helen huiskes
@helen_huiskes
reporter @notusreports. previously @washingtonian, @wheatonrecord, @chronicle, @wweek. pdx born & raised.
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…
Zohran Mamdani’s win in NYC reinvigorated a wave of young, online-savvy candidates looking to be the next generation of Democrats. Now, they're figuring out how exactly to replicate his success. w/ @OrianaBeLike for @NOTUSreports: notus.org/democrats/youn…
Trump wants the Senate to cancel August recess. R leaders say they're thinking about it, if Ds don't play along on noms But there's no denying: the chamber is exhausted, and little to nobody *really* wants to miss their time back home w @helen_huiskes notus.org/congress/senat…
Congress is short on time to get 12 appropriations bills through to fund the government. It requires bipartisan compromise, but Senate Democrats told me they can't trust their Republican colleagues to play fair in light of the Trump admin's rhetoric. notus.org/congress/democ…
Former Rep. George Santos beings his prison sentence next week. FEC filings show he’s leaving behind a campaign committee that’s out of compliance with the FEC and thousands in debt to former staff and others. @NOTUSreports notus.org/congress/georg…
The White House says Trump has had medical exams after speculation about bruising on his hands. notus.org/trump-white-ho…
The appropriations process was already broken. Rescissions may have just made things worse "To just have all that thrown out with a rescission...why do we even have an appropriations process?" - Peters "It will undermine our trust" - Van Hollen notus.org/congress/appro…
I asked OMB Director Russ Vought if he was ready to give Dem senators assurances that what they agree to in the next spending agreement won’t be altered later using rescissions. “No, I’m not,” he said. @NOTUSreports notus.org/trump-white-ho…
The Appropriations Process Was Already Broken. The Rescission Bill May Have Just Shattered It. @UrsulaPerano reports notus.org/congress/appro…
President Donald Trump tells @JasJWright and reporters that Pam Bondi can release “credible” Epstein files. But Trump is ready to move on, and maintains that it’s a hoax: “He’s dead, he’s gone.” @NOTUSreports notus.org/trump-white-ho…
Love this piece in @Poynter on the @NOTUSreports fellowship program. “I think a year ago, the most significant interview I had done was interviewing a university president, and now I regularly cover the actual president.” - @JiraViolet poynter.org/reporting-edit…
Even Speaker Mike Johnson can read the writing on the wall about Republican voters wanting the Epstein files released. New from me: notus.org/congress/speak…
News: There will be a managers amendment to remove PEPFAR cuts from the rescissions package, a major concern for moderates, Sen. Mike Rounds tells reporters after lunch with OMB director Vought.
Brian Fitzpatrick voted “no” on reconcilation. Why Democrats are running against him as if he voted “yes.” “He could have stopped it. He didn’t,” Fitzpatrick’s challenger Bob Harvie told me. notus.org/2026-election/…
Senate Dems used Mike Waltz' confirmation hearing for UN ambassador this morning as a chance to grill him on Signalgate. New from me: notus.org/congress/micha…
Republicans are short on time to pass rescissions. They may also be short on votes + changes to the bill seem virtually certain despite House warnings "I know there are folks who would like to see at least some modest changes to it" - Thune notus.org/congress/senat…
“We want to see it end,” Trump said. “And I’m disappointed in President Putin because I thought we would have had a deal two months ago.” Republican Senators said they're waiting on the word from Trump to move Russian sanctions forward. Here it is. notus.org/defense/trump-…
The Texas Senate race is a dumpster fire Bitter infighting, a messy divorce, a primary that could blow $$$ "I’ve been through every kind of election you can imagine. So I’m not too worried" - Cornyn W @DaniellaMicaela notus.org/2026-election/…
Norman, Oklahoma was ready to build the same kind of flood warning system that could have saved lives in Texas — until Trump took away the funding I found a long list of places with similar stories👇 notus.org/climate-enviro…