MORNING REPORT

June 17, 2026 | By Jared Gans and Sarah Fortinsky

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In today's issue:

▪ Trump defeats Kemp in proxy battle

▪ Jay Clayton confirmation hearing postponed

▪ Trump allies balk at Iran deal

▪ Blanche meets with GOP senators

Trump has mixed primary night; Progressives romp in DC

President Trump notched key wins and at least one big loss Tuesday in primaries, while the most progressive candidate in the D.C. mayor’s race is poised to avoid a runoff, setting up an adversarial two years ahead.

One Trump-endorsed candidate won a runoff in Georgia for the GOP nomination for one of the top Senate contests in the country this year, while another fell short. The president’s preferred candidate prevailed in an Alabama Senate runoff, while his choice for Oklahoma governor must head to his own runoff to get through.

TRUMP GOES 2 FOR 3; JURY OUT IN ANOTHER

A proxy battle between Trump and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) was one of the key storylines of the evening.

The Trump-backed Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) defeated former college football coach Derek Dooley, who was supported by Kemp, by a double-digit margin. Collins is now set to face Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) in a critical Senate battleground that Republicans are hoping to flip.

Trump and Kemp have clashed on a few occasions, going back to a split over the certification of Georgia’s election results in the 2020 presidential race. The president unsuccessfully tried to oust Kemp during his 2022 reelection bid, and the two seemed to have mostly made amends in 2024.

But they were on opposite sides of the Senate runoff. Trump praised Collins ahead of the runoff as a “WARRIOR,” while Kemp called Dooley a “conservative fighter.”

Trump and Kemp both took a defeat in the runoff for governor, as their endorsed candidate, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones (R), lost to billionaire Rick Jackson by a few points. The rebuke is relatively rare for the president, though it may be more significant for him than for Kemp, who only backed Jones right before the runoff.

Trump had endorsed Jones, an ally who backed his false claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election, months before the first round of voting.

The president was more successful in Alabama, where Rep. Barry Moore (R-Ala.) comfortably defeated former Navy SEAL Jared Hudson in a runoff for Senate. The Trump-backed Moore will be the heavy favorite in the general election in the solidly red state.

And more time will be needed to decide if Trump will be successful in the GOP primary for Oklahoma governor. The president surprised many observers when he endorsed former state Sen. Mike Mazzei, who advanced to a runoff against state Attorney General Gentner Drummond.

Mazzei and Drummond will face off in August.

LEFT-WING DOMINATION IN NATION'S CAPITAL

D.C. held some of its most consequential primaries in more than a decade Tuesday, and progressives seem poised for sweeping success.

In the pivotal primary for mayor to succeed outgoing Mayor Muriel Bowser (D), D.C. Council member Janeese Lewis George, a democratic socialist, leads moderate former Council member Kenyan McDuffie by double digits. As of early Wednesday morning, Lewis George is ahead with about 53 percent of the vote, compared to McDuffie’s 37 percent.

Lewis George’s victory isn’t entirely assured. About a third of the vote remains uncounted, and the city’s ranked-choice voting system requires a candidate to win an outright majority to avoid a second round.

But even if Lewis George ticks below 50 percent in the first round, McDuffie would have a significant deficit to overcome.

In the primary to succeed retiring longtime Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, progressive Council member Robert White easily defeated moderate Council member Brooke Pinto.

A key seat on the D.C. Council appears likely to shift to the left as Elissa Silverman, a progressive former Council member who lost a reelection bid four years ago, has a comfortable lead in a special election to fill the remainder of McDuffie’s term.

Silverman is well ahead of McDuffie’s interim replacement, Doni Crawford, and Jacque Patterson, the president of the D.C. Board of Education — both moderates.

And Oye Owolewa, the current shadow representative for D.C. in the House, leads in the primary for another open Council seat, having sought to position himself as the strongest progressive in the race.

▪ The Hill: Five takeaways from Tuesday’s primaries.

3 Things to Know Today

Trump said he is cancelling a scheduled confirmation hearing for Jay Clayton, his nominee to be director of national intelligence, that had been set for today. The decision leaves the controversial Bill Pulte on track to take the acting role at the end of this week.
The Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold interest rates steady when it announces its decision at 2 p.m. today. Kevin Warsh, the new Fed chair, is then slated to hold his first press conference since succeeding former Chair Jerome Powell last month.
Argentina’s Lionel Messi tied the all-time World Cup scoring record of 16 goals with a hat-trick on Tuesday night against Algeria. The 39-year-old Inter Miami star is making his 6th appearance in the tournament. “At a loss for words about Leo. What can I say?” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. “He’s incredible.”

LEADING THE DAY

TOUGH DEAL TO SWALLOW: Trump’s deal with Iran is drawing the ire of some of the biggest boosters of the war, including on Capitol Hill, where Iran hawks have started clamoring for details and raising questions about the contents of the memorandum of understanding (MOU).

The president has pledged to make the full text public after it is signed in person on Friday.

But some lawmakers say that isn’t soon enough.

“The MOU, I want to see it myself. The way Iran describes it is awful. The way we describe it makes sense to me. Let’s look at it and see what it actually is,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a staunch Iran hawk and Trump ally.

Asked about Graham’s skepticism at the Group of Seven (G7) summit Tuesday, Trump told reporters, “I’ll have to talk to Lindsey. He’ll be in big trouble,” adding, “Lindsey’s good. Lindsey’s fine. He’s not skeptical.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) withheld comment on the agreement, telling reporters that he doesn’t “know enough about it to say” whether it’s a good deal.

But the GOP leader urged the administration to send senior officials to Capitol Hill to brief lawmakers on the details, saying, “Our members are going to have a lot of questions about it.”

“I hope we get more details about it before Friday,” he said.

Thune said a lot will depend on how the agreement handles Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon, which Trump and many Republican senators say must be prevented.

That’s just one of the issues Trump’s more hawkish allies are speaking out about, The Hill’s Laura Kelly and Colin Meyn report, as the deal also creates a $300 billion reconstruction fund and allows it to immediately start exporting oil.

▪ The Hill: The Memo: Clouds darken over Trump’s Iran deal.

▪ The Hill: Trump says he’ll send Iran deal to Congress for approval

▪ BBC: Tehran trying to sell deal as a victory.

HOT MIC MOMENT: French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky were caught on a live microphone talking about Trump on Tuesday, as Macron welcomed the leader of the war-torn nation to the G7 summit.

“Yesterday, we had a difficult discussion,” Macron told Zelensky of the G7 meeting with Trump, as the two leaders walked the grounds of the Hotel Royal, The Hill’s Ashleigh Fields reports.

The French president urged Zelensky to stay longer at the summit, and Zelensky replied that he was scheduled to travel to Brussels the following day to address European Union leaders.

Macron also said he would arrange a bilateral meeting between Zelensky and Trump, who spoke briefly Tuesday morning alongside other G7 leaders and were scheduled to speak again later in the day.

▪ The Associated Press: Trump signals return of sanctions on Russian oil.

▪ The Hill: Republicans battle over U.S. role in NATO.

SHIFTING GEARS: The Trump administration has shifted the Department of Education’s responsibilities for special education and civil rights out of the agency, further dismantling the department.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) will now be responsible for civil rights enforcement, and the Department of Health and Human Services will oversee special education initiatives for students with disabilities, the administration announced Tuesday.

Trump pledged on the campaign trail in 2024 that he would shut down the Education Department and signed an executive order after taking office directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to take the necessary steps to “facilitate” its closure.

Only an act of Congress can shutter the department, but Trump and McMahon have taken significant steps to reduce the department’s scope. That includes cutting its staff in half and closing seven of the department’s 12 regional offices.

Other responsibilities, such as family engagement and school support programs, have been outsourced to other parts of the government.

Administration officials have defended the moves as helpful to reduce the federal bureaucracy, while critics have alleged underserved students will be harmed.

▪ Business Insider: GOP debate over student loan limits.

▪ USA Today: Clock ticking for SAVE student loan borrowers.

PRIME OPENING: The DOJ’s apparent investigation into California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) could give him a political boost as he transitions out of office and into a widely expected run for the White House in 2028.

The Hill’s Amie Parnes reports Newsom has embraced the investigation, using it to further raise his profile as he seeks to cement his position as one of the president’s top rivals ahead of the next presidential cycle.

“He understands when he’s been given a gift,” California Democratic strategist Garry South told Parnes.

Newsom said in a video posted online Monday that he’s happy to be part of Trump’s so-called enemies list. He has said that he and his wife, California first lady Jennifer Siebel Newsom, are under investigation by the DOJ but didn’t specify what it concerns.

“We are going to fight your lawlessness — and we are going to remind people in this country of your corruption,” Newsom said.

▪ CNN: What we know about the investigation into Newsom’s wife.

▪ The Hill: Republicans embrace Graham Platner as midterm boogeyman.

WHEN & WHERE

The president will participate in a bilateral meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 8:45 a.m. EDT. He will hold a press conference at 9:30 a.m. EDT before leaving Evian, France, for Versailles. He will have a bilateral dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron at 1 p.m. EDT.
The Senate will meet at 10 a.m.
The House won't convene today.

ZOOM IN

GETTING TO 50: Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is meeting with Republican senators as he tries to rally enough support to get confirmed as the permanent DOJ head, but he faces skepticism from several key swing votes.

Blanche met on Tuesday with Texas Sen. John Cornyn (R), who said after the meeting that he hasn’t yet decided whether to support Blanche’s nomination. Cornyn is a key vote for Blanche as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Cornyn said he had a “positive” interaction with Blanche and that the nominee would provide a further briefing on the controversial settlement that Trump reached with the DOJ in which the IRS would agree not to audit the tax returns of the president, his family or his businesses.

“I will not make a decision on confirmation until after that briefing and completion of his hearing before the committee,” Cornyn said.

The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports two other key senators who are on the fence are Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). Cassidy said he wants Blanche to convince him that his allegiance is to the Constitution over the president, while Tillis said he wants assurances the administration’s proposed “anti-weaponization” fund is truly dead.

Blanche served as Trump’s personal defense attorney before he took his first role in government as deputy attorney general, then took over the DOJ after Pam Bondi’s ouster. His confirmation hearing is expected to be held before the Judiciary Committee next month.

Bolton notes that Blanche may also need to win over several other GOP senators, including Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), as Thune has acknowledged that confirming Blanche will be a difficult battle.

▪ Spectrum News: Bill to permanently end ‘anti-weaponization fund’ fails.

ELSEWHERE

AGAINST THE GRAIN: Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) declared his support Tuesday for abolishing the death penalty in his state, a move that cuts against the momentum of his party under Trump.

DeWine hasn’t authorized the death penalty since taking office in 2019, delaying executions on multiple occasions.

“I no longer believe the death penalty is a deterrent to murder,” DeWine said at a press conference. “The moral justification I had for voting for the death penalty simply no longer exists.”

The governor pointed to data showing a decline in the number of executions being carried out over the past four decades and an increase in the amount of time that inmates are spending on death row. He said the last 10 people to be executed in Ohio had been on death row for 14 to 32 years, and many have died by natural causes while on death row.

An additional 89 death sentences since 1981 were removed because of judicial action.

DeWine said the Ohio state legislature should either abolish the death penalty or leave the issue to the voters.

There are 23 states that have banned the death penalty, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. It is legal in the other 27 states, though four states — including Ohio — currently have a moratorium on executions in place.

▪ Vox: Why the Supreme Court is fighting over fatal gas, firing squads.

OPINION

The AI bubble could be worse than the dot-com bust, Vivekanand Jayakumar writes in The Hill.
Don’t mistake friction for a broken alliance with Israel, Michael Singh writes in The Washington Post.

THE CLOSER

And finally … Sean Penn will direct a movie about a police officer who was caught in the clash at the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

Warner Bros. announced the film on Tuesday, with production set to begin mid-next year. Bradley Cooper is in talks to star in the movie, though a deal has not yet been finalized.

Penn attended the hearing of the special House committee created to investigate the attack in 2022, sitting between Washington, D.C., police officers Michael Fanone and Daniel Hodges, who were on the scene to respond to the riot on Jan. 6.

Penn said at the time that he attended as “just another citizen” wanting to see if justice would be served.

The film, which doesn’t yet have a title, has been described as focusing on an “unexpected friendship.” The project will follow Penn’s Oscar-winning performance in “One Battle After Another.”