so here’s the deal
Last week, in a rush so it could come out on his birthday, Trump and Iran came to an agreement over ending this war of choice, which Trump later signed in LITERAL Versailles.
Note that this is still an interim deal – both sides have committed to a “final deal” within 60 days, “extendable with mutual consent.” A deal to make a deal to make a deal to make a deal. But here’s the latest:
The deal calls for an immediate end to all fighting, including in Lebanon, where strikes have continued this week. Netanyahu has openly criticized Trump over the deal, and the continued strikes are definitely raising questions about whether or not a final deal will materialize. The fighting in Lebanon has already postponed the next phase of talks.
The Strait of Hormuz is expected to reopen, with Iran agreeing to allow “safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge for 60 days only.” Looking at the Hormuz Strait Monitor… it’s currently closed. Also in response to Israel's latest strikes in Lebanon. That Bibi is a real impediment to peace.
After that, Iran will negotiate with Oman to “define the future administration” of the Strait. Daily reminder that using the Strait was free before this war started.
Iran will dilute its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, according to US officials. Trump has left the door open to Iran being allowed to continue enriching uranium, though. Wasn’t that like, one of the main goals of the whole thing?
The US will lift sanctions and unfreeze funds linked to the Iranian regime, assuming Iran abides by the terms of the agreement.
And finally, the part that is super-pissing off Senate Republicans: the deal includes a commitment for at least $300 billion to be distributed to Iran for “reconstruction and economic development,” with the actual mechanism to be hammered out during the 60-day negotiation period. “The Iranian regime has not renounced its ultimate goal — ‘Death to America, Death to Israel,’” said Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “The regime will invest every penny it receives to further that aim.” A senior official rushed to note the US isn’t required to contribute.
But the real question on everyone’s lips: how does this stack up against the JCPOA, Obama’s Iran deal that Trump tore up in 2018? Well, let’s zoom in on Iran’s nuclear program - the JCPOA had Iran cap nuclear enrichment at 3.67% (which is nowhere near high enough to make a weapon), slash its centrifuges by two-thirds (fewer machines means far less capacity to enrich uranium and eventually make a bomb), and submit to a very intense inspection regime. Trump’s new deal gets a one-time stockpile cleanup and a vague pledge not to build a weapon, with the actual details punted sixty days down the line. Art of the deal, baby. No matter how Trump tries to spin it, the truth is clear: If these terms hold, then Trump just lost his war with Iran — and gained absolutely nothing. Want even more breakdown? My favorite law-talkin’ pod Opening Arguments took a deep dive into the deal.
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scotus coming out hot
On Thursday, the Supreme Court decided the first of two gun cases up this term, ruling 9-0 in United States v. Hemani that the 2nd Amendment says the government can’t prosecute anyone who uses marijuana for merely having a gun. Justice Gorsuch insisted this was a narrow ruling that does not apply in cases where the government can show a specific individual’s drug use “renders him a danger to himself or others.” If this legal question sounds familiar, this is the law that was used to prosecute Hunter Biden. The court has not yet released its ruling in the other gun case, Wolford v. Lopez, a challenge to a Hawaii law that bars gun owners from bringing their guns onto private property without express permission from the property’s owner. Probably more concerned about that one, honestly!
The Supremes still have a whole mess of decisions to hand down, notably:
Birthright citizenship: is the very clear wording of the 14th amendment still clear when you’re wearing MAGA-colored glasses?
Transbans in sports: How far can we go to punish checks notes less than ten people nationwide for daring to checks notes again play games?
mail-in ballots: does your ballot need to be received by Election Day - or just postmarked?
cases surrounding Trump firing members of the Federal Reserve Board and other independent agencies.
STATEWIDE SHENANIGANS
sos switch-up
The Indiana Republicans have made their decision and Max Engling will be their nominee for Secretary of State, with current SoS Diego Morales coming in a distant third. He’s a Jim Banks adviser and former congressional staffer who they hope will be a blank slate and appeal to national MAGA donors in a way Diego couldn’t.Morales' time in office, and even before he was elected, has been plagued by controversies involving accusations of nepotism, fraud and misspending of state dollars. Then in May, an independent media outlet broke the news that his recently departed chief of staff had registered to vote while a noncitizen. Shortly after that, the chief legal counsel for Morales’ office had to pay back thousands to the state after the state examiner found several “improper” expenses in 2023 and 2024, including three separate flights for Morales’ wife. The expenses had not been previously reported and were uncovered after IndyStar requested the receipts.
“I’m Max Engling, I’m a Christian, I’m a husband, I’m a father, and I’m running for secretary of state to defend our elections and uphold our shared conservative values with zero compromise,” Engling told delegates Saturday. He cautioned the party against supporting a candidate who didn’t have fundraising support or broad party backing. “If we lose the office, we can lose everything else,” Engling said.
Engling also promised an effort to close the Republican primaries. The issue has become prominent in recent weeks after Senate Candidate Paula Copenhaver accused Democratic voters of improperly voting in the Republican primary to cast a ballot for Spencer Deery.
fewer rules for schools
Indiana lawmakers were recently given an ‘F’ grade and ranked 45th in the country for public school support, and now the Feds are handing them $50 billion in federal education funds with less oversight. Yikes. DOE Secretary Linda McMahon and fellow Republicans are cheering their “Returning Education to the States” program, which they claim will reduce bureaucracy and give states more flexibility over federal education funding. They say it’s a win for “deregulation.”
Indiana is one of just 3 states that requested to have their federal Title funds merged with this waiver. These are the dedicated funding streams that support at-risk students, English language learners, special education students, and more. By merging this funding, vulnerable students are at risk of losing targeted support to which they are entitled by federal law. By handing the reins over to Indiana — a state that currently ranks 45th for public education support — these programs lose oversight and accountability.
Federal education regulations exist because without them, states could fail to uphold federal education rights of vulnerable students and forgo ethical decision-making. Regulations ensure that students across the country receive consistent support and that their rights are equally protected — even when they live in a state that doesn’t think their needs are worth protecting. Deregulation often means eliminating those rules and processes designed to ensure safety, consistency, and fairness (see also: “cutting red tape”). Denise Forte, president and CEO of The Education Trust, an advocacy group that tracks the status of state waiver requests, said the Trump administration “has abandoned” commitments to supporting students and schools and to publicly reporting important education data. “Instead, the Department of Education will allow Indiana to rewrite its accountability system in a way that will mask student performance and move millions of dollars in dedicated funding away from students who need it most.”
LOCAL FOCUS
sakbun state of the city
Terre Haute Mayor Brandon Sakbun focused on three issues at his City Update at the Terre Haute Convention Center on Wednesday morning — housing, quality of life and workforce development.
After the mayor’s speech, he sat down with Kristin Craig, president and CEO of the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce, for a “fireside chat” about many of the issues discussed in his speech. Craig asked him where he saw the city five and 10 years from now. In five years, Sakbun said, workforce development will be booming; in 10 years, development of a third industrial park will be underway.
After the presentation, Sakbun expressed pleasure that his city update was a lot more upbeat than those that other Indiana mayors would have to deliver. “There are some severe challenges as we look across the state of Indiana,” Sakbun said. “You have a number of cities dealing with population decline —not a little decline, a lot of decline. You have huge cuts in services and staff around the state of Indiana and we’ve found a way to avoid a lot of that here locally. Not every community is blessed with a growth spurt right now.”
ALWAYS ELECTION SEASON
board games
Filing to run for Vigo County School Board closed on Thursday at noon, and for this fall, a total of seven candidates have filed, with two races, District 2 and District 4, uncontested. Current board member JD Skelton did not file for re-election in District 2, but Jenny Norris, a licensed clinical therapist and the assistant director at Firefly Children and Family Alliance for the Terre Haute region, filed for the district. Incumbent Ken Warner was the only candidate to file for District 4.
Districts 1 and 5 will have competitive races on the November ballot, with Chase Nattkemper (Republican) and Imer Holman (no party affiliation) running against incumbent Carey LaBella in District 1. There are three District 1 seats, but only one is up for election this year. This election will be the first with partisan school board races.
In District 5, incumbent Rick Burger is seeking re-election. He will face Rosemarie Scott, who previously served on the school board from 2019 to 2022. Burger defeated Scott and three other candidates in 2022. The District 3 seat is not scheduled on the ballot this year, as board members serve staggered four-year terms.
candidates in their own words
Local State Senate candidate Kacey Blundell was the guest on a recent episode of Turn Left with Indiana’s Own Dana Black. They discuss Kacey’s upbringing, background in public service, and legislative priorities. How’s she going to help break the supermajority and end 20+ years of Republican rule? Check it out on YouTube or your favorite podcast player.
GOOD TROUBLE
power of the people
Communities across Indiana and consumer-protection organizations like Citizen’s Action Coalition have been totally overwhelmed by roughly 60 AI data center proposals throughout the state in just the last 2 years. This rapid and unprecedented expansion of energy and water-guzzling AI data centers is already creating numerous risks for our communities, and we’re only at the beginning of our journey with these massive facilities: only a few are operating, more are under construction, and dozens more are in various stages of being proposed.
13 Indiana counties have enacted data center moratoriums, and we’re excited to see municipalities join the fold. We’re hopeful that state officials will join their local counterparts in protecting Hoosier communities! Visit citact.org/act.datacenters to tell Indiana lawmakers to support an AI data center moratorium so that public officials have the time to evaluate the economic, environmental, and community impacts of these resource-intensive facilities and craft policies to protect Hoosiers!
i have thoughts and people should hear them
The current administration has proposed sweeping new rules that would give political appointees new power over billions of dollars in federal grants, including for all federally-funded health research and local programs run by our counties. This is OMB chief Russell Vought’s attempt to end American science as we know it and as the National Association for Counties explains here, this would affect every single one of us.
We have until July 13th to post public comments in opposition to this rule. We can send submit them to the Federal Register here. We can also find a simple guide to commenting effectively here and tips to talking about this specific regulation from Stand Up for Science (SUFS) here
On March 31, Trump issued an executive order that, among other things, demands that the U.S. Postal Service, an independent agency, “come up with lists of eligible voters and to only deliver mail-in ballots to people on those lists.” A MAGA-appointee federal judge refused to block the order. Then USPS published a proposed rule to implement the executive order. The regulation would, for the first time, establish a “Mail-in and Absentee Participation List.” According to Wisconsin Public Radio, “each state’s top election official would add the names of voters eligible to vote by mail…[in order to] ‘allow law enforcement officials to compare the total number of mailed ballots to the total number of received ballots to detect potential issues meriting further investigation.’”
The deadline for public comments on the proposed rule is July 2nd. Let’s submit comments here telling the USPS:
That the proposed rule violates Article 1 of the Constitution, which gives the power to set rules for federal elections to state legislatures and Congress only. The USPS has no legal authority to issue and implement the rule.
That the proposed rule adds unnecessary burdens on voters and election administration and is clearly an unwarranted attack on mail-in voting.
That the proposed rule establishes a new pretext by which federal agents can raid election offices.
On April 28, the Trump administration announced a proposal to rescind the Equal Access Rule (EAR), which guarantees equal access to programs and services funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status. The last day to submit comments is June 29th, and TransEquality.org has a guide to submitting a comment in support of the Equal Access Rule.
RESOURCE CENTER
speculative budgeting
What could you have bought if gas prices hadn’t skyrocketed due to the Iran war? You can answer that with a handy Washington Post calculator: If you used 38 gallons of regular gas, you could’ve bought 19 dozen large eggs or 64 pounds of bananas. Yum!
UPCOMING EVENTS
visit the Blue812News Local Events calendar to see all upcoming events
Monday, June 22nd at 6pm: Nasty Women of Vigo County meeting in Room A of the Vigo County Public Library from 6-7:30pm. This month features special guest Rebecca Mayfield: the Democrat running in District 45, the district previously represented by everyone’s least favorite Elvis impersonator, Bruce Borders.
Tuesday, June 23rd at 5:30pm: Summer Showcase feat. 1st district Vigo County Council candidate Kim Curley at the Sandcut Firehouse.
Wednesday, June 24th at 4pm: Riverpalooza at the Hulman Center Atrium, 4-6pm. A free community celebration showcasing the exciting future of the Wabash riverfront. Before the presentation you can expect to mingle with neighbors, enjoy local food and music, and explore partner stations featuring visual updates from community partners. Admission is completely FREE and open to the public. More info on Facebook.
Tuesday, June 30th at 5:30pm: An Evening with Mary at Ladybird Cafe. Join Mary for a special evening at Ladybird Cafe with appetizers and a cash bar. Suggested donation of $50. Get your tickets here.
END ON A HIGH NOTE
Georgia Republicans reversed course Wednesday and declared that they would not use a special session to draw new maps for the upcoming election.
The Trump administration backed off plans to cancel a $368 million ocean monitoring system that helps scientists study climate change. The reversal followed bipartisan pressure from senators, who called on Trump’s team to keep the system in place.
Young women now have ‘close to zero’ risk of cervical cancer death after the HPV vaccine. Get your boys vaxxed, too.
In other vax news: COVID vaccines reduced the risk of strokes, heart attacks, and other heart conditions by about 40 percent according to a new study. “To me, this continues to emphasize that we should be encouraging vaccination, especially amongst older individuals,” said one physician who wasn’t involved in the research.
A federal judge ruled that Idaho cannot immediately enforce its new law criminalizing the use of certain restrooms that do not match an individual’s sex at birth.
Janeese Lewis George, a Democratic Socialist, won the Democratic primary for mayor of Washington, D.C.
All detainees from "Alligator Alcatraz" have been transferred out of the Florida Everglades facility, and ICE plans to sell or give away most of the 11 warehouses it bought to detain migrants, reversing course on a signature initiative.
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