Good evening. I’m British Chris, and this is Raw America.
The Republican-controlled Senate just shut down Trump’s war in Iran in a historic vote. Senate Republicans are now publicly breaking with Trump over his secret IRS deal shielded him, his family, and his businesses from audits. A new book reveals Trump was entertained by watching two of his Cabinet secretaries hurl profanities at each other. And in Georgia, Republicans have quietly abandoned Trump’s redistricting push.
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Senate Passes Historic Rebuke of Trump
The Senate voted 50 to 48 on Tuesday to end Donald Trump’s war in Iran, ordering him to seek congressional approval to keep it going. Four Republicans — Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Rand Paul of Kentucky — crossed over to join Democrats. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the lone Democrat to vote with Republicans. It’s the first time both chambers of Congress have passed a concurrent resolution directing a president to end a military conflict since the War Powers Resolution became law in 1973.
Trump attacked Iran in February without ever bringing it to Congress. Lawmakers, including Republican leaders, only found out about a memorandum of understanding Trump signed with Iran last week after the fact. There are still 50,000 American troops deployed in the Middle East, and the administration is expected as early as Wednesday to ask Congress for tens of billions more to fund the war.
The House-passed resolution doesn’t need Trump’s signature, but it also doesn’t carry the force of law. Republican Jim Risch of Idaho said Trump “is not going to pay any attention to it.” But the political message is still direct. Republicans are facing a brutal midterm outlook, with polls showing the war is deeply unpopular. The current ceasefire is already under strain, with the U.S. and Iran offering flat contradictions about whether Iran’s nuclear program was even part of last weekend’s talks in Switzerland.
Democratic Senator Tim Kaine noted: “The most solemn power for Congress is Congress has the power to declare war, not the president.” And at least four Republicans agree.
Republicans Now Coming Out Against Trump’s IRS Immunity Deal
Senate Republicans already killed half of Trump’s self-dealing IRS settlement, by scuttling his $1.8 billion slush fund for MAGA loyalists, including people who attacked the Capitol on January 6. But the other half is causing real problems for the White House.
In May, Trump’s Justice Department announced it was shielding the president, his family and his businesses from IRS audits and from any federal prosecution related to past tax filings. Former IRS and DOJ officials say the deal far exceeds the scope of the original lawsuit that prompted it.
Five Republican senators are now telling Semafor they have serious reservations about the agreement, with some outright opposing it.
Senator Bill Cassidy, who just lost his Republican primary to a Trump-backed challenger, didn’t hold back, saying: “No American should be above the law, not even the president, and maybe even particularly the president.” Republican Lisa Murkowski said the settlement is “a hell of a sweet deal to the president, his family, and his business.” Republican John Cornyn of Texas – who is also finding his voice after losing badly in his own primary to a Trump-endorsed candidate, told Semafor he plans to hold out on confirming attorney general nominee Todd Blanche, given that he personally signed the audit-related provisions of the settlement. Keep in mind that Blanche’s confirmation goes through the Judiciary Committee, where Republicans hold only a one-seat majority, which includes Cornyn.
A federal judge has already reopened the underlying case. Almost three dozen former federal judges warned that the deal raised “profound questions.” The agreement may have saved Trump more than $100 million. Keep a close eye on this one.
Trump Enjoyed ‘Sport’ of Watching 2 Cabinet Members Fight in Front of Him
A new book out today pulls back the curtain on how Donald Trump actually runs the executive branch, and it’s even more chaotic than you might think.
One passage of “Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump,” written by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, focused on a meeting between Trump, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick about a proposed deal with Ukraine.
Lutnick told Trump that Bessent “screwed up” the deal. Bessent called Lutnick’s own proposal a “sh—y deal and called him an idiot. Then Bessent went back to Trump and said Lutnick “f—ed up the deal. Then, Trump apparently “started mocking Lutnick, sometimes in front of others, enjoying the sport.”
These are two of the most powerful economic officials in the country. They manage tariffs, trade deals, and global financial policy. And the president was treating their feud like a Roman emperor watching a gladiator fight. Only two and a half more years of this, folks.
Georgia Republicans Give Up on Redistricting Fight
Georgia’s Republican-dominated legislature wrapped up a five-day special session Tuesday with almost nothing to show for it.
The session was convened partly to push through redistricting changes Trump and his allies have been calling for. But Republicans refused to touch it, fearing Democrats could have a galvanizing campaign issue ahead of November’s midterms. So the redistricting fight died without even getting a vote.
Now it’s important to keep in mind that lawmakers did pass a patch for a self-inflicted voting system crisis. In 2024, Republicans passed a law banning Georgia’s QR code-based touchscreen voting machines, set to take effect July 1. But they also never thought to pass an alternative. Without a fix, Georgia’s 159 counties would have had to count millions of ballots by hand this November, which would have taken weeks and millions more dollars. So lawmakers instead voted to push the deadline back to January 1, 2028, leaving the mess for whoever holds office after the next election cycle.
Trump spent years attacking Georgia’s voting machines with baseless claims of foreign interference and vote-flipping after Joe Biden became the first Democratic presidential candidate in 2020 to win the state in decades. State officials say those vulnerabilities couldn’t be exploited in a real-world election. But Georgia has never paid to address the known security issues in the system, either.
Senate Democratic Leader Harold Jones II said the Republican bill wouldn’t fix the real problem of disinformation, saying: “No matter what happens in the next election, if people come out and start these kind of theories, and no elected official in the majority party has the guts to say ‘That’s not true’ and fight against that, then, no, this bill will have no impact at all.”
He’s right. Conspiracy theories don’t survive because of voting machines, but rather because Republicans don’t have the guts to confront them.
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In this newsletter we covered a historic rebuke of a president’s war by his own party, Republicans calling out Trump’s suspicious sweetheart deal with his own IRS, and an American president fueling a feud between two of his top Cabinet officials for his own entertainment. Unlike Fox and CBS, Raw America is bringing you the latest news without a pro-Trump billionaire leering over our shoulder. But we can only keep doing this if readers on the free list make the leap and become paying subscribers. Subscribe today and help Raw America keep giving you the unfiltered truth. We’re counting on your support to stay operational.
Thanks for watching. I’m British Chris. We’ll see you tomorrow. Go England.
STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED:
Heritage Foundation Brags Over Half of Project 2025 Now in Place. The far-right Heritage Foundation, which created the authoritarian Project 2025 playbook, is now boasting that roughly 53 percent of its policy proposals have been implemented just a year and a half into President Donald Trump’s second term. Some of the more high-profile wins for Heritage include the defunding of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and stripping diversity, equity and inclusion policies from federal agencies. The dismantling of USAID is expected to kill millions of children under the age of five by 2030.
Trump Boasts 34 Year-Old Aide Loves Him as Much as His Wife and Kids. One passage of “Regime Change” — the new book by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan — reveals the depth of 34 year-old Trump aide Natalie Harp’s obsession with the president. Harp is known as the “human printer” due to her ability to retrieve fawning praise of Trump from around the internet and print it for the president’s consumption. Trump reportedly calls Harp by her first name with a faux French accent, and bragged to White House staffers that Harp loves him as much as First Lady Melania Trump and his own children, adding “she’ll never leave me.”
Former Olympian Arrested at Reflecting Pool Says He Was ‘Targeted.’ 67 year-old David Hearn, who was recently arrested outside the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, is fighting back against his misdemeanor charge after he reached into the water to get an up-close view of the peeling paint at the bottom of the pool. Hearn, who was once a member Team USA’s Olympic canoe racing team, said he fears being targeted by the Trump administration given that his name was publicly displayed.
FIFA President Confirms Trump Will Personally Hand Out World Cup Trophy. FIFA President Gianni Infantino said Tuesday that President Trump will be on hand after the final match of the tournament next month to personally award the World Cup trophy to the captain of the championship team. The United States is hosting the World Cup for the first time since 1994, along with Mexico and Canada. All three countries are expected to advance to the round of 32 after the group stage concludes.
Floundering Far Right News Outlet Seeks Outside Investors and Plans IPO. The Daily Wire — a far-right news outlet launched by conservative activist Ben Shapiro and funded by Texas fracking billionaires Dan and Farris Wilks — is now hoping to bring in $100 million from investors and is seeking a valuation of $750 million. The company is also planning to launch an initial public offering (IPO) in the next few years, according to Semafor. The Daily Wire has lately been roiled by infighting between Shapiro and former Daily Wire contributor Candace Owens, as well as with other right-wing media personalities like Steve Bannon and Megyn Kelly.
