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THE SUN PERSPECTIVES

THE PEOPLE ARE REAL

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• The $1.2 trillion surprise proposal shocked senior Republicans, including John Thune. The White House does not appear to have consulted leading conservative think tanks or advocacy groups, either.
• JD Vance defended the idea, and Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) said he will “get a bill ready” to get the “Trump Dividend” passed immediately after the midterms.

THE HILL

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THE COURTS

• The Missouri Supreme Court ruled state Secretary of State Denny Hoskins had violated its order by directing officials to use a map the court had already rejected — but said Hoskins had since “purged himself of contempt” by directing officials to not use it about an hour before the court’s 2 p.m. hearing.

THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

THERE’S ALWAYS A GATE

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• A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said that until further notice, “Salvadoran individuals present in the U.S. under TPS retain protection.”

• The White House said the gifts are “entirely permissible” under the law because they “have nothing to do with any of these individuals’ official government duties.”

THE ADMINISTRATION

THE HILL

THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

• The Michigan Senate candidate called it a “break glass moment” in an exclusive interview with The Sun this morning.

• David Maxwell, who was part of a group of Paxton aides who reported their boss to the FBI in 2020, said the Republican Senate nominee “ended my five decade career because I blew the whistle on his corruption.” 

DEEP BREATHS

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• The nation’s 430 park units would operate dramatically differently under the proposed plan, with bigger parks given control over small ones. 
• The Interior Department hasn’t yet notified Congress of its intention to reorganize, which it is legally obligated to do before implementation.

• “I have to be honest, it has been stressful,” he told the Times. “And at a certain point, I’d like to wake up in the morning and not look at my cellphone.”

THE ADMINISTRATION

• Bombardier’s U.S. headquarters is in Kansas, and Republicans there are not happy with the idea. 

• Minister for Foreign Affairs Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir told Long — who had to apologize for calling Iceland the “52nd state” earlier this year — the post “was entirely unacceptable.”

THE HILL

• The unpaid bills ranged from $101 to several thousand dollars. Marshall’s office routinely charged an 18% annual interest rate. Payton Fuller, a spokesperson for Marshall, said on X that “Judges issue warrants, not doctors” and called the story “an obvious hit piece.” 

THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

• The PAC’s first ad buys are against two House candidates: Rep. Max Miller in Ohio and firearms influencer Brandon Herrera in Texas.

THE WORLD

• U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said the move would “without a doubt” spur consequences from Washington.

CONVERSATION STARTER

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• “Ranchers and farmers have always been a number one priority to me,” Trump said in the Oval Office, adding: “They are very clean people. They’re immaculately clean.”

• The president also said he has “close to” $1 billion in outside money, a higher figure than the $400 million cash on hand super PAC MAGA Inc. reported in a July disclosure. He will allocate “probably four or 500 million” for the midterms, he added.

• A former senior aide told NOTUS’ Igor Bobic that Fetterman was uninterested in the typical day-to-day responsibilities of the job, preferring instead to scroll on his phone, reading X and Apple News for mentions of his name.
• A group of former Fetterman staffers “who are disgusted with what he’s become” created an X account today to share stories about the senator. NOTUS verified the authenticity of the account’s ownership.

THE ADMINISTRATION

THE STATES

THE HILL

• “Congressman [Mike] Collins, of course, himself has deceptively used deepfake videos to try to lie to voters,” the Georgia Democrat said of his opponent.

AVOID THE PLAZA

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• Vance also batted away a reporter’s question about supporting potential 2028 campaigns by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) or Pete Hegseth: "I'd encourage any Republican, if you care about the country, and I think all of us do, you should be focused not on a job a few years from now. You should be focused on the midterms."

• The chamber today adopted a resolution calling to block federal aid to colleges if they engage in commercial or academic boycotts against Israel, with 33 Democrats voting in favor of the GOP-led measure.

THE HILL

• Congressional Sneaker Caucus Chair Jared Moskowitz told Final NOTUS that while members are allowed to wear sneakers, that standard doesn’t apply to staff or media. “That adversely affects the female staffers and reporters who stand there all day in heels,” the Florida Democrat said in a statement. “One could argue I could dramatically benefit from a three-inch heel, but let’s move the rules into the future.”

• He’s going to try this weekend at the Minnesota State Fair, where he estimates he’ll need to shake an average of 29 hands a minute for eight straight hours.
  
  
  

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AN HONOR, INDEED

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• “Some people don’t like the way he dresses, or some people don’t like the way he interviews or talks,” Trump said of Ken Paxton before heaping praise on the Texas attorney general.

• Rep. Zach Nunn (R-Iowa) said he and others voiced concerns about the administration’s decision to drop ground beef tariffs during the meeting and that he will deliver that message to the White House today, Semafor reports.

• Nunn and several GOP lawmakers facing competitive races will dine with Trump in the Rose Garden tonight, Politico reports.

THE HILL

• “I have never witnessed more inept management of the brave men and women who serve our country,” Tillis wrote in a post on X, asking the president “to find a new leader at the Pentagon who will retain and empower our military talent rather than diminish it.”

THE ADMINISTRATION

• Apple Maps relabeled Lake Ontario as “Lake America” this week, just days after Trump reportedly contacted the technology company to urge the change.

GOLD PHONE, WHO DIS?

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• A good number of Democrats joined Republicans to vote for the CR because it tackled border patrol concerns and restored funding for some previously excluded programs.

• Neither party seemed prepared — Hakeem Jeffries told reporters he “didn’t get a heads-up. You’ll have to talk to Katherine [Clark.]”

THE HILL

• Democrats’ ranks will rise to 214, cutting the GOP’s margin to two votes.

• Sending Recon 3.0 “would plug a lot of holes until we can get something else passed,” Calvert told reporters today.

THE ADMINISTRATION

MOVE OVER, TEEN SPIRIT

THE LATEST

• Santos lashed out at the prediction market company in a social media diatribe, calling Kalshi “an unserious company.”
• Another Republican, North Carolina congressional candidate Laurie Buckhout, was also handed a three-year suspension from the platform this morning over allegations that she placed bets related to her own campaign. 

THE ADMINISTRATION

• During a press conference, Sean Duffy and Markwayne Mullin blamed the Biden administration for failing to conduct oversight of the trucking industry.

THE HILL

• The North Carolina Republican called the claim “as ridiculous as it is false.”

THE COURTS

• The emergency appeal filed by the NRCC and NRSC comes after a federal appeals court ruled that candidates — and not independent groups — were eligible for discounted ad rates under an obscure 1971 law that the Trump-era FCC is trying to walk back. 

THE WORLD

• The situation sparked a number of comments from Trump and many of his top advisers. 

HERE WE GO AGAIN

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THE ADMINISTRATION

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• “The empty invocation of national security is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics,” the judge wrote.

THINGS CHANGE, OK?