Fund’s Up

Good afternoon. This is the Final NOTUS newsletter for June 1, 2026. You can get it in your inbox every day by signing up here — it’s free!

THE LATEST

Donald Trump plans to drop the $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund for now, which was proving to be an obstacle to Congress making progress on the reconciliation package that includes millions in additional funding for immigration enforcement. A conversation earlier today with Speaker Mike Johnson helped convince Trump to abandon the fund, a source familiar with the matter told NOTUS’ Reese Gorman.

Senate Democrats introduced legislation “aimed at dismantling” the fund permanently and lawmakers planned to introduce amendments to the reconciliation bill that would do the same.

Talks with Iran “are continuing, at a rapid pace,” Trump said. His social media post followed Iranian state media reports that the country had suspended negotiations with the U.S. and activated “other fronts” of the war to “punish” Israel and its supporters. Trump told CNBC earlier in the day that he “couldn’t care less” about a breakdown in talks, that, he added, had “started to get very boring.”

THE ADMINISTRATION

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is already preparing for Russell Vought’s departure later this year from his role as acting director by tapping Mark Paoletta, Vought’s close aide, to be the agency’s second-in-command.

Hackers broke into a high-ranking U.S. Space Force official’s Instagram account and posted pro-Iran content. Chief Master Sgt. John Bentivegna advised his colleagues not to engage with the posts and said he was “working with the appropriate teams to regain access and resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”

THE COURTS

A federal appeals court blocked the military from removing transgender service members. In a 2-1 decision, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the policy enacted by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was unconstitutional and “driven by the bare desire to harm a politically unpopular group.”

THE STATES

Former elections clerk Tina Peters was released from prison, weeks after Colorado Gov. Jared Polis commuted her sentence. She was convicted of tampering with voting equipment under the guise of unfounded 2020 election-fraud conspiracies. Peters claimed “Democrats are going to cheat” in the 2026 midterms on Steve Bannon’s podcast shortly after her release.

Florida became the first state to sue OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, over the company’s artificial intelligence product, ChatGPT, alleging it harms users. State Attorney General James Uthmeier argued ChatGPT’s harm — the suit cites mass shooting incidents and users’ suicide attempts — is driven by the company’s “insatiable quest to win the AI arms race.”

MAMDANI’S BEDTIME BAN

Thank you for reading! Today’s newsletter was produced by Missy Khamvongsa, Kate Nocera and Andrew Burton. If you liked it, please forward it to a friend. If someone shared it with you, please sign up — it’s free! Got a tip or comments to share? Email us at finalnotus@notus.com.