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Afternoon Sun Newsletter

F-Bombs

DC: Dr. Anthony Fauci testifying before the Senate Homeland

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Chief Medical Advisor to the President, claimed his right to not answer questions under the 5th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution during his testimony before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on July 29, 2026 in Washington, D.C. Samuel Corum/Sipa USA via AP

By Marissa Martinez

July 29, 2026 05:14 p.m.

Good afternoon. This is the Final NOTUS newsletter for July 29, 2026. You can get it in your inbox every day by signing up here — it’s free!

THE LATEST

Todd Blanche was given a 4 p.m. deadline to convince GOP Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis that he was on track to kill Donald Trump’s “anti-weaponization” fund and narrow the scope of the president’s tax audit immunity settlement — and thus secure support for his nomination.

  • The Texas Republican is currently meeting with Tillis and Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley about the IRS immunity portion of the agreement. It’s unclear if tomorrow’s confirmation vote will move forward as planned.

The White House still wants the Senate to move on Reconciliation 3.0 before August recess. But its push to add SAVE America Act provisions raised objections at today’s GOP lunch — including from John Thune — because including elections language would open up the bill to multiple committees outside of Rules, Punchbowl reports.