Current Affairs Of Pakistan & World: One battle after another

One battle after another

Jun 03, 2026

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THE CATCH-UP

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) speaks with reporters outside the Senate chamber at the U.S. Capitol on June 1, 2026. (Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images)

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) speaks with reporters outside the Senate chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Monday. | Francis Chung/POLITICO

Republicans appear on track to finally move the ball on reconciliation — just in time for a new flashpoint to emerge.

The Senate is set to vote on a motion to proceed with its immigration enforcement funding package at 2:30 p.m., a major breakthrough after Acting AG Todd Blanche confirmed yesterday that President Donald Trump’s $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” was dead.

Senate Republicans released updated text for the bill this afternoon, officially dropping funding related to Trump’s ballroom project, POLITICO’s Jordain Carney reports. And while GOP leaders are still facing some pushback over the fund, Majority Leader John Thune told reporters today that most Republican senators “feel pretty satisfied” with Blanche’s promises that the administration is retreating.

But expect one last push to kill the fund: Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said he has an amendment on the fund to shut it down once and for all. He told reporters today it would be “hard for me to vote yes” without language on the fund. “The only way that you’re going to just end this two week drama is to end it,” he said. “Otherwise it’ll be out there for as long as the president’s in office.”

While a light is emerging at the end of the tunnel for Thune on reconciliation, Democrats are already moving on to their next thorn, threatening to sink a bipartisan FISA deal ahead of a June 12 deadline over Trump’s decision to install Bill Pulte as acting DNI.

“The timing of this announcement could not be worse,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters today. “With just over a week until FISA Section 702's authorities [are] expiring, this announcement and its timing clearly make passing an extension of FISA much harder.” And Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) asked Thune to make a plea to the White House to pull Pulte out of the role, per Punchbowl.

Pulte’s promotion from FHFA director to the country’s spy chief has roiled Democrats — and even some Republicans. The Trump loyalist, who has pushed DOJ to launch a slew of investigations into the president’s perceived political enemies, has no known national security or intelligence experience.

As Secretary of State and NSA Marco Rubio, who led the Senate Intelligence Committee for years, testified on the Hill this morning, he was asked whether he had ever “specifically in the context of the intelligence community, heard the name Bill Pulte?” Rubio replied: “In the context of intelligence, no.”

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in a blistering statement today noted there are “good reasons” the DNI role comes with eligibility requirements. “Anyone performing this role of such immense public trust must have the extensive national security experience required by statute, and no nominee who falls short of this requirement will earn my vote,” he said.

And retiring Tillis had a sharper elbow for Pulte. As Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testified this morning, Tillis asked Bessent if he did in fact threaten to punch Pulte in the face last year. “I actually said I was going to kick his ass,” Bessent replied.

“Many teams have fights in the locker room, and then go out and win for the team on the field,” Bessent added. But Tillis believes the prospects of winning are dimming. “People in the White House need to understand that their actions are the single greatest threat” to Republicans’ hopes of defending their majority in November, the retiring senator told CNBC.

Good Wednesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at isentner@politico.com.

A message from Vapor Technology Association:

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6 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. 2028 WATCH: Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) is set to announce support for top labor union demands including a $20-an-hour minimum wage, new jobs program, stricter antitrust enforcement and sectoral bargaining, NOTUS’ Jeff Stein reports. The proposal has no chance of advancing in a Republican-controlled Congress, but sets Gallego up as a union ally as he considers a 2028 presidential bid.

Trump’s take: In an interview with the NY Post’s Miranda Devine, Trump continued touting a JD Vance-Marco Rubio ticket as a strong pairing. “I would think that JD and Marco as a team would be very hard to beat,” Trump said. “They get along great.”

2. IRAN LATEST: Trump in an NY Post podcast interview published today confirmed he told Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to halt strikes on Lebanon that were complicating U.S. peace talks with Tehran. “Bibi, we gotta stop this. You gotta stop it,” Trump recounted saying. Those negotiations continue as tensions rise in the Middle East: Iran today struck Kuwait’s main airport, killing one person and wounding dozens, per AP. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said the war will slow the global economy’s growth this year to 2.8 percent — down from 3.4 percent last year — and raise inflation through 2027, per NYT.

3. BIG TECH’S BAD NIGHT: As California continues counting ballots from last night, a trend is emerging: “tech-bred and tech-backed candidates are striking out,” POLITICO’s Christine Mui and Chase DiFeliciantonio write. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, tech’s favorite for governor, lagged well behind Xavier Becerra, Steve Hilton and Tom Steyer. “Ethan Agarwal’s bid to represent Silicon Valley in Congress also flopped. And Adam Miller’s long-shot campaign for Los Angeles mayor fizzled out so quietly that most Californians are asking, ‘Wait, who?’”

POLITICO Live

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4. CONCEPT OF A PLAN: “Johnson says he’ll discuss AI regulatory proposal with OpenAI chief,” by POLITICO’s Meredith Lee Hill: “Speaker Mike Johnson said he plans to discuss a developing House framework for a bipartisan bill regulating artificial intelligence companies when he meets with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Wednesday. … Johnson said he was referencing a discussion draft that Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) is working with Rep. Lori Trahan (D-Mass.) to unveil in the coming days.”

5. DOWN IN THE DMs: “Trump library says no Twitter DMs can be found, despite evidence he sent them,” by WaPo’s Nate Jones: “Records show that Trump's first administration opted not to save DMs in its library archives, raising questions about compliance with the Presidential Records Act.”

6. HAPPY PRIDE: Support for gay marriage, moral acceptance of gay and lesbian relations and endorsement of gender transition are all decreasing — a trend for which Republicans are largely responsible, according to a Gallup poll out today. In 2022, 55 percent of Republicans supported same-sex marriage; today, just 37 percent do. The poll comes just one day after Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) said on X that “Homosexuality has no place in America.” After facing bipartisan blowback, Ogles deleted the post and blamed it on a comms staffer.

A message from Vapor Technology Association:

Youth vaping is at its lowest level in over twelve years — a direct result of common-sense restrictions that the vapor industry championed. The FDA's own data tells a clear story. Yet policy has failed to keep pace with science.

With new leadership now in place, Acting Commissioner Diamantas has a narrow and consequential window to deliver real reform built on three pillars: transparent, evidence-based scientific standards for PMTA review so e-cigarette manufacturers know exactly what is required; consistent enforcement against bad actors failing those standards— the actual source of the problem; and surgical enforcement criteria that target predatory design and youth-facing marketing, not the compliant products millions of American smokers depend on.

Protecting youth and preserving adult consumer access are not competing goals. A real and well-designed regulatory framework achieves both. The science is clear. The leadership is in place. It's time to fix the system and save vaping.

TALK OF THE TOWN

BEHIND BARS — Scott Allen Bolger was sentenced today to 15 months in prison for threatening Richard Grenell over text.

THAT AWKWARD MOMENT — Former President Joe Biden crashed Jill Biden’s book talk last night in Manhattan, wandering up to the 92nd Street Y stage as she was still speaking to ask: “Who do you love most in the whole world?” Jill jokingly answered that it was Whoopi Goldberg, who was moderating the discussion before eventually saying it was Joe. “Do I have to remind him that this is my event?” she joked. More from NY Post’s Zoe Hussain

BRAVE NEW WORLD — AI is already a firm fixture in the world of campaign professionals, Katie Harbath tracks in her Anchor Change Substack. Some staggering stats: “87% of campaign professionals are using AI daily or several times a week — 63% daily, another 24% several times a week. Seventy-four percent believe it will be essential to staying competitive in the next 1–2 election cycles.”

And there’s an interesting breakdown among party lines: “Claude is the dominant choice among Democrats — 82% use it, compared to 58% of Republicans. ChatGPT runs the other direction: 74% of Republicans, 43% of Democrats. And Grok has become almost exclusively a Republican tool — 14 of 18 Grok users in our sample are Republican, with only one Democrat.”

PAY UP — The Trump administration is using at least $90 million in entry fees from national parks across the country to foot the bill for the president’s elaborate America 250 celebrations in D.C. — including $1.6 million for a fireworks display and $76 million for fountain repairs and the repainting of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, WaPo’s Jake Spring, Dan Diamond and Naema Ahmed report. “That money is being spent in Washington at the expense of the rest of the nation’s park system, advocates say, which has a $24 billion backlog of badly needed infrastructure repairs and improvements.”

OUT AND ABOUT — The American Compass last night hosted a New World Gala toasting the launch of the organization’s new initiative, “Reclaiming American Citizenship.” SPOTTED: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), FTC chairman Andrew Ferguson, deputy NSAs Andy Baker and Michael Needham, Labor Department Solicitor Jonathan Berry, U.K. Amb. Sir Christian Turner, French Amb. Laurent Bili, Dutch Amb. Birgitta Tazelaar, Japan's DCM Takehiro Shimada, Taiwan's Amb. Alexander Yui, Jacob Reses, James Hitchcock, Wells King, and James Lloyd.

— SPOTTED yesterday at Playground Global’s inaugural America by Design Summit: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, OSTP Director Michael Kratsios, Education Department Under Secretary for Science Dario Gil, Corin Stone, DDNI Alli Curran and Pat Gelsinger.

TRANSITIONS — Evangel Penumaka is now director of polling at CAP. She most recently was polling principal and research director at Data for Progress. … Matt Slavoski has been named federal comms director at TechNet. He most recently was deputy comms director for Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and previously led comms for former Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.). …

… Jocelyn Quinn is now a rapid response specialist at the RNC and is working on the team behind @RNCResearch. She most recently worked for the House Homeland Security Committee. … Giovanna M. Cinelli is now deputy general counsel at the Pentagon. She most recently worked at the State Department and is a DHS alum.

MEDIA MOVE — Antonio Olivo is joining CNN as director of weekends for CNN Washington News. He previously was D.C. regional editor at WaPo. … Jacob Ward is now an on-air contributor at CNN. He is the founder of The Rip Current and most recently was a reporter-in-residence at the Omidyar Network.

WEEKEND WEDDING — Jackson Gross, campaign manager for John James' Michigan gubernatorial campaign, on Saturday married Priscilla Ivasco, senior comms director at Invest in Education, in Mackinac Island, Michigan. The couple met working together at the NRSC in 2021. Pic by Andrejka Photography and Planning … SPOTTED: Rep. John James (R-Mich.), Stu Sandler, Chris Gustafson and Victoria LaCivita, Danny Gustafson, Robert Shultz, Charlie and Lisa Spies, Tori Sachs, Chris Hartline, Caroline Kaardal, Sam Kaardal and Joanna Burgos.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD — James Martin, a Democratic congressional candidate in Florida who served as chief of staff for former VP Kamala Harris’ national security team, and Stevie Martin, talent manager at Boston Consulting Group, on May 27 welcomed Annie Jeanne Martin, who joins big sister Scout. Pic ... Another pic

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