Oriana González

SCOOP: In a private meeting with Speaker Mike Johnson, Reps. Mike Lawler, Jen Kiggans and Brian Fitzpatrick were among moderates who told House GOP leadership they oppose cutting federal funding to Planned Parenthood via reconciliation w/@reesejgorman notus.org/republicans/go…

Republican lawmakers are stepping in to personally protect some people who are facing deportation — despite saying they support Trump’s immigration crackdown notus.org/immigration/re…

While you were sleeping, Senate Republicans passed a rescission bill codifying roughly $9 billion in Department of Government Efficiency cuts. from @UrsulaPerano notus.org/senate/resciss…

Andy Harris, chairman of the House Freedom Caucus who routinely calls for extensive cuts to Medicaid and other government programs, received the most earmarks ($21.5 million) in the Ag Approps bill for projects in his district.

happy anniversary everyone

I wrote about what it was like growing up as a child in the Bosnian civil war, where food was extremely scarce. I didn't have much, but at least UNICEF was there to help keep me alive. Congress just defunded it, putting lives at risk around the world. huffpost.com/entry/trump-cu…

New: House Democratic leadership shared legal analysis to its members last night that delaying the rescissions vote past the Friday deadline wouldn’t have actually meaningfully blocked the bill. Not every Dem agreed. @Axios axios.com/2025/07/18/jef…

The plan? Have the CEO get “caught” having an affair with a coworker at a concert to increase brand awareness and get a buzz going

Oh so it’s *bad* bad.

New: Democrats are largely shrugging off the idea of trying to delay a House vote on the rescissions package until after the Friday deadline. They think the admin would probably just ignore or side-step it anyway, sources told @Axios axios.com/2025/07/17/npr…

New: While a Rules Committee meeting has been set for 6 p.m. Thursday, that’s no guarantee Republicans will move forward immediately. If the hearing goes smoothly, Republicans could get the House onto the rescission bill by late Thursday night. If it doesn’t, the next 30 hours…

Plenty of Republicans are fed up with Freedom Caucus antics. But the HFC is bullish there’s a method to their madness. “The only way to get things in this town is to demand the moon and then take somewhere in between,” Chip Roy told me. notus.org/congress/house…

A really interesting story about the frustration Republicans are feeling toward the Freedom Caucus. As Rep. Derrick Van Orden said, the group is "not becoming frustrating; it’s been frustrating for the last two-plus years." notus.org/congress/house…

A GOP House Appropriations bill would ban the Justice Department from suing states that ban gender-affirming care and restrict trans athletes’ participation in sports It specifically says that federal funds cannot be used to challenge anti-trans laws appropriations.house.gov/sites/evo-subs…

Mike Pence says Pres. Trump is “starting to realize Putin does not want peace. He wants Ukraine.” 📺: @DaniellaMicaela joins CBS to discuss ⤵️ youtube.com/watch?v=2xyxOA…

New internal poll from Jared Golden shows him leading LePage by a single point. It also shows Golden’s possible primary opponent, State Auditor Matt Dunlap, trailing LePage by 10 points notus.org/house/maine-ja…

Some personal news — I’m leaving NPR next month (More on that in a moment). I walked into NPR as an intern in the fall of 2007. And fell in love with the power of audio. Thank you to all the reporters/editors/producers over the years — opportunities beyond my wildest dreams.