The House Rebukes Trump On Ukraine, Senate Rs Shower ICE With Love And Money, The Capital Is Drowning In Corruption

Our new subscription sale and drive got off to a great start yesterday. Welcome new subscribers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Morning all. While it’s a very busy news day let’s drill down on three things. First, the big Russia vote yesterday, which comes just a day after Trump lost a big vote on his failed Iran war:

Here’s The NYT:

The House voted on Thursday to approve new aid for Ukraine and impose a fresh round of sanctions targeting the industries fueling Russia’s war economy, after 18 Republicans defied their leaders to join Democrats in support of a bill that runs counter to President Trump’s agenda.

The legislation, which passed 226 to 195, would provide $8 billion in loans to Ukraine and $1.8 billion in aid for military and security assistance. In addition to putting new sanctions on Russian-affiliated businesses and officials, it would also punish foreign companies, organizations and individuals that attempt to evade sanctions in an effort to support Moscow.

It now heads to the Senate, where Mr. Trump’s opposition has stopped similar attempts at new penalties on Russia and its allies. And even if it were to clear both chambers, it would likely be vetoed by the president, who has repeatedly balked at legislation that seeks to constrain his ability to negotiate on foreign policy matters.

Still, backers of the measure said the vote Thursday sent a strong bipartisan message to the president that significant support remains in Congress for Ukraine. It was the second time this week that Republicans have broken with Mr. Trump over foreign conflicts, after a handful of them joined Democrats on Wednesday to push through a war powers resolution that seeks to require the president to seek congressional approval to continue the war in Iran.

Very grateful to everyone who lobbied for this bill. Passing something like this has been among our highest priorities here at Hopium since the start of Trump’s second term, and it is a very important win for freedom and democracy, here and everywhere.

Two - the House and Senate Republicans took a lot of bad votes this week. Yes, the House rebuked Trump on the Iran war and Ukraine, and Republicans walked away from the ballroom and the slush fund, but many, many Republicans running for re-election voted this week for the war/higher prices, for Putin, for reckless ICE funding without reform, for Trump’s lawlessness and corruption.

So while they are getting the “disarray” stories like this:

Most Republicans continue to vote for this:

As we’ve heard in the many candidates discussions we’ve showcased of late Democrats have so much to work with this cycle to degrade and beat incumbent Republicans - tariffs and higher prices, struggle for small businesses and farmers; the failed war, higher prices and a weaker America; enormous cuts to health care that are bringing higher costs, less access; an out of control ICE that kills Americans in the streets and threatens our democracy; higher deficits, more debt, interest rates that remain too high and may be going up in the coming days; all while cutting taxes on the wealthiest among us, and shielding Trump and his family from prosecution for fraud and corruption. It literally is a “more for me, less for all of you” agenda that we should be able to use to win elections all across the country. With these many terrible votes, and more to come in the coming days, Republicans who are still far too much in the thrall of their failed and unpopular leader just keep giving us powerful tools to use against them this year.

Third, based on the candidate discussions we’ve done in recent months, I think the issue of “corruption” is going to be a much bigger issue in the 2026 elections than is widely understood in DC now. While Republicans have voted to release the Epstein files, and refused to fund the ballroom or the slush fund this week, the blocking of a Dem amendment last night to bar the creation of a future Trump slush fund was a huge error by Senate Rs for it once again put them ont the side of enabling an unprecedented Republican orgy of corruption and self-enrichment.

For every day we keep getting stories like this:

Or see the evidence of his depravity in the Capital city itself:

Or this:

We gutted all these programs to keep us safe to give tax cuts to Elon, Donnie, Don Jr, Jared and their buddies.

While Trump is diminished, and struggling, and the Republican thing splintering and sputtering, that doesn’t mean that he won’t continue breaking things or even “getting wins” as he did this morning with Senate ICE vote or the May jobs report. He will have good days and he will keep doing damage but the trend line is terrible for him and the Rs. Here is what I wrote yesterday:

Little cracks have become big cracks my friends. Between the courts and Congress in recent weeks Trump has lost on the Kennedy Center, his ballroom, his slush fund, his tariffs, and now on his approach to the wars in Ukraine and Iran. The Ukrainians and Iranians are now winning their wars against Putin and his regime, and refusing to lose. He had to retreat from Minnesota, and fire Bovino and Noem. His close ally Orban was routed in Hungary. He was humiliated in China, yielding to a stronger and more capable leader - as he so often does, the coward that he is. His “Board of Peace” has become a global joke. Inflation is not bending the knee and the Federal Reserve is now more likely to raise interest rates than to cut them. Consumer sentiment is at at a 65 year low. His polling continues to drop. Democrats continue to see heightened performance in elections across the country. His candidate lost in the primary for Iowa governor on Tuesday night, a potentially deeply consequential loss. His successful efforts to defeat, and not re-elect, two well-regarded, influential Senate Republicans has permanently, and potentially dangerously, damaged his standing on the Hill. His new picks for ODNI and AG are tone deaf, impulsive, self-indulgent mistakes, new, fresh signs of his ebbing powers, increasingly paranoia, and narrowing circle. He keeps failing asleep at events he is hosting, and his medical reports have become something out of Monty Python.

In the Oval yesterday he had his most dramatic passing out/falling asleep moment of the 2nd term. Just watch this video. It’s stunning (and note the hollow men just keep talking as if nothing is happening):

Then there is this coming humiliation:

Our Independence Day subscription sale and drive got off a great start yesterday, as 45 people signed up to be paid subscribers! Many thanks to everyone who stepped up yesterday as we work together to bring in 500 new annual paid subscribers here by July 4th. Need to keep working it all!

We’ve released a series of new candidate discussions - Rebecca Bennett (NJ-07), Bob Brooks (PA-01), Bob Harvie (PA-07) and Rob Sand running for governor in Iowa - which you can catch this weekend on the Hopium site under the Podcast tab and on our YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify channels too.

We’ve have two live events scheduled for early next week (links for both are forthcoming):

• Mon, 2pm ET - Colette Delawalla of Stand Up For Science joins us live to brief us on their new, urgent Stop Vought. Save Science campaign

• Tue, Noon - My monthly live get together with Stuart Stevens of Lincoln Square

Now, my friends, even thought it is Friday….

It’s Time To Go Win Some Elections!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Winning The Midterms, Competing In Red States and Red Places, Expanding The Map

Hopium’s Winning The House Campaign - $759,100 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new ambitious, audacious even, q2 goal) - Donate to all twelve of our endorsed House challengers with a single contribution split twelve ways | Get to know Jamie Ager (NC-11), Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Paige Cognetti (PA-08), Rebecca Cooke (WI-03), Elaine Luria (VA-02), Sean McCann (MI-04), Jo Mendoza (AZ-06), Chaz Molder (TN-05), Jonathan Nez (AZ-02), Janelle Stelson (PA-10), Shannon Taylor (VA-01), and Sarah Trone Garriott (IA-03) by watching our recently recorded Hopium interviews.

Friends if these twelve win, the House will flip, no matter redistricting madness the Rs execute in the coming days. So eyes on the prize here everyone!

Hopium’s Winning The House - Second Wave - $72,100 raised, $250,000 goal - We’ve launched a second House fund, one targeting candidates who’ve recently emerged from primaries or have to run in new districts. Our initial crew is Rebecca Bennett (NJ-07), Bob Brooks (PA-07), Johnny Garcia (TX-35), Bob Harvie (PA-01), Denise Powell (NE-02), and Bobby Pulido (TX-15). A donation to the Second Wave Fund is split evenly among these six, and more as other worthy candidates emerge for their primaries. We are off to a great start here people!

Josh Turek For Iowa Senate - $8,300 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn more and volunteer | Watch this video Josh’s campaign released on Tuesday night:

Mary Peltola For Alaska Senate - $101,500 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn more through my uplifting conversation with Mary Peltola as she fights to turn Alaska blue

James Talarico For Texas - $83,600 raised, $250,000 - Donate | Learn more from my inspiring interview with Rep. Talarico as he fights to turn Texas blue

Winning Ohio - $155,100 raised, $250,000 goal - Our new campaign splits contributions evenly among Sherrod Brown, the Acton/Pepper ticket, and the Ohio Democratic Party | Donate today and help us turn this critical 2026 battleground blue

This total includes $21,000 sent by a Hopium community member directly to each of our three Buckeye State partners!

Hopium’s Audacious Expansion Fund - $584,100 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Join our campaign that has helped expand our map by investing in the Democratic Parties of Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and Texas, all now central battlegrounds in the 2026 election | Catch interviews with the five intrepid state chairs leading their troops into battle this year - will get you fired up! | Contribute to all five state parties with one contribution split evenly among these five new battlegrounds

Many thanks to two generous Hopium community members who have audaciously donated $20,000 to each of our five state parties over the past two years

Roy Cooper for NC Senate - $120,700 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn more through my new discussion with Gov. Cooper

Jon Ossoff GA Senate - $183,900 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn more through my uplifting conversation with Senator Ossoff

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Keep working hard everyone. We have a country to save, and an election to win, together! - Simon