June 3, 2026 | By Cate Martel
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It’s Wednesday. We are in such a good stretch of sports. The French Open is happening, the World Cup starts next week (!) and Wimbledon is coming up. Plus, we get to see Serena Williams’s return to professional tennis. (Editor's note: the NBA and NHL finals are happening too.)
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Mullin, Rubio, Bessent testify Mullin says he’s reviewing Noem’s contracts Key California races remain in limbo Trump’s first big 2026 midterm loss Strict new Medicaid eligibility requirements unveiled CBS fires Scott Pelley after clash
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Pick your favorite Cabinet secretary: |
It’s a busy day of hearings on Capitol Hill. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent are all testifying.
Let’s run through the news from this tour de hearings:
Mullin is double-checking Kristi Noem’s work: Mullin says he’s reviewing some of the contracts from his predecessor. Remember, some of them may have had ties to her allies. He also promised to hand over a list of any contracts that were nixed as a part of this review.
Bessent says the Trump ballroom funding is for national security: Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) questioned Bessent on the funding requested for the new White House ballroom. Bessent argued the $1 billion funding would go towards “national security matters.” Hasan shot back: “That's ridiculous and I think you know it.” 🎥 Watch the clip
Rubio says he has never seen Trump fall asleep: "On the contrary," Rubio told Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), "the guy doesn’t sleep, which is a big problem because he calls me at two in the morning and he calls me at 5 in the morning and you know, I like to sleep a little bit.” 🎥
💻 Watch Mullin testify before the House Homeland Security Committee
💻 Watch Bessent testify before the Senate Finance Committee
💻 Watch Rubio testify before the House Foreign Affairs Committee
💬 Follow today’s live blog
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Former University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban and others are testifying about college sports. 💻 Livestream
And OpenAI CEO Sam Altman will meet with lawmakers and White House officials today.
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THE $1.8 BILLION FUND CAN’T COME TO THE PHONE RIGHT NOW. WHY? BECAUSE IT’S DEAD: |
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers on Tuesday the Trump administration will no longer move forward with its “anti-weaponization fund” for MAGA allies.
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TRUMP IS TAKING A BREATHER FROM PUBLIC APPEARANCES: |
Trump has not held a public event in a week. He has been spotted playing golf and taped interviews. His last public event was his Cabinet meeting last Wednesday.
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~Cue TV commercial voice~ Do we get five more months of Spencer Pratt running for mayor? FIND OUT NEXT*: |
*and by “next,” I mean sometime in the next few days … maybe?
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) will advance in her reelection race. But her opponent is still not determined as of today.
Former MTV reality TV star and Republican candidate Spencer Pratt is currently in second place, leading progressive Los Angeles City Council member Nithya Raman (D) by nine points as of this morning, according to Decision Desk HQ, though just a little more than half the vote has been counted. It could take days before we know.
Keep in mind: It's a jungle primary. Whoever comes in second, no matter the party, will face Bass.
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OTHER TAKEAWAYS FROM TUESDAY’S PRIMARIES: |
🥑 Don't hold your breath: Former Fox News host Steve Hilton (R) and former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra are currently leading the race, but it could take days or weeks for the votes to be counted. Keep in mind that the remaining uncounted votes are expected to skew more Democratic.
🌽 Trump’s first major loss of the midterms: President Trump’s pick for Iowa governor, Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa), lost the Republican primary to businessman Zach Lahn.
🌽 The Iowa Senate race moves in Democrats’ direction: The nonpartisan Cook Political Report shifted its prediction for the Iowa Senate race from “likely Republican” to “lean Republican” after Iowa state Rep. Josh Turek (D), Democrats’ preferred candidate, won his party’s nomination on Tuesday. Democrats are really hoping to flip this seat.
Read more takeaways from Tuesday’s primaries
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INTERESTING READ ABOUT PRATT’S STARDOM: |
Politico’s Alexander Burns argues in a column that Spencer Pratt is Vice President Vance’s biggest threat in the 2028 presidential race.
Why?: Washington already loves Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Burns argues. But “a brash bully from outside conventional politics is the bigger potential challenge for Vance.”
How so?: “Pratt, 42, has delivered a slashing message about Democratic mismanagement of homelessness and crime, and an evocative-if-embellished personal story about losing his home in the Palisades wildfire. Boosted by campy AI videos and slobbering TMZ coverage, he has drawn close to Mayor Karen Bass in polls of the first round of voting.”
“Pratt has managed all this without any training to lead an important city. Unlike other entertainer-politicians … Pratt did not build a long record of activism or partisan advocacy before running for office. He exploded into the Los Angeles election from the margins of public life, a minor celebrity who became an avatar of dissatisfaction with Bass.”
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MORE REACTIONS TO TUESDAY’S PRIMARIES: |
Politico: Tech-favored candidates fell short on California's primary night
The Hill: Midwest farmers’ struggles test GOP loyalty ahead of midterms
The Hill’s Morning Report: Establishment Democrats notch key wins; GOP looking good in California
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Follow Washington closely? Something new is coming
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The Hill Insider launches July 2026. Premium access to the reporting and analysis most readers never see. Be among the first inside.
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Medicaid’s new eligibility requirements are out. And they are *strict*: |
When Republicans passed new work requirements for Medicaid, there were open questions about the specific rules. Well, the long-anticipated rule was unveiled this week and let’s just say these new Medicaid eligibility requirements will make it *much* harder for low-income sick people to keep their health coverage next year.
What are the new requirements?: Beneficiaries must work or volunteer at least 80 hours per month, attend school or participate in job training. There is an exception for people who are “medically frail,” but there’s no clear definition of what that means.
How Medicaid beneficiaries will be impacted: Projections estimate that millions of Americans will lose their health coverage because of these new rules.
Why Republicans implemented such strict rules: They argue it is to combat waste, fraud and abuse of the Medicaid program.
When do these new requirements take effect?: January
The Hill’s Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi explain the new rule in five takeaways.
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Scott Pelley went out with a bang: |
CBS News fired longtime “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley after he reportedly blasted the network’s new leadership for ruining the integrity of the show. He jumped in during a staff meeting on Monday and slammed management.
He reportedly accused CBS Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss of “murdering the show.” Read more
The Associated Press obtained a termination notice from the show’s new executive producer Nick Bilton. “Yesterday, you hijacked my first meeting with staff to disparage me, my qualifications, and my intentions with remarkable incivility and contempt,” Bilton wrote.
Pelley published a statement: “Last month, 60 Minutes lost its DNA when our entire senior leadership and two of our best on-air correspondents were cruelly fired without cause,” Pelley wrote. “Good people were silenced because they stood up for our audience. They stood for fairness against the forces of political bias; they stood for professionalism against chaos.” Read Pelley’s scathing statement
Weiss addressed Pelley’s firing on a morning call: “I'm only interested in working in a newsroom that is built on trust and mutual respect. We cannot do our work without it. That foundation was broken on Monday, and despite our attempts to engage with Scott Pelley and to find a way back, unfortunately we weren't able to do so, and so we had to part ways,” Weiss said, per The Guardian’s Jeremy Barr.
Pelley said Weiss was not telling the truth about their meeting
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— Billionaire Elon Musk is expected to become the world’s first trillionaire when SpaceX goes public. That could happen as soon as Friday, June 12.
— Trump is trailing Pope Leo XIV by 54 percentage points in a new Economist/YouGov survey on net favorability.
— A new study shows that people who eat lots of ultra-processed foods have a 58 percent higher risk for getting dementia. Read more
— Some taxpayers may receive their refunds in June. Here’s why
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The House and Senate are in. President Trump is at the White House with no public events scheduled. (All times EDT)
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1:30 p.m.: First House votes of the day. 📆 Today’s agenda
2 p.m.: Trump holds an Oval Office policy meeting.
2:15 p.m.: The Senate holds a procedural vote on pollutants. 📆 Today’s agenda
3 p.m.: Trump signs executive orders.
4 p.m.: Last House votes for the day.
4:30 p.m.: Trump holds another policy meeting.
7 p.m.: Trump attends a Rose Garden Club dinner.
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🥚 Celebrate: Today is National Egg Day!
🍩 I want to give you ample warning: Friday is National Doughnut Day!! Lots of doughnut shops, including Krispy Kreme and Duck Donuts, are giving away free doughnuts to celebrate. 📝 List of Friday’s doughnut deals
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