Washington, DC

1. Trump immunity scrutiny
2. Rubio’s Gulf mission
3. Primaries in NY, Utah
4. Data center election
5. Trump in PA
6. Behind Fauci’s subpoena
7. Rutte in DC

PDB: Senate passes housing bill

House returns … Supreme Court decision watch … South Korean stocks ⬇️ 10% amid tech selloff

Trump’s IRS deal could hinder Blanche

Republicans are questioning the Justice Department’s deal to shield President Donald Trump, his family, and his businesses from probes of past tax filings — and that scrutiny could affect his pick for attorney general, Semafor’s Burgess Everett and Eleanor Mueller report. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said Todd Blanche promised to brief him on the deal before his Judiciary Committee hearing next month, and that he’s “not prepared to vote for him until I get clarity on that.” The audit agreement was announced in tandem with a $1.8 billion fund designed to compensate people who alleged unjust prosecution by the federal government, including those convicted of participating in the Capitol riot. The Trump administration has since backed away from that fund — but not from Trump’s audit immunity. “I don’t like it and I’ve asked for more information on it,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said.

Rubio steps into Iran deal fray

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is meeting with Gulf allies over the next three days as the Trump administration looks to shore up support for its Iran deal. Rubio, who has been notably absent from the administration’s attempts to sell the deal to the public, will meet with counterparts in the UAE, Kuwait, and Bahrain, all of which faced Iranian strikes during the war. Rubio’s presence in the Gulf follows Vice President JD Vance’s return from Switzerland for the first round of talks with Iran about its nuclear program. Details of the agreement remain opaque: Tehran’s chief negotiator said Tuesday that Iran will “administer” the Strait of Hormuz, a potential major diplomatic victory for the nation, while Lloyds List reported Iran is planning to force ships to pay a de facto transit fee. Iran also denied Trump’s claim that it is obligated to buy US agricultural products with unfrozen funds.

Left-wing challengers dominate primaries

Left-wing Democrats are trying to take more territory in today’s primaries in Utah and New York. Mayor Zohran Mamdani has campaigned for three socialist and progressive House candidates in New York, including Brad Lander, now the favorite to unseat two-term Rep. Dan Goldman after two terms representing Manhattan and Brooklyn. Mamdani has stayed out of the race in the 12th District, where Rep. Jerry Nadler is retiring, AI industry-linked PACs are spending for and against Alex Bores, and Mike Bloomberg is dropping $10 million to help former aide Micah Lasher. In the suburban 17th District, where Democrats want to beat Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, centrist groups are backing veteran and former Biden official Cait Conley, who faces two challengers to her left. In Utah’s new 4th District, former Rep. Ben McAdams is trying to defeat more progressive challengers and return to Congress.

— David Weigel

Data center backlash shapes Utah primary

A test case for the Republican Party’s shifting consensus on AI data centers is playing out in a Utah House primary, Semafor’s Nicholas Wu reports. Rep. Blake Moore is heavily favored in Tuesday’s primary over his challenger, state legislator Karianne Lisonbee, and has a Trump endorsement to boot. But in the last weeks of the campaign, Lisonbee has sought to gain ground by positioning herself as a critic of a forthcoming 20,000-acre Stratos data center project, predicting that “most voters will align” with her against it, while Moore has called for more engagement with local stakeholders without taking a firm stance. Although polls show that more Democrats than Republicans are strong critics of data centers, the projects’ rise is exacerbating tensions between the GOP’s pro-business wing and its populist resistance to AI.

Trump makes domestic pivot in PA

As the Trump administration catches bipartisan flak for its memorandum of understanding with Iran, the president is zeroing back in on domestic issues. Trump will tour Mack Trucks in Macungie, Pa., today, a White House official said, as he touts things like last year’s GOP tax law and private-sector investment in the Keystone State. One new poll found Trump’s local support slipping as Pennsylvania voters raise concerns about their finances — lifting congressional Democrats’ hopes of picking up several seats there this fall. “Under the President’s leadership, key domestic industries are being revitalized, historic investments are pouring back into communities like Macungie, and families across the country are securing new, high-paying jobs,” White House spokesperson Liz Huston said of today’s visit, adding: “Pennsylvanians placed their trust in President Trump, and he has delivered for them.”

— Eleanor Mueller

Rand Paul subpoenaes Fauci

Senate Homeland Security Chairman Rand Paul, R-Ky., subpoenaed Dr. Anthony Fauci on Monday afternoon to appear before his committee, telling Semafor in an interview that he reached his breaking point after Fauci agreed to appear before the panel this month and then backed out. Paul subsequently subpoenaed Fauci — Paul’s first as chairman — to appear in July, and said he’s confident that action will hold up in court under the precedent of the Jan. 6 committee’s subpoenas. “He’s been slow-walking information to us for six months or more. We’ve been negotiating over the date for several months. He agreed, then he said he wouldn’t. So, I think it’s time that we bring him in,” Paul said. Among the questions Paul has: Fauci’s “pardon, gain of function research being funded when he said it wasn’t, and the destruction of records. I think there’s a lot to discuss.”

— Burgess Everett

Rutte arrives in DC under Iran cloud

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is on another tough mission to DC, where he’ll meet with Trump as the White House weighs a broader reduction of forces from Europe. Rutte has earned himself a nickname of “Trump whisperer,” but his flattery of the US president and positive statements about the Iran war have earned him criticism, including among some alliance members. Despite Rutte’s overtures, Trump finds himself consistently at odds with Europe. The latest example is his war of words with onetime pal Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. European defense commitments are sure to be discussed, after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lambasted the alliance as a “paper tiger and a one-way street” in a meeting with fellow defense ministers; the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz will also come up. The meeting precedes next month’s NATO summit in Turkey, which Trump is attending.

Blindspot: Court and stress

Stories that are being largely ignored by either left-leaning or right-leaning outlets, curated with help from our partners at Ground News.

What the Left isn’t reading: Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented from the Supreme Court’s decision to refuse to take up a case over whether race should be factored in when deciding whether a person can refuse a police search or seizure.

What the Right isn’t reading: Countries are experiencing as many as two months more “heat stress” when compared to the 1970s, according to new research.

Wall Street fell in love with your life insurance. Should you be worried? Anant Bhalla had a front-row seat to Wall Street’s transformation of the life insurance industry. Now, he believes it has gone too far. On this week’s Compound Interest, presented by Amazon Business, the former CEO of American Equity joins Liz and Rohan to discuss the rise of “zombie” insurers, ratings shopping, and what comes next as life insurance has evolved into a multi-trillion-dollar investment engine.

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: President Trump is expected to attend a Senate GOP lunch Wednesday at the invitation of Rick Scott, R-Fla, marking the first time Trump has met with the entire Senate GOP conference in months.

Playbook: “Patrick Witt, the White House’s crypto point person, is navigating a political tightrope as he negotiates a crypto bill with Democrats who want it to crack down on the president and his family business.”

Axios: Israel is worried that, in its quest to advance diplomacy with Iran, the US may be in effect legitimizing Iranian influence in Lebanon, two Israeli sources said.

White House

• President Trump signed a pair of executive orders designed to boost quantum computing while guarding against quantum-enabled cyberattacks.
• Trump plans to meet with executives from major defense contracting firms on Wednesday. — CBS
• The Smithsonian Institution, led by Lonnie Bunch, is “readying itself for the tensions over how it tells the story of the nation to resume.” — The Atlantic

Congress