In Washington and across the country, lawmakers express safety fears: From the Politics Desk
Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team's latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.
In today's edition, we explore the security concerns elected officials are harboring in the wake of the Minnesota shootings. Plus, Steve Kornacki explains why New York City's Democratic mayoral primary may not be the end of the Andrew Cuomo-Zohran Mamdani battle.
Sign up to receive this newsletter in your inbox every weekday here.
— Adam Wollner
After the targeted shootings of two Minnesota lawmakers, elected officials serving in Capitol buildings in Washington and around the country are growing increasingly worried about the level of protection they receive.
In Congress: Law enforcement officials have been holding security briefings with members of Congress over the past several days, Scott Wong, Julie Tsirkin and Melanie Zanona report. Federal lawmakers have been told that they can spend money from their office budgets on home security systems and campaign cash on private security. Only a handful of congressional leaders get 24-hour protection from Capitol Police security details. Members can request extra protection, which is assigned based on whether Capitol Police determine there is an active threat.
But so far, those assurances have done little to calm nervous lawmakers, who have been harboring such concerns amid a string of violent attacks on American politicians over the past 15 years — a period that has included assassination attempts on a presidential candidate and members of Congress and a riot at the U.S. Capitol.
House Democratic leaders have asked Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to boost members' official budgets 'to support additional safety and security measures in every single office.' And over the weekend, House Republicans held a tense call that featured rank-and-file members' expressing concerns about their safety when they are in their districts.
'It's scary as sh--,' a senior House lawmaker said, describing how members of Congress feel after the Minnesota shootings.
In the states: Even the limited protection available to the average member of Congress goes far beyond what is available to most state lawmakers, Adam Edelman reports.
Outside of their state capital complexes, state legislators have little to no security protection. No state offers proactive security to members of its legislature, though law enforcement will typically step in if there are credible threats.
And despite the renewed attention to the issue, lawmakers fear little will ultimately be done that can make a meaningful difference, given that in many states, such positions are effectively part-time jobs with small budgets.
'We are constantly out there, vulnerable. Whether I'm volunteering somewhere, knocking doors for someone, starting to run my own campaign, I'm out there, vulnerable,' said Arizona state Rep. Stephanie Simacek, a Democrat.
Read more on the fallout from the Minnesota shootings:
Trump says he won't call Gov. Tim Walz after Minnesota shootings, by Megan Lebowitz and Kelly O'Donnell
GOP Sen. Mike Lee deletes social media posts about the Minnesota shooting after facing criticism, by Dareh Gregorian
How Minnesota shooting conspiracy theories took over social media feeds, by David Ingram, Bruna Horvath and Adam Edelman
Political violence thrusts 2028 candidates onto the national stage, by Natasha Korecki and Jonathan Allen
New York City is overwhelmingly Democratic, so it seems logical that the winner of the party's mayoral primary next week will be a shoo-in for November. But it may not be that simple, as a confluence of factors could give rise to an unpredictable, multicandidate general election campaign.
Start with the two leaders in the Democratic race, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani. Each carries significant political baggage.
Cuomo, of course, resigned as governor in a sexual harassment scandal in 2021 and has faced sustained criticism of his Covid pandemic policies, especially relating to nursing homes. Even within his own party, Cuomo is a lightning rod, with a recent poll finding that over 40% of Democrats have unfavorable views of him. And Mamdani is a democratic socialist with a history of far-left pronouncements that are now being featured in attack ads from the Cuomo side.
If either wins the Democratic primary, there figure to be plenty of unhappy customers within the party and — potentially — among general election voters who would be open to an alternative. And if one falls just short in the primary, either Cuomo and Mamdani could decide to turn around and take another shot in the general election. Each already has a ready-made vehicle to do so.
Cuomo has created his own third party, which he is calling the Fight and Deliver Party. Officially, he did that to give himself a second spot on the November ballot if he is the Democratic nominee. Under New York's peculiar election laws, third parties can run major-party nominees as their own candidates. Cuomo's position is that he plans to be both the Democratic nominee and the Fight and Deliver nominee.
But if Cuomo were to lose to Mamdani in the primary, there'd be nothing to stop him from simply running as the Fight and Deliver candidate. In fact, his father, Mario, made that very move back in 1977, when he lost the Democratic mayoral primary to Ed Koch but then ran as the Liberal Party candidate in the fall.
Meanwhile, the Working Families Party, which is closely aligned with progressive Democrats, has already indicated that it won't back Cuomo even if he is the Democratic nominee. The WFP has also encouraged its backers to make Mamdani their top choice in the Democratic primary. That raises the possibility that Mamdani could run as the WFP's general election nominee even if he loses to Cuomo next week. For that matter, given its antipathy to Cuomo, the WFP might also seek out another high-profile candidate if Mamdani isn't interested.
If Cuomo or Mamdani do opt to mount third-party bids in the fall, it could open the door to chaos, since other candidates already loom.
The current mayor, Eric Adams, is bypassing the Democratic primary and already has created two vehicles for the general election, the 'EndAntiSemitism' and 'Safe&Affordable' parties. Adams, who faced federal corruption charges before President Donald Trump pardoned him, has his own political baggage but still retains some support, particularly from Black voters. That base, along with his incumbency, would make him a factor in a multicandidate general election.
Republicans also have their own ballot line and are set to nominate Curtis Sliwa, who was their nominee against Adams in 2021. And a former federal prosecutor, Jim Walden, is running his own independent bid. He is positioning himself as a centrist and says he was motivated to run after Adams was indicted last year.
Of course, it's possible that the Democratic primary result will be decisive enough that the loser stands down for the general election. That would all but ensure the winner a glide path to Gracie Mansion. It's also theoretically possible that another candidate besides Cuomo or Mamdani catches fire in the final week, claims the nomination and unites the party.
Read more:
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander arrested at an immigration court, by Ben Kamisar
Bernie Sanders backs progressive Zohran Mamdani in NYC mayoral race, by Ben Kamisar
➡️ Israel-Iran latest: Trump is considering a range of options when it comes to Iran, including a possible U.S. strike on the country, multiple current and former administration officials said after he met with his national security team in the White House Situation Room. Follow live updates →
🤝 Strange bedfellows: A group of lawmakers spanning a broad ideological spectrum have signed on to a resolution seeking to limit Trump's power to get involved in the Israel-Iran conflict. Read more →
⬅️ Immigration backtrack: The Trump administration has reopened arrests of immigrant workers at hotels, restaurants and agricultural businesses. It's a reversal after Trump said last week they were necessary workers whose jobs were almost 'impossible' to replace. Read more →
🗣️ Going there: Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., called Trump a 'tyrant' in a Senate floor speech in which he recounted his forcible removal from a DHS news conference. Read more →
🪙 GENIUS Act: The Senate passed a landmark cryptocurrency regulation bill on a bipartisan vote of 68-30, sending it to the House. Read more →
⚖️ SCOTUS watch: Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson revealed she made more than $2 million from the publisher of her bestselling memoir as part of her financial disclosure report for 2024. Read more →
⚖️ SCOTUS watch, cont'd: Two educational toy companies today asked the Supreme Court to quickly hear their challenges to Trump's tariffs. Read more →
📦 Tariff update: Trump signed an agreement that formally lowered some tariffs on imports from the United Kingdom as the countries continue to work toward a formal trade deal. Read more →
⚫ Reporting to prison: Former Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., turned himself in at a federal prison in Pennsylvania to begin serving an 11-year sentence on bribery charges. Read more →
🗳️ If it's Tuesday: It's primary day in Virginia, but the general election matchup for the commonwealth's highest-profile race is already set. Read more →
That's all From the Politics Desk for now. Today's newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner and Dylan Ebs.
If you have feedback — likes or dislikes — email us at politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com
And if you're a fan, please share with everyone and anyone. They can sign up here.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Shasti Conrad wins open DNC vice chair position after Hogg fallout
Washington State Democratic Party Chair Shasti Conrad won the Democratic National Committee's (DNC) second open vice chair position Friday after members voted to redo the election amid significant inner turmoil over David Hogg's role within the party. Conrad won the spot with almost 56 percent of the vote over DNC member Kalyn Free in a runoff election that took place from Wednesday to Friday. Kansas Democratic Party Chair Jeanna Repass had initially been eliminated from contention for the seat in the first round of voting after no candidate received a majority of DNC members' votes. Conrad finished the first round ahead of Free and Repass, reportedly with 44 percent of the vote to Free's 37 percent and Repass's 20 percent. Free's complaint in February over the way that the DNC's vice chair election was run started the process that resulted in Hogg losing his position as vice chair. Conrad joins Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D), who was first elected vice chair in the winter and won the redo election Saturday to reclaim his post, filling out the DNC's last two vice chair roles. The Washington state Democrat, a South Asian millennial, said in a statement that she's honored to serve as vice chair, underscoring her commitment to provide more opportunities for young people to get involved and to ensure Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) have a seat at the table. 'This was the longest election in DNC history, and every vote cast reflected our shared belief in building a stronger, more inclusive Democratic Party,' she said. DNC Chair Ken Martin called Conrad a 'trailblazer' who understands the importance of hard work to ensure Democrats win up and down the ballot. He said Conrad helped Washington be the only state in the country to buck a red wave across the ballot. 'She is also the first AAPI chair in the contiguous 48 states and is deeply committed to the DNC's mission of organizing everywhere, year round,' he said. 'As a former state party chair and [Association of State Democratic Committees] president myself, I look forward to working with her to continue bolstering our state party infrastructure and strengthening and broadening our Democratic coalition.' Free, a DNC member since 2019 from Oklahoma, argued in her complaint that the February election that selected Hogg and Kenyatta as vice chairs was improperly conducted and gave the male candidates an unfair advantage. The DNC Credentials Committee recommended redoing the election last month, and the full membership of the DNC voted overwhelmingly to hold another election last week. The controversy concerning the election was procedural, but it came at a time when Hogg, who rose to prominence as a gun control activist, was in the midst of a firestorm over his group, Leaders We Deserve, pushing to primary certain longtime House Democratic incumbents. His moves caused significant backlash among DNC leadership and contributed to a wider conversation of generational change within the party. After the DNC voted to hold the vice chair election again, Hogg announced he wouldn't seek his vice chair position a second time, wanting to allow the party to 'focus on what really matters.' He said building the strongest party possible will be his 'number one mission.' Kenyatta won support from almost all voting members as he was unopposed in his election, which took place Thursday to Saturday. The position was specifically for male candidates, and Kenyatta was the only male candidate eligible to run again. Female candidates were eligible for the second election, which ran from Sunday to Tuesday. Both the DNC and Republican National Committee have rules requiring some amount of gender balance in its leadership positions. Updated at 6:32 p.m. EDT Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump administration almost totally dismantles Voice of America with latest terminations
The Trump administration has terminated 639 employees at Voice of America and its parent organization in the latest round of sweeping cuts that have reduced the international broadcasting service to a fraction of its former size. The mass terminations announced Friday rounds out the Trump-led elimination of 1,400 positions since March and represents the near-complete dismantling of an organization founded in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda, whose first broadcast declared: 'We bring you voices from America.' Just 250 employees now remain across the entire parent group the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), who operated what was America's primary tool for projecting democratic values globally. 'For decades, American taxpayers have been forced to bankroll an agency that's been riddled with dysfunction, bias and waste. That ends now,' said Kari Lake, Trump's senior advisor to USAGM, in Friday's termination announcement. VOA once reached 360 million people weekly across dozens of languages, former USAGM CEO and director John Lansing told Congress in 2019. In March, the White House put out a statement calling the outlet 'propaganda', 'leftist' and dubbed it 'The Voice of Radical America'. One of the examples cited to justify that explanation was VOA's refusal to use the term 'terrorist' to describe members of Hamas unless in statements, which falls in line with common and basic journalistic practice. The cuts represent a major retreat from America's Cold War strategy of using broadcasting to reach audiences behind the iron curtain. VOA had evolved from its wartime origins to become a lifeline for populations living under authoritarian rule, providing independent news and an American perspective in regions where press freedom is under assault. The layoffs also came just days after VOA recalled Farsi-speaking journalists from administrative leave to cover the war between Israel and Iran, after Israel shot missiles at Tehran less than a week ago in the dead of night. 'It spells the death of 83 years of independent journalism that upholds US ideals of democracy and freedom around the world,' said three VOA journalists, Patsy Widakuswara, Jessica Jerreat and Kate Neeper, who are leading legal challenges against the demolition, in a statement. The agency's folding began in March when Trump signed an executive order targeting federal agencies he branded as bloated bureaucracy, and VOA staff were placed on paid leave and broadcasts were suspended. Lake, Trump's handpicked choice to run VOA, had previously floated plans to replace the service's professional journalism with content from One America News Network (OANN), a rightwing pro-Trump network that would provide programming without charge. The sole survivor of the cull is the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, which transmits into Cuba from Florida. All 33 employees there remain, according to the announcement. USAGM offered voluntary departure packages through what it termed a 'Fork in the Road' program, providing full pay through September plus benefits. Some 163 employees accepted the buyouts rather than face involuntary termination, the agency said in a press release. Federal courts have allowed the administration to proceed with the terminations while legal challenges continue for now. The VOA cuts form part of Trump's broader assault on the federal workforce, with tens of thousands terminated across agencies including the IRS, Social Security Administration, USAID, and departments of education, health and agriculture.
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Where troops in Middle East are most vulnerable to Iran strikes
Tens of thousands of U.S. troops are within Iran's striking distance should President Trump decide to wade into Israel's conflict with Tehran and directly attack the country. More than 40,000 American service members and civilians — as well as billions of dollars in military equipment — are in the Middle East, spread out across bases in Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Those working in countries closest to Iran, including Iraq and Kuwait, would conceivably have only minutes to prepare for an incoming Iranian strike, a likely outcome should Trump order the U.S. military to join Israel's bombing campaign, experts say. 'If [Iran] had the ballistic missiles ready to go, those strikes could happen in under 15 minutes. Launched to target,' retired Col. Seth Krummrich, vice president at security consultancy firm Global Guardian, told The Hill. 'They move very quickly.' Israel last week unleashed a barrage of airstrikes on Iran that set off the largest conflict ever between the two regional adversaries, with Tehran responding with its own attacks. The war has threatened to pull in the U.S., which says it supports Israel's right to defend itself but has not directly involved itself in the bombing. Trump has not yet decided on possible American military action against Iran, telling reporters through his top spokesperson that he would make his decision within two weeks. 'Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiation that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go in the next two weeks,' according to Trump's statement relayed by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday. But Iran has already threatened to directly attack U.S. forces should they enter Israel's war campaign, with the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warning Wednesday that 'Americans should know that any U.S. military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage.' Tehran's threats aren't idle, as the country has retaliated against Washington in the past, most notably in January 2020, when Trump in his first term ordered an airstrike that killed Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds Force. The strike, which happened as Soleimani traveled to Baghdad, prompted a swift response from Iran, which days later hammered Al-Asad Air Base in Iraq and another U.S. base in Erbil with 13 ballistic missiles. While no Americans were killed in the largest ballistic missile attack ever against U.S. forces abroad, more than 100 were later diagnosed and treated for traumatic brain injuries. Now, with Trump reportedly considering using the GBU-57 — known as the Massive Ordnance Penetrator or so-called bunker buster bomb — to damage Iran's Fordow nuclear enrichment facility, a similar attack from Tehran could soon be at hand. 'If there was to be a U.S. attack like they dropped the big bunker buster, if that happened, then I would assume that you would see an Iranian missile strike aimed at one or multiple U.S. bases,' said Krummrich, a former Special Forces officer in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the face of such a threat, military officials move to pull valuable assets out of the bases deemed most likely to be attacked, he said, pointing to the departure of some aircraft from Al-Asad Air Base, as seen in public satellite imagery this week. He guessed that Al-Asad Air Base, where many of the roughly 2,500 U.S. service members stationed in Iraq are located, as the most likely target given its close proximity to Iran and the fact that it's been hit in the past. Iran 'would tend to not want to poke the eye' of the United Arab Emirates, where 3,500 U.S. military personnel are located, or Qatar, home of Al Udeid Air Base, the largest U.S. military site in the Middle East, Krummrich predicted. About 10,000 American forces are at Al Udeid, the regional headquarters for the U.S. Central Command (Centcom). In addition, 13,500 U.S. troops are stationed across five bases in Kuwait; 9,000 military and civilian personnel are at the Navy's Fifth Fleet headquarters in Manama, Bahrain; and hundreds more troops are placed elsewhere on bases run by Jordan, Syria and Oman. The former head of Centcom, retired Army Gen. Joseph Votel, told The Hill that Middle East bases have protective measures built into them to reduce risk, pointing to the aircraft moved from more vulnerable installations. 'But of course, we have a lot of diplomatic facilities, we have a lot of private sector interests there that could be vulnerable as well,' said Votel, now at the Middle East Institute. 'So, there's a lot of opportunity for Iran here.' U.S. bases and those that house American troops are also at risk of being attacked by Iran-back militias in the region, like in the case when three Army soldiers were killed in a drone attack on a small U.S. outpost in Jordan in January 2024. Following Israel's strikes on Iran on June 13, three drones were shot down near Ain al-Asad air base in western Iraq, The Associated Press reported. At least four other U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria have come under fire from Tehran-supported militants since Israel's bombing campaign began, including three installations in northeastern Syria between June 14 and 15, according to local reports. Asked about the attacks, a spokesperson from U.S. Central Command would not confirm or deny whether they took place. 'We are aware of these reports but have nothing operational to provide,' they said, pointing further queries regarding the conflict between Israel and Iran to the White House. U.S. officials this week have insisted that U.S. forces are well prepared to respond to any Iranian-launched attacks, surging more firepower to the Middle East including the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group. The Pentagon also has moved refueling tanker aircraft to the nearby European theater and placed warships in the Mediterranean Sea to help shoot down Iranian missiles targeting Israel. The Nimitz is set to take over from the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier, currently in the Arabian Sea to provide security for U.S. forces near the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, but the two vessels will likely overlap for several days. More covertly, the Air Force earlier this week moved a dozen F-16 fighter jets from a base in Italy to Prince Sultan, Saudi Arabia, according to Aurora Intel, which reviews open source information in the Middle East. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declined to say Wednesday whether he had been asked to provide Trump with military options for Tehran, saying during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that he 'wouldn't disclose that in this forum.' But he added that his job is 'to make sure the president has options, is informed of what those options might be, and what the ramifications of those options might be.' Hegseth also on Wednesday told senators that 'maximum protection' measures were in place in the region. Asked by The Hill whether the protections could adequately repel an Iranian attack, a Pentagon spokesperson referred the outlet to Hegseth's post to social platform X on June 16, when the Defense secretary announced the 'deployment of additional capabilities' to the Middle East. 'Protecting U.S. forces is our top priority and these deployments are intended to enhance our defensive posture in the region,' he said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
