Trump loses his ‘Senate whisperer’ after Graham’s sudden death

Donald Trump has lost a go-to ally in the Senate after the death of Lindsey Graham, with senior White House aides and other Republicans — and even some Democrats — saying the late senator had become a crucial part of the president’s legislative efforts.

The 71-year-old Budget Committee chairman and national security hawk was a fierce Trump critic in 2015, as they both sought the GOP presidential nomination. But he quickly morphed into one of Trump’s closest congressional allies after the 45th president took office, with Trump on Sunday declaring in a television interview that he saw the South Carolina Republican, who Washington, D.C.’s medical examiner said preliminarily died of aortic dissection, “like a member of the family.”

“It’s very tough, actually. It’s amazing. … He was such an advocate,” Trump told NBC’s “Meet the Press” program on Sunday. “He had a unique ability. He was able to deal with Democrats and Repub(licans). If I had a problem, a real problem, I wouldn’t often ask. But if I had a problem with a Democrat, he could work it out. He was … a great politician, actually.”

Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff for domestic policy, in a X post described the late senator as instrumental in securing the votes of some Senate GOP skeptics last year as Trump, administration officials and allies like Graham worked on what became the party’s sweeping tax and spending law.

—CQ-Roll Call

The landmark Jan. 6 criminal case against former Philly Proud Boys leader Zach Rehl was officially dismissed by a judge

A federal judge has officially dismissed the seditious conspiracy case against former Philadelphia Proud Boys leader Zach Rehl, putting an end to a landmark prosecution that had at one point served as a leading example of the Justice Department’s effort to seek criminal consequences for people who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly wrote in a memorandum Friday night that he effectively had no other choice but to dismiss the case against Rehl and his three codefendants, Proud Boys Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, and Dominic Pezzola.

An appeals court earlier this year had already granted a Justice Department request to vacate the men’s convictions because prosecutors said they no longer believed in them, Kelly said.

And in 2025, President Donald Trump — the intended beneficiary of the Jan. 6 melee — also signed an executive order that prohibited prosecutors from continuing to pursue any cases against Jan. 6 defendants in court.

—The Philadelphia Inquirer

Islamic Center hoping for security funding following deadly shooting

The story is beginning to fade from the headlines. The fear, though, continues. Monday will mark eight weeks since authorities say two teens, apparently radicalized by hate online, stormed the Islamic Center of San Diego and killed three congregants, including a security guard who engaged them in a gunfight. About 140 people were at the site that morning, including many young children attending school.

The center is doing what it can to move forward, bolstering security and caring for the well-being of the community it serves. But they hope to find money to help.

The need is there. While adults have returned to the Islamic Center in Clairemont for daily prayers and other events, a planned summer camp for children was canceled. “Some of the families still don’t feel their kids will be safe,” Taha Hassane, an imam at the Islamic Center, said Thursday.

“So many families were really directly affected by the shooting here at the Islamic Center, especially the families of the kids — we’re talking about kindergartners and first- and second-grade kids,” Hassane said.

—The San Diego Union-Tribune

As Milei’s aura fades, Argentina starts to look for a third way

Corruption was once Javier Milei’s strongest card against the Peronist movement that dominated Argentine politics for decades. Now it’s just one of several vulnerabilities that are damaging the libertarian president’s brand and giving wings to the opposition’s comeback plans.

With Milei’s popularity at its lowest level in more than two years, talk of the 2027 election has taken over investor trips and political circles in Argentina. The question being asked is whether it might be the moment for a third way between Milei’s signature shock therapy and the kind of free-spending Peronism epitomized by its leader, Cristina Kirchner.

“Milei is no longer a shoo-in to be reelected,” said Steven Levitsky, a professor of Latin American Studies at Harvard University. “Right now, Peronism is positioned as the most viable alternative.”

But Peronism itself is struggling to decide what kind of alternative it wants to be. Conversations with party officials and analysts show that an internal tussle is building over whether it should promise to reverse Milei’s slash-it-all doctrine or accept its main pillars — fiscal discipline, a smaller state and debt repayment — with a distinctly Peronist twist.

—Bloomberg News