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Republicans are beginning to question the leadership of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as the Trump administration fails to achieve any of its stated goals in the growing war with Iran. “I don’t have any confidence in him anymore. I think he’s all over the place—he’s accelerating the retirement or forcing out some of the most distinguished leaders in the DOD that we have,” frequent Trump administration critic and outgoing Senator Thom Tillis told The Hill. “I think he’s got a massive insecurity complex, he has a lack of experience in large organizations, he micromanages too much. He’s lost my confidence.” Others spoke anonymously. “I have heard out of the Pentagon that there’s a loss of confidence ... within the Pentagon. And of course then everyone here on the Hill hears those same concerns,” one Republican senator told The Hill. “I think there’s a sense it’s taken longer than what we thought and that maybe our strategy didn’t factor in the Strait of Hormuz or [Iran’s] ability to be willing to hit their neighbors. I think there was some miscalculations maybe,” said another. Others opined about the cost of the war, especially after Hegseth asked for $1.5 trillion for the DOD at a recent congressional hearing. The entirety of Hegseth’s short tenure has been shrouded in internal strife and controversy. From his purging of top military leadership (which plenty of Republicans are still sour about), to his alcoholism, to his war on woke, the defense secretary has brought a frantic, aggressive approach to the Pentagon. This war will be a massive stain on any legacy that he has, and even Republicans seem to be realizing it.

Favorable coverage of U.S. adversaries is constitutionally protected speech. The post House Investigation of BreakThrough News Is an Attack on All Journalism appeared first on The Intercept.

President Donald Trump’s crusade to pass the SAVE Act just took a weird turn. Trump took to Truth Social Monday to direct Senate Majority Leader John Thune to keep the chamber in session in order to pass a “full and deep throated SAVE AMERICA ACT.”Sorry, a full and what now? In his attempt to use an emphasized version of the term “full-throated,” Trump veered into an unintentional sexual innuendo (or possible Watergate reference). What clearer indication is there that we live in a postliterate world than that the president of the United States doesn’t feel the need to be careful with his words? Trump has repeatedly directed Republicans to pass the SAVE Act, but Thune has insisted that he doesn’t have the votes to pass the president’s signature voter suppression bill. If passed, the SAVE Act would require people to present proof of citizenship to register to vote, as well as specific types of photo ID when voting, which could create barriers for married women, Native Americans, and anyone who has changed their name. It would also severely restrict mail-in voting and require states to submit their voter rolls to a federal database riddled with errors. Thune is currently attempting to pass his third budget reconciliation bill that would contain $10 billion for election-related reforms, but Republicans remain divided.

Mehdi challenges Rep. Kevin Kiley – who Trump endorsed in 2022 – on partisan gerrymandering, election denialism, the U.S. war on Iran, and the MAGA personality cult he was, until recently, a part of.

Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, blamed the Biden administration Sunday for depleting the country’s weapons stockpile—but then denied reporting that the country’s weapons stockpile was depleted. Appearing on NBC News’s Meet the Press, Waltz was asked to respond to a report that the Pentagon had started rationing certain defense weapons in its campaign against Iran as its military assets diminished. “Is America backing away from a larger military attack because its military stockpile has been depleted?” asked host Kristen Welker. Waltz insisted that President Donald Trump’s administration had “inherited a depleted situation” from the previous administration, pointing to the war in Ukraine and U.S. strikes against the Houthis, which were also conducted by the Trump administration. Waltz claimed, however, that the U.S. military “has everything that it needs to conduct this campaign as effectively as it needs to be.”“The people that are leaking this nonsense deserve to be in jail,” he added.UN Ambassador Mike Waltz blamed Biden for depleting weapons stockpiles but then claimed the stockpiles aren't actually depleted but also anyone leaking information about it should be put in jail during a floundering, incoherent showing on Meet the PressHere's a long cut: pic.twitter.com/bUmeSYNEkZ— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 26, 2026Waltz couldn’t seem to keep straight whether the reporting was utter “nonsense” or leaked government information punishable by prison time.Representative Ted Lieu pushed back on Waltz’s finger-pointing in a post on X. The California Democrat noted that many of the weapons that are reportedly running dry were not used by the previous administration in the conflicts Waltz cited. For example, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defenses missiles that have become severely depleted and are incredibly difficult to replace were never provided to Ukraine, Lieu wrote. And the U.S. has used more Patriot missiles in the last five months of fighting than what was ever sent to Ukraine. “Stop falsely blaming others and take responsibility for the disastrous Iran war,” Lieu wrote.

The Republican Party no longer sees Donald Trump as its golden goose.With midterms around the corner, the president’s allies are reportedly urging Republican candidates to break from Trump’s rhetoric on the Iran war in order to save their election odds.“The understanding is pretty damn implicit: The president is going to say what the president is going to say,” a Republican operative working on the party’s midterm races told MS NOW on the condition of anonymity. “You’re not going to have candidates or lawmakers running out to defend the president’s handling of the economy or the war—polling shows that most people don’t agree with his handling.”The Iran war has done nothing good for America in the 21 weeks since it began. The conflict has so far killed at least 18 U.S. service members and wounded more than 600 others. It has also taken an enormous toll on daily life in the U.S., inflaming the cost of practically everything as shipping companies contend with rising oil costs. As a result, Trump’s approval rating has plummeted, with trust and loyalty rattled even within his base, which is reportedly losing patience with the unyielding violence.The White House is now basically cutting its losses, allowing midterm-bound Republicans the opportunity to save themselves from Trump’s sinking ship.“There is less paranoia and more autonomy,” a Republican strategist in Michigan familiar with the national and regional communications of the party told MS NOW. “[Trump] is still doing the work for the incumbents, but giving them space without lashing out.”Another Republican operative told the network that “nuance has been adopted in Trump 2.0 that wasn’t in 1.0,” noting that if a candidate is in a state “where he can get someone better and more loyal, he’ll do it,” but “if you’re in a state where you’re the best he can get, there’s a deeper comprehension of that reality.”A fourth GOP operative familiar with the White House’s strategy referred to debates on Iran as a “Democrat trap.” “If a candidate lets their race become a referendum on Iran, that’s a mistake,” they said.

President Bassirou Diomaye Faye will lead the new Kiiraay party in local and legislative polls ahead of national elections in 2029.