Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy announces he will vote for Todd Blanche to be attorney general

(WASHINGTON) — At the beginning of this year, after spending more than four decades in Congress and serving as the number two Democrat in the House under Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Steny Hoyer, 87, announced his plans to retire at the end of his current term.

Hoyer’s announcement instantly launched a crowded race to replace him in southern Maryland’s deep-blue 5th Congressional District, which has ballooned to include more than 20 Democratic primary candidates. Voters head to the polls Tuesday to decide who will be the Democratic nominee for Hoyer’s seat, as well as other federal, state and local offices on the ballot in Maryland’s midterm primary election.

Shortly after announcing his retirement, Hoyer chose his intended successor — the longtime Democrat endorsed his former aide Maryland state Del. Adrian Boafo. The district is unlikely to elect a Republican, so whoever wins the Democratic primary is on a glide path to victory in November.

Boafo, who served as Hoyer’s campaign manager, also picked up endorsements from other Democratic heavyweights in the state like Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks.

Those running against Boafo include former Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker, healthcare CEO Quincy Bareebe, Prince George’s County Councilwoman Wala Blegay and former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, who rose to national prominence for his testimony in congressional hearings about defending the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection. Dunn ran for the House in the 3rd District in 2024 and finished second in the Democratic primary.

The debate over the influence of pro-Israel and pro-cryptocurrency super PAC money has played a central role in the race to replace Hoyer, as Boafo’s opponents have criticized the millions of dollars his campaign has received from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s United Democracy Project (UDP) PAC and Protect Progress, a crypto-aligned super PAC.

“Adrian has spent the last year laser-focused on the issues impacting Marylanders. His opponents continue to try and make the race about anything else besides what this race is actually about: the people of this district and the real need to have a fighter who stands up to this President,” Boafo’s campaign manager, Oren Adams, told ABC News in a statement.

In the northwest part of the state, former Rep. David Trone — who gave up his seat representing Maryland’s 6th District to launch an unsuccessful run for Senate in 2024 — is trying to make a political comeback after losing to Alsobrooks in the 2024 Democratic primary. Trone, a businessman who has self-funded his campaigns to the tune of tens of millions of dollars, is hoping to reclaim his seat from his successor, Rep. April McClain-Delaney, the wife of former Rep. John Delaney, who also once represented the 6th District before leaving to seek higher office.

At the top of the ballot, Moore seeks the Democratic nomination for what would be his second term in the governor’s mansion. The high-profile governor is seeking re-election as his name continues to be floated as a potential contender for the Democratic nomination for president in 2028.

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(WASHINGTON) — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday released a rendering of a commemorative coin featuring President Donald Trump, saying that the U.S. Mint will begin striking the $1 piece to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. 

“As America commemorates 250 years of independence, the [U.S. Mint] will begin striking this new $1 gold coin to honor the enduring legacy of liberty and a lasting symbol of patriotism,” Bessent wrote in a social media post. “Featuring President Trump, it celebrates the strength of American values, and the promise of a nation dedicated to preserving freedom for all.”

The coins — which are not real gold but will feature a gold-like finish — will be available in the fall, a Treasury Department spokesperson said.

The last and only time a living president was featured on hard currency struck by the U.S. Mint was a century ago for the U.S. Sesquicentennial. The half-dollar coin featured then-President Calvin Coolidge silhouetted behind the bust of President George Washington. At the time, the Mint produced a million of the coins with 860,000 of them ultimately returned and melted due to low demand.

While living presidents are generally barred from appearing on U.S. currency, the Trump administration has argued that the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020 permits the design because it authorizes the Treasury secretary to oversee the minting of special commemorative coins for the nation’s Semiquincentennial. And while the same law bars any person from appearing on the tail side of a commemorative coin, the restriction doesn’t apply to its face. 

Federal law also stipulates that coin designs be selected by the Treasury secretary after consultation with the Commission of Fine Arts, which approved the design last March, and review from the bipartisan Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, an 11-person body established by Congress in 2003 to advise on designs of hard currency.

But the Treasury Department appears to have skipped the latter committee, raising questions about the legality of the coin’s production.

Donald Scarinci, a numismatist and Democrat who’s spent over two decades on the committee, said aside from a last-minute attempt by the Mint to present the proposed coin to the committee in December, the body never had a chance to review the design as required by law.

“We’ve never seen any design with the portrait of Donald Trump on it,” Scarinci told ABC News on Wednesday. 

Scarinci said the proposed December meeting ultimately didn’t occur because it was impossible to reach a quorum of members on such short notice. 

During the committee’s February meeting, another member of the board, Kellen Hoard, a coin collector who represents the general public, also said that the board received no opportunity to weigh in on the coin, nor did they review the designs ultimately selected for the Semiquincentennial series of quarters. 

“I have never reviewed the Semiquincentennial $1 coin portfolio, much less been given an opportunity to review it. Is it legal now for the Mint to move forward with creating the Semiquincentennial $1 coin despite me never having the opportunity to review the piece?” Hoard asked acting Mint Chief Counsel Greg Weinman at the meeting. 

Weinman replied that he did not agree with Hoard’s characterization and said that the Mint’s position is the board made the decision to not review the design.

“I think the Mint made a significant effort to request the CCAC to review the portfolio. There was clearly a conscious decision not to do so. The Mint has moved forward accordingly. I am not prepared to discuss more than that at this meeting,” Weinman said. 

“I believe the CCAC was given — at least the chair of the CCAC was given a full opportunity to review this portfolio,” Weinman added later. “The Mint, in my opinion, attempted multiple times to find an opportunity for the CCAC to review the portfolio. The CCAC made a decision not to. At least the chair of the CCAC made the decision not to.”

“The concept that the secretary of the Treasury can create his own coin — it’s illegal,” Scarinci said of the move, adding that Congress would have the authority to confiscate and demonetize the coins and that concern about the coin crosses partisan boundaries on the committee.

“This is not a Democrat-Republican issue as far as the coin is concerned,” he said.

A Treasury spokesperson told ABC News, “During the January meeting, Megan Sullivan, the acting chief of the U.S. Mint’s office of design management, assured board members that ‘legal research from both the Mint and the Department of the Treasury determined that the proposed coin would not violate any laws and is legal under the law authorizing the minting of coins for the Sesquicentennial.'”

The coin is not the only piece of currency that the Treasury Department is putting Trump’s imprint on. Paper currency printed this year will also feature Trump’s signature above that of Bessent’s — a first for an American president. Bessent told Fox News earlier this week that, too, would go into circulation this fall.

In May, Trump administration officials pushed the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to move forward with designing a commemorative $250 bill with Trump’s portrait and signature, should legislation to create the new currency pass, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions.

That bill has been stuck in the House Financial Services Committee for more than a year.

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(WASHINGTON) — Days before his highly anticipated primary, Republican Rep. Thomas Massie struck a defiant tone, asserting on Sunday that out-of-state billionaires “have funneled millions of dollars in here” in an effort to “buy a seat” in Congress.

“How did this race become the most expensive race in the history of Congress for a primary? It’s because three billionaires from outside of Kentucky have funneled millions of dollars in here. They’re trying to buy a seat,” Massie said in an interview on ABC News’ “This Week.”

On Friday, Massie told a reporter that his has “turned into a referendum on whether Israel gets to buy seats in Congress.”

“This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos pressed Massie on the comment, asking him, “What did you mean by that?” 

Massie said that two of the individuals he named — major GOP donors Miriam Adelson and Paul Singer, along with the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) and American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), are “all part of the Israeli lobby.”

Adelson and Singer are both major AIPAC contributors.

“That’s where all the money comes from, and it will be a referendum on foreign policy, whether Israel gets to dictate that by, you know, bullying members of Congress, and I’m the one they haven’t been able to bully, so they’re putting all the brunt, the force on me,” Massie said.

Massie said his opponents are “desperate” because he says he’s ahead in the polls.

“That’s why the president is losing sleep and tweeting about this,” the Kentucky congressman said.

In a statement to ABC News, RJC CEO Matt Brooks accused Massie of “antisemitism and bottom-of-the-barrel nativism at a time when Jew hatred is on rise.”

“The RJC stands with those who will combat antisemitism like Captain Ed Gallrein, and against those who foment it,” Brooks said, referring to Massie’s Republican opponent. “Massie’s record is indefensible, and the Republican primary voters of Kentucky will hold him accountable.” 

ABC News also reached out to AIPAC, Adelson’s foundation, Singer’s foundation and Singer’s investment management fund to request comment in response to Massie’s statements, but has not received a response.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly attacked Massie, including on Sunday morning, after another Republican who Trump wanted to oust from Congress — Louisiana’s Sen. Bill Cassidy — lost his primary on Saturday.

“Bad Congressman Tom Massie voted against Tax Cuts, the Border Wall, our Military and Law Enforcement. Actually, he voted against almost everything that is good. The Worst Republican Congressman in History. Kentucky, vote the bum out on Tuesday. We can’t live with this troublemaker for another two years. He is a true negative force!!!” Trump posted on his social media platform.

Massie is facing a primary challenge from former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, who was endorsed by Trump before he even entered the race. In an Oct. 17 Truth Social post, Trump said he hoped Gallrein “gets into the Race against Massie”; four days later, Gallrein did just that.

The seven-term congressman has clashed with Trump throughout his second stint in the White House. But Massie argued he can overcome Trump’s opposition to win this primary.

“I have the endorsement of the right to life organizations, the gun organizations. I had four members of Congress come here yesterday and campaign with me. So, my situation is a little bit different [than Sen. Cassidy’s],” Massie said. “Plus, I’ve had millions of dollars come in from the grassroots, tens of thousands of donors, to my website, thomasmassie.com. And it’s still coming in. And that’s how we’re going to beat them.”

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