The private dinner drew some of the Valley’s wealthiest figures. All paid substantial entry thresholds to attend.

It’s a massive shift in a region that’s bankrolled Democrats for decades.

The event served as a critical platform for the RNC to gather resources, drawing in some of Silicon Valley’s wealthiest and most prominent figures.

Vance isn’t your typical politician stumbling through tech policy talking points. He spent years working venture capital in San Francisco and co-founded Narya Capital with backing from major tech titans before his Senate run.

He speaks their language — crypto, AI, growth capital, regulatory overreach.

That insider credibility is paying off. Tech executives who feel strangled by federal red tape are throwing financial weight behind Republicans who understand the industry.

Palihapitiya, co-host of the All-In podcast, hosted the dinner at his Palo Alto residence. The podcast has become a go-to platform for tech leaders fed up with woke corporate culture and government meddling.

The $4.2 million haul adds to a growing trend: Silicon Valley money flowing right instead of left.

Vance’s unique background positions him as the GOP’s key liaison to an industry that’s increasingly alienated by Democrat regulatory frameworks. His venture capital roots give him credibility no amount of campaign consulting can buy.

Tech leaders are looking for politicians who won’t regulate them into the ground. Vance just showed them the GOP is listening.

The House Oversight subcommittee examined waste, fraud and abuse in SNAP, the roughly $100 billion program that provides food for more than 40 million Americans. Gina Plata-Nino, director of policy and advocacy for the Food Research and Action Center, could not provide a straight answer on why tax dollars should cover sugary drinks.

“You think they need Coca Cola to survive? You think that’s the most appropriate use of our tax dollars? I think most people can rationally say that you don’t need Coca Cola to survive, wouldn’t you agree?”

Plata-Nino dodged. “I agree that we have a hunger crisis and that we need to address it by ensuring that people have the food resources that we need,” she said.

Gill pressed Plata-Nino to explain what is nutritional about Coca Cola.

“I am not a nutritionist, I am a food security expert in ensuring that individuals have the food resources that they need,” Plata-Nino said.

“This is a common sense question,” Gill replied. “All of these have been common sense questions. I’m just asking you if there’s nutritional value to sugary sodas.”

“I am not an expert,” Plata-Nino said.

Coca-Cola contains 140 calories, 0 grams of fat, 39 grams of carbohydrates, 39 grams of added sugars and 0 grams of protein. Its formula includes high-fructose corn syrup, caramel color, phosphoric acid and caffeine.

An Obama-appointed judge ruled Monday that SNAP recipients could use their benefits to buy unhealthy foods. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins had approved waivers in 23 states, allowing them to prohibit SNAP participants from using their benefits to purchase items such as candy and soda, according to Reuters.

The USDA said the waivers are “a key step in ensuring that taxpayer dollars provide nutritious options that improve health outcomes within SNAP.”

U.S. states reported having to replace over $320 million in stolen SNAP benefits from October 2022 to December 2024, according to a December 2025 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

A Maryland resident was sentenced to 54 months in federal prison for masterminding a SNAP benefits fraud scam and other related crimes, according to the Department of Justice.

The dramatic reversal came just one day after the Senate approved the measure directing Trump to withdraw U.S. troops from hostilities with Iran.

Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.) both flipped their votes after a closed-door Republican luncheon where Trump and administration officials made their case.

Cassidy switched to a “no” vote after receiving what he called a “thorough briefing” from Vice President JD Vance and other White House officials.

“I want to thank Vice President Vance and Special Envoy Witkoff for the thorough briefing this afternoon on Iran. I appreciate the quick invitation to the White House to address many of my concerns.”

Paul explained his reversal on X, saying he changed his vote “to give the President more space and leverage to negotiate a lasting peace” even though his views on executive war powers hadn’t changed.

Tonight I will vote present on the War Powers resolution.

My opinion on the debate over war and executive power has not changed and I have voted that way several times.

But since hostilities seem to be over and the President asked me to give consideration to his…

— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) June 25, 2026

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) spoke with Trump after the vote and said the president appeared “pleased with the outcome.”

Trump celebrated the reversal on Truth Social Wednesday evening.

“Wow! The Senate just changed its vote on Iran from 50-48 against, 50-47 for. Rand Paul and Bill Cassidy changed. Thank you Leader John Thune, Lindsey Graham, Bernie Moreno and all. This vote puts Iran on notice!”

Every GOP senator except Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) voted against the resolution.

Senator John Fetterman (D-Pa.) was the only Democrat to break ranks and oppose the measure. All other Democrats supported it.

The White House lobbying effort delivered Trump a critical win on foreign policy as he pursues what he’s called a lasting peace deal with Iran.

Sam O’Hara walked behind the troops blasting the iconic Darth Vader theme in protest of their deployment. Metropolitan Police Department officers detained him, triggering the lawsuit.

Under the settlement, the District resolved claims against MPD officers. But the case continues against Ohio National Guard Sgt. Devon Beck, who allegedly summoned police to stop the protest.

“The government’s efforts to silence me ultimately backfired and brought more attention to the unjust deployment of the National Guard in Washington, D.C.”

O’Hara said the settlement “serves as a reminder that constitutional freedoms are worth defending, especially when those in power would prefer we stay quiet.”

The lawsuit centers on whether Beck violated O’Hara’s free speech rights by calling police on the peaceful protest. The settlement amount was not disclosed, but O’Hara’s legal team described it as significant.

The case raises questions about military overreach and the right to protest government deployments in the nation’s capital.

Moore announced the speech — titled “The Work of Patriotism” — will be delivered from the Maryland State House in Annapolis as Trump holds his “Tribute to America” rally in Washington.

The Democrat governor told Politico that Trump is “incapable of meeting the moment” and will use the national stage to talk about himself rather than the country.

Moore said he’s trying to be “a foil to darkness” — not just Trump himself.

The dueling speeches set up a direct contrast between the sitting president celebrating America’s birthday and a potential 2028 contender attempting to position himself as the anti-Trump voice on the left.

Moore told the outlet he wants to offer “a future-facing vision for this nation” rather than what he characterized as Trump’s self-focused messaging.

The Maryland governor has been working to elevate his national profile ahead of a possible White House run. His decision to schedule a competing speech on the nation’s most patriotic holiday — while Trump commands the National Mall — signals Moore’s willingness to confront the president head-on.

Moore’s speech echoes his past July 4th remarks about looking “ahead towards the future” and redefining patriotism on progressive terms.

Trump’s “Tribute to America” rally is expected to draw tens of thousands of patriots to the nation’s capital for fireworks, military honors, and a celebration of American exceptionalism.

Across two decisions issued Thursday, both authored by Alito, the justices rebuked federal judges for sidestepping immigration law and the high court’s prior rulings. The cases were Mullin v. Doe and Mullin v. Al Otro Lado, in which the court upheld President Trump’s revocation of Temporary Protected Status for foreign nationals and affirmed that asylum seekers do not “arrive in the United States” when they’re standing on the Mexican side of the border.

Thomas went first — calling out district courts for an “apparent end-run” around federal law.

In his Al Otro Lado concurrence, Thomas highlighted how the Immigration and Nationality Act explicitly bars federal courts from issuing injunctions on certain parts of the law except “on an individual basis” — meaning lower courts cannot certify a class of individuals and then issue a blanket injunction covering them.

The challengers in Al Otro Lado sought relief that the statute explicitly prohibits. The district court granted their request to certify a class of “all noncitizens who seek or will seek to access the U.S. asylum process” at the border.

“The District Court acknowledged that our interpretation of §1252(f)(1) in Aleman Gonzalez barred this relief … Nonetheless, the District Court effectively gave Respondents all that they asked for in the form of nominally declaratory relief.”

Thomas added: “In a future case, this Court should address this apparent end-run around §1252(f)(1) and Aleman Gonzalez. I am skeptical that the relief that the District Court ordered complies with §1252(f)(1).”

Thomas further argued that the district court’s relief “may well have unconstitutionally infringed on the President’s inherent authority to exclude aliens from the country.”

Alito’s rebuke was more subtle — but just as pointed.

In Doe, Alito detailed how several Temporary Protected Status designations for foreign countries have continued for decades, while others have not. In a footnote, he noted that Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama all “terminated some TPS designations much more promptly” but that “none of these terminations were challenged in court.”

“Legal challenges to [President Trump’s] decisions, however, began almost immediately,” Alito wrote.

Alito went on to note how the Trump administration previously asked the Supreme Court to pause lower court injunctions blocking Trump from ending TPS for Venezuelan nationals last year. The high court granted those requests on two separate occasions.

“Nevertheless, lower courts, including those in the cases now before us, have continued to block the Secretary’s attempted terminations of other TPS designations.”

The decisions weren’t the first time justices have rebuked lower courts for refusing to stay in their lane.

Last year, Justice Neil Gorsuch joined by Justice Brett Kavanaugh blasted lower court judges for disregarding the Supreme Court’s guidance — a recurring pattern throughout the judiciary, according to The Federalist’s previous reporting.

“All these interventions should have been unnecessary, but together they underscore a basic tenet of our judicial system: Whatever their own views, judges are duty-bound to respect ‘the hierarchy of the federal court system created by the Constitution and Congress,'” Gorsuch wrote.

At least four F-15E fighter aircraft were lost. Three were accidentally shot down by Kuwait in a friendly-fire incident. One was shot down by Iran, triggering a desperate search-and-rescue mission for the pilots. The Air Force also lost one A-10 Thunderbolt II, suffered one damaged F-35A Lightning II, lost an E-3 Sentry airborne early warning aircraft, lost about two dozen MQ-9 Reaper drones, and saw seven KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refueling aircraft destroyed or damaged, according to a Congressional Research Service report from May.

That total has climbed since then — an Army Apache helicopter was downed by an Iranian drone this month, and a B-52 Stratofortress crashed at Edwards Air Force Base in California, killing the crew of eight.

“It’s going to strain an already burdened maintenance and repair infrastructure within the Air Force. These are organizations that already are struggling with not enough spare parts, not enough people, challenges completing repairs on time, challenges with the infrastructure they have to complete those repairs. So it’s going to make an already difficult situation even harder.”

Diana Maurer, director of the Government Accountability Office’s Defense Capabilities and Management team, told the Washington Examiner the Air Force was already facing a crisis before the war — spare-parts shortages, staffing gaps, repair backlogs at depots.

Retired Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, now dean of AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, said the hardest aircraft to replace is the E-3 Sentry, which coordinates theater air operations. Only 16 existed in the entire fleet before one was destroyed on the ground at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.

Deptula told the Washington Examiner only two crewed combat aircraft were lost in combat operations over Iran — one F-15E and one A-10. The rest of the losses over Iran were uninhabited MQ-9 drones flying without defensive systems in high-threat airspace. The remaining losses were due to friendly fire, a midair crash, and attacks against U.S. aircraft on the ground.

Two KC-135 Stratotankers went down over Iraqi airspace. One made an emergency landing. The other crashed, killing six troops on board. That was the only KC-135 destroyed outright. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told lawmakers earlier this month the other six are believed salvageable.

Air Force Chief of Staff Kenneth Wilsbach said some of the six are already flying after repairs. The ones with significant damage will take a year or two to fix.

The Air Force is still flying the KC-135 aerial refueler — first deployed 70 years ago in 1956 — because its intended successor, the KC-46A Pegasus, has suffered continued problems. The latest budget proposal requests $3.9 billion to buy 15 KC-46A Pegasus tankers, an $800 million increase over fiscal 2026.

Meink told lawmakers that’s the max rate Boeing can produce the aircraft. Vice Chief of Staff John D. Lamontagne said the Air Force won’t finalize a deal for another 75 KC-46 refuelers until Boeing fixes deficiencies with the Remote Vision System, boom telescoping actuator, and fuel system leaks.

“Today, our airmen are meeting the mission, but are always doing so while managing significant strain. We are flying aircraft that, in many cases, are older than airmen who maintain them. We are operating at a high operations tempo across multiple theaters, and doing so while preparing to be ready for any future conflict.”

Wilsbach said the service is still flying the same KC-135s he flew as a young second lieutenant. He also defended the MQ-9 Reaper drone as a tremendous capability used for extremely high-risk missions the Air Force would never put a manned platform into. Despite the losses, he said the service is not in a crisis with the MQ-9 at the moment.

Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Tom Miller, who served as deputy chief of staff for logistics, compared Air Force maintainers to a NASCAR pit crew — constantly practicing so they can fix the vehicle as quickly as possible during the race.

In fiscal 2019, 31% of aircraft maintenance ran into delays based on original target dates. That number jumped to 73% in fiscal 2024, according to a recent GAO report. Officials said a major factor was unplanned work not factored into original time frames.

The White House submitted a supplemental budget proposal to Congress on Wednesday calling for $67 billion for the Pentagon to cover the cost of the Iran war. The breakdown includes $17.3 billion for operational costs, without specifying how much would go to aircraft maintenance and repairs.

Both the House and Senate included a “right to repair” provision in the defense bill this year, giving the services more leeway to repair their own weapons and equipment instead of relying on defense contractors. Rep. Pat Harrigan, a former Green Beret and member of the House Armed Services Committee, said the provision is a readiness requirement, not a nice-to-have.

Tuesday’s New York primaries weren’t just election results. They were a coming-out party for DINOs — Democrats In Name Only — and the establishment candidates they crushed didn’t see it coming.

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani backed three jihadi socialists in congressional primaries. All three won. At their victory parties, crowds chanted at House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY): “You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”

They meant it.

“Our candidates run as Democrats … and when they are in the legislature, they are in the Democratic Party caucus, but we don’t agree with the way the Democratic Party establishment organizes or runs its party apparatus and so we try to build independence.”

That’s the co-chairman of New York’s Democratic Socialists of America explaining the takeover strategy. Use the Democratic Party label to neutralize charges of extremism. Win the primary. Take the seat. Then push hard left once inside.

Mamdani’s three winning candidates — Darializa Avila Chevalier, Claire Valdez, and Brad Lander — are declared socialists. Their platform: abolish police, prisons, borders, and all immigration control. Destroy the United States and Israel. Push for Palestinian statehood, jihad, and communism.

Traditional Democrats gave away their party by pretending socialists were “just a bit further to the left.” Now they’ve learned the hard way: a difference of degree eventually becomes a difference in kind.

Mamdani came out of nowhere last year. He’s already arguably the most powerful Democrat — or DINO — in the country. Jeffries? Schumer? Both have been running from the Left for years, terrified of getting outflanked by AOC or primaried by the DSA.

As an immigrant, Mamdani can’t run for president. But in 2028, his endorsement will be gold. All the momentum is with him. It’s nearly impossible to believe a sensible centrist like Rahm Emanuel could win the Democratic nomination.

Democrats have been appeasing socialists for so long they probably couldn’t fight them off even if they tried. That may help Republicans in the short term — it could crimp Democrat victories in November’s midterms and might make the Democratic presidential nominee unelectable in 2028.

But it’s profoundly bad news for America.

We have a two-party system. Eventually, voters tire of whoever is in power and choose the other side out of boredom and forgetfulness. It would be nice if the other side weren’t made up of revolutionary socialists who think “America is a disgrace.”

Ukrainian drones have repeatedly struck oil refineries in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Moscow’s main refinery in Kapotnya was hit twice in a single week in mid-June, sparking massive fires that sent thick plumes of black smoke billowing over the capital and disrupting fuel supplies and airport operations.

Similar precision strikes have targeted refining and storage facilities across Russia, knocking out a significant share of the country’s refining capacity and directly undermining the economic foundation of Putin’s war machine.

Russian forces have suffered catastrophic losses — estimates now exceed 1.3 million casualties (killed, wounded, and missing). Hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers have been killed.

Russia’s spring-summer offensive has stalled. In April 2026, Russian forces recorded a net loss of territory for the first time in months. Advances in May were the slowest in years.

What was once a grinding war of attrition has turned into a strategic bleeding for Moscow, with Ukraine regaining the initiative through superior drone technology, intelligence, and Western-enabled long-range capabilities.

Nowhere has this pressure been more acute than in Crimea. This peninsula — Putin’s “crown jewel” — is under siege. Ukrainian drones have repeatedly hit oil depots, power infrastructure, and logistics nodes across Crimea. There are massive fuel and water shortages.

Key routes to Crimea, including the Kerch Bridge and connecting rail lines, have been disrupted by Ukrainian missile and drone strikes, severely limiting supplies to the peninsula. Blackouts and energy shortages have compounded this hardship.

What Putin thought was a secure Russian stronghold is now isolated and vulnerable.

Into this deteriorating picture steps President Trump. At the recent G7 summit in France, Trump held productive discussions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He publicly urged Putin to “make a deal” and end the conflict, highlighting the massive loss of life on both sides.

Trump has made clear his desire for a swift, negotiated settlement that ends the killing and gives Putin an honorable off-ramp — one that stops the killing and allows both nations to move forward.

Putin urgently needs a deal with Trump now, before it is too late. Every additional month of fighting strengthens Ukraine’s asymmetric advantages and deepens Russia’s manpower crisis.

But Putin has resisted Trump’s peace offers. Out of stubbornness, pride, and perhaps miscalculation that time is on his side, the Russian leader has stuck to his maximalist demands.

The war has become a slow-motion disaster for Russia: economic strain from lost refining capacity, demographic devastation from battlefield losses, and mounting isolation of its most symbolic territorial gain.

Ukraine’s growing drone campaign shows no signs of slowing. Crimea’s vulnerabilities are only becoming more exposed. Russia’s slow territorial gains have come at an unsustainable price.

Trump created a framework to end the Ukraine War that did not exist before he was president. It is a realistic path to end the war on terms that give Putin an off-ramp while halting the slaughter.

The window for Putin to reach an honorable deal with Trump to end the war in Ukraine is still open. It will not be open forever.

The Michigan Democrat appeared on SiriusXM’s “Straight Shooter” this week and delivered a brutal assessment of her party’s direction after getting crushed in the 2024 elections.

“Every day there’s a debate within the party about the path forward,” Slotkin told host Stephen A. Smith. “That’s why I believe we need significant new leadership. The old models are no longer working, and that includes the Democratic Party.”

“The old models are no longer working, and that includes the Democratic Party.”

Slotkin admitted Democrats tried to be everything to everyone and ended up standing for nothing. She said the party scattered its focus across too many priorities while Trump kept his message dead simple.

“Democrats were soundly defeated in 2024. I was in a swing state, and I won that same year. To me, the lesson was simple. Democrats had too many priorities,” she said. “When you prioritize everything, no one knows what you actually stand for.”

She contrasted that with Trump’s approach: one clear message about making life more affordable and putting money back in Americans’ pockets.

“Donald Trump came in with one clear message. He said, ‘I’m going to make your life more affordable. I’m going to put more money in your pocket.’ He won because he kept his message simple and focused on the issue Americans cared most about,” Slotkin added.

Slotkin called for fresh leadership in both the House and Senate. Her comments come as Democratic socialists racked up primary wins in New York this week, backed by NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.

DNC Chair Ken Martin has tried calming internal tensions since taking over in February 2025, but Slotkin suggested band-aids won’t fix this. The party needs wholesale change.

A group of Democratic senators already tried replacing Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer over his handling of last year’s government shutdown, according to The Wall Street Journal. Senate Democrats will vote on party leadership after November’s general election through secret ballot.

The charges remain allegations. The case has not been proven in court.