Washington, DC

1. Maine ICE clash
2. Cornyn undecided on Blanche
3. GOP unveils budget blueprint
4. Rise of the alpha left
5. Trump’s Iraq play

SpaceX shares ▼ below their initial offer price for the first time since going public.

Collins says Democrats want ICE reforms they rejected

Maine Democratic Gov. Janet Mills wrote to the state’s congressional delegation today, pushing for ICE “to be fundamentally reformed,” after federal agents shot and killed a man in Biddeford on Monday. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told Semafor the letter was “strange” because the White House already offered those reforms to Democrats in talks to end the shutdown earlier this year. “The irony is that it is the Democrats who walked away from additional safeguards,” Collins said, including $100 million more for body cameras, requirements for visible identification numbers for officers, and bans on ICE action in sensitive locations. “It’s unfortunate that they wouldn’t take yes for an answer. But that was the Democrats’ choice.” What’s more, President Donald Trump overturned the department’s decision to pause ICE traffic stops just 24 hours after an internal memo advised agents of the change, according to a White House official.

— Burgess Everett and Shelby Talcott

Cornyn remains undecided on Blanche

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, emerged from acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s confirmation hearing as the pivotal Republican vote on the Senate Judiciary Committee, telling reporters he remains undecided. Cornyn challenged Blanche today on whether the settlement creating Trump’s “anti-weaponization” fund could still be enforced, despite Blanche’s insistence that the fund is “dead.” Every Republican on the committee will need to support Blanche for his nomination to advance. (Sen. Lindsey Graham’s seat hasn’t been filled yet.) Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who was on the fence, appeared satisfied with Blanche’s answers, telling him: “You did a great job today.” Lawmakers also grilled Blanche on the Epstein investigation. He accepted “responsibility” for mistakes made. And he rejected the idea he would be a “yes man” to the president, after being questioned about his past role as Trump’s defense attorney.

— Lauren Morganbesser

House GOP rolls out budget blueprint

The House GOP’s filibuster-skirting $95 billion budget blueprint to fund the Iran war, bolster farm aid, and enact some provisions from the Trump-backed SAVE Act voter ID legislation faces a tough path forward. Republican leaders rolled out legislative text today, but the package doesn’t yet include spending offsets. And its limited scope falls short of a larger-bore package pushed by others in the conference. Vice President JD Vance met this afternoon with the House Republicans as they struggle to get onto the same page. The Senate prospects are also uncertain. Incoming Senate Budget Chair Ron Johnson said he’s in coordinating talks with the House, though Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told Semafor the Senate may write its own budget. “We ought to, one, pay for it, [and] two, see how we can reduce the deficit,” Scott said. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said he’s for “less spending, not more. I think the debt is too big.”

— Nicholas Wu and Burgess Everett

Democrats wage culture war with new alpha left

Democrats are navigating a new kind of culture war over exactly what kind of behavior — from candidates and staff — the party should tolerate, Semafor’s Nicholas Wu, Brendan Ruberry, and Lauren Morganbesser report. The meltdown of Graham Platner’s Maine Senate bid over sexual assault allegations reopened old divisions between the party establishment and a crop of swaggering young men on the left, many of whom entered politics with Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential runs. “There are so many instances where a woman candidate or a person of color candidate is asked, time and time again, whether or not they are qualified, and they are given so many tests. And then you have someone [who makes] you feel good because they’re wearing plaid, and so that you should just give them the benefit of the doubt?” asked Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif.

Trump turns to commercial diplomacy in Iraq

Trump extended a warm welcome this week to visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, the businessman-turned-politician central to the president’s effort to redefine the US-Iraq relationship around commerce rather than conflict, reports Semafor’s Lauren Morganbesser. On Friday, al-Zaidi will speak at a US Chamber of Commerce summit with Energy Secretary Chris Wright, where organizers plan to announce $60 billion in commercial agreements between US companies and the Iraqi government and private businesses. “That surpasses what we had hoped for in terms of the number of deals,” Steve Lutes, the Chamber’s vice president for Middle East Affairs, told Semafor. Al-Zaidi’s visit parallels a trip by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last November, when billions in deals were announced. It’s a hallmark of Trump’s emerging Middle East strategy: using high-profile commercial diplomacy to deepen American influence in the region.

White House

• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the US Mint will begin striking a new $1 coin that features President Trump’s face.

• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the Pentagon will begin screening male troops over 30 for testosterone deficiency.

Congress

• Jay Clayton, President Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence, said during his Senate confirmation hearing today that Joe Biden received the most electoral votes in the 2020 presidential election, but he declined to say which candidate “won” the race, when pressed by Democrats.
• Erica Schwartz, Trump’s nominee to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ducked questions by Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., a physician, during her confirmation hearing on whether she would stand up to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on “crazy, stupid things being said that undermine faith in immunization.”
• Kathryn Ruemmler, head lawyer for Goldman Sachs, told members of the House Oversight Committee that her emails with Jeffrey Epstein have been “taken out of context.”

Foreign Policy

• President Trump has urged Chinese leader Xi Jinping to release a US scientist being held on charges of spying. — NYT

Economy

• Dozens of leading financial firms plan to participate in a trial run to tokenize stocks. — WSJ
• Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, is questioning Uber and Lyft’s fares and driver pay.

Campaigns

• Elon Musk gave Republican Vivek Ramaswamy $5 million for his Ohio governor bid.
• Nine candidates have joined the race to replace Graham Platner as the Democratic nominee for the Senate race in Maine ahead of a 5 pm deadline tonight.
• Former President Joe Biden will release a memoir after the midterm elections. — NYT
• President Trump backed MyPillow founder and election conspiracist Mike Lindell for Minnesota governor.

Immigration

• The Department of Homeland Security said an immigrant killed this week in Maine by an ICE agent received authorization to work in the US in 2025.

— Vice President JD Vance on the status of the Iran war in an interview with Joe Rogan.

Laura McGann, editor

With help from Elana Schor, senior Washington editor, and Morgan Chalfant, Washington briefing editor

Graph Massara and Lauren Morganbesser, copy editors

Contact our reporters:

Burgess Everett, Eleanor Mueller, Shelby Talcott, Nicholas Wu, David Weigel