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12:30 REPORT 12:30 REPORT June 12, 2026 | By Cate Martel Today in DC: ☀️ 92° View Online | Sign up Happy Friday!! U.S. men’s soccer plays tonight at 9 p.m. EDT! ⚽ Trump touts Iran peace progress, met with skepticism GOP scoffs at 3rd Trump reconciliation bill US spy powers to expire as World Cup starts World Cup tidbits and specials SpaceX IPOs, making Elon Musk world’s first trillionaire 🎤 IN THE WHITE HOUSEThese updates are feeling a bit like a broken record: Jacquelyn Martin, Associated Press President Trump says that as of Thursday, the U.S. and Iran had nearly finalized a new framework for a peace deal. But Iran somewhat disagrees with that assessment, indicting it hasn’t “reached a final conclusion” in negotiations. SOME SKEPTICISM TO TRUMP’S PEACE PROGRESS: On the right: Conservative pundit Tucker Carlson joked that Trump is “overselling” the war in Iran like an “all-you-can-eat buffet in Atlantic City.” “And so it’s tempting to kind of lay all the blame at Trump’s feet, and on one level, it is all his fault. He decided to do this,” Carlson added. “Whatever pressures he faced, it was his decision, and he has oversold America’s position in this, and he is, in some very real way, not good at this.” On the left: Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) questioned Trump’s account of the negotiations with Iran. “This is the problem when the president squanders his credibility by telling falsehood after falsehood throughout this presidency and his last, and that is the American people really don’t know when to believe him,” Schiff said on CNN’s “The Source.” “And I don’t think there’s anything strategic about that ambiguity,” he told host Kaitlan Collins. “It doesn’t make us stronger that we can’t trust our own president.” 💬 Follow today’s live blog Trump’s next intel director is…President Trump announced on Thursday his next pick for director of national intelligence: former Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Jay Clayton. Keep in mind: Clayton has been floated for several roles, including attorney general. Does this mean Bill Pulte is out?: No, Pulte will still take over as the acting director on June 19 until Clayton is nominated. Does this clear the Democratic holdup over renewing spy powers?: Democrats withheld their support for renewing the U.S.’s warrantless spy powers over their opposition to Bill Pulte, Trump’s pick for acting director of the intelligence community. Pulte has no intel experience. But no, this was not enough to satisfy Democrats. ⏱️ ON CAPITOL HILL Republicans senators are in no mood to do this again: “Senate Republicans say they are in no mood to back President Trump’s demand that Congress use the budget reconciliation process a third time to provide another $350 billion to the Pentagon,” reports The Hill’s Alexander Bolton. Why?: “The GOP senators, who just slogged through an overnight 18-hour series of votes last week to pass a $70 billion package funding immigration enforcement operations, say a third process would put their vulnerable GOP colleagues in a tough political position.” It’s not clear whether Senate Republicans could even pull together 50 votes to pass another reconciliation bill. Vulnerable Republicans are in a tough spot — and frustrations are building over the war in Iran and the economy. Read Bolton’s reporting on the feeling in the Senate: ‘Senate GOP balks at Trump demand to boost defense funding in third reconciliation bill’ FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH: Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and Susan Collins (Maine) seemed skeptical at a hearing earlier this week at the prospect of a third reconciliation. SEN. CORNYN SEES A ROUGH TWO YEARS FOR TRUMP: In an interview with The New York Times, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) predicted the two years after the midterms will be the “most miserable two years” of President Trump’s life. Read Cornyn’s reasoning Keep in mind: This is Cornyn’s first extensive interview since losing his reelection primary after Trump backed his challenger. DEMS ARE ALREADY E