House rebukes Trump on Iran; California governor’s race and other key primaries remain undecided

The partisan warrior named to serve as the country’s top intelligence official is part of a small circle of trusted allies who won Trump’s confidence by taking swift action against his prominent Democratic critics, according to three people with knowledge of Trump’s decision.

Bill Pulte, the administration’s chief housing regulator, who is due to take over as acting director of national intelligence by the end of the month, has Trump’s ear, shares his sense of urgency and is a regular presence at the White House and at Trump’s properties in Florida, the people told NBC News.

“Trump is always with Pulte and always saying we’re running out of time to get things done,” one of them said.

Pulte, who will keep his current role as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has no known work experience in intelligence, the military or national security. Yet he will oversee some of the world’s most sophisticated and powerful intelligence agencies, equipped with an array of surveillance tools and a global network of spies.

Read the full story here.

Betting activity by disgraced former Rep. George Santos on the prediction market Kalshi has been flagged to federal authorities, according to two sources familiar with the investigation.

Kalshi alerted the Justice Department about bets Santos placed regarding his attendance at Trump’s State of the Union address in February, according to the sources, who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The prediction market company also alerted officials at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, according to one of the sources.

Santos, 37, told his millions of followers on X that he planned to attend the speech — one of many events drawing online bettors at the time.

“I’m gonna be in the gallery,” he saiin a video on X.

Read the full story here.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz faces significant pushback from Black Democrats after she decided to run in a newly redrawn district in South Florida that has a plurality of Black voters and a crowded primary field.

The Florida political landscape was scrambled after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation last month creating new congressional maps. Instead of running in the 22nd Congressional District, where she lives, Wasserman Schultz opted to run in the more Democratic-leaning 20th District, which has long been represented by a Black Democrat.

The move has angered Black leaders and candidates in that district, especially when Republicans have tried to wipe out districts long held by Black Democrats after a recent Supreme Court decision that limits the consideration of race in drawing congressional maps.

Four Black candidates running in the primary have even discussed coalescing around one or two candidates to take on Wasserman Schultz rather than split the Black vote, according to one of the participants in the meeting.

Read the full story here.

The House voted today to advance legislation to provide aid to Ukraine, setting up a final passage vote tomorrow.

The vote took place under a "discharge petition," a parliamentary tool that allows members to force votes on legislation so long as a majority of the House signs on to the measure. The maneuver is used to advance legislation that House majority leadership does not want to put to a vote.

Six Republicans and independent Rep. Kevin Kiley of California joined Democrats in the 218-204 vote. The measure, the Ukraine Support Act, is sponsored by Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee. It would establish a reconstruction fund for Ukraine and impose additional penalties on Russia, among other provisions.

The bill is expected to pass in the House, but it would have an uphill battle in the Senate, where 60 votes are needed to advance most bills. Republicans hold a 53-47 advantage in the chamber.

Elected officials are eroding confidence in the judicial system, and the vitriol increasingly espoused by politicians angry over court rulings can have dangerous implications, two federal judges told NBC News.

“When you call us monsters, and when you say we hate America, and you post that on a large social platform, and when you say it in front of the cameras day in and day out, and when it’s written, and when people put up wanted posters,” U.S. District Judge Esther Salas said, “you are doing that for one reason, and that is to erode the public’s confidence.”

Salas, whose only child was killed in 2020 by a man targeting her, and retired U.S. District Judge John Jones III sat down with NBC News as part of its Common Ground initiative to bring leaders together from different perspectives together to discuss solutions on bridging that gap.

Salas was appointed to the court in New Jersey in 2011 by Democratic President Barack Obama. Jones was appointed in 2002 by Republican George W. Bush and spent 19 years on the bench in Pennsylvania before he retired in 2021. Both discussed their growing concerns about the safety of the judiciary.

Read the full story here.

The House offered a rare rebuke to Trump today, passing a Democratic-led measure to end his war with Iran over objections from Republican leadership.

It was one of two Democratic-led measures opposed by the White House that advanced in the House.

The Iran war powers resolution, offered by Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, had been heading for a vote before the GOP-led House left for its Memorial Day recess on May 21. But it was abruptly pulled from the floor when it appeared that too many Republicans were absent to defeat it.

Today, it passed 215-208, with four Republicans joining all Democrats in voting yes.

Read the full story here.

Asked by reporters whether the $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund was dead or just on pause, Trump said: “I’d have to ask the lawyers. I don’t know."

Earlier in his remarks to reporters, Trump was asked why his Justice Department dropped the "anti-weaponization" fund. He did not directly answer, instead saying about the fund: “I love it. I think it’s so important.”

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers yesterday that the Justice Department was "not moving forward" with the fund following bipartisan backlash.

It’s been a long six weeks for Democrats in the redistricting wars.

By the end of April, the party had drawn enough Democratic-leaning seats to turn the back-and-forth over new congressional maps for the midterms that Trump had started a year earlier into roughly a wash.

Then the courts acted: The U.S. Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act, opening the door to Republican-led states in the South to eliminate majority-Black districts held by Democrats. A week later, the Virginia Supreme Court blocked the state from implementing a new map favoring Democrats that voters had approved in a special election.

Now, with the general election five months away, the 2026 redistricting dust is beginning to settle. In total, 10 states have implemented new congressional boundaries over the past year, with Alabama, Louisiana and Tennessee most recently having taken action following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling.

Read the full story here.

Sam Forstag, a former smokejumper (a firefighter who jumps from airplanes to fight fires from the inside), is the Democratic Party's nominee in Montana's 1st District, where he'll face the Trump-backed combat veteran and radio host Aaron Flint.

It is a district that Trump won by more than 11 points but one that Democrats are targeting given the lack of an incumbent (GOP Rep. Ryan Zinke is retiring) and the fact that Democrats have had past success there statewide.

During his testimony before the Senate Finance Committee, Bessent acknowledged that he once threatened to beat up Bill Pulte, whom Trump named acting director of national intelligence yesterday.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., asked Bessent whether it was true that he once threatened to punch Pulte in the face.

“No, sir. I actually said I was going to kick his ass,” Bessent replied. Tillis responded: “Good. I share the emotion.”

Tillis said he's opposed to Pulte’s getting the job because of his attacks on former Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

Trump said in a video on TikTok that "maybe we'll never ever" dismantle the structure being assembled outside the White House for an Ultimate Fighting Championship fight this month.

Trump noted that the Eiffel Tower was initially intended to be a temporary structure for the 1889 World's Fair but ultimately was left up.

"They never took it down," Trump said of the Paris landmark. "And you know, we’re building something in front of the White House that’s quite attractive to a lot of people. It’s gonna have the big UFC fight on June 14. And I’m looking at it, and maybe we’ll never, ever take it down."

The post features video of Trump looking at the UFC structure on the South Lawn.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., suggested in a statement today that Bill Pulte is not qualified to serve as director of national intelligence, the role Trump chose him for yesterday in an acting capacity.

In a statement his office released in response to questions about Pulte, McConnell said that "very few Senate-confirmable positions come with statutory eligibility requirements," adding, "There are good reasons why the Director of National Intelligence is one of them."

"Anyone performing this role of such immense public trust must have the extensive national security experience required by statute, and no nominee who falls short of this requirement will earn my vote," he said.

McConnell is among a few Republicans already questioning Trump's decision to pick Pulte, who many have noted has no intelligence background. It's unclear whether Trump will nominate him to the position permanently, which would require Senate confirmation.

Rubio told lawmakers at today's House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing that the U.S. military's Iran war operation has ended.

Responding to questions from Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., Rubio said, "Epic Fury has concluded."

Rubio spoke hours after Iranian and U.S. military forces exchanged strikes near the Strait of Hormuz, which he labeled "defensive" moves.

"What you’re seeing reports of, including last night, is the following: A ship will go through the route, particularly both the northern and southern route of Hormuz," Rubio said. "Those ships will come under attack. The U.S. will respond to that attack by shooting down those drones that are trying to sink a commercial civilian vessel illegally and unlawfully."

He added: "At that point, the Iranians will respond to that by targeting some facility in the region and retribution on occasion. In order to protect our own forces, we don’t just strike the drones; we strike the people who launch those drones. These are completely defensive in nature, and but they are happening in response to an Iranian action. If they don’t shoot at those ships, we don’t shoot, but we have to respond."

NBC News projects Republican Kevin Lincoln will face off against Democratic Rep. Adam Gray in California's 13th Congressional District.

NBC News projected Gray's win last night. His seat is a top Republican target.

Lincoln, the former mayor of Stockton, lost a close race to Democratic Rep. Josh Harder in a different district in 2024 and is backed by Trump.

Rubio told lawmakers at a hearing that neither Russia nor Ukraine have been willing to make concessions.

"To this point, neither side has been willing to make concessions, particularly on the Russian side, necessary in order to bring peace about," he said. "We remain ready to play any role we can in that context of bringing a peace about, because we think the war in Ukraine, devastating war, has no military solution."

"It can only be solved through a diplomatic route, and it’s been unfruitful," he continued. "I would characterize it as the ongoing challenges."

During his presidential campaign, Trump predicted that he could quickly end the war in Ukraine, but so far, there have been no major breakthroughs.

In his opening statement, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, ripped Bessent for not turning over financial records related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

"There’s been a coverup of a massive pile of Epstein financial records for a year and a half," Wyden said, adding it's hampered his efforts to "follow the money."

"Senate investigators are trying to figure out who paid Epstein for girls, and unfortunately Secretary Bessent is involved in preventing that from happening," Wyden said.

Bessent used his opening statement to fire back and pointed to mentions of Wyden's son in Epstein-related files released by the DOJ.

"Senator Wyden has mendaciously slandered the Treasury building in an attempt to cover up his son having an investment meeting with Jeffrey Epstein to ask for funding,” Bessent said.

Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., questioned Rubio on why he believes Iran is losing the war, with Rubio saying, "The regime is actually deeply fractured ... facing hyperinflation, a completely devalued currency, hundreds of billions of dollars in damage to their military infrastructure," and a "worse, not better," economy than when the war started.

Jacobs then pointed out that the U.S. is facing similar economic pressures, saying, "We are having inflation. It's already cost us an estimated $100 billion, gas prices are up with no end in sight.,"

She added, "The American people are not stupid, Mr. Secretary, we all know that this war is not over."

Rubio dodged a question from Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., about who won the 2020 presidential election.

Rubio said he was "not here to answer" questions about that, adding, "this is a foreign affairs committee."

"I don't answer the question because as secretary of state, I do not participate in domestic political issues," he said, alluding to the Hatch Act, which limits political activity by federal employees.

Jacobs said that the question wasn't about a political issue, and Rubio countered that it was. He added that he does not participate in campaign rallies either.

Rubio testifies during a House hearing today. Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images

During a news conference on Capitol Hill, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said he spoke with Rep. Tom Kean Jr., R-N.J., a few days ago and that Kean is "in good spirits" amid a prolonged absence from Capitol Hill.

"He's in good spirits," Johnson told reporters, adding that Kean "needs a little bit longer to recover" from an unexplained medical issue that has kept him away from Congress for three months.

"It's not a scandalous thing at all. People deal with health issues, maybe that's a news flash for you, but even members of Congress get sick as well," the speaker added before calling Kean an "extraordinary" and "phenomenal" lawmaker.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sidestepped bipartisan questions about the president's controversial settlement of his IRS lawsuit.

Asked by Senate Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, asked Bessent about the role Treasury and the IRS played in striking the deal, which included a $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization fund" and an agreement to drop any pending IRS audits and financial penalties for the president, his family members and companies.

Bessent said department "is following the direction of the Department of Justice" and that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche testified yesterday that department would not be moving ahead with the fund. The secretary then said he could not answer additional questions because of pending litigation.

"Any additional questions about the fund and the settlement should be directed to the acting attorney general," Bessent said.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., asked if the tax deal is still in place, and Bessent said he couldn't comment. Asked whose idea the tax deal was, Bessent declined to answer. "There's ongoing litigation," he said.

Bessent during a Senate Finance Committee hearing today.  Eric Lee / Bloomberg via Getty Images

The House will have to take up two different Democrat-led measures over the objections of Republican leaders: an Iran war powers resolution and a motion that would unlock a vote on providing aid to Ukraine.

The Iran war powers resolution, offered by Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., initially was to get a vote before the House left for a recess May 21, but was pulled from consideration when it appeared that Republicans were missing too many members to defeat it.

The House will vote on the resolution, which would direct the president to remove U.S. armed forces from hostilities with Iran, during a series of votes beginning at 4 p.m. 

The House will also vote on a motion to “discharge,” or bring forward, legislation that would provide aid to Ukraine after a discharge petition reached 218 signatures last month to circumvent GOP leadership.

If the motion, which requires a simple majority, is successful, the House would debate the Ukraine aid legislation but a final vote would be postponed until tomorrow. 

The House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing with Rubio is underway.

Rubio testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a House Appropriations subcommittee yesterday.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers yesterday that the Trump administration does not want to force Afghans currently stranded in Qatar to go back to Afghanistan and that it has spoken with at least five countries that might be willing to accept some of them.

More than 1,100 Afghan men, women and children have been stranded at Camp As Sayliyah, a former U.S. Army base in Qatar, since at least early last year after Trump halted refugee admissions on his first day back in office. Most of the Afghans, who include interpreters who worked with the U.S. military and relatives of U.S. service members and veterans, had been approved for U.S. resettlement after extensive vetting.

The Trump administration had been considering sending them instead to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a central African country that was already experiencing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises and is now also at the center of an Ebola outbreak. Critics said it was a tactic meant to push the Afghans back to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, where many say they are at risk of persecution, torture or death because of their work for U.S. forces.

“We don’t want to see a situation where any of them are being forced back into Afghanistan, because that’s just clearly not an option for some of them,” Rubio said in congressional testimony. He did not name the other countries the Trump administration has spoken to, nor did he explicitly rule out Congo as a potential destination.

The Trump administration is proposing new tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on goods from 60 trade partners, citing failures to curb the use of forced labor.

All 60 trade partners, which include critical ones such as the European Union, Britain, Canada, China, Japan, Mexico, South Korea and Taiwan, “have failed both to impose a legal prohibition on the importation of goods produced wholly or in part with forced labor (forced labor goods) and to effectively enforce such a prohibition,” the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in a lengthy report released last night.

“The failure of our most important trading partners to address the importation of goods made with forced labor is unacceptable,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement. “This creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field.”

The forced labor investigation was launched in March after the Supreme Court struck down much of Trump’s global tariff regime. The new tariffs would be applied under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which authorizes investigations of alleged unfair foreign trade practices and was not affected by the Supreme Court ruling. 

The Supreme Court last night allowed Alabama to use a congressional map that eliminates one of two majority-Black districts in the state in a win for Republicans.

The justices, split 6-3 on ideological lines with conservatives in the majority, granted an emergency request filed by Republican officials seeking to use the map, which was enacted in 2023 but has never been used.

In the unsigned three-page order, the court said the state is likely to ultimately prevail on its claim that the map was lawfully drawn.

In dissent, liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the majority’s decision “disregards both democratic values and the rule of law.”

Read the full story here.

Trump said in an interview with the New York Post's "Pod Force One" podcast that it would be "great" if Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio ran together in 2028.

"I like them both, and, and I like them together, you know, it’d be great," Trump said. "I don’t know how you beat them if they're together. That would be a great team. JD and Marco would be a great team. I don’t know, you know, they have to agree to it, right?"

Trump has previously touted both Vance and Rubio as potential 2028 candidates.

Asked in an interview on "Pod Force One" why he chose Bill Pulte to serve as acting director of national intelligence, Trump said the housing official was "a very talented guy."

Asked whether Pulte would "accelerate" declassifications, the president responded "yeah."

Trump went on to praise his acting attorney general, Todd Blanche. Asked whether Blanche will ultimately serve as attorney general, the president said, "I think he will."

"I wanted to see how he’s received, you know, we put him as acting, and he’s done a very good job," Trump said.

Trump tapped Blanche to serve as acting attorney general after firing Pam Bondi from her position in April.

In his interview with the New York Post's "Pod Force One" podcast, Trump confirmed an Axios report that he had an expletive-laden phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following Israel's strikes in Lebanon earlier this week.

Israel's attacks against Hezbollah had threatened to derail talks on ending the war with Iran.

Citing two U.S. officials and a third source briefed on the call, Axios reported that Trump told Netanyahu he was "crazy" and that he had helped keep the prime minister out of jail, referring to Netanyahu's corruption trial.

Asked in the "Pod Force One" interview if he said what Axios reported, Trump said, "I did."

Trump said in an interview on the New York Post podcast "Pod Force One" that he thought it was "unlikely" that the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would still be in place by Labor Day.

Asked whether he thought the blockade would stick around through Labor Day, Trump said, "I don't know."

"I mean, I think it could be, but I think it’s unlikely," he continued. "I think that we’ll have it — I think this will resolve itself fairly quickly."

Trump also discussed the potential impact of the war with Iran on the midterm elections. Asked whether the war would affect Republicans' prospects, Trump said he did not know.

"Every single person I endorse wins," he added. "So, I don’t know about that, but again, there’s a very important moment in history. We can’t let this happen."

Rebecca Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot and healthcare executive, has won the Democratic primary in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District, NBC News projects, setting up a general election campaign against Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr.

Bennett defeated physician Tina Shah, former Small Business Administration official Michael Roth and business owner Brian Varela for the Democratic nomination. Now, she will take on Kean in a district that Trump carried by just 1 percentage point in 2024, making it one of the most tightly divided districts in the country.

Kean, who was first elected in 2022 and was unopposed in the Republican primary, won re-election by more than 5 points in 2024, running ahead of Trump.

Kean has not voted in the Capitol or been seen in public since March 5 because of what his office describes as a “personal medical issue.” Yesterday, he said in a statement that he will return to the Capitol “within a matter of weeks,” when, he said, he will be “completely transparent as to the nature of my medical condition.”

Read the full story here.

Iowa state Rep. Josh Turek has won the Democratic nomination for his state’s open U.S. Senate seat, NBC News projects, advancing from a combative primary to a potentially competitive general election in a state that has favored Republicans in recent elections.

Turek, 47, defeated state Sen. Zach Wahls and will face Rep. Ashley Hinson, who won yesterday's GOP primary with Trump’s endorsement, in the general election.

A former Paralympic gold medalist in basketball, Turek is backed by former Sen. Tom Harkin, whose “prairie populism” was a staple of Iowa politics until his retirement in 2014. In his victory speech last night, he reached out to Wahls’ supporters.

Read the full story here.

Rep. Randy Feenstra conceded to businessman Zach Lahn in Iowa’s Republican primary for governor last night as party voters rejected Trump’s late endorsement.

NBC News has not projected a result in the primary. But Billy Fuerst, a spokesperson for Feenstra’s campaign, confirmed that he has conceded to Lahn.

Up to this point, no Trump-backed candidate for governor, the House or the Senate has lost a primary in the midterm elections.

With 98% of the expected vote counted, Lahn had 37.8% of the vote to 37% for Feenstra.

Read the full story here.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass opened a sizable lead last night in her run for re-election, but not enough to win a majority, meaning she advanced to a runoff election in November, NBC News projects.

Bass will face either reality television star Spencer Pratt, who remains in second, or city councilmember Nithya Raman, who trails in third.

NBC News has not projected a result for second place.

Karen Bass to advance in L.A. mayoral runoff race, NBC News projects

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California’s crowded, protracted gubernatorial primary is going to take a little more time to settle.

The race remained too early to call this morning with 50% of the expected vote counted, according to NBC News’ Decision Desk. Three main candidates — former Fox News host Steve Hilton, a Republican, and two Democrats, former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and billionaire activist Tom Steyer — are competing for two spots in the general election, with the candidate in fourth place, Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, running well behind.

Hilton had 27% support in the all-party primary with about half of votes still left to count, while Becerra had 26% and Steyer had 20%. Bianco was the only other candidate in double digits, at 11%.

Read the full story here.