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Good afternoon, and welcome back to Press Pass. We’ve got a big weekend coming up. It’s Father’s Day. And, look, we hear it all the time: “My dad is so angry about everything in the news that he can barely function.” Well, this Father’s Day, you can actually help him with that. A Bulwark+ membership is the gift that cleans up his news diet, with honest, independent, un-spun coverage he can actually trust. Less rage, more clarity. Give Dad the gift of sanity.
Today’s edition is about sanity—or, rather, the president’s desire to get rid of it in one very important institution. The story is both simple and complex. It is complex because the situation involves many different laws, precedents, and characters. It’s simple because there is exactly one person to blame for the chaos. Donald Trump’s constant disruptions to Senate business have turned the once-staid institution into a bit of a circus, and the politicians being loaded into cannons and forced to swing on the trapeze are starting to get frustrated that they can’t just go back to their desks.
In addition, no one seems to actually like the administration’s preliminary deal to end the war against Iran. But Democrats are eager for any off-ramp from the conflict, even if it’s an imperfect one. Lastly, a new trend is emerging in politics and pop culture: religious sportswear. All that and more, below.
Today’s full edition is for Bulwark+ members, so to read the whole thing, please consider signing up today. If you do join, pop into the comments section to say hello—I’d love to hear from you.
Donald Trump Is Driving the Senate Insane
Even GOP senators want the clown show they’re performing in to end.
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The wicked are like the tossing sea
There is an old saw in politics that while the House of Representatives is the kiddie table of Congress, the Senate is where the adults are found. It’s a place for cooler heads, congenial relations, and thoughtful deliberation. Or, it used to be.
The so-called upper chamber is now descending into House-like chaos. But unlike many of the problems besetting the House, the Senate’s problems are not ones it created for itself. No, no. Their problems have been coming directly from the White House.
Just take a look at Trump’s disruptions of Senate business over the last few weeks.
Trump supported reauthorization of FISA 702.
He later demanded that FISA reauthorization be paired with the SAVE Act, an unrelated voter-suppression bill that has no chance of clearing the Senate.
Trump tapped Bill Pulte to serve as interim Director of National Intelligence.
Trump then nominated U.S. attorney Jay Clayton to be the permanent DNI in response to pushback he received on Pulte, including the prospect of FISA not being reauthorized.
Trump directed Clayton not to testify before the Intelligence Committee and announced he was delaying his nomination to try to force the Senate to vote on the SAVE Act.
Trump signed the “memorandum of understanding” with Iran, but withheld the text from Congress and did not brief them on its contents.
The details of the MOU, now public, show broad sanctions relief for Iran without any guarantee that the country will reduce its long-term nuclear ambitions or its support of terrorism or militant proxies.
By Wednesday, senators’ heads were spinning and their ears were blowing steam. They’ve been frustrated with Trump before. But this, to me, felt next-level. I followed the wisps of vapor through the Capitol until I found the lawmakers producing them...