Sen. Thom Tillis a 'no' on controversial Trump nominee for Special Counsel’s Office
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., says he will not support Paul Ingrassia, Trump’s controversial nominee for the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, telling NBC News, “I’m a no” on the nomination.
“I had not been following him," Tillis said. "I went into my office, got a preliminary briefing, and that’s enough for me to know there’s probably virtually no way I could get to a yes. It’s Jan. 6, it’s a number of other things. So, I think, I think he’s one of these people that’s checked all the boxes and they’re all the wrong boxes.”
Ingrassia is a far-right former podcaster and commentator with a lengthy list of incendiary comments. He has called for Jan. 6 to be declared a national holiday to honor the “peaceful protest against a great injustice affecting our electoral system” and dismissed the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel as a “psyop.”
Tillis has said in recent weeks that he will oppose any Trump nominee who participated in or acted in support of those who took part in the riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Trump’s nominees can only lose three votes in the Senate if they want to be confirmed, and Tillis’ early opposition could mean Ingrassia’s nomination is in trouble.
“It’s pretty apparent to me he’s not ready for prime time, but he’s young, he’s got plenty of time to learn,” Tillis said.
Ingrassia is set to have his confirmation hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee tomorrow, where Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said Ingrassia’s previous comments will come up.
“I would never make some of the statements he’s made,” Lankford, who’s on the committee, told NBC News. “So, I think those are all things to be able to ask about and try to be able to figure out his perspective.”
U.S. envoy Witkoff may travel to Doha for further Gaza talks if Europe meetings go well
Abigail Williams and Monica Alba
Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, will travel to Europe this week for meetings on a wide range of issues, including the war in Gaza, a State Department official told NBC News.
Witkoff will continue pushing in the meetings for a Gaza ceasefire and peace deal, and if sufficient progress is made, he will travel on to Doha, Qatar, for further discussions, according to a U.S. official and a source familiar with the plan.
The potential second stop was first reported by Axios.
Masked ICE agents detain former Afghan interpreter who helped U.S. military
Reuters
An Afghan who moved to the United States after working for the U.S. military in his home country was seized by armed, masked immigration agents, put in a van and taken out of state, attorneys and members of Congress said yesterday.
Identified only as Zia by members of Congress and his attorney out of concern for his safety and that of his family, the man had worked as an interpreter for the U.S. military during the war in Afghanistan.
He was in the United States legally and was arrested after an appointment in Connecticut related to his application for a green card under a program to protect people who worked for U.S. forces, according to human rights advocates, his attorney and members of Congress.
Trade talks could go past deadline, treasury secretary says
Any country "who doesn't have a deal by Aug. 1 will go back to the April 2 tariff level, but that doesn't mean we can't keep negotiating," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said this morning on MSNBC.
Asked specifically about a deal with China, which Trump has set a later deadline of Aug. 12 to resolve, Bessent said "we have a series of deals with China" on rare earth minerals. However, a full-fledged trade deal with China remains elusive.
Rare earth minerals are critical for the manufacture of everything from electric vehicles to smartphones.
Treasury Secretary Bessent: Trump has no plans to fire the Fed chief
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that Trump has no plans to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
Trump has attacked Powell at an unrelenting pace for months. As recently as last night, Trump said Powell was "terrible, terrible" and told lawmakers gathered at the White House for a reception that Powell was "either evil or stupid."
Asked if Trump's pressure campaign against Powell is fair, Bessent said "I think everyone's used to that. Chair Powell's been around a long time."
GOP Rep. Mike Lawler won't run for New York governor
Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., is skipping a bid for governor and will instead run for re-election after Trump urged him to do just that, which clears the field for one of Lawler's House colleagues if she chooses to run.
Lawler made his announcement this morning in an interview with The New York Times and an appearance on Fox News, noting that "keeping the House majority is critical" and that his seat has been "determinative of control of the House" during recent elections.
"I'm proud to run for re-election on my record and win next November and keep the House Republican majority," he said.
Lawler been openly considering a gubernatorial bid for some time, but Trump endorsed him for re-election before Lawler publicly made up his mind. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., a Trump ally who had been tapped as his United Nations ambassador before that nomination was pulled amid concerns about the slim GOP majority in the House, is also weighing her own gubernatorial bid.
Lawler's decision helps House Republicans who are defending a narrow majority next year, as they'll be able to rally behind the incumbent in a difficult district that then-Vice President Kamala Harris narrowly won in 2024. Stefanik responded to Lawler's decision by saying she'd announce her plans after the fall elections.
Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul is running for re-election and faces a primary challenge from her lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado.
Trump to deliver remarks at AI summit
Trump will deliver remarks this afternoon at an artificial intelligence summit in Washington, D.C., where he also is expected to sign executive orders, according to the White House.
Members of his administration and tech industry leaders are expected to attend the half-day event, which is being hosted by the All‑In podcast and the Hill & Valley Forum, according to a news release from the group.
U.S. and China may extend Aug. 12 tariff deadline at talks in Sweden next week
Steve Kopack and Eve Qiao
The U.S. and China will resume trade talks in Sweden on Monday and Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, adding that the Aug. 12 deadline for negotiating a deal is likely to be extended.
“I think trade is in a very good place with China,” Bessent, who will lead the U.S. delegation in Stockholm along with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, said yesterday on Fox Business.
Sweden and China also confirmed the talks, which will continue to be led on the Chinese side by Vice Premier He Lifeng.
Though there were few deliverables from previous rounds of talks in Geneva and London, China has eased export controls on strategically vital rare earth minerals and magnets, while the U.S. has lifted export controls on design software for semiconductor chips and allowed U.S. companies Nvidia and AMD to resume Chinese sales of advanced chips for use in developing artificial intelligence.
How Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ is shaping this year’s biggest elections
Bridget Bowman and Adam Edelman
Trump’s sweeping tax cut and spending law known as the “big beautiful bill” is expected to be a major issue in the 2026 midterm elections. But first, candidates for governor this year in Virginia and New Jersey are already testing how the measure plays on the campaign trail.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill and former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic nominees in New Jersey and Virginia, respectively, have warned about devastating impacts from looming cuts to social safety net programs such as Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Republicans are taking mixed approaches. In New Jersey, a high-tax state where affordability is a top issue, former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli and his allies are planning to go on offense, arguing that Sherrill voted to block critical tax cuts.
Obama pushes back on Trump’s ‘outrageous’ and ‘bizarre’ treason claim
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Monica Alba, Vaughn Hillyard, Dareh Gregorian and Zoë Richards
Former President Barack Obama’s office issued a rare rebuke of Trump yesterday after the president accused his predecessor of having committed “treason” and rigging the 2016 and 2020 elections.
“Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response,” Obama spokesperson Patrick Rodenbush said. “But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction.”
English (US) ·