, Trump’s decision to appoint Bill Pulte as the acting director of national intelligence set off alarm bells in Washington, as a staunch Trump loyalist with little government experience who has shown an eagerness to retaliate against the president’s political rivals will now sit atop the US intelligence community. Among Republican critics were John Thune, the Senate majority leader, who told reporters that “we don’t need a weaponized” national intelligence director and Pulte would have “a lengthy road ahead of him” if he were nominated to take the post on a permanent basis. Here’s our story.

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  Also today, homeland security secretary Markwayne Mullin repeatedly refused to commit to following the numerous court orders from judges who have ruled that the Department of Homeland Security has acted illegally. In his first appearance before lawmakers since his confirmation in March, Mullin told the Senate appropriations committee that the DHS “will never break the constitution, and we’re not going to break the law”, but declined to commit to saying he would abide by rulings from judges. More on that here.

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  Donald Trump angrily yelled and cursed at Benjamin Netanyahu over the Israeli prime minister’s threats to resume airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, Axios reported today. “What the fuck are you doing?” the US president reportedly shouted at Netanyahu during the phone call yesterday. “You’re fucking crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.” Read more on that here.

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  And finally, Trump announced that he will attend and speak at the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ dinner on 24 July, after the original event was thrown into chaos by a shooting. More on that here.

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Per my colleague Sam Levine, while the federal government is abandoning an effort to create a $1.8bn secretive fund to compensate Donald Trump’s allies, it is maintaining an agreement that prohibits the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from auditing Trump, his family and related entities.

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After confirming that the Trump administration is “not moving forward with the fund, period,” acting attorney general Todd Blanche later added that the DOJ would continue granting immunity to Trump and his family members on tax matters before the agreement was reached last month.

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“Nothing has changed with that,” Blanche said, denying representative Rosa DeLauro’s statment that the tax order would give “blanket immunity” to Trump and his associates from future investigations.

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Acting attorney general Todd Blanche has said that the Trump administration is scrapping plans to create a $1.8bn “anti-weaponization” fund meant to compensate the president’s allies after fierce political backlash and setbacks in the courts.

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“We are not moving forward with the fund, period,” Blanche said, adding that this will remain true even after a federal court’s order to block the fund expires on 12 June.

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Blanche continued to defend the principle behind the idea, but confirmed that it had been abandoned:

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The reasons for the fund is something that President Trump talked about for a long time, which is the fact that there were a lot of people in this country who had their government weaponized against them. The reasons for the fund, I think, remain as important as they were before, but we are not moving forward with the fund.

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His confirmation during his House committee appearance comes in response to mounting pressure from Republicans for reassurances that the justice department’s plans were off the table before they would move forward with legislation funding Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agencies.

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Ealier, homeland security secretary Markwayne Mullin repeatedly refused to commit to following the numerous court orders from judges who have ruled that the Department of Homeland Security has acted illegally, suggesting – in true Trumpian fashion – that the courts are politicized.

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In his first appearance before lawmakers since his confirmation in March, Mullin told the Senate appropriations committee that the DHS “will never break the constitution, and we’re not going to break the law”. But he also declined to commit to saying he would abide by rulings from judges.

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“If we didn’t think courts were politicized, then I would probably be able to answer that, but we see courts over and over again that use their bench for their political opinion, not just the rule of law,” he said.

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Asked by ranking member Chris Murphy what he meant, Mullin said: “What I’m saying is we’ll enforce the law and we’re never going to break the constitution.”

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Murphy pulled him up on that, saying that Mullin was stating that he would not follow court orders. Mullin said Murphy was “putting words” in his mouth and again said he would not break the constitution.

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“This is a really important discussion for us to have, because this is – whether you want to believe it or not – at the root of our disagreement,” Murphy said. “It is very hard for us to figure out how to fund an agency that is violating the law.”

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secretary Markwayne Mullin testifies to the Senate appropriations, subcommittee.”,”caption”:”DHS secretary Markwayne Mullin testifies to the Senate appropriations, subcommittee.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Bonnie Cash/UPI/Shutterstock”}}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1780432552000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”16.35 EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1780433166000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”16.46 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1780433166000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”16.46 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”16.46″,”title”:”Mullin refuses to commit to following ‘politicized’ court orders for DHS”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Tue 2 Jun 2026 18.08 EDT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Tue 2 Jun 2026 06.10 EDT”},{“id”:”6a1f2fda8f08f9fe10b69b0a”,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

At the top of the hour, we will hear from acting attorney general Todd Blanche as he testifies to the House appropriations subcommittee on commerce, justice, science, and related agencies. He’s expected to face questions about the DOJ’s so-called “anti-weaponization” fund, among other issues.

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Yesterday, the justice department announced it would comply with a recent court ruling blocking the contentious $1.8bn fund to compensate his allies, which has faced fierce bipartisan backlash on Capitol Hill since it was announced two weeks ago.

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Multiple outlets reported yesterday that Donald Trump may be mulling a retreat from the idea amid the growing political backlash. Other reports indicated only that the DOJ paused the program to comply with a court order. Perhaps Blanche will tell us more.

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Republicans have expressed concerns over a lack of oversight and the possibility that individuals convicted in connection with violence during the 6 January 2021 riot at the US Capitol could receive payouts. Many are also alarmed at the optics of using taxpayer dollars for payouts to political allies during a cost-of-living crisis.

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Democrats have derided the fund as a $1.8bn “Maga slush fund”, slamming it as “corruption in broad daylight”.

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Senate Republicans, who have rarely broken with Trump, threatened to revolt and join forces with Democrats to block the fund.

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Earlier today, House speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that he had told Trump they didn’t have the numbers. “I believe it is off the table for consideration,” he said, though he defended the idea behind the fund as “very noble”.

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n

I told him it was a difficult prospect right now given our vote tallies. Look, I understand the intent behind it was a very noble thing. The government clearly was weaponized against Americans, the Department of Justice itself was. I don’t think it was fully understood and that’s what made it a difficult thing.

n

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Senate majority leader John Thune, who has in contrast been an outspoken critic of the fund and called on the White House to “shut it down”, said he expected the plan to be binned following a “robust” conversation with Blanche today.

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Asked if he believed the fund was dead, Thune said:

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n

After speaking with the acting attorney general, that is correct.

n

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Thune added that Blanche had previewed for him what he planned to say at his testimony this afternoon regarding the fund.

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n

I think his statements are going to be very definitive, very clear, and create the certainty that I hope all of our members and House members need.

n

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Earlier today, Senate majority leader John Thune weighed in on Donald Trump’s appointment of Bill Pulte as the acting director of national intelligence, which has set off alarm bells in Washington.

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Thune told reporters that Pulte could face a “lengthy road ahead” if Trump were to nominate him to the position permanently.

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Asked if he had concerns that Pulte would weaponize his new position in the intelligence community, Thune said:

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n

Well, we don’t need a weaponized DNI. We need professionals there.

n

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He added that “I’ve just heard about” the appointment, and am “trying to get more information about the current state of their thinking about that position”.

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“If he’s somebody that wants that position permanently, he’s got, as you all know, a lengthy road ahead of him,” Thune said.

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The White House Correspondents’ dinner has been rescheduled to 24 July, Weijia Jiang, president of the White House Correspondents Association, announced today.

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In an email to White House reporters, Jiang said details about the location, tickets and the programming “will follow soon” – and that the event “will feature significantly enhanced safety measures and new access procedures”.

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The WHCA decided to re-schedule the dinner “after thoughtful consideration and input from our members”, said Jiang, adding that the dinner will be a more “intimate gathering” than the original event.

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n

When gunfire interrupted this year’s event, it further clarified the WHCA’s mission to advocate for the freedoms that are protected in the first amendment. We will not allow an act of violence to have the last word, especially during a year when we are reflecting on the 250th anniversary of America and everything we stand for.

n

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As you will remember, the dinner originally took place on 25 April in a Washington hotel but was disrupted by a shooting outside the ballroom. The gunman was charged with attempting to assassinate Donald Trump.

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Trump confirmed in a post on his Truth Social platform that he plans to attend and speak at July’s event. “I don’t know whether or not I will give the same rather nasty statements, at least as it concerns certain people, but we will soon find out. In any event, it will be a ‘HOT’ ticket!” he said.

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Trump added: “This announcement is a very good thing in that we cannot allow Lunatics to change our way of life, or even its scheduling.”

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Trump went on to suggest that the new event will be held at the Waldorf Astoria, which his Trump Organization used to own, though this hasn’t been confirmed. After the shooting, security concerns were raised over the original venue, the Washington Hilton hotel.

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Bill Pulte will need to be confirmed by the Senate to serve as Director of National Intelligence, but there are already signs that Republican senators who are leaving office after breaking with Donald Trump are uneasy with his nomination.

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Punchbowl News reports that Thom Tillis, the North Carolina senator who is retiring after refusing to support Trump’s signature domestic policy bill last year, noted that Pulte played a major role in accusing Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook of mortgage fraud, an investigation the senator opposed. “I got a real issue with that,” Tillis told Punchbowl.

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Also skeptical was John Cornyn, the Texas senator who last week lost his primary to Trump-endorsed attorney general Ken Paxton. Here’s what Semafor reports Cornyn said:

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n

I don’t see any evidence of his qualifications for that job, but I’m willing to listen.

n

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Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who lost his primary last month after Trump intervened, was similarly skeptical, telling Semafor:

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n

He doesn’t seem qualified.

n

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Senators Tim Kaine and Rand Paul grilled Marco Rubio over the criteria used for the Trump administration’s repeated strikes on small boats in international waters.

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The US military has killed at least 201 people in strikes that have destroyed 63 vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific, according to a recent CNN tally.

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The military and Trump administration have always claimed those boats were trafficking drugs – but they have never provided evidence for those claims.

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Kaine, a Democrat, said that classified briefings made him aware that “evidence of narcotics on the boat” is not part of the criteria used to decide to strike boats.

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Asked for an explanation, Rubio said he couldn’t get into the specifics of targeting criteria.

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n

But I can tell you the one thing that is obvious is that the targeting criteria is not single source. In essence, there are multiple checks.

n

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Some strike targets have been abandoned when they did not meet the criteria or when officials had “doubts” about the targets, Rubio added. “I can tell you, they do walk away from strikes,” he said.

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Separately, Paul, a Republican, also criticized the attacks, telling Rubio: “I think it’s interesting that the three secret criteria we’re using to blow up the boats doesn’t include whether they have drugs on board.”

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Coast Guard statistics show that historically about one in four suspected drug boats do not ultimately have drugs on board, Paul added.

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“We make mistakes. We see something suspicious about the boat, we stop them, and they don’t have drugs on board,” he said.

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Donald Trump has signed an executive order to create a voluntary framework for the federal government to vet powerful new AI models before they are released.

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The highly anticipated order represents an attempt by the president to tighten his grip on cybersecurity and national security threats posed by AI, tacking against his earlier deregulatory stance.

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Under the new rules, tech companies would be asked to share their AI models with the government for a voluntary review, up to 30 days before a public release. The Trump administration says doing so will allow them to improve national security, particularly with regards to cybersecurity.

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The executive order stops short of imposing mandatory review requirements on tech companies building AI models, a rumored feature of earlier versions of the executive order. Some of Trump’s more hardline Maga supporters had been pushing him for a stricter process, while tech industry supporters advocated for keeping the reins loose.

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Still, the executive order is yet another sign that Trump is moving away from his initial low-regulation approach to AI. One of his first actions as president was to revoke a Biden-era executive order that established standards for safely developing AI.

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Millions of voters across the country are heading to the polls today in crucial primaries in a slew of key gubernatorial, Senate and House races. Here’s a quick rundown of what we’re watching:

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California
Voters are casting ballots on who should lead the nation’s most populous state (and the world’s fourth largest economy), where there is no clear leader among candidates vying to advance in the race to succeed term-limited Democratic governor Gavin Newsom. The race for Los Angeles mayor is also on the ballot, along with a series of high-stakes US House contests in the state’s newly redrawn congressional districts – which are set to play an outsized and potentially decisive role in the battle for power in Washington in November’s midterm elections. My colleague Lauren Gambino has more:

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Iowa
n Per my colleague Chris Stein, with Trump’s approval ratings deep underwater, gas prices high and historical political trends favoring the party out of power, Democrats this year are considering a comeback in Iowa, putting the state at the center of their campaigns to win back control of both the US House and the Senate. That effort for a “once-in-a-generation” breakthrough in the GOP-dominated state is being led by pro-hunting Democrat Rob Sand, who is running for governor. Chris wrote about him below. Democrats also believe they have a shot at winning three of the state’s US House seats and a competitive chance at securing a US Senate seat, where the GOP frontrunner recently called Trump’s war on Iran a “political liability”.

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New Jersey
n One of this year’s most closely watched House midterms will take place in the battleground district currently represented by now-infamous Republican Tom Kean Jr, who has drawn public scrutiny and concern after missing more than 100 House votes due to an undisclosed illness. Voters are deciding which Democrat will run against him in November – and the seat is a must-win for the party. In a separate race for New Jersey’s 12th district, the Democratic frontrunner, veteran army trauma surgeon and political newcomer Adam Hamawy, has secured endorsements from the likes of Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar. My colleague Joseph Gedeon has more:

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New Mexico
n Contests in the state include primaries for congressional seats, a US Senate seat and a long list of statewide offices, but the governor’s race is the main event. Deb Haaland, who was Joe Biden’s interior secretary, is running for the Democratic nomination, which could put her on a historic path for Native American leaders.

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Montana
n In Montana, a five-way Democratic fight is under way for the retiring Republican senator’s seat. Independent Seth Bodnar, former president of the University of Montana, is outraising them all at the moment but they’re refusing to step aside, Politico reports this morning.

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South Dakota
n The race is on for state governor, Sioux Falls mayor, a US Senate and House seat, and a Republican primary for local lawmakers. The incumbent GOP governor Larry Rhoden faces three primary challengers in his first run for a full term. He stepped up into the role from the lieutenant governorship when the former governor, the since-ousted Kristi Noem, left to lead the Department of Homeland Security.

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The Associated Press contributed reporting

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Back at Marco Rubio’s hearing, the secretary of state told lawmakers that Iran had agreed to negotiate aspects of its nuclear program that it previously refused to discuss.

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However, he said that was not a guarantee that talks will lead to a deal to end the US-Israeli war on Iran.

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Rubio told senators Iran had intended to build up its conventional weapons capabilities as a “shield” for its nuclear program.

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“What they tried to do is they were going to try to build a conventional shield and hide behind that conventional shield,” he said, explaining why Donald Trump felt it was imperative to launch the war.

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Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the ranking Democrat on the foreign relations committee, criticized Rubio in her opening remarks.

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She said Rubio’s office has refused to provide information requested about the Trump administration’s changing troop posture in Europe as well as US operations in Iran and US support for Ukraine.

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“When you do notify Congress, it’s to inform us of decisions you have already made,” she said.

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She also pointed out the US military’s declining stockpile of advanced weapons that have been used in the Iran war.

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Homeland security secretary Markwayne Mullin is set to appear in the Senate to answer questions about the agency’s budget at a time of intense scrutiny about how the Trump administration is carrying out immigration enforcement and preparing for the World Cup, the Associated Press reports.

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Mullin’s appearance at the appropriations subcommittee on homeland security comes as the Senate is weighing legislation that would fund immigration enforcement agencies through the end of president Donald Trump’s term in a maneuver that would bypass the need for support from Democrats, who have demanded restraints before agreeing to fund the agencies.

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But, the attempt to fund those two agencies for the long term has been stalled over separate Republican opposition to a $1.776 billion settlement fund to compensate Trump allies who believe they have been politically prosecuted.

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Mullin, who was tapped by Trump to lead homeland security after his predecessor Kristi Noem was fired, is appearing in the Senate Tuesday for the first time since his confirmation hearing in March.

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With Trump’s approval ratings deep underwater, gas prices high and historical political trends favoring the party out of power, Democrats this year are considering a comeback in Iowa, putting the state at the center of their campaigns to win back control of both the US House of Representatives and the Senate. On Tuesday, voters are casting ballots in primary elections that set the stage for months of what is likely to be fevered campaigning by candidates of both parties.

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Democrats in Iowa have little to lose, and much to gain. The state played a pivotal role in elevating Barack Obama to the presidency in 2008, but since then, Republicans have become the dominant party, controlling the governor’s mansion since 2011, both US Senate seats since 2015 and all of its US House seats since 2023.

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This year, Democrats believe they have a shot at winning three of the state’s US House seats, gains that could prove pivotal in putting them back into the majority in the Congress’s lower chamber. They are also expected to be competitive in the race to succeed Joni Ernst, the Republican who is retiring as Iowa’s junior senator.

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Rob Sand, the auditor who is the last Democrat holding statewide-elected office in Iowa, is considered a strong contender to replace the state’s retiring Republican governor, Kim Reynolds.

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Donald Trump selected federal housing finance director Bill Pulte to be acting director of national intelligence, replacing Tulsi Gabbard, who resigned last month after revealing her husband’s cancer diagnosis.

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Trump made the surprise Truth Social announcement on Tuesday regarding Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and chair of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

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The US president says Pulte “has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of the Markets, and over 10 Trillion Dollars at Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, a substantial increase from where it was just 12 months ago.”

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Pulte will keep his other roles as he fills in for Gabbard.

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In six months, Adam Hamawy has gone from a political nobody to, deemed by most measures, the frontrunner in a crowded race, endorsed by prominent progressive and Democratic figures including Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Tammy Duckworth.

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His work history has driven him to call for Medicare for All, advocating for sanctions and an arms embargo on Israel, and the abolition of ICE – and to say openly he cannot support the Democratic leaders Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer.

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One of the few representatives on Capitol Hill who met with him was his own: Bonnie Watson Coleman, who has served New Jersey’s 12th congressional district for more than a decade. When she announced her retirement in November 2025, after six terms, Hamawy decided it was no longer enough to seek the attention of those elected to serve in Washington – and launched his campaign to join them.

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Californians are frustrated and underwhelmed as they head to the polls to cast their ballots in Tuesday’s primary election, where voters will eliminate all but two candidates in the volatile race for governor, the messy battle for Los Angeles mayor and a series of high-stakes congressional contests.

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In the marquee race to succeed term-limited Democratic governor Gavin Newsom a trio of new surveys shows Democrat Xavier Becerra pulling slightly ahead as progressive Tom Steyer and Republican Steve Hilton scrap for the second-place spot to advance in the state’s nonpartisan primary.

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Meanwhile, voters in Los Angeles remain divided over whether to stand by embattled mayor Karen Bass or to elevate her challengers.

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At the federal level, voters will set the stage for a November showdown in the state’s newly redrawn congressional districts, choosing their candidates for November in a series of House races that are poised to play an outsized and potentially decisive role in the fight for power in Washington.

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Under California’s quirky nonpartisan primary system, all candidates regardless of party appear on the same ballot and only the top two vote-getters advance to November.

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Secretary of state Marco Rubio is set to face a litany of questions Tuesday about the Trump administration’s fragile or stalling diplomatic efforts around the world when he appears for back-to-back hearings on Capitol Hill for the first time since the Iran war began.

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The Republican former senator will sit before House and Senate committees to make the State Department’s annual budget request, AP reported.

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But the focus is likely to shift quickly to the already unsteady ceasefire between Washington and Tehran, which has been further tested in recent days by back-and-forth attacks.

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Cabinet members, including Rubio, have defended president Donald Trump’s decision to launch the conflict despite promises over the years not to engage in “forever wars” in the Middle East.

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Dozens of members of Congress and Capitol Hill staffers have enjoyed lavish gifted travel to Israel funded by an Aipac affiliate since 7 October 2023, amid Israel’s expanding wars on its neighbors and despite plummeting levels of support among Americans for the country’s policies, a Guardian analysis has found.

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Congressional ethics filings and other public records show the trips, led by the American Israel Education Foundation (AIEF), revolved around one-sided briefings on Middle East politics and Israeli domestic and foreign policy. Lawmakers and their staffers from both parties met Israeli officials, military contractors and civil society figures, including Benjamin Netanyahu and advocates for the annexation of the West Bank and the displacement of Palestinians from Jerusalem.

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The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) and other pro-Israel groups have sponsored such trips for years, and both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have joined. But the continued participation of Democratic lawmakers and their staff on recent trips is particularly noteworthy given how much sympathy for Israel has ebbed among Democratic voters, and the pains that some Democratic politicians have recently taken to distance themselves from the lobby group.

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A recent poll found that eight in 10 Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents have an unfavorable view of Israel, along with six in 10 Americans broadly.

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The congressional ethics filings show that members of Congress and their staffers were hosted at luxurious hotels, dined at top-tier restaurants and received briefings in at least one West Bank settlement. While one of the trips referenced in this story has previously been reported in broad terms, the Guardian is revealing details relating to itineraries, costs and other trips for the first time.

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Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.

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Californians go to the polls today in the first round of voting for a new governor, with a tight three-way race for two run-off spots.

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The golden state will also vote on House districts for the first time since it approved Proposition 50 – its response to Texas redrawing its congressional lines to create five Republican leaning districts at the behest of Donald Trump – in November last year.

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Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, South Dakota and New Mexico also hold elections on Tuesday.

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Focussing on California, the state’s governor primary pits all candidates against each other, regardless of party, with the top two advancing to November’s general election to replace the term-limited Gavin Newsom, AFP reports.

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More than 60 names appear on the lengthy ballot papers that have been mailed out to all registered voters in the heavily Democratic state of 40 million people. The latest polls show a three-way split, with former president Joe Biden’s health secretary Xavier Becerra in the lead.

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In the battle for second place and the chance to take on Becerra in November are Democrat Tom Steyer and Trump-backed Republican Steve Hilton.

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Incumbent Newsom is believed to have his eyes on the White House in 2028, following in the footsteps of Ronald Reagan, who occupied the governor’s mansion from 1967 to 1975.

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Steyer speaks at a rally at Los Angeles Trade Technical College on Sunday, May 31, 2026.”,”caption”:”Tom Steyer speaks at a rally at Los Angeles Trade Technical College on 31 May 2026.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Jackson Tammariello/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock”}},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

It comes as voters in Los Angeles will also vote in the city’s mayoral primary.

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Incumbent Karen Bass, who is making her case for a second term, facing a challenge from the left by her former ally on the city council Nithya Raman – and another from the right by reality TV star Spencer Pratt.

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If anyone secures 50% of the votes on Tuesday, they win outright, while anything less means the top two candidates go through to the 3 November general election.

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In other developments:

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n
• n

  Democrats in the US Senate vowed to force Republicans to vote on a $1.8bn “Maga slush fund” established as part of a resolution of Trump’s long-shot lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service. The US president has described the secretive and loosely controlled “anti-weaponization fund” as a means of paying the victims of politicized prosecutions.

n

• n

  Tina Peters, the former clerk convicted of participating in a scheme to chase election conspiracy theories promulgated by Donald Trump, was released from prison on Monday after the president successfully pressured Colorado’s Democratic governor into commuting her sentence.

n

• n

  On Monday afternoon, over an hour south of Newark, a few dozen protesters outside the New Jersey state legislature in Trenton condemned Democratic governor Mikie Sherrill’s decision to send in the state police to Delaney Hall, the Newark immigration detention center that has seen more than a week of chaotic and often violent clashes.

n

• n

  Transgender troops can remain in the US military, but the armed services can continue to block their enlistment, an appeals court ruled on Monday in a split decision with potentially significant consequences for the Trump administration’s anti-diversity agenda.

n

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Key events

Trump pushing Iran to make firmer nuclear commitments in initial deal – report

Donald Trump is demanding that Iran put specific nuclear concessions down in writing as part of a preliminary agreement aimed at pushing through the drawn-out deadlock in talks to end his war, ABC News is reporting citing US officials and another source familiar with the matter.

According to ABC News’s sources, Iranian negotiators previously gave verbal assurances that the regime would agree to certain terms related to Tehran’s nuclear program, but Trump determined on Friday that those commitments weren’t strong enough.

As we reported earlier, Marco Rubio told the Senate foreign relations committee today: “[Iran] have to commit to very specific negotiations on … the highly enriched uranium that still is buried deep in a mountain somewhere. They have to agree on negotiating severe and long-term limitations and/or cancellation of enrichment activity in their country.”

He went on: “For example, they have to commit to say ‘we will dispose of the enriched uranium. And the question now is ‘What are the mechanisms by which we do so?’ That can be negotiated.”

The day so far

It’s been a busy day, so here’s a quick rundown of the main headlines:

• Acting attorney general Todd Blanche confirmed that the Trump administration has abandoned plans to create a $1.8bn “anti-weaponization” fund meant to compensate the president’s allies after fierce political backlash and setbacks in the courts. “We are not moving forward with the fund, period,” Blanche said, adding that this will remain true even after a federal court’s order to block the fund expires on 12 June. It followed swirling reports from GOP leadership that the fund was indeed dead and “off the table”.

• However, Blanche later added that the DOJ would continue granting immunity to Trump, his family members and his businesses from IRS investigations. “Nothing has changed with that,” Blanche said, denying representative Rosa DeLauro’s statement that the tax order would give “blanket immunity” to Trump and his associates from future investigations on tax matters (the measure could save Trump over $100m, according to a New York Times analysis). My colleague Sam Levine has this report.

• Meanwhile, Trump’s decision to appoint Bill Pulte as the acting director of national intelligence set off alarm bells in Washington, as a staunch Trump loyalist with little government experience who has shown an eagerness to retaliate against the president’s political rivals will now sit atop the US intelligence community. Among Republican critics were John Thune, the Senate majority leader, who told reporters that “we don’t need a weaponized” national intelligence director and Pulte would have “a lengthy road ahead of him” if he were nominated to take the post on a permanent basis. Here’s our story.

• Also today, homeland security secretary Markwayne Mullin repeatedly refused to commit to following the numerous court orders from judges who have ruled that the Department of Homeland Security has acted illegally. In his first appearance before lawmakers since his confirmation in March, Mullin told the Senate appropriations committee that the DHS “will never break the constitution, and we’re not going to break the law”, but declined to commit to saying he would abide by rulings from judges. More on that here.

• Donald Trump angrily yelled and cursed at Benjamin Netanyahu over the Israeli prime minister’s threats to resume airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, Axios reported today. “What the fuck are you doing?” the US president reportedly shouted at Netanyahu during the phone call yesterday. “You’re fucking crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.” Read more on that here.

• And finally, Trump announced that he will attend and speak at the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ dinner on 24 July, after the original event was thrown into chaos by a shooting. More on that here.

Chris Stein

in Washington

Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner just exited the headquarters of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee after meeting for just shy of two hours.

Dozens of reporters waited outside along with a group of protesters, but Platner departed the meeting via a side door, and did not speak to the press.

Provision ‘forever’ barring IRS from auditing Trump’s past tax returns to remain in place, Blanche says

Per my colleague Sam Levine, while the federal government is abandoning an effort to create a $1.8bn secretive fund to compensate Donald Trump’s allies, it is maintaining an agreement that prohibits the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from auditing Trump, his family and related entities.

After confirming that the Trump administration is “not moving forward with the fund, period,” acting attorney general Todd Blanche later added that the DOJ would continue granting immunity to Trump and his family members on tax matters before the agreement was reached last month.

“Nothing has changed with that,” Blanche said, denying representative Rosa DeLauro’s statment that the tax order would give “blanket immunity” to Trump and his associates from future investigations.

Blanche confirms Trump administration has abandoned $1.8bn fund meant to compensate president’s allies

Acting attorney general Todd Blanche has said that the Trump administration is scrapping plans to create a $1.8bn “anti-weaponization” fund meant to compensate the president’s allies after fierce political backlash and setbacks in the courts.

“We are not moving forward with the fund, period,” Blanche said, adding that this will remain true even after a federal court’s order to block the fund expires on 12 June.

Blanche continued to defend the principle behind the idea, but confirmed that it had been abandoned:

The reasons for the fund is something that President Trump talked about for a long time, which is the fact that there were a lot of people in this country who had their government weaponized against them. The reasons for the fund, I think, remain as important as they were before, but we are not moving forward with the fund.

His confirmation during his House committee appearance comes in response to mounting pressure from Republicans for reassurances that the justice department’s plans were off the table before they would move forward with legislation funding Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agencies.

Mullin refuses to commit to following ‘politicized’ court orders for DHS

Ealier, homeland security secretary Markwayne Mullin repeatedly refused to commit to following the numerous court orders from judges who have ruled that the Department of Homeland Security has acted illegally, suggesting – in true Trumpian fashion – that the courts are politicized.

In his first appearance before lawmakers since his confirmation in March, Mullin told the Senate appropriations committee that the DHS “will never break the constitution, and we’re not going to break the law”. But he also declined to commit to saying he would abide by rulings from judges.

“If we didn’t think courts were politicized, then I would probably be able to answer that, but we see courts over and over again that use their bench for their political opinion, not just the rule of law,” he said.

Asked by ranking member Chris Murphy what he meant, Mullin said: “What I’m saying is we’ll enforce the law and we’re never going to break the constitution.”

Murphy pulled him up on that, saying that Mullin was stating that he would not follow court orders. Mullin said Murphy was “putting words” in his mouth and again said he would not break the constitution.

“This is a really important discussion for us to have, because this is – whether you want to believe it or not – at the root of our disagreement,” Murphy said. “It is very hard for us to figure out how to fund an agency that is violating the law.”

In her opening remarks directed at acting attorney general Todd Blanche, Democratic representative Rosa DeLauro wasted no time in slamming the proposed “slush fund to pay out violent criminals who pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers [in the January 6, 2021 US Capitol attack]”.

“This administration has engaged in what are perhaps the most brazen acts of flagrant corruption I’ve ever seen,” said DeLauro, of Connecticut, calling the fund a “corrupt payout scheme for the president and his allies”.

Citing the federal court order blocking the fund from paying out any claims, “I am not at all convinced that this administration has given up,” she said, adding the Blanche had “left [himself] a lot of room” in his opening statement.

Citing the lack of oversight, standards and transparency over the fund, as well as Blanche’s background as Trump’s former personal lawyer, DeLauro said it was “unconscionable” that taxpayer dollars could be used “to pay off just about anyone for just about anything”, including people who were convicted of violence during the Capitol attack.

She added that it was “staggering” and “shameful” given the number of Americans struggling to pay for food, utilities, gas, childcare and healthcare.

Further to that, earlier Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer refused to share details with reporters at his weekly news conference, saying only: “I met with Graham Platner today. We’re going to beat Susan Collins and take back the Senate.”

Chris Stein

in Washington

I’m outside the headquarters of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in DC, where Graham Platner, whose campaign for Maine’s Senate seat has been upended by revelations that he sent sexually explicit texts to women outside his marriage, is reportedly meeting with top lawmakers.

I haven’t spotted anyone in office yet, but there is a group of demonstrators standing outside the building’s driveway carrying signs reading, “Graham is a fraud”, and otherwise criticizing his candidacy. One man is shirtless and wearing a towel around his waist — clearly a nod to one of the photos Platner is accused of sending on the app Kik, a private messaging platform some use for sexting.

Now, they’re chanting: “Delete your Kik!”

Blanche to face lawmakers after GOP leaders state Trump’s $1.8bn ‘anti-weaponization’ fund ‘off the table’

At the top of the hour, we will hear from acting attorney general Todd Blanche as he testifies to the House appropriations subcommittee on commerce, justice, science, and related agencies. He’s expected to face questions about the DOJ’s so-called “anti-weaponization” fund, among other issues.

Yesterday, the justice department announced it would comply with a recent court ruling blocking the contentious $1.8bn fund to compensate his allies, which has faced fierce bipartisan backlash on Capitol Hill since it was announced two weeks ago.

Multiple outlets reported yesterday that Donald Trump may be mulling a retreat from the idea amid the growing political backlash. Other reports indicated only that the DOJ paused the program to comply with a court order. Perhaps Blanche will tell us more.

Republicans have expressed concerns over a lack of oversight and the possibility that individuals convicted in connection with violence during the 6 January 2021 riot at the US Capitol could receive payouts. Many are also alarmed at the optics of using taxpayer dollars for payouts to political allies during a cost-of-living crisis.

Democrats have derided the fund as a $1.8bn “Maga slush fund”, slamming it as “corruption in broad daylight”.

Senate Republicans, who have rarely broken with Trump, threatened to revolt and join forces with Democrats to block the fund.

Earlier today, House speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that he had told Trump they didn’t have the numbers. “I believe it is off the table for consideration,” he said, though he defended the idea behind the fund as “very noble”.

I told him it was a difficult prospect right now given our vote tallies. Look, I understand the intent behind it was a very noble thing. The government clearly was weaponized against Americans, the Department of Justice itself was. I don’t think it was fully understood and that’s what made it a difficult thing.

Senate majority leader John Thune, who has in contrast been an outspoken critic of the fund and called on the White House to “shut it down”, said he expected the plan to be binned following a “robust” conversation with Blanche today.

Asked if he believed the fund was dead, Thune said:

After speaking with the acting attorney general, that is correct.

Thune added that Blanche had previewed for him what he planned to say at his testimony this afternoon regarding the fund.

I think his statements are going to be very definitive, very clear, and create the certainty that I hope all of our members and House members need.