Congress
GOP fundraiser with Hegseth scrapped amid Iran War buildup
Rep. Zach Nunn has postponed a planned “Top Gun” themed fundraiser with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that had drawn criticism over its timing — at the start of a war that has already resulted in U.S. casualties.
The Iowa Republican announced the postponement Thursday on social media.
Nunn had said Hegseth would appear at the fundraiser on Saturday, hours after the initial U.S.-Israeli airstrikes in Iran. The event, called “Top Nunn” and billed as a “salute to the troops,” was scheduled for later this month in a Des Moines suburb.
On Tuesday, the Pentagon publicly identified the first U.S. deaths in the war, troops who were killed by an Iranian drone strike in Kuwait. The six soldiers were assigned to an Army Reserve command based in Nunn’s district, and two of them were from Iowa.
The announcement of the fundraiser drew strong condemnation from Democrats, who accused Hegseth of leveraging the war for political purposes. Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Katie Smith attacked Nunn’s event as “callous and disqualifying” in a statement on Wednesday.
Nunn, a former intelligence officer for the Air Force, explained the postponement in a social media post while offering condolences to the families of the troops who were killed.
“Operation TOP NUNN is postponed. We will have more to share about the event soon, and all ticket holders will be notified of the new date,” Nunn said. “Our prayers are with the families and our action is with our troops on the frontlines.”
Nunn said he plans to attend the arrival of the remains of the six soldiers at Dover Air Force Base on Saturday along with President Donald Trump.
Nunn paid his respects to the six soldiers in a speech on the House floor Thursday and led a moment of silence.
House Republican appropriators are publicly rebuking the Trump administration for seeking must-have military cash through a party-line reconciliation bill that’s not guaranteed to clear Congress.
In a report they plan to release later this week, obtained by Blue Light News, House appropriators warn that the White House is trying to fund “critical efforts” like weapons and military equipment through the party-line process, rather than using it to “scale up” military dollars beyond Congress’ regular government funding bills.
“This approach is risky and uncoordinated,” reads the report, an official addendum that goes along with the chamber’s defense funding bill for the fiscal year that starts in October.
In particular, appropriators criticized President Donald Trump’s budget request for splitting funding for the F-35 fighter, the most expensive program in Pentagon history, between the two bills.
The annual government funding bills and the reconciliation process are “entirely separate tracks, with different timelines, committees of jurisdiction, and approval processes,” the report notes.
Many Republican lawmakers are also doubtful GOP leaders will succeed in enacting another party-line package this year.
Jennifer Scholtes contributed to this report.
The House will begin consideration of a bipartisan housing bill Tuesday, with a final vote potentially taking place the same day, accelerating a previous plan to secure congressional passage of the legislation, according to four people familiar with the planning granted anonymity to discuss planning not yet public.
The Senate will hold a final vote on the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act Monday.
House leadership had planned to fast-track approval of the housing affordability bill by suspending the rules, a maneuver that limits debate but requires a two-thirds majority vote, as soon as Wednesday, but are looking to move that process a day earlier, the people said.
President Donald Trump is expected to hold a signing ceremony for the bill as soon as Wednesday, said two people familiar, involved with the planning conversations.
The housing bill aims to tackle housing affordability and boost homeownership and supply as the looming midterm election is dominated by cost-of-living concerns and Congress has a narrowing window to get legislation through before the August recess.
Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.
Alan Dershowitz is scheduled to speak with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on July 20 as part of its ongoing Jeffery Epstein investigation.
“I asked to be allowed to set the record straight and correct various misconceptions,” Dershowitz said in a text message. “I look forward to doing so.”
The prominent criminal defense attorney who once represented O.J. Simpson and President Donald Trump also worked on Epstein’s 2008 plea deal, which many have argued allowed Epstein — who died by suicide behind bars in 2019 — to continue to prey on young women and girls for another several years before his later incarceration.
The Oversight Committee is separately set Friday to interview investor Leon Black, whose business dealings with Epstein have been under congressional scrutiny for years.
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