Politics

WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first time in a generation, Washingtonians woke up to a general election lineup that doesn’t include Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton.

Norton, who served 18 terms as the District of Columbia’s nonvoting representative in Congress, chose not to run for reelection after mounting concerns that, at 89 years old, she was no longer capable of forcefully combating a Republican-led Congress and presidential administration constantly overriding the heavily Democratic city’s leadership. Voters choose their local leaders, but Congress has final say on the laws the city passes and its budget.

Council member Robert White Jr. won the Democratic primary to replace Norton and is expected to win the general election in November. He will face Republican Denise Rosado, an immigration attorney who ran unopposed.

A D.C. native and lifelong resident, White is a lawyer and worked as Norton’s legislative counsel for five years, as well as serving at the attorney general’s office for the District of Columbia before winning the special election in 2016 for an at-large seat on the D.C. Council.

“Our turn will never come unless we demand it. Eleanor Holmes Norton understood that. The generations before us understood that. And before this night is over, I hope every Washingtonian understands it, too: We will not yield,” White told a cheering crowd of supporters after polls closed Tuesday.

The D.C. delegate position is a nonvoting one, but it grants the nearly 700,000 people of the district, who have no other representation in Congress, a voice through speechmaking on the House floor and bill introduction.

In Congress, Norton championed education, including securing a grant program that provided up to $10,000 annually to D.C. high school graduates to assist with out-of-state tuition. She also pushed for federal legislation that helped save the city from financial ruin.

Calls for her to step aside grew in the aftermath of a surge of federal law enforcement officers and National Guard troops into the city last year by President Donald Trump. Critics, including her former chief of staff, argued that she was diminished and no longer capable of providing the energy and presence the moment called for against Trump.

The pressure on Norton to drop out came as questions of generational change gripped the Democratic Party after President Joe Biden, also in his 80s, tried to run for reelection despite concerns about his age. He eventually dropped out and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor, but she lost to Trump, sparking ongoing recriminations.

Before running for office, Norton was a fixture of the Civil Rights Movement. In 1963, she split her time between Yale Law School and Mississippi, where she volunteered for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. One day during the Freedom Summer, civil rights activist Medgar Evers picked her up at the Jackson airport. He was assassinated that night. Norton also helped organize and attended the 1963 March on Washington.

Norton went on to become the first woman to lead the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which helps enforce anti-discrimination laws in the workplace.

Political historian Matt Dallek said her credentials bring a certain gravitas and moral standing that “I think a lot of residents in the district could respond to and did respond to. It resonated with them.”

“That kind of generational moral clarity and moral gravitas that she and others brought to the political arena is being lost. That’s not to say that others can’t pick up that mantle” he said, but White will have different concerns and experiences in a city changing demographically.

White would become only the third Washington delegate to Congress since 1971, when Walter Fauntroy Jr. was elected as the nonvoting delegate. The position was created in 1970 under the District of Columbia Delegate Act.

George Derek Musgrove, associate professor of history at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, said no candidates seeking the office have the national stature of their predecessors, “which is, for me, one of the biggest changes in the city.” Both Fauntroy and Norton, Musgrove said, “leveraged their national political contacts to do the work of the delegate.”

White made D.C. statehood and pushing back on federal interference in local affairs priorities in the campaign.

He will need to build relationships quickly, said Amanda Huron, a professor at the University of the District of Columbia who teaches courses on D.C. history and politics. It is especially critical with a Congress that intervenes in local affairs.

“One of the real challenges of governing D.C. locally is that you’ve got these people in Congress who we don’t elect so these decisions are being made at a congressional level where we don’t even have any representation effectively,” Huron said.

Maurice Jackson, a historian at Georgetown University, said Norton is also a brilliant constitutional lawyer along with being a civil rights legend and EEOC trailblazer. That said, he added, change is not always a bad thing.

The question, he said, is whether White will fight for the rights of all the city’s residents and work to stop the Black population from leaving a city that is changing demographically.

When Martin Luther King Jr. died “everybody knew there would never be another King,” he said. “So there’s no need to worry about whether there’ll be another Norton. There are people who can step forward.”

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the District of Columbia at https://apnews.com/hub/district-of-columbia.

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President Trump Defends Iran Deal, Warns US Could Resume Strikes 

The emerging agreement would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, extend the ceasefire, and commit Iran not to produce or acquire nuclear weapons 

President Donald Trump, in a wide-ranging press conference at the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains, France, on Wednesday, defended an emerging US-Iran agreement, argued that it would prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and warned that US military strikes could resume if Tehran violates its commitments. He also criticized Israel’s military operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon. 

The agreement, a memorandum of understanding expected to be formally signed in Switzerland on Friday, is intended to extend the ceasefire, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and create a framework for further negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program and related regional issues. US officials have said the deal was signed electronically over the weekend, though the timing and format of the final signing remained in flux on Wednesday. 

“On Sunday, we reached an agreement with Iran that achieves everything we set out to accomplish—everything, and much more—ending the current conflict, reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and preventing Iran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon,” President Trump said. 

The president repeatedly returned to what he called the central provision of the agreement: Iran’s nuclear program. 

“Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. They can’t develop it, buy it. They can never have a nuclear weapon,” he insisted. 

The memorandum of understanding, which senior US officials read to reporters on Wednesday ahead of an expected formal signing on Friday, includes language stating that Iran will not produce or acquire nuclear weapons. 

President Trump contrasted the agreement with the Obama-era nuclear deal, which he canceled during his first term and repeatedly criticized throughout the press conference. 

“The Obama deal was a road to a nuclear weapon,” he argued. “The Trump deal was a wall for a nuclear weapon that the nuclear weapon could not get through.” 

Although President Trump said the agreement could be signed within days, he emphasized that compliance would determine whether it remains in force. 

“If it doesn’t get done in 60 days, that’s all right. We go back to bombing,” he said. 

The president repeatedly warned that military action remains available if Iran does not adhere to the framework. 

“If they don’t honor the agreement, we’ll probably go back to bombing them until they honor it,” President Trump said. 

Later, when pressed about enforcement provisions, President Trump offered an even more direct warning. 

“I let them know. I said, look, if you don’t adhere to the agreement, I don’t want to do that, but we’re going to bomb the hell out of you.” 

He argued that the threat of renewed military action is sufficient to ensure compliance. 

“Doesn’t have to be,” he said when asked whether the agreement contains enforceable mechanisms. “They don’t want to get bombed. They don’t want to get hit.” 

President Trump also defended allowing Iran to retain some conventional missile capabilities, arguing that ballistic missiles are not the core issue addressed by the agreement. 

“We’ll be working on a parallel effort with the Gulf nations to address non-nuclear issues, such as the conventional ballistic missiles,” he said. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted on several occasions that a provision targeting Iran’s ballistic missile program must be part of any framework. 

In February, Netanyahu told reporters after returning from a trip to Washington to meet with President Trump that an agreement should address “not only the issue of nuclear weapons but also ballistic missiles and Iranian proxies in the region.” 

At the press conference, President Trump dismissed suggestions that Iran should be barred entirely from possessing missiles. 

“What am I going to do? Am I going to let Saudi Arabia have missiles, but they can’t have them? It doesn’t work that way.” 

He argued that nuclear weapons, not ballistic missiles, represent the principal threat. 

“Missiles aren’t the problem. Missiles are—they hurt a little location, but they don’t blow up the planet.” 

President Trump said the United States had already significantly reduced Iran’s missile capabilities through military action. 

“We knocked out probably 84%, 85% of their missiles,” he said. 

The president spent a significant portion of the press conference discussing Israel and Netanyahu, praising the relationship between the two leaders while also expressing frustration with Israeli operations in Lebanon. 

“In all fairness to Bibi Netanyahu, who happens to be a good man, gets a little excited sometimes. But he happens to be a very good man. We’ve had an amazing partnership.” 

At the same time, President Trump acknowledged differences over Hezbollah and Lebanon. 

“We have a little dispute over Lebanon. I say, you can do a little softer touch, Bibi. You don’t have to knock down a building every time somebody walks into it that’s from Hezbollah.” 

The president said he had sent a copy of the agreement to Israel and argued that the deal delivers Israel’s most important strategic objective. 

“I told Bibi, Bibi, your biggest risk was that they’d drop a nuclear weapon into the middle of Israel. They’d only need one, and there would be no more Israel.” 

“Think of it, Bibi. You got the best—the most important thing that you were asking for is that.” 

President Trump also criticized recent Israeli strikes in Beirut, specifically referencing attacks against Hezbollah targets. 

“I’m not saying they shouldn’t protect themselves,” he said. “They could behave better.” 

Referring to a recent strike, the president added: “That was a big hit. That was unnecessary in my book.” 

He expressed sympathy for Lebanon and said the country had suffered decades of instability and conflict. 

“I feel very bad for Lebanon,” President Trump said. “They have been living in hell.” 

A major component of President Trump’s defense of the agreement centered on economic arguments. He repeatedly claimed that the deal prevented a broader crisis in global energy markets and would help stabilize oil prices. 

“If we didn’t do this deal, we could have dropped more bombs for another three weeks, two weeks, four weeks, two years,” he said. 

“You would never have the Hormuz Strait open.” 

According to the president, reopening the Strait of Hormuz will restore maritime traffic and energy shipments while helping reduce oil prices worldwide. 

“Maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has already increased very substantially, and the normal flow of energy will resume in the coming days.” 

President Trump argued that continuing the conflict risked severe economic consequences. 

“Rather than possibly going into a depression,” President Trump said, the agreement provides stability for global markets and energy supplies. 

He also defended the military campaign that preceded the agreement, including strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities and military infrastructure. He claimed US operations had devastated Iran’s military capabilities and left Tehran in a position where it was willing to negotiate. 

“If we didn’t hit that with the B-2 bombers, they would have had a nuclear weapon,” he said. 

Beyond Iran, President Trump briefly discussed a range of international issues. He praised mediation efforts by Qatar and Pakistan, thanked China and President Xi Jinping for maintaining what he described as a neutral position during the conflict, and said he hopes the agreement will lead to broader regional normalization and an expansion of the Abraham Accords. 

The president also addressed the war in Ukraine, meetings with world leaders at the G7, efforts to combat Ebola in Africa, artificial intelligence, energy policy, and immigration. 

Still, President Trump repeatedly returned to the Iran agreement as the central achievement of the summit. 

“The most important clause,” he said, is the commitment that Iran “will never have a nuclear weapon.” 

“This agreement now provides Iran with a historic opportunity,” the president said. “If they follow the path of cooperation, we’ll have opened for them. Their country will have a chance to survive.” 

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By David Morgan

WASHINGTON, June 17 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s derailment of a U.S. Senate plan to pass a key national security bill this week is only the latest example of a growing rift with Senate Republicans, who are more willing to defy the commander-in-chief in the run-up to the November midterm elections.

Aiming to protect his controversial choice of loyalist Bill Pulte as acting U.S. spy chief, Trump forced the Senate Intelligence Committee to postpone a confirmation hearing for U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, his permanent nominee for director of national security, who Republicans had hoped to fast-track into the job.

“He made a colossal mistake,” Republican Senator Thom Tillis said of the president’s move. “It’s undermining our ability to produce the very results he wants.”

It was the latest in a series of actions by Trump that have upended Senate Republican plans to move major legislation intended to forward his agenda. Last month, his announcement of a $1.8 billion “antiweaponization” fund to compensate political allies who claim to have been victimized by federal authorities stalled a $70 billion bill to fund his immigration crackdown.

Trump has also ruffled Senate Republicans by unseating sitting incumbents, demanding $1 billion tied to his White House ballroom and the passage of his voter ID bill, the SAVE America Act, and by calling on the party to end the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster and fire the parliamentarian.

SAYING ‘NO’ TO TRUMP

As a result, Senate Republicans have begun to say “no” to Trump’s more extreme demands including passage of the SAVE America Act, which would require lawmakers to do away with the filibuster because of vigorous opposition from Democrats.    

  “I think the president wants to add SAVE America to pretty much everything,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters after Trump first called for the package of voting restrictions to be added to the surveillance bill. “But that, obviously, is not realistic to get the FISA bill done. And we want to get the FISA bill done.”

The result has been a deeper division between Trump and Senate Republicans less than five months ahead of the November midterm elections. 

 “I think we’re in for a bumpy seven months or so,” predicted Senator John Cornyn, who lost his primary reelection bid to Trump-backed challenger Ken Paxton last month.

But not all Republicans agree that Trump’s actions have been disruptive. 

“He’s doing things that people want,” said Senator Rick Scott, a Florida hardliner who hopes to see warrant requirements added to FISA legislation. “Americans – Republicans, Democrats, independents – want election security. They want voter ID and stuff like that. And they don’t want to be surveilled.” 

OUTRAGE OVER PULTE

Trump’s selection of Pulte as acting intelligence chief sparked outrage among Democrats and some Republicans over the housing regulator’s lack of national security experience, and prompted Democrats to boycott legislation to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, for fear that Pulte would use his position to attack Trump’s perceived political enemies.

The president also doubled down on his demand that Senate Republicans attach the FISA legislation to his voter ID bill, the SAVE America Act, a package of sweeping voter restrictions that Democrats vigorously oppose.

Lawmakers and independent analysts say Trump’s longstanding disregard for Congress and the demands of legislating is coming into sharper focus now that Senate Republicans are confronting half a dozen competitive midterm races at a time when Trump’s foreign policy and trade initiatives have raised costs for voters.

“I think he really doesn’t see Congress as an entity for making deals with. He sees it as something subservient,” said Molly Nixon, a senior fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute.

LACK OF TRUST

Others said Trump has caused distrust by unseating Republican incumbents including Texas Senator John Cornyn, who has been seen as a reliable supporter of the president’s agenda. 

“That destroyed what remained of any kind of trust,” Cornyn said. “That changed the playing field in a way where you’ll see a lot more of what I would call transactional relationships, as opposed to ones based on trust.”

Less than a year and a half into his second term as president, Trump has seen his approval ratings fall from 47% around the time of his inauguration to only 36% this month, slightly above his all-time low of 33% during his first term, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling data. Among Republicans, his approval has dropped significantly over the same period.

Thune’s willingness to stand up to Trump and defend the integrity of the Senate has earned him the respect of his conference and even Democrats, despite the hyperpartisanship of Congress. 

“I happen to have a lot of respect for Senator Thune,” said Democratic Senator Peter Welch. “Trump wants him to fire the parliamentarian. He wants him to get rid of the filibuster. And I see Thune as doing his best to maintain the independent integrity of the Senate.”

But that has also raised questions for Thune, who was asked by reporters about his relationship with Trump on Wednesday. 

“It’s fine. The president has his own mind and makes his own decisions,” the South Dakota Republican said as he turned and walked away.  

(Reporting by David Morgan; additional reporting by Nolan D. McCaskill; Editing by Michael Learmonth and Alistair Bell)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Senior U.S. officials dictated the memorandum of understanding with Iran to reporters, including Townhall after days of secrecy, and Iran suggested that its deal with the United States could be signed by Presidents Donald Trump and Masoud Pezeshkian.  

Such an signing ceremony would represent a major step for the two countries, which saw diplomatic relations break off in 1980 over the U.S. Embassy hostage crisis in Tehran.  

The accord is due to be signed Friday in Switzerland.  

The U.S. officials spoke Wednesday on condition of anonymity to read the draft, which Iran has not released. 

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From Townhall, here is a detailed summary tonight of a 14-point agreement — described by a senior official and quoted as closely as possible. 

The United States of America, and Islamic Republic of Iran, and their allies in the current war, by signing this MOU, declare the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and undertake from now on not to initiate any war or any military operation against each other, and to refrain from the threat or use of force against each other, and ensuring the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon. The final deal will confirm the permanent termination of the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and other provisions of this paragraph. 

The United States of America, the Islamic Republic of Iran, undertake to respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to refrain from interfering in each other’s internal affairs.  

The United States of America, and the Islamic Republic of Iran commits to negotiating and achieving the final deal in maximum 60 days – extendable with mutual consent.  

Immediately upon the signing of this MOU, the United States of America will begin the removal of its naval blockade and any disturbances or impediments against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and will fully end the Naval blockade within 30 days. During this period, the traffic of vessels will be in proportion to the numbers of pre-war traffic being restored by the Islamic Republic of Iran, the United States of America, further undertakes to remove its forces from the proximity of the Islamic Republic of Iran within 30 days after the final deal. 

Upon the signing of this, MOU, the Islamic Republic of Iran will make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge for 60 days only from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman, and vice versa. The traffic of commercial vessels will immediately start in considering the needs for removing the technical and military obstacles and de-mining by the Islamic Republic of Iran will be initiated within 30 days, the Islamic Republic of Iran will conduct dialogue with Sultaness of Oman to define the future administration and maritime services in the Strait of Homruz discussion with other Persian gulf […] states in line with the applicable international law and the sovereign rights of coastal states of the Strait of Hormuz. 

The United States of America undertakes with regional partners to develop a definitive mutually agreed plan with at least USD 300 billion for the reconstruction and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The mechanism for the implementation of this plan will be finalized as part of a final deal within 60 days. All required licenses, waivers, and permissions needed for the relevant financial transactions will be granted by the United States of America. 

The United States of America undertakes to terminate all types of sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran, including the United Nations Security Council Resolution, i.e. IAEA Board of Governor’s Resolution, and all unilateral U.S. sanctions, primary and secondary, and an agreed upon schedule as part of the final deal.  

The Islamic Republic of Iran reaffirms that it shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons. The United States of America, and the Islamic Republic of Iran, have agreed to resolve the disposition of stockpile enriched material, pursuant to a mechanism that will be mutually agreed upon, in accordance with the schedule mentioned in paragraph 7, with a minimum methodology to be down blending on site, under the supervision of the IAEA. The two parties also agreed to discuss the issue of enrichment and other mutually agreed matters related to the economical public of Iran’s nuclear need, based on the satisfactory framework being agreed upon in the final deal. The final deal will confirm the provisions of this paragraph.  The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran, acknowledge the critical importance of the nuclear issues above mission, and express their attention to immediately address these issues in the negotiation in order to achieve mutual agreement on them. 

Pending the final deal, the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran agree to maintain the status quo. The Islamic Republic of Iran will maintain the current status quo of its nuclear program, and the United States of America will not impose any new sanctions and will not deploy additional forces in the region. 

The United States of America undertakes, but immediately upon the signing of this MOU, and until the termination of sanctions, the U.S. Department of Treasury will issue waivers for the export of Iranian crude oil, petroleum products and derivatives and all associated services including banking, transactions, insurances, transportation, etc.  

The United States of America undertakes to make fully available for use, the frozen, or restricted funds, and assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran upon the implementation of the MOU, the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran will usually agree on the procedures related to the relief of these funds during the negotiation. Such funds, whether retained in the original accounts or transferred, government may be fully usable for payment to any ultimate beneficiary designated by the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The United States of America undertakes to issue all necessary licenses and authorizations accordingly. 

The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran agree that an executive mechanism will be established to monitor the successful implementations of MOU and the future compliance of the final deal.  

After signing the MOU, and subject to the beginning of the implementation of paragraphs 1, 4, 5, 10, and 11 of this MOU, and the continuing implementation of these measures, the United States of America, and the Islamic Republic of Iran, will start negotiations regarding the final deal exclusively on the other paragraphs.  

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By Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON, June 16 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he was willing to send his interim deal to end the war with Iran for review by the U.S. Congress, as lawmakers, including many of his fellow Republicans,  said they were largely in the dark about the pact.

The U.S.-Iran agreement, announced on Sunday, has spurred optimism that a conflict that has killed thousands and disrupted the global economy will soon end. 

According to officials from both countries, the memorandum of understanding would extend a tenuous ceasefire announced in April by another 60 days and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping route effectively blocked since the U.S. and Israel began attacking Iran on February 28.

But the details remain unclear and the text of the pact has not been released or sent to Congress.

Trump also insisted on Tuesday that Iran would abandon its nuclear weapons program. Iran has long maintained that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

Democrats have questioned Trump’s latest promise of a peace deal. 

“We’ve been told dozens of times that the war is over and dozens of times we’ve been disappointed,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said as he opened the Senate session on Tuesday.

“It’s been two days since Trump claimed he had reached an ‘understanding’ with Iran and he still hasn’t released any details… about what it actually is,” Schumer said.

Schumer called on the Trump administration to hold a classified briefing for Congress’ “Gang of Eight,” a group of intelligence committee and congressional leaders typically briefed on major national security developments.

Schumer also said officials should brief the entire Congress, and inform the American people.

No plans for any such events have been released.

‘I LIKE THE IDEA’

Trump told reporters in France that he had not thought about sending the memorandum of understanding with Iran to Congress for review but that he would do it. “I like the idea,” he said during his meeting with ​Mohamed ⁠bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president of the United Arab Emirates, on the sidelines of the G7. 

Trump said he wanted to wait until after a formal signing ceremony expected on Friday.

Trump could be legally obligated to involve Congress. Under the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, a 2015 U.S. law passed as Democratic President Barack Obama’s administration finalized an Iran nuclear agreement, any such agreement must be submitted to Congress for review before sanctions can be eased.

That review leaves open the possibility that lawmakers could try to block parts of the deal. 

Some Republican lawmakers have been willing to break with the president, voting with Democrats, unsuccessfully, to force Trump to seek congressional approval for the Iran war.  Under the U.S. Constitution, Congress, not the president, has the power to declare war.

But most Republicans, who hold slim majorities in both the Senate and House of Representatives, have shown little appetite during Trump’s second term for challenging his foreign policy.

Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the Senate’s Republican leader, told reporters at the Capitol on Tuesday that party members were pressing Trump to provide the text of the MOU.

“We’re trying to get it,” he said, acknowledging that it is unusual for an administration not to share information about such a major development with its own party.

“Since I’ve been in this job, we haven’t had this issue,” Thune said.

Other Republicans joined Democrats in expressing frustration at the lack of information.

“If it’s a secret deal, then how can I take it seriously?” Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina told reporters on Monday evening.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Additional reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Don Durfee and Sanjeev Miglani)

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NEW YORK (AP) — Whenever historian Geoffrey Ward visits the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum to do research, he finds himself caught up in the spirit of FDR himself, the sense of landed contentment and cheerful disarray that helped define his public image.

“It feels like you’re stepping back into his world,” Ward said of the grounds in Hyde Park, New York, that once were home to the Roosevelt family. “The library and home collections reflect all his many interests — stamps, coins, birds he shot and had stuffed as a boy, model ships, children’s books, books about naval history, the pony-drawn sleigh he rode in as a child, and on and on.”

Since FDR helped launch the modern system of presidential sites in the late 1930s, a network of museums and research facilities has grown nationwide, overseen in part by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) but otherwise as varied as the men they honor. They are set everywhere from the scenic Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum in California’s Simi Valley to the small-town setting of the Herbert Hoover Library and Museum in West Branch, Iowa, to the vast Obama Presidential Center that opens to the public on June 19, Juneteenth, in Chicago.

Historian Douglas Brinkley, who says he has visited all of the post-FDR libraries, calls them vital hubs for lectures, research, school tours and tourists.

“Each of the libraries have their own aura,” Brinkley says. “Roosevelt came up with a perfect idea by gifting his home in Hyde Park to the people of America, instead of having his papers stored in a warehouse in Virginia or Maryland. He started a tradition of having them go where the president lived.”

Libraries carry with them a given president’s personality and legacy. Brinkley and others note that while the library archives are managed by NARA, the museum is funded by private donors who are likely to prefer a given president’s more favorable moments be emphasized or less favorable ones softened.

On the Hoover website, a page dedicated to the Great Depression emphasizes that some of the policies enacted by Roosevelt, who easily defeated Hoover for reelection, were first proposed by Hoover. The Richard Nixon library was for years at the heart of a battle between museum administrators and the former president and his supporters over everything from control of his archives to how much space should be dedicated to the Watergate scandal that helped lead to Nixon’s resignation.

Max Boot, author of a 2024 biography of Reagan, contrasted his access to the Reagan archives with the museum itself. The late president’s records were “administered by federal employees in an entirely professional and apolitical fashion. There is no attempt to hide anything.” The museum “naturally focuses on Reagan’s achievements and shortchanges his failures.”

“It’s designed to present a positive portrait. Thus, volumes critical of Reagan are not sold in the library bookstore,” Boot said.

Historian Ted Widmer, a former speechwriter for President Bill Clinton, said, “While it’s inevitable that the presidential libraries will present the highlights of a presidency, there has been some progress toward transparency in recent years.”

He praised the Lyndon Johnson library, located in Austin, Texas, for its willingness to take on LBJ’s widely criticized handling of the Vietnam War. In 2023, the library helped revive interest in one of Johnson’s most notorious campaigns — the 1948 Senate campaign now widely believed to have been stolen — by posting recordings on its website of interviews by Associated Press reporter James W. Mangan with a former Texas election judge who acknowledged certifying false votes that helped LBJ win.

“It is hard to know if future libraries will continue that trend, in an era in which history is increasingly politicized and polarized,” Widmer says. “But it’s healthy for our democracy to encourage the study of history as it really happened — not a sanitized version.”

Obama officials have faced criticism for the center’s size and aesthetic — “The building has an ominous presence, its mostly windowless heft recalling a menacing sci-fi headquarters,” wrote The Guardian’s Oliver Wainwright — and for their decision not to have a NARA facility on site. A substantial amount of the former president’s records are digital, a trend Brinkley expects to continue with future libraries.

As many as 1 million people are expected to visit the center’s 20-acre campus each year, with highlights including a public library branch, an NBA-grade basketball court, a fruit and vegetable garden and a playground. Former President Barack Obama tested out one of the high metal slides in May.

“That was fantastic,” he said after zipping down, according to a video posted to the Obama Foundation’s social media. “I was a little tall for it.”

Obama also decided many of the center’s details and features, from textured stone on the museum’s 225-foot tower to a pair of high-backed reading chairs inside the library. Among his favorite items, though, are charcoal grills that will be available for public use. He floated the idea to the public at a 2017 community meeting, and was met with warm laughs from the hometown crowd.

“We don’t have any folks who grill here?” Obama said at the time. “I thought this was the South Side of Chicago.”

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Associated Press writer Sophia Tareen in Chicago contributed to this report.

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By Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON, June 16 (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate on Tuesday narrowly blocked the latest Democratic-led effort to end the Iran war until it is authorized by Congress, the ninth by Democrats since Israel and the United States began their air attacks on Iran in February.

The Senate voted by 48-47 to block the resolution under the war powers law, which followed a framework agreement announced this week by the White House and Tehran for a further ceasefire and talks to end the conflict.

The vote was largely along party lines, as Republicans Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Rand Paul of Kentucky voted with most Democrats in favor, and Democratic Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania voted no along with most Republicans.

Five senators – Republicans Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Josh Hawley of Missouri, Democrats Michael Bennet of Colorado and Cory Booker of New Jersey and independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont – did not vote.

The vote came as lawmakers waited for President Donald Trump’s administration to provide them with details about a memorandum of understanding announced by Trump on Sunday to end the war.

Democrats and some of Trump’s fellow Republicans have called on the administration to provide them specifics about the plan, with Democrats especially saying they feel they have been left in the dark.

Trump’s Republicans hold slim majorities in both the Senate and House of Representatives. The House also recently backed a resolution that would end the Iran war.

The resolution blocked in the Senate procedural vote on Tuesday was sponsored by Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia.

In a sign of lawmakers’ frustration with the continuing conflict, the Senate on May 19 voted to advance the eighth war powers resolution introduced by Democrats, as the same four Republicans voted with every Democrat except Fetterman in favor of moving ahead.

That measure, led by Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, faces another procedural vote before coming up for a vote on passage in the Senate. Congressional aides said its sponsors were still working on gathering support, while waiting for more information about peace negotiations.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Gov. Mike DeWine on Tuesday used his bully pulpit to call for an end to the death penalty in Ohio.

The 79-year-old Republican cited his expertise on the issue as a former county prosecutor, member of both chambers of Congress and Ohio attorney general, as well as his seven years as governor.

But DeWine’s support for a policy change is far from assured to make waves, even in a state controlled by his own party. That is because DeWine is more moderate than many younger Republicans in the state, whose political aspirations rely on endorsements from President Donald Trump, a staunch death penalty supporter.

Here’s a closer look at DeWine and his place in Ohio’s political landscape:

DeWine was first elected to public office in 1976, when he became prosecuting attorney in Greene County, where he grew up. He still lives in the historic home there where he and his wife, who had eight children, hosted a summer ice cream social each year to encourage and celebrate GOP candidates and officeholders. The event ended its 50-year run just last weekend.

When DeWine was elected to the state Senate in 1980, Ohio had no death penalty law. The old one had been declared unconstitutional, and DeWine was instrumental in writing the new one, which cleared both legislative chambers with overwhelming bipartisan majorities. It has been in effect now since 1981.

He said Tuesday that he always believed the moral justification for the death penalty was its potential to deter violent crime.

During his four terms in the U.S. House, DeWine supported federal legislation signed by President Ronald Reagan that expanded the number of crimes eligible for the death penalty. As a U.S. senator, he backed a bill signed by President Bill Clinton that attempted to speed up the review of capital cases in federal courts.

In between those positions, DeWine was lieutenant governor of Ohio under storied Republican Gov. James Rhodes.

He took a brief break from politics after losing a Senate reelection bid to Democrat Sherrod Brown in 2006, before being elected Ohio attorney general in 2010. In that role, he said Tuesday, he “vigorously” carried out the state’s death penalty law.

Since he became governor in 2019, problems obtaining lethal injection drugs have led to an unofficial moratorium on executions in the state, which last conducted one in 2018.

DeWine may be the titular head of the Ohio Republican Party, but that doesn’t mean his party always listens to him. Particularly in the Trump era, he has presided over a party rife with internal divisions.

Clashes became particularly fierce during the COVID-19 pandemic, when DeWine and then-state Health Director Amy Acton — now the Democratic nominee for governor — presided over one of the most rigorous virus responses in the country in early 2020. Within months, a faction of Republicans had mutinied against DeWine’s mandates, particularly over business closures, threatening to pass a bill limiting his powers or even to impeach him.

In 2023, after DeWine struck down a ban on gender-affirming care and transgender athletes participating in girls’ sports, the Republican-dominated state Legislature easily overrode his veto.

The divisions have also been seen in this year’s critical elections.

DeWine had tried to position popular former Ohio State Buckeyes football coach Jim Tressel as a potential successor, appointing the moderate Republican as lieutenant governor last year. But the state GOP rushed to back Trump-endorsed biotech billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy in the race in May 2025, before Tressel had even made up his mind whether to run. DeWine endorsed Ramaswamy in January.

DeWine said Tuesday that he had not shared his decision to call for an end to the death penalty with Ramaswamy, now the GOP gubernatorial nominee. The recent effort by the Trump administration to take on Medicaid fraud has found DeWine defending his administration’s work on the issue, even as Ramaswamy, Ohio-born Vice President JD Vance and GOP lawmakers take aim at Ohio’s existing fraud-fighting efforts.

Among proponents of DeWine’s push to end the death penalty in Ohio were a host of fellow Republicans, including some staunch conservatives.

“For many years, I was a proponent of the death penalty,” former congresswoman and current state Rep. Jean Schmidt said in a statement. “My views changed because of the risks of executing an innocent person, the exorbitant costs, and my belief in the sanctity of life. The death penalty is no longer a policy worth preserving.”

Former Ohio Auditor and Attorney General Jim Petro cited wrongful convictions among the flaws that make the death penalty no longer tenable.

Former Ohio Gov. Bob Taft, the great-grandson of President William Howard Taft and grandson of “Mr. Republican” Sen. Robert A. Taft Sr., also sided with DeWine.

DeWine “has been thoughtful and given this issue the careful consideration it needs,” Taft said.

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By Patricia Zengerle and Erin Banco

WASHINGTON, June 17 (Reuters) – Republicans are pushing for swift Senate confirmation of President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead U.S. intelligence, Jay Clayton, but Democrats said they would wait until his nomination hearing on Wednesday before deciding how to proceed. 

Trump nominated Clayton, the top U.S. attorney for Manhattan, to be Director of National Intelligence (DNI) less than a week ago, amid a political firestorm over the loyalist he had picked to fill the role temporarily.

That close ally, Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte, has no national security experience. Even some Republicans expressed concerns that he could “weaponize” top-secret intelligence to target Trump’s perceived political foes.

Trump’s decision to pick Clayton to oversee the nation’s 18 intelligence agencies was greeted with relief. Clayton lacks extensive national security experience but is broadly respected by Democrats and Republicans.

Democrats said on Tuesday that they intended to question Clayton closely, but held off on passing judgment before his Senate Intelligence Committee hearing.

“I favor a full vetting… a thorough examination of all of the issues,” Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, a senior Democratic member of the panel, told reporters.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Democrats would decide how to proceed only after the hearing. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota and other Republicans want Democrats to agree to waive Senate rules to allow a vote on Clayton as soon as this week.

Thune told a news conference on Tuesday that Clayton is “eminently qualified” and that his position as U.S. attorney meant that he deals with intelligence matters.

APPOINTMENT TIED TO SURVEILLANCE LAW

His quick confirmation could also help pave the way for the renewal of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows law enforcement to collect foreign intelligence that can include information about Americans without judicial authorization.

Democrats had said they would withhold the votes to renew Section 702 while Pulte was acting DNI.

“It needs to be fixed quickly, and I hope that the Democrats will work with us in order to make that happen,” Thune said.

Clayton currently serves as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, one of the most coveted positions for prosecutors in the Justice Department. His office is overseeing the case against former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was seized in a lightning raid on January 3.

Clayton could face questions about Maduro at the hearing, as well as his decision to falsely claim on television shortly before his nomination that there may have been fraud in the counting of votes in the Los Angeles mayoral race.

Vote counts are often delayed in California because mail-in ballots can be postmarked by Election Day but received up to seven days later.

Trump has recently repeated similar claims about the election and recycled unproven claims that the 2020 presidential race was stolen from him, which Democrats warn could be a sign he will seek to interfere in future elections.

It is still unclear if Pulte, the federal housing regulator, will spend any time as interim director after Tulsi Gabbard’s last day, June 19. Gabbard, a former Democrat without deep intelligence experience, was accused by Democrats of using her post to advance Trump’s drive to retaliate against his perceived enemies and push debunked election fraud claims.

Clayton also is likely to be closely questioned about plans to sharply cut staffing of the DNI’s office, or even eliminate it completely.

Trump had said that he wanted Pulte to make cuts during his time as interim director.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Erin Banco; Additional reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Don Durfee and Sanjeev Miglani)

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ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Republicans are waging their latest fight over party identity in runoffs Tuesday that decide the nominees to face U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff and defend the governor’s office against former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.

President Donald Trump is at the center of each contest.

In the Senate race, the president made a late endorsement of Rep. Mike Collins, a second-term congressman who calls himself a “MAGA warrior,” over Derek Dooley, a first-time candidate and former football coach who has the backing of outgoing Gov. Brian Kemp.

Trump picked his candidate for governor 10 months ago, endorsing Burt Jones, the Georgia lieutenant governor who was part of Trump’s attempt to overturn his 2020 defeat to former President Joe Biden. In that race, it was Kemp who made a late-hour endorsement, announcing his support for Jones on Sunday.

The power of Trump’s endorsement — and Kemp’s — is being tested by billionaire Rick Jackson, whose campaign has spent more than $100 million, mostly out of his own pocket, to win the nomination.

Georgia is key to the national fight for control of Capitol Hill. Ossoff, first elected in the 2020 cycle, is the only Democratic senator running in a state Trump won in 2024; Democrats desperately need to keep his seat if they hope to notch a net gain of four seats in order to have a majority.

Republicans’ choice hinges on a familiar debate over electability, with Dooley, 58, insisting his newcomer status is a benefit.

“We have got to get the best candidate to beat Jon Ossoff,” Dooley said at a campaign stop Monday. “The Republican Party has not won a Senate race in 10 years. … We have to learn some lessons from that.”

Before becoming a college and NFL coach, Dooley hailed from a storied family in Georgia sports lore. His father was legendary University of Georgia football coach Vince Dooley.

The younger Dooley also has criticized Collins for a House ethics complaint accusing the congressman of abusing taxpayer money by paying the girlfriend of a former top aide for a congressional job she allegedly did not perform. An initial inquiry yielded a referral of the matter to the House ethics committee.

Collins, the son of a congressman, celebrated his endorsement from Trump. But he argues that his record actually makes for the best contrast with Ossoff, especially on immigration, and can attract a broader coalition.

“We’ve got a great organization with the right voting record and the right message,” he said.

Collins, 58, sponsored the 2025 Laken Riley Act, which requires immigrants accused of certain crimes to be held without bond. The law is named for a Georgia nursing student killed in 2021 by a man who had entered the U.S. illegally. Ossoff voted against the measure before flipping to back it after Trump returned to the White House.

Collins also emphasizes his ownership of a trucking company, saying it’s exposed him to the struggles workers and business owners endure. “We must protect Americans first, protect our people, put them first, get the federal government off the backs of hardworking men and women out there,” he said.

Whoever wins the nomination will face an immediate campaign finance gap and depend heavily on national GOP resources. By the end of May, neither GOP hopeful had reached $5 million in fundraising and both had less than $2 million on hand. Through late April, the last time Ossoff had to file before his uncontested primary, the senator had raised $60.4 million and had $32.5 million on hand.

Voters Jenny Beth Martin and Debbie Dooley — who has no relation to Derek Dooley — were split over which Republican has the best chance of defeating Ossoff.

Martin, who supported Collins, says energizing the conservative base is necessary to protect Republican majorities that aren’t populated with Republican “anti-Trumpers” or “liberals like Jon Ossoff.”

But Debbie Dooley, who voted for Derek Dooley, said Collins has too much baggage and is too closely tied to the far-right to win.

“He will drag down the whole Republican ticket in Georgia,” she predicted. “This is about actually winning. It’s not about just following Donald Trump.”

The president’s preferred primary candidates have a strong record so far in 2026. But none have faced a self-funded rival with Jackson’s spending power.

Jackson, a 71-year-old business owner, amassed a fortune from his company that provides contract healthcare personnel, and he’s used it to blanket television and online platforms with ads. Appealing to hardcore Trump supporters, he’s pledged that immigrants in Georgia illegally will be “deported or departed.” He promises a slew of tax cuts. And previewing a potential general election argument, he’s played up his biography as a product of the state foster care system and featured his grandchildren advising him on how to make friendlier ads.

Jones, 47, comes from a wealthy family but is running a more modest campaign. Framing himself as a “proven leader,” Jones proposes eliminating Georgia’s state income tax — without detailing how he’d make up the revenue. And he trumpets his presidential seal of approval and time as a University of Georgia football player in the 1990s. As lieutenant governor, Jones pushed legislation that ultimately did not pass but would have disqualified Jackson’s company from receiving taxpayer-funded contracts.

Trump did not travel to Georgia to campaign with Jones but he’s given the lieutenant governor a fresh round of support on social media and called in to a telephone rally during the early voting period.

“Burt was strongly committed to my Campaign in 2016, 2020, and 2024, and worked tirelessly to help us WIN. He has been with us from the very beginning,” Trump posted on Truth Social last week.

Georgia’s secretary of state race is open for the first time since Trump’s attempts to subvert the 2020 election, famously pressuring outgoing Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find 11,800 votes” to overtake Biden. Raffensberger refused.

For his potential successor, Republicans are left to choose between an outright election denier, Vernon Jones, and a state lawmaker, Tim Fleming, who avoids explicitly disputing the president’s 2020 election lies.

Jones, a perennial candidate who was once a Democrat, embraced Trump’s “stop the steal” movement and says he stands “with those who believe there was election fraud.” Fleming, who once served as deputy secretary of state, says there were “irregularities” in 2020, a word choice that has become code for Republicans who want neither to ratify nor call out Trump’s errant claims.

Democrats will choose between Dana Barrett, a Fulton County commissioner, and Penny Brown Reynolds, a former state judge in Fulton County who also served in the Biden administration as deputy assistant secretary for civil rights for the Department of Agriculture.

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