Washington, DC

1. Trump vs. GOP
2. Jeffries’ Mamdani headache
3. Trump’s short-term oil problem
4. Housing bill’s good timing
5. Pretoria plans for PEPFAR’s end

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Trump stokes division on a day meant for GOP unity

The relationship between President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans hit a new low point today as he showered them with disapproval on a day that was supposed to spotlight party unity, Semafor’s Burgess Everett, Eleanor Mueller, and Shelby Talcott report. Trump remains fixated on his voter ID bill — which has no path to law — and is now withholding his signature from the bipartisan housing bill he’s said he supports. He also unloaded on Republicans in private over passage of a nonbinding resolution ending the Iran war (Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said Trump was “mad as a murder hornet”). Trump’s decisions have left the party with an unclear path forward, particularly on housing, though a host of other issues remain. “I don’t know if stuck is the right word. But we probably aren’t going anywhere anytime soon,” Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., told Semafor.

Insurgent left becomes Jeffries’ next headache

After toppling establishment-backed candidates in three New York City primaries, Zohran Mamdani-backed challengers are already on to their next act: upending the lives of congressional Democratic leaders, Nicholas Wu, Lauren Morganbesser, and David Weigel report. The victories of Brad Lander, Claire Valdez, and Darializa Avila Chevalier show the growing power of a progressive bloc that risks stealing the party’s megaphone during a campaign that Democrats had hoped to center on affordability, not aid to Israel. There’s already angst in the party, and glee among Republicans, that the trio will use their new clout to spotlight issues that divide Democrats, with Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, telling reporters that “nationally, it’s a huge concern.” Top House Democrats brushed off the results, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries urging reporters to “look at the totality of all 215 members of the House Democratic caucus.”

Trump accuses oil companies of gouging

Trump is learning a hard truth about gas prices: They go up faster than they come down. In a post on Truth Social this morning, the president said he’s instructing the Justice Department to investigate why prices at the pump aren’t falling faster, accusing oil companies of profiteering: “Customers are being ‘gouged,’” he wrote. Since the US and Iran signed an interim peace agreement, traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has picked up and crude prices have dipped to early-war levels. Pump prices have dropped, too, falling to $3.90 a gallon on average from $4.50 a gallon a month ago. But gas cost less than $3 a gallon before the conflict began. Trump wants a speedy return to normal, but analysts expect the oil market to take a few months — at least — to stabilize.

Trump denies GOP a victory lap on housing

Trump’s surprise cancellation of a ceremony to sign the bipartisan housing bill creates an awkward dynamic for Republicans — who would like to campaign on it. New home construction fell sharply in May and the bill is designed to juice supply by making it easier and cheaper for builders to construct new homes. Mortgage rates, meanwhile, climbed during the Iran conflict to an average weekly high of 6.5%, after falling below 6% in March. The bill will become law in 10 days, even if Trump doesn’t sign it. It cleared both chambers with veto-proof majorities (85-5 in the Senate and 358-32 in the House). And while even supporters of the bill acknowledge that it’s no silver bullet for America’s housing woes, lawmakers were hoping to take a victory lap on it.

South Africa grapples with PEPFAR cut

South Africa is targeting self-reliance to fund its healthcare sector, the country’s health minister said at a UN meeting. Aaron Motsoaledi called the Trump administration’s cancellation of a multibillion-dollar HIV/AIDS program a “wake-up call,” Semafor’s Tiisetso Motsoeneng reports. His comments in New York came days after Semafor first reported that the State Department was preparing to end South Africa’s PEPFAR funding. The program directed $8 billion to South Africa over two decades to treat the world’s largest HIV/AIDS caseload. The decision is the latest diplomatic scuffle between Pretoria and Washington, which has made repeated false accusations of Afrikaner genocide in Africa’s biggest economy and demanded that South Africa undo its post-apartheid domestic redress laws.

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White House

• The director of the Office of Management and Budget wrote Speaker Mike Johnson a letter requesting for $87.6 billion in supplemental funding for FY26, including for the Iran war, the Ebola outbreak, and support for American farmers.
• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “stonewalled” efforts to extend a top Army commander’s career. — WaPo

District of Columbia

• Washington officials are investigating what killed three ducks found in the Reflecting Pool.
• A federal judge wants to know why there’s a tarp covering the exterior of the Kennedy Center, where the president’s name was removed 11 days ago.

Outside the Beltway

• The former chief of staff to ex-New York City Mayor Eric Adams was arrested on bribery charges. — WSJ

Courts

• A Boston federal judge blocked President Trump’s move to require proof of citizenship to vote.
• A US appeals court upheld a ruling blocking the Trump administration’s attempt to obtain Michigan’s voter rolls.
• A federal judge in New York barred the Justice Department from seeking medical information from hospitals about children who received transition-related medical care.

Economy

• All major US banks passed the Federal Reserve’s 2026 stress test, showing they could withstand a severe economic downturn.

Congress

• The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Robert Garcia of California, has asked two contractors to explain why the Reflecting Pool has peeling paint and algae blooms after a multimillion-dollar renovation.
• Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., says he regrets voting to confirm Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. — NOTUS
• Postmaster General David Steiner told lawmakers that proposed Postal Service rules would restrict the delivery of ballots in states that don’t give the federal government a list of eligible voters.

Technology

• A Chinese supercomputer surpassed a US competitor to become the fastest in the world.
• Anthropic accused Chinese technology giant Alibaba Group of waging a large-scale campaign to “illicitly” access its Claude AI model through thousands of fraudulent accounts.

Health

• French officials identified the first case of Ebola in the country.

World

• Secretary of State Marco Rubio met leaders of the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait today to affirm support and reassure the Gulf allies amid negotiations with Iran.
• The Trump administration plans to move forward with the sale of jet engines worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Turkey despite objections from members of Congress. — Reuters

— Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.

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,