A political newsletter for normal people
WTF Just Happened Today? is a sane, once-a-day newsletter helping normal people make sense of the news. Curated daily and delivered to 200,000+ people every afternoon around 3 pm Pacific.
Day 1870: “Why are we doing this?”
1/ The Republican-led House Oversight Committee voted to subpoena Attorney General Pam Bondi for a closed-door deposition about the Justice Department’s handling of records tied to Jeffrey Epstein. Five Republicans joined Democrats to approve the subpoena after Rep. Nancy Mace said Bondi’s claim that the Justice Department released “all of the Epstein files” was “not” supported by the record. The department to date has released more than 3 million pages to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, but the Justice Department has also acknowledged that it’s withholding millions more documents under claims of privilege. Lawmakers in both parties, however, have criticized the department’s process as both incomplete and sloppy, pointing to heavy redactions and episodes where victims’ information appeared in public releases. (NBC News / Politico / CNN / New York Times / CBS News / CNBC / The Hill / Associated Press)
2/ Senate Republicans rejected a war powers resolution to block Trump from ordering more strikes on Iran. The 53-to-47 vote was mostly along party lines, with Rand Paul the only Republican who supported the resolution. “This essentially is the vote whether to go to war or not,” Paul said. Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy added: “It is amazing to me that my Republican colleagues refuse to learn lessons. Six Americans have already died for an illegal war that nobody wants. […] And for what? We still don’t even know the reason for this war.” One Democrat, Sen. John Fetterman voted against it. A similar House vote is expected Thursday, which is also expected to fail. “As people see the consequences,” Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine said, “I think they may decide, ‘Why are we doing this?’” (Politico / Washington Post / New York Times / Associated Press / The Guardian)
3/ Trump is “actively considering and discussing” America’s role in Iran after the war with his advisers and national security team. Trump is also reportedly open to supporting armed Iranian opposition groups and the CIA is working to arm Kurdish forces based in Iraq. Both efforts are aimed at triggering mass protests to overthrow the regime after the U.S.-Israeli strikes killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt added that Trump “hasn’t ruled out” U.S. ground troops, but they “aren’t part of operational plans at this time.” (Wall Street Journal / Axios / CNN / NBC News / Bloomberg / Wall Street Journal / Associated Press / New York Times / The Hill / Reuters)
- A U.S. submarine torpedoed and sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called it the first U.S. submarine torpedo sinking of an enemy ship since World War II. (ABC News / CNN / New York Times)
- U.S. and Ecuadorian forces launched joint military operations in Ecuador against what U.S. Southern Command labeled “designated terrorist organizations.” The military released no details of the operations. (Politico / Axios / Bloomberg / The Guardian)
🔴🔵 PRIMARIES
4/ Texas state Rep. James Talarico won the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Texas, defeating U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett for the nomination. On the other side, Republicans Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton advanced to a May 26 Republican runoff. Trump, who is expected to endorse Cornyn, posted on Truth Social that Republican primary race in Texas “cannot, for the good of the Party, and our Country, itself, be allowed to go on any longer. IT MUST STOP NOW!” He added: “The candidate that I don’t Endorse to immediately DROP OUT OF THE RACE!” Talarico would be the underdog against either Republican. Democrats haven’t won any statewide race in Texas since 1994. In North Carolina, former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and former Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley won their primaries, locking in a matchup expected to be central to control of the Senate. In Texas, several majority-Latino counties cast more votes in the Democratic primary than voted for Kamala Harris in 2024, while in North Carolina the primary drew about 5% more voters than 2022 with Democrats casting about 200,000 more primary ballots than Republicans. (Associated Press / CNN / ABC News / Axios / The Hill / NBC News / Politico / Wall Street Journal / NPR / Politico / New York Times)
- Since the start of 2025, Democrats have flipped nine Republican-held state legislative seats in special elections, while Republicans have flipped zero Democratic-held seats. (NBC News)
5/ The Office of Congressional Conduct said it had “substantial reason to believe” Rep. Tony Gonzales, a Texas Republican, had a sexual relationship with a subordinate who later died by suicide. The matter was referred to the House Ethics Committee, which opened an investigation into whether Gonzales “engaged in sexual misconduct” toward a congressional employee and whether he “discriminated unfairly by dispensing special favors or privileges.” Gonzales, who is seeking reelection, is headed to a Republican runoff against Brandon Herrera, a right-wing YouTuber and gun-rights activist known as “the AK Guy.” Separately, House Republicans blocked Rep. Nancy Mace’s measure to force the public release of sexual misconduct and harassment by congressional lawmakers and aides. (Politico / NBC News / CNN / CNBC / CBS News / Washington Post / New York Times)
poll/ 54% of voters disapproved of Trump’s handling of Iran, and 52% said the U.S. shouldn’t have taken military action. 89% of Democrats and 58% of independents opposed the strikes, while 77% of Republicans supported them. Republicans who identified as MAGA backed the action 90%-5%, but non-MAGA Republicans were divided, 54%-36%. (NBC News)
The 2026 midterms are in 244 days; the 2028 presidential election is in 979 days.