Today\u2019s notice: A man was killed while trying to enter Mar-a-Lago, authorities said. We check in on the DHS shutdown stalemate. White House trade hawks remain unbothered by Friday\u2019s Supreme Court ruling. Democrats name their House flip targets. An election year with no FEC. And: what a day of trans lobbying on Capitol Hill was like. <\/p>\n
THE LATEST<\/p>\n
Another storm of the century. Both the House and Senate canceled today\u2019s votes yesterday when it became clear the Blizzard of 2026 was set to snarl the Northeast \u2014 at least until Tauntauns<\/a> can be distributed to lawmakers.<\/p>\n Human-made travel delays? Yesterday morning, Kristi Noem announced TSA PreCheck and Global Entry would be suspended as her department\u2019s partial shutdown drags on. A few hours later, DHS reversed course, NOTUS\u2019 Amelia Benavides-Col\u00f3n reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n What happened in between? The White House reportedly intervened. Also, President and CEO of Airlines for America Chris Sununu decried the announcement as travelers are \u201conce again, [being] used as a political football amid another government shutdown.\u201d<\/p>\n One thing DHS didn\u2019t back off on: FEMA halting all non-disaster efforts. The agency \u201ccannot continue normal recovery operations under these conditions and must prioritize only its most critical, life-saving responsibilities,\u201d Noem said in her statement. <\/p>\n Any sign this is coming to an end? Short answer: No. Slightly longer version: NOTUS\u2019 Avani Kalra writes<\/a> negotiations between the White House and Democrats over reforms to federal immigration enforcement tactics are effectively stalled after both sides accused the other of being unreasonable.<\/p>\n The tariff refund shrug. \u201cWe will follow the court\u2019s direction,\u201d Scott Bessent told CNN yesterday, as the fallout from the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling on Donald Trump\u2019s tariff power scrambled a core focus of Trump\u2019s second term. Some read the decision as requiring hundreds of billions in tariff refunds. Bessent said that\u2019s for a lower court to decide, and not to expect anything to happen soon. \u201cThat could be weeks or months away, that decision,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Nothing to see here was the general take from administration officials yesterday. \u201cIt\u2019s not as big of a change as people might think it is,\u201d U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told ABC News.<\/p>\n Open Tabs Trump Considers Targeted Strike Against Iran, Followed by Larger Attack<\/a> (NYT); Kash Patel Spotted Celebrating in U.S. Olympic Hockey Team\u2019s Locker Room<\/a> (NOTUS); Violence erupts in Mexico after cartel leader \u201cEl Mencho\u201d killed in military operation<\/a> (CBS); US ambassador causes uproar by claiming Israel has a right to much of the Middle East<\/a> (Politico)<\/p>\n From the White House<\/p>\n \u201cIn the middle of the night while most Americans were asleep, the United States Secret Service acted quickly and decisively to neutralize a crazy person,\u201d That\u2019s how Karoline Leavitt described an incident early Sunday morning in which an armed man was shot and killed<\/a> by Secret Service agents and local police after he entered the secured perimeter of Mar-a-Lago.<\/p>\n Leavitt also used the moment to slam Democrats over the ongoing DHS shutdown: \u201cFederal law enforcement are working 24\/7 to keep our country safe and protect all Americans. It\u2019s shameful and reckless that Democrats have chosen to shut down their Department.\u201d<\/p>\n From the Hill<\/p>\n Trans people press Democrats to pick a side: \u201cI want them to know that they\u2019re visibly and immediately affecting my life and hundreds of other kids\u2019 lives with what could easily be described as a wave of their hand,\u201d Marigold, a 17-year-old transgender girl from Ohio who traveled to Capitol Hill as part of a trans rights lobbying day earlier this month, told NOTUS\u2019 Oriana Gonz\u00e1lez<\/a>.<\/p>\n Trepidation remains common. Democrats have largely pulled back from their Biden-era push for trans acceptance, viewing it as too divisive for purple districts.<\/p>\n Trust is still an issue, too. \u201cWe\u2019ve had a problem with leakers,\u201d said Rep. Becca Balint, cochair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, which seeks to educate lawmakers about trans issues. \u201cYou have a situation where there are members who generally want to get information and they want to be able to ask their question in a safe place, and unfortunately, right now, there are so many members who are leaking not just general concepts of what we talk about but tying it to specific people.\u201d<\/p>\n But the first trans member of Congress said things have gotten easier. \u201cI\u2019m experiencing it,\u201d Rep. Sarah McBride, Democrat of Delaware, told the trans families as they set out to lobby the Hill. She said there has been a shift from the months right after the 2024 election. \u201cI see it in the conversations, individual conversations I have with my colleagues \u2014 some Democrats who were getting a little nervous and Republicans who thought that the days of bipartisan support for trans rights were over.\u201d<\/p>\n From Texas<\/p>\n A Republican Senate primary turns nasty. NOTUS\u2019 Daniella Diaz delivers a dispatch<\/a> from the Lone Star State, painting a picture of the three-way race that has become a proxy for the future of the state\u2019s Republican Party.<\/p>\n The stakes are high. Incumbent John Cornyn is in the fight of his political life to win a fifth term against the state\u2019s attorney general, Ken Paxton, and Rep. Wesley Hunt.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no love lost between the candidates. \u201cIf you stay around long enough, you hang around long enough, you end up in a position like John Cornyn is in right now,\u201d Hunt told Daniella. \u201cThe party has left him. Clearly.\u201d<\/p>\n Just don\u2019t expect Trump to tip the scales. \u201cI like all three of them, actually,\u201d the president said last week.<\/p>\n From the campaign trail<\/p>\n Democratic House targets: The DCCC announced its first round of \u201cRed to Blue\u201d candidates this morning, who will receive support from national Democrats as they try to flip seats currently held by Republicans. The group of a dozen candidates includes districts in Arizona, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin.<\/p>\n F.E.Zzzzzz. The Federal Election Commission remains effectively offline nearly two months into the 2026 midterm elections. There are supposed to be six commissioners. There are currently two. The legal requirement to even hold a meeting of the FEC is four commissioners. This is not really going to change this cycle, NOTUS\u2019 Taylor Giorno reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n Trump nominated two commissioners this month \u2013 Republicans Ashley Stow and Andrew Woodson \u2013 but even if they have a smooth confirmation, the FEC will not truly be up and running. Four commissioners would make a quorum, which means the FEC can actively consider cases, but it\u2019s also the number of votes required to take major action. So, every ruling would have to be unanimous. Good luck!<\/p>\n From your favorite podcast app<\/p>\n Rep. Sarah McBride, a Democrat from Delaware and the first openly transgender member of Congress, has introduced more bipartisan legislation than any other freshman. This week, she joined the On NOTUS podcast and spoke with Oriana Gonz\u00e1lez about getting Republicans to cosponsor bills with her and how she works to \u201cnot take the bait\u201d when certain members of the GOP attack her identity.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m there to be substantive, and I can work with people who disagree with me. And I think as a byproduct of that, I\u2019ve been able to introduce 100% of my legislation as bipartisan legislation,\u201d she told Oriana. Listen to the episode here<\/a>.<\/p>\n NEW ON NOTUS<\/p>\n Another Palantir stockholder. Rep. Tom Suozzi, a Democrat, said in January that he regretted his vote with other moderate Democrats to fund DHS after the shooting of Alex Pretti. NOTUS\u2019 Sam Larreal reports<\/a> that Suozzi holds between $15,000 and $50,000 worth of Palantir stock, which shot up in value thanks in part to federal contracts with DHS. Suozzi\u2019s office did not respond to repeated requests for comment.<\/p>\n More: Greenland Responds to Trump\u2019s Hospital Boat Offer: Thanks But No Thanks<\/a>, by Amelia Benavides-Col\u00f3n<\/p>\n NOT USWEEK AHEAD<\/p>\n Today: California Gov. Gavin Newsom makes a book tour stop in Rock Hill, S.C.<\/p>\n Tuesday: Trump is set to deliver his State of the Union address. Some Democratic lawmakers are also scheduled to appear in a counter-SOTU programming livestream hosted by progressive groups.<\/p>\n Wednesday: Surgeon General nominee Casey Means is scheduled to appear<\/a> before the Senate HELP committee.<\/p>\n Thursday: Depositions of Bill and Hillary Clinton in the Epstein investigation by the House Oversight Committee are set to begin in Chappaqua, N.Y., and last two days.<\/p>\n Saturday: Secretary of State Marco Rubio will reportedly<\/a> travel to Israel.<\/p>\n Thank you for reading! If you like this edition of the NOTUS newsletter, please forward it to a friend. If this newsletter was shared with you, please subscribe<\/a> \u2014 it\u2019s free! Have a Tip? Email us at tips@notus.org<\/a>. And as always, we\u2019d love to hear your thoughts on our newsletter at newsletters@notus.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Today\u2019s notice: A man was killed while trying to enter Mar-a-Lago, authorities said. 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