ChatGPT and Claude Will Be a Force in Elections. Nobody Knows What to Do About It. Chatbots have already changed how voters get information. Political operatives just don’t know what they can do to change what the chatbots say.

LLMs like Claude and ChatGPT are going to be major sources of information for voters in the '26 midterms.

Most Republicans and Democrats have no idea what to do about that

www.notus.org/2026-electio...

Where the DOGE Operatives Are Now WIRED tracked down some of the most prominent figures of last year’s DOGE invasion. Here's where they are now—in government and beyond.

Where are they now? DOGE Edition

Trump on Palantir:

The Republican Fundraising Advantage ‘Keeping Democrats Up at Night’ Midterms are often unkind to the party in power, but an unprecedented war chest amassed by President Donald Trump and his allies has Democrats on the back foot.

Democrats are increasingly rattled about the GOP's financial edge ahead of the '26 midterms. -- their deficit might be as much as a half-billion dollars

On the fly in the ointment for Ds in an election they otherwise are feeling good about. w/@taylorgiorno.bsky.social www.notus.org/2026-electio...

Democrats Say Rep. Eric Swalwell Personally Pitched His Political AI Startup to Lawmakers Getting a business pitch from Swalwell is "surprisingly universal," in some Democratic circles, one source told NOTUS.

NEW: Rep. Eric Swalwell repeatedly pitched the services of his AI startup to fellow lawmakers in possible violation of House Ethics rules, six Democratic sources told NOTUS.

One of them told me Swalwell is “relentless” in promoting his company.
www.notus.org/democrats/de...

Democrats Say Rep. Eric Swalwell Personally Pitched His Political AI Startup to Lawmakers Getting a business pitch from Swalwell is "surprisingly universal," in some Democratic circles, one source told NOTUS.

SCOOP from @bueninvierno.bsky.social: Rep. Eric Swalwell repeatedly peddled the services of his politics-focused startup company, Findraiser, to House Democrats — potentially violating House Ethics rules

"He’s peddling the shit out of that thing," one source said
www.notus.org/democrats/de...

House Republicans Want to Stay Away From Josh Hawley’s Abortion Pill Ban The senator put the spotlight back on abortion when he introduced a bill to ban mifepristone, but Republicans don’t want to address it ahead of November.

Josh Hawley's bill to ban mifepristone put the spotlight back on an issue Republicans try to avoid on an election year: abortion

Lawler said he won't support the bill

Evans said he's "cautious of issues like that"

Valadao said Republicans should focus on the economy
www.notus.org/republicans/...

CDC Acting Director Tells Staff He’s Had ‘Scientific’ Disagreements With RFK Jr. In an internal meeting, Jay Bhattacharya spoke candidly about his relationship with Kennedy, expressed support for the measles vaccine and said his replacement is coming soon.

NEWS: In a meeting with CDC staff, Jay Bhattacharya said he and RFK Jr. have disagreed on "scientific matters" and that the new CDC director nominee will be announced tomorrow:

DHS Includes People Extradited to the U.S. and Serving Prison Time on ‘Worst of the Worst’ List NOTUS found that some of the people the Department of Homeland Security touts in its apprehension database were apprehended abroad and brought to the U.S.

NEW: “NOTUS found that a number of the individuals on DHS’s list weren’t living in American communities even before they were in prison,” @violetjira.bsky.social reports.

“Instead, some were extradited to the U.S. by the DOJ and have never left federal custody.”
www.notus.org/immigration/...

Eric Swalwell’s AI-Powered Political Startup Is Making Big Money From Democratic Allies Swalwell’s own congressional and California gubernatorial committees have also spent thousands of dollars for his company’s services.

ICYMI: Rep. Eric Swalwell has a side gig — and some of his political allies are pumping it full of money.

Via @bueninvierno.bsky.social of @notus.com. www.notus.org/money/eric-s...

Democratic turnout in Senate primaries increased by 420,000 votes in Illinois, 72,000 votes in Mississippi, 208,000 votes in North Carolina, and 1.3 million in Texas

NEW: Democratic primary turnout continued to surge Tuesday, part of a trend in higher turnout in these races than what the party saw in '22 and '24

The new wave of voters could complicate the party's primaries -- but is also giving some Dems hope for November

www.notus.org/2026-electio...

Eric Swalwell’s AI-Powered Political Startup Is Making Big Money From Democratic Allies Swalwell’s own congressional and California gubernatorial committees have also spent thousands of dollars for his company’s services.

Rep. Eric Swalwell has an AI-powered political analytics startup.

And Swalwell’s nascent company is making money from some familiar sources — other Democratic members of Congress.

New from @bueninvierno.bsky.social of @notus.com: www.notus.org/money/eric-s...

Palantir Hires Two New Lobbyists With Democratic Party Ties The defense and immigration contractor is investing millions in its government influence efforts.

ICE and military contractor Palantir hires two new Democratic lobbyists.

New from @bueninvierno.bsky.social of @notus.com: www.notus.org/money/palant...

Capitol Gains Members of Congress make decisions that profoundly affect the health and wealth of all Americans — from the richest to the poorest among us. These decisions can also influence lawmakers’ own financial...

Ever wonder how members of Congress get and stay wealthy?

Here’s a place to start: www.notus.org/capitol-gains

Outside Group Spending Is Overwhelming Democratic Primaries Spending from groups affiliated with the AI industry and the Israel lobby in Chicago-area races has some Democrats panicked about the future.

A political ad bonanza funded by some of America’s wealthiest and most controversial special interest groups has swamped four Democratic House primaries in the Chicago area -->

w/@bueninvierno.bsky.social www.notus.org/2026-electio...

House Defense Committee Leaders Don’t Know How AI Is Being Used on Iran “My plate is full already, I’m not looking for detail like that,” the House Armed Services Committee Chair told NOTUS.

How is AI being used in the war with Iran?

Doesn't appear key members of Congress have much of a clue, reports @bueninvierno.bsky.social of @notus.com. www.notus.org/defense/defe...

FEMA Staff Are Happy to See Kristi Noem Go “Anyone is better than that dog murderer,” a longtime FEMA employee said.

"Anyone's better than that dog murderer."

FEMA staff are rejoicing at Kristi Noem's ouster. I've had folks asking me for months if I knew when she might get fired.

That day is finally here, and they are delighted.

Child’s Play, by Sam Kriss Tech’s new generation and the end of thinking

“We need to ban the word ‘agency.’ I’m a dog.”

harpers.org/archive/2026...

Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi Owned Palantir Stock While Voting to Fund Homeland Security Palantir is doing huge business with the federal government as its share price soars.

Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) has quietly watched the value of his Palantir stock soar.

This year, Suozzi voted to fund the Department of Homeland Security, which has done massive business with Palantir.

From @bueninvierno.bsky.social of @notus.com: www.notus.org/money/tom-su...

Trump Loves Data Centers. Many Republican Lawmakers Don’t. Some state lawmakers are mulling legislation that would pause the construction of new data centers in their states altogether.

Some Republicans are increasingly baffled with Trump’s support of data centers.

“It’s filling our acreage. It’s sucking all the good out of our state, and it’s all done by taxpayer dollars,” OK State Sen. Kendal Sacchieri, who supports a data center moratorium, said.
www.notus.org/technology/t...

Dozens of Kids Entered Foster Care After Immigration Agents Detained Their Parents States are taking custody of kids separated from their parents in Trump's push for mass deportations. No one knows exactly how many.

At least 32 kids entered foster care in 2025 after immigration agents detained their parents.

That includes four toddlers ages 1-3 in Vermont.

Here’s my story on the patchy tracking of family separations through the foster care system.
www.notus.org/immigration/...

the Super Bowl so far is just one big AI ad

These Democrats Decry Trump’s Immigration Actions. They Also Invested in ICE Contractor Palantir. “I wish I could get my money back,” one liberal lawmaker said.

Oh, the quotes …

When you’re a member of Congress who keeps slamming ⁦‪ICE‬⁩ — but you personally invest in a company that powers ICE tech.

Via @bueninvierno.bsky.social of @notus.com: www.notus.org/congress/pal...

Federal Data Is Disappearing The Trump administration has disrupted data collection on everything from homeland security, maternal mortality, hunger, drug use, education, disaster preparation and the economy.

We found so many examples of missing federal government data that we couldn’t put them all in this story.

“The status quo was, the federal government is going to collect and disseminate data. That is no longer a reasonable assumption.”

The Virginia Democrat in the Middle of the Data Center Boom Wants His Party to Crack Down Rep. Suhas Subramanyam is making the case that the Democratic Party needs to show it has ideas for how to regulate this issue.

Rep. Suhas Subramanyam is seeing his constituents grow frustrated with data centers firsthand.

"People are angry right now at the way data centers are being deployed," he told me, arguing that Congress needs to prevent nationwide backlash against them.
www.notus.org/technology/v...

“.. It was never a commitment,” Huang told reporters in Taipei on Sunday. “They invited us to invest up to $100 billion and of course, we were, we were very happy and honored that they invited us, but we will invest one step at a time.”

@bloomberg.com $NVDA
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

I guess some things never change

Senate Approves Spending Deal, but Brief Partial Government Funding Lapse Expected The Senate passed legislation funding multiple departments. The House is not expected to vote on it until early next week, triggering a partial shutdown.

The Senate passed legislation funding multiple departments. The House is not expected to vote on it until early next week, triggering a partial shutdown. https://bit.ly/4a3q0DI

Silicon Valley’s Favorite New AI Agent Has Serious Security Flaws The AI agent once called ClawdBot is enchanting tech elites, but its security vulnerabilities highlight systemic problems with AI.

oh, and one more thing before the weekend

AI Industry Super PAC Enters Midterm Elections With a $70 Million War Chest The super PAC, Leading the Future, is attempting to steer AI regulations in its favor.

The AI industry super PAC is walking into the midterms with $70 million in cash on hand.

Their main objective: Backing candidates that support unconstrained AI innovation and oppose state-level regulation.
www.notus.org/money/ai-sup...