Think More: Thursday, July 9, 2026
The White House vs. the Smithsonian, the Platner reversal, DOJ's noncitizen-voting warning, and more.
Lead · The War Over America’s Story
The White House Accuses the Smithsonian of Turning America’s Story Into a Political Weapon
A 162-page White House Domestic Policy Council report, “Saving America’s Story,” charges that the Smithsonian’s flagship history museum has traded a shared national inheritance for an ideological instrument built to “divide, dispirit, and discourage” citizens. Ordered under President Trump’s March executive order on American history, it arrives as the nation approaches its 250th year. Secretary Lonnie Bunch calls the account unfair.
The War Over America’s Story
Charles Kesler Reads the Founding Against the English and French Revolutions
Charles R. Kesler | The American Mind
For the Claremont Review of Books, Charles Kesler sets the Declaration of Independence beside the English Bill of Rights of 1689 and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man. The American and French charters appeal to natural right; the English one pointedly does not. At 250, he argues, that difference still defines American exceptionalism.
The Party at War With Itself
A Majority of the DSA’s Governing Board Now Openly Identifies as Communist
Writing in The Free Press, City Journal‘s Stu Smith documents that most of the Democratic Socialists of America’s national political committee now openly embraces Communist ideology, pulling Marxist-Leninist factions into a group President Trump recently branded “hardcore, godless Communists.” CNN’s Kaitlan Collins waved the charge away; Smith’s look at the leadership suggests she moved too fast.
Democrats Dump Platner After the Primary, Reprising the Biden Playbook
Zachary Faria | Washington Examiner
Graham Platner won Maine’s Democratic Senate primary with 72% of the vote, then was pushed aside days later over a sexual-assault allegation his party had waved off alongside earlier scandals until his numbers against Susan Collins cratered. Zachary Faria argues the move mirrors 2024, when Democrats swapped a nominated Joe Biden for Kamala Harris with no vote.
A Democratic “Charity” Routed Nearly All Its Money to Its Own Political Arm
Just the News reports that Third Way Institute, a tax-deductible 501(c)(3), passed 97% to 99% of its spending from 2019 to 2024 to Third Way, the centrist outfit vowing to be the left’s “chief opponent” in 2028. A former Senate tax counsel says charity dollars funding political work invite scrutiny; Third Way calls the setup lawful and commonplace.
How a tax-exempt charity bankrolls its own political arm: Third Way Institute Form 990 filings
$146M
Granted to its political arm, 2010-2024
97-99%
Of its spending routed to the affiliate, 2019-2024
70%
Of the affiliate 2024 revenue came from the charity
Guarding the Ballot
The Justice Department Warns All 50 States: Keep Noncitizens on the Rolls, Risk Prosecution
Christina Park | Just the News
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon has told every state that election officials who knowingly keep noncitizens on the rolls could face criminal liability, giving them five days to detail their cleanup plans. The Department says its reviews found tens of thousands of noncitizens registered, and it is sending monitors to six states before the 2026 vote.
A Bipartisan House Pair Presses Agencies on AI Threats to the 2026 Vote
The Hill reports that Representatives Josh Gottheimer and Michael Lawler have urged Homeland Security, the Justice Department, and the federal cybersecurity agency to coordinate against AI-driven election threats, from chatbots feeding voters bad information to deepfake audio and video. The Federal Election Commission, split along party lines, has issued no rules for AI in political ads.
The Blue-State Ledger
Sean Duffy Moves to Pull Noncitizen Truckers as a Deadly Licensing Gap Persists
Julie Kelly chronicles a run of deadly crashes tied to noncitizen truckers, including the July 1 death of Pennsylvania trooper Michael Pahira, struck by a Haitian parolee who held a commercial license from Massachusetts. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is moving to bar most noncitizens from such licenses, but Democratic judges stayed his rule and blue states keep issuing them.
California Ranks 48th in a New Best-States-to-Move-To Study, Sunk by Cost
A ConsumerAffairs analysis flagged by the New York Post ranks California 48th of 50 states to move to in 2026, third worst overall, dragged down by affordability. Housing consumes 21.1% of the median income there, against a 17.6% national average, and the state ranked dead last on cost. New Hampshire topped the list.
Reclaiming the Institutions
Voters Back the Court’s Title IX Ruling by Wide, Bipartisan Margins
Scott Rasmussen | Napolitan News Service
After the Supreme Court let states bar biological males from women’s sports, a Napolitan News survey finds only 18% of voters want them included, with 88% of Republicans and 55% of Democrats opposed. Scott Rasmussen notes the Court’s disapproval fell nine points to 44%, and that most voters think such calls belong to the states.
A Year On, the Administration Has Checked Off Much of Its Project 2025 Education List
Christina A. Samuels | The Hechinger Report
The Hechinger Report tallies how far the administration has gone on Project 2025’s education agenda: a halved Education Department, rescinded Biden Title IX and DEI mandates, a national voucher option, and looser accreditation rules. Head Start survived and block grants stalled, yet Secretary Linda McMahon has called dismantling her own department its “final mission.”
Moolenaar Presses the Wizards’ and Capitals’ Owner to Cut Ties With Alibaba
Select Committee on the CCP | chinaselectcommittee.house.gov
Select Committee Chairman John Moolenaar has asked Ted Leonsis, owner of the Washington Wizards and Capitals, to end his company’s sponsorship and Alipay deals with Alibaba, which the Pentagon last month designated a Chinese military company. Its cloud and AI, Moolenaar warns, help power the satellite navigation the People’s Liberation Army would use in any fight over Taiwan.
