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  "description": "Republished from WTF Just Happened Today, a daily newsletter breaking down national news.",
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  "publishedAt": "2026-06-09T22:29:20.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.jeffcobeacon.com",
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    "Matt Kiser",
    "WTF Just Happened Today",
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    "Axios",
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    "ABC News",
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  "textContent": "Curated by Matt Kiser, WTF Just Happened Today\n\n6.8.26/  _Today in_**One Sentence**\nIsrael and Iran paused direct attacks after trading strikes for the first time since the April ceasefire; ¶ Trump denied that he ever promised not to start a war while defending his three-month war with Iran that he launched without congressional approval; ¶ Trump abruptly ended a “Meet the Press” interview after Kristen Welker pressed him for evidence supporting his false claims that the 2020 election and California’s primary were “rigged”; ¶ the House passed a Ukraine aid and Russia sanctions bill; ¶ the Senate passed the $70 billion immigration enforcement bill without restrictions on Trump’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund; ¶ a federal judge voided Trump’s $100,000 fee on H-1B visa applications; ¶ Trump wants his acting director of national intelligence to “start the process” of firing “a lot of people” in the intelligence community; ¶ a federal lawsuit seeks to block Trump’s UFC fight on the White House South Lawn arguing the June 14 event violates National Park Service rules, lacked environmental review, and uses federal landmarks for a private, for-profit sports event; ¶ and 66% of Americans say a democratically elected government is important to the nation’s identity – down from 80% in 2021.\n\n\n_Today's Top_**Top Story\nIsrael and Iran paused direct attacks after trading strikes for the first time since the April ceasefire**. Trump twice told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop firing and warned him that Israel could be “on your own very soon.” After Iran fired missiles at Israel in response to Israeli strikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut, Trump called Netanyahu Sunday night to tell him not to retaliate further. Netanyahu reportedly said Israel had to answer a direct attack and then struck Iranian air defenses and a petrochemical facility, prompting more Iranian missiles toward Israel. Trump then demanded on Truth Social that “Israel and Iran must immediately stop shooting,” and called Netanyahu again Monday morning, and said he told him: “Bibi, you better be careful, or you will be on your own very soon.” Netanyahu later said “the fire on this front has been contained,” but warned Israel would “respond with force” if Iran attacks again. Iran’s armed forces said they were suspending operations, but threatened “more severe and crushing measures” if Israeli strikes continue, including in southern Lebanon. Trump, meanwhile, claimed “final negotiations” with Iran were still proceeding, but Iran’s ambassador to the U.N. said the two sides “have not yet reached a final text.” (New York Times / Axios / Associated Press / NPR / ABC News / NBC News / CNN / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / Politico / New York Times / Washington Post)\n\n* * *\n\n6.4.26/_Today in_**One Sentence**\nSenate Republicans rejected multiple attempts to ban Trump from establishing his $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund”; ¶ John Bolton is expected to plead guilty to illegally retaining classified information; ¶ Trump will nominate Todd Blanche, his former criminal defense lawyer and the current acting attorney general, to lead the Justice Department; ¶ Trump won’t nominate his acting director of national intelligence for the job permanently following bipartisan criticism that Bill Pulte lacked the national security experience needed to oversee the 18 agencies that make up the intelligence community; ¶ and Trump pledged roughly $700 million in taxpayer money to revive the declining U.S. coal industry.\n\n\n_Today's_**Top Story\nSenate Republicans rejected multiple attempts to ban Trump from establishing his $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund”** even though acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers under oath that the Justice Department is “not moving forward with the fund, period.” The efforts to kill the fund came during an unrelated Senate amendment session on a separate $70 billion Republican bill to fund ICE and Border Patrol through the end of Trump’s term. Trump, meanwhile, said he still “love[s]” the “weaponization fund,” calling it “a beautiful thing” and “so important.” When asked whether the fund was dead or just on hold, Trump replied: “I’d have to ask the lawyers.” (New York Times / Washington Post / CNN / Associated Press / Politico / New York Times / NBC News / Wall Street Journal)\n\n* * *\n\n6.3.26/_Today in_**One Sentence**\nThe House voted to block Trump from ordering further strikes on Iran, passing a war powers resolution after four Republicans joined Democrats; ¶ Senate Republicans advanced Trump’s $70 billion immigration enforcement bill after stripping out $1 billion for his White House ballroom and forcing the administration to drop its $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund; ¶ Congress’s effort to renew the warrantless surveillance program is in jeopardy after Trump named Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, a political loyalist with no known intelligence experience, as acting director of national intelligence; ¶ the Trump administration proposed new tariffs between 10% and 12.5% on 60 trading partners in an effort to revive Trump’s signature economic policy, which the Supreme Court ruled most were illegal; ¶ six states held primaries Tuesday that set up key midterm races; ¶ the Supreme Court allowed Alabama to use a Republican-drawn congressional map that eliminates one of the state’s two majority-Black districts despite a unanimous three-judge panel finding that the plan intentionally discriminated against Black voters; ¶ CBS News fired “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley “for cause” after he confronted the show’s new executive producer and accused the network’s editor in chief of “murdering” the program; ¶ and the Trump administration hired a pardoned Jan. 6 defendant for a sensitive Pentagon counterterrorism job inside an office that handles highly classified military operations.\n\n_Today's_**Top Story\nThe House voted to block Trump from ordering further strikes on Iran, passing a war powers resolution after four Republicans joined Democrats**. It’s the first successful congressional rebuke of Trump’s military campaign after three failed attempts. The measure directs Trump to withdraw U.S. forces from hostilities with Iran unless Congress authorizes the war. The 215-208 vote sends the resolution to the Senate, which advanced a similar measure last month on a procedural vote. Even if it passed both chambers, Trump would likely veto it, requiring two-thirds majorities in both chambers to override him. No war powers resolution has ever overcome a veto. The White House, meanwhile, has argued that the War Powers Act’s 60-day deadline doesn’t apply because “hostilities” ended with the ceasefire, even as the U.S. continues to enforce a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz. Hakeem Jeffries called it a “reckless and costly war of choice,” while Speaker Mike Johnson warned it was “a very dangerous prospect” to weaken Trump’s negotiating leverage. Marco Rubio added taht Iran would see the vote as a sign that Trump’s “hands are going to be tied.” (New York Times / Politico / NBC News / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg / CNN / Reuters / Associated Press / Axios)\n\n* * *\n\n6.2.26/_Today in_**One Sentence**\nActing Attorney General Todd Blanche said Trump’s $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” is dead; ¶ Trump named Bill Pulte acting director of national intelligence; ¶ Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Congress that Trump hasn’t offered Iran sanctions relief simply to reopen the Strait of Hormuz; ¶ Trump reportedly yelled “What the fuck are you doing?” at Benjamin Netanyahu during a call over Israel’s escalation in Lebanon; ¶ seven Democratic-led states sued to block the Trump administration’s taxpayer-funded deal paying TotalEnergies $795 million to walk away from an offshore wind lease and put the money toward oil and gas instead; ¶ the National Science Foundation will dismantle most of the $368 million Ocean Observatories Initiative; ¶ Trump signed a scaled-back AI order that asks companies to voluntarily give the government up to 30 days of early access to powerful new models before public release; ¶ and the White House Correspondents’ Association rescheduled its annual dinner after a gunman disrupted the April event.\n\n_Today's_**Top Story\nActing Attorney General Todd Blanche said Trump’s $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” is dead**. Senate Republicans had threatened to hold up the roughly $70 billion immigration enforcement bill unless the White House killed the taxpayer-funded payout that was created through Trump’s settlement with his own IRS over the leak of his tax records. Lawmakers in both parties had also objected to the lack of oversight and the possibility that Jan. 6 rioters who assaulted police could collect payouts. “We’re not moving forward with the fund, period,” Blanche told lawmakers, while still defending the premise, saying “the reasons for the fund remain as important as they were before.” Blanche, however, left intact the settlement provision barring audits and tax-enforcement actions involving Trump, his family, and related businesses over past returns. “Nothing has changed with that,” Blanche said, while insisting “it’s not immunity.” Rep. Rosa DeLauro, meanwhile, accused him of giving Trump and his family “tax immunity to the tune of about $100 million.” (Politico / Reuters / New York Times / CNBC / Associated Press / Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg)",
  "title": "WTF Just Happened This Week",
  "updatedAt": "2026-06-09T22:29:21.049Z"
}